6 days until d-day!

Just 6 days away from my due date, Luke and I made an unexpected trip to the hospital last night. After a fairly uneventful pregnancy, I noticed some sudden, significant swelling in my feet. My doctor suggested that I go ahead and come in just to be safe. Two hours of monitoring later, they sent me back home with orders to start slowing things down. While I am experiencing contractions, they are irregular, and the swelling is likely due to fluid retention and the Texas heat. Baby Boy Jennings is perfectly fine and appears to be quite content exactly where he is. Here’s to hoping he decides to get a move-on sooner, rather than later. Stay tuned! 

Loved teaching my last Pure Barre class before baby! 

38 Weeks & Still at the Barre!

The countdown is officially on! We are just less than 2 weeks away from Baby Boy Jennings’ due date. Here’s to hoping he makes an early, or on-time, arrival! 

Symptoms This Week: Swollen hands and feet, flip flops are all I’m wearing these days. Tingling and pain in my hands, who knew that pregnant women often suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome? I’m having difficulty sleeping and am certainly over the Texas heat, but know that it will all be well worth it as soon as we see his sweet little face. 

What the Doctor is Saying: Not much. While Baby Boy Jennings is in position, he doesn't appear ready to make his appearance just yet. 

The Tables Are Beginning to Turn: For the majority of my pregnancy, I felt as if I was constantly reaching out to other new moms asking for advice and guidance on anything from registering, pediatricians, schools, and symptoms, but recently I've had the privilege of returning the favor to other expecting moms. 

What I’ve Learned About Exercising: It’s a must! No matter how tired you feel, exercising will absolutely make you feel better, even if just marginally. It will also help with flexibility, strength, and weight gain. From what I’ve heard from other new-moms it also helps with endurance during, and post, delivery. Fairly early on in my pregnancy, I read that pre-natal exercise should focus on maintenance and not gain. In other words, you are not going to become thinner or suddenly able to push yourself to a new level. To the contrary, you will gain weight and be forced to adopt certain modifications. Looking back on these past 9 months I am increasingly thankful for Pure Barre. It has helped me maintain a healthy and balanced pregnancy and has made exercise easy and fun. I have loved being able to share my pregnancy journey with our Pure Barre clients, family, and friends and am constantly inspired by other Pure Barre Dallas mommies and mommies-to-be. Fingers crossed, I have been lucky enough to continue teaching and taking classes throughout my pregnancy and hope to be back at the barre as quickly as possibly post-baby. 

Here's a look back at weeks 25, 30, & 36...

Meet Pure Barre Dallas Mommy To Be (and Barretender) Ashley Epstein!

21 weeks pregnant & glowing, meet Pure Barre Dallas Mommy To Be (and Barretender) Ashley Epstein! 

Hi my fellow Pure Barre enthusiasts!!  I am so thrilled to be sharing a bit of my “First Baby Journey” with you all!  Some of you know me as one of the girls who sits at the check-in desk and most of you know me as, Ashley.  I love being a part of the Pure Barre family and if it weren’t for my full time job as an RN, I would be up there everyday!  Pure Barre has most definitely changed my focus and my self-confidence.  It is the first workout experience I have had that incorporated realistic goals for my overall fitness and a strong mind-body connection.  Now that I am on my way to becoming a mom of a little GIRL (!!!), I am so thankful to share this influence and example in her little life.  

So, yes, my husband, Chris, and I are expecting our little girl to arrive around January 13^th 2014.  I am in the middle of my 21^st week of pregnancy (about 5 months) and have experienced my body changing in ways I had heard and read about, but I had really no idea.  A small list of those changes is as follows: weight gain, appetite changes, nausea, weight gain, spreading of the hips, veiny boobs, weight gain, extreme fatigue, peeing every 15 minutes, forgetfulness, turrets-like outbursts, weight gain, and a belly button that has become the size of a crater.  It’s been awesome.  (wink-wink)

It is quite an adjustment to suddenly have to think of yourself as a two-person being.  I mean let’s be honest; I had lived 30 years of my life eating, drinking, and getting involved in anything I wanted without hesitation.  Now – realizing that everything I do could have an effect on this innocent life was a big “Holy S*#%” moment. (I have decided I should start finding creative ways to express myself so as not to teach Little One un-ladylike behavior – spelling words out and unknown hand gestures are becoming two of my favorites).  

Anyway, what I have gathered in wisdom from other moms and soon-to-be moms is that this is not only totally normal, but also just the beginning!  I have experienced a shift in my brain’s ability to make decisions based solely on my own person.  I worry about her, I talk to her, I sing to her, I work out with her experience of my movements in mind, and the list goes on and on.  No wonder women are so amazing!  I have started multitasking my brain’s natural processes without even the blink of an eye!  (We are geniuses and it took a baby for me to finally get it!) 

I have learned to listen to my body, trust in those I love to support me, and have grace with myself as I adjust. I still have so much to learn and experience, so many adventures ahead of me that are unique to motherhood and it is all terrifyingly fantastic, however, I must remember how far I’ve come already. So, my point is this: Regardless of where you may be in your life and the titles you have earned thus far, ‘Woman’ may be the greatest of them all.