Where in the World Has Wendy Been? LIFE UPDATE!

I’m Alive!

I’m not even sure if there is a single soul out there who is still frequenting this blog, especially considering that I’ve been absent from it for an ENTIRE YEAR. I have good reasons! I promise! So for those that may still be lurking around, here’s what I’ve been up to for the last year!

BABY! See, that’s a good enough reason to be gone, right? I had a baby in September 2021 and for pretty much the entire pregnancy I was really really sick. It started right after the new year which is why the last post you see on here from me was last January (and it was a pre-scheduled, pre-written post). I’m not sure how many of you have been there, but I was completely not prepared for how horrible I felt the entire pregnancy.

I thought I was going to be one of those really badass women and envisioned a very active and very fit pregnancy because I am, on a normal basis, very active and very fit and I didn’t want to let go of that for nine months. And yes, it’s very good to stay active and exercise regularly throughout pregnancy and that was my plan! Well, if there’s anything pregnancy (and birth! and newborn life!) has taught me, it’s that nothing is ever what you plan and you can never truly know how it’s going to be until you are IN IT. Shortly after the new year last year, I was feeling pretty nauseous and I chalked that up to “okay, this is morning sickness, power through it”. I have a runner mentality. I push through discomfort and pain and keep on going. Well, the first morning that I dragged myself out of bed to do my work out before work, I attempted to eat my breakfast, took one bite and was like NOPE. Lifted my weights and felt super dizzy and went right back to bed. And this, my friends, was the best I felt for months to come haha.

For the first week or two I was nauseous 24/7, breathing shallow breaths in my n95 mask at work and falling asleep shortly after dinner every night. Then, I started throwing up — all day. Who coined “morning” sickness? A man, probably. I got some medication and it helped– a little. When it got worse, I got zofran which felt like a miracle worker. Months later, I swear the efficacy wore off though. Long story short, everything was a lie and I didn’t get better after the first trimester — it wasn’t until week 20ish that I had a day where I was like wow! I didn’t throw up my dinner tonight! Needless to say I was completely miserable, felt awful and while I still tried to exercise, it quickly stopped. I had days where I pretty much kept down less than 500 calories and felt so weak I would barely make it up the stairs to bed, much less run or lift.

After week 20, by the time I felt better (I use the term “better” to mean I wasn’t throwing up multiple times a day – I still always felt slightly ill and always tired despite sleeping almost 10 hours a night), I had lost all my strength essentially and cardio. I went for long walks with my husband but nixed running because it made me super light headed and very pukey. Mental health was NOT GREAT because I was feeling so bad all the time and could do zero of the things that make me ME – I was feeling super lost and while 2020 was hard, I now had none of the coping mechanisms I had then. No running, no working out, I stopped reading for the longest time because it made me feel nauseous. I basically felt like a useless lump just trying my damndest to get through each day. And let me tell you – being pregnant during pandemic times feels very isolating and lonely, plus I’m sure my hormones were all over the place. I cried, a lot. I cried just seeing runners running on the street.

The end of pregnancy felt “better” but then I had some wonky pelvic issues, had a lot of pain lying down to sleep and slept in a recliner for the last month of pregnancy. It was a ROUGH nine months. But I do have a healthy, happy baby girl at the end of this long journey and she is doing great! The first few months of baby life have been exhausting (still is) and hence why I had pretty much disappeared from this space for so long.

Whew. So that’s pretty much my 2021. I read 35 books, the fewest I’ve read since I started tracking on Goodreads but I’d say I have a good excuse. I can’t say what life will really be like this year but I hope to 1) read more 2) actually blog. Like I said, I don’t know if anyone’s here among the tumbleweeds but I still LIKE having this space to ramble on about books or my life and maybe someone is interested. 😀

Reading Goals?

Every year (except 2021) I’ve had reading challenges or reading goals and tracked them. I don’t want to do anything like that this year because I honestly can’t say what this year is going to be like and I don’t want to set myself up for failure because then I’ll feel bad about it. The only thing I want to do is the goodreads challenge (because I do that every year) and the 12 books from 12 friends I saw floating around Instagram.

I thought that one would be something fun and not too strict to do especially because with my limited reading time I want to make sure I am getting quality over quantity! I am VERY excited for these recommendations from friends! In the past I’ve done monthly recaps but I may end up just doing quarterly updates. We’ll see! For those with babies or young kids, I’d love to hear how you handled reading (or not).

Fitness Goals?

I think I didn’t realize how hard getting back into running would be! I try not to compare myself to other postpartum IG mommas out there because the comparison game is a bad bad place but it’s tough to stay away from. I keep telling myself, hey, you didn’t run for a year. You had a baby. Recovery and strength takes time! Anyway, I’ve come a long ways from having pain just walking but I would really like to be able to run a half marathon this year. I’m not sure when that will be but I can only keep taking it one week at a time and getting in work outs when I can!

Please drop me a note and tell me how you’ve been this past year! And tell me what’s a favorite book you’ve read this year or thing you’ve done!

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