My Little Yogi

A couple of weeks ago at church, I was standing by a friend (who was also pregnant). We were chatting about almost getting heatstroke in the Relief Society room when a lady came up to us and exclaimed, "My, you've blossomed!" I wondered at first who she was talking to, but then she faced only me. "Are you certain you're not having twins?" Ouch. "Um, yeah, pretty sure," I replied. She wasn't finished. "Well, my my! Looking at the two of you, I would say you [meaning me] were the one due next week, not her!" Double ouch. Jen immediately came to my defense, explaining that her baby was basically in her back because of her long torso and that she wished she carried like me (way out in front) so that it was more obvious she was pregnant. She also pointed out that she's on her second pregnancy while I'm on my fourth (technically, I'm on my fifth, but that's beside the point). I appreciated that. But ouch! Thankfully Jen isn't pregnant any more so that no more side by side comparisons can take place. (She had her baby Friday! Yay!) Even though my family tried to convince me that I'm not a freak of nature, just pregnant, I felt bad.

So, after a day of wallowing in self-pity, I decided that maybe I wouldn't take the "big" comments so badly if I were, you know, actually exercising. I went into my Netflix account and found a prenatal yoga program that I could instantly stream (Crunch Yoga Mama). And from that day on I've pretty much done it every day. Mainly because I have some serious motivation. In the form of my little yogi.

Chloe was fascinated by what I was doing. At first she would watch the video and watch me to make sure I was doing all the poses correctly. She started pulling in a stool from the kitchen to watch. One day, as I was doing some half sun salutes, I looked over and noticed Chloe was holding a sign over her head. She'd run into the kitchen and whipped up a "GO MOMMY!" banner. Aw, it's nice to have a fan.

She was happy to do a reenactment for my camera after I finished the video!

On another day, I glanced up during the meditation phase and discovered she was doing the routine right along with me. She was so into it, she didn't notice me getting up and grabbing my camera! Every day she checks in to see if I've done the yoga yet, and if I haven't she insists we get going. She stays by me through the whole routine and does all the poses. She said I could look at her any time if I wasn't sure how to do something. Thanks, Chloe.

Here she is "sending all the love in her heart to her [non-existent] baby."

Namaste, Chloe!

So yeah, I'm definitely feeling more zen (in part from the yoga, in part from the fact that I went to the doctor today and he said I was measuring one week ahead, not twelve). And I'm feeling really thankful for the love and support I get from my little yogi.