Yep, sometime in late January I found myself puking in the car on the way out to Gold Wall in Sonora: a clear sign that baby #2 was on the way! But in spite of the first trimester morning sickness, we're thrilled to have a new little one--a baby boy, we are told--join Team Christensen.
I will say, however, that as a climber, learning that you're pregnant brings with it quite a set of challenges. Since I had Ainsley, now 19 months ago, I've been on a quest to get back into stellar climbing shape. We had an amazing climbing year in 2012 and I was able to explore a lot of new routes in the Valley, Verdon Gorge, Grenoble, Lover's Leap, and Tuolumne, and got to revisit several "old friend" routes, such as the Regular Route of Half Dome and the Rostrum. At the beginning of 2013, I was in the process of projecting 13s again, and was finally, after almost two years, back at the top of my climbing ability. So there were a range of emotions that occurred when I learned I was pregnant once again. There was excitement, of course, about having another baby and for Ainsley to become a big sister, but I also found myself frustrated and a little bit sad looking forward to the upcoming spring, summer, and fall climbing seasons knowing that almost all of my climbing goals for 2013 would have to be saved for another year. Furthermore, after finally feeling fully recovered and strong after pregnancy #1, the clock was being reset leaving me on another year-and-a-half process of losing strength then trying to regain it.
Luckily for me, however, I've been through the climbing and pregnancy experience before and I know that while it does change the game a bit, it doesn't mean that I have to opt out of it completely. I'll just have to learn and adapt, as I did during my last pregnancy, and as I did figuring out how to climb (and do everything else in life) with a baby--and now toddler--in tow.
As for my 2013 climbing goals, I'm happy to report that I actually have already ticked a few of my original goals and have since readjusted the others to accommodate for my ever-expanding belly. So in spite of a slight change to my 2013 plans, I'm now nothing but happy about the routes I've already been able to do during this pregnancy, and optimistic about the many long moderate routes that I've got planned for it's remainder while I wait for the moment I get to meet my new little guy.
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Climbing and Pregnancy: Spring - Summer 2011
In September 2010, I was at the top of my game. Andrew and I took a month-long trip to France and Spain to check out Ceuse, Mallorca, Rodellar, and Siurana. Being a slave to a desk at that point in my life, a whole month dedicated only to climbing did wonders to my fitness level, and I was able to walk away from that trip bagging my very first (and to date, only) 7c+/5.13a. Then, I got pregnant.
Being that I had never been pregnant before, I had no idea what to expect. And more importantly, I had no idea what to expect in terms of my climbing. Which was worrisome. I had heard all sorts of things from all sorts of pregnancy "experts" (with qualifications ranging from having been pregnant before to having an MD in obstetrics) stating from the vastly conservative end that jostling your baby around during any stage of pregnancy could cause miscarriage, to the much more liberal end of the spectrum that you could continue with your standard activities as long as you felt okay about it. Being that the latter advice was given by a good friend who was also a midwife, I took this advice to heart. That being said, I did take some precautions. For example, after the three month mark, I stopped skydiving. This was more a combination of the morning sickness that would always seem to strike on the flight up to altitude, mixed with a growing anxiety about the intense fuel fumes I was exposing my walnut-sized baby to. Needless to say, by the three month mark, skydiving didn't seem to be the right thing to be doing anymore. So I hung up the wingsuit.
Climbing, however, was a different story entirely. I had utterly no desire to stop climbing. And after consulting with my friend the midwife as well as my OB, I was given the green light free and clear to climb as long as I wanted. So climb I did. Following guidance I received from Carrie Cooper's blog, I set some short-term and long-term climbing goals. Short-term I wanted to continue climbing a minimum of three times each week, doing between 7-9 routes each session. Long-term, I wanted to be able to climb 5.11a until the day I decided I was too uncomfortable/anxious/whatever to keep climbing.
Long story short, I was able to achieve both goals pretty honorably. Month after month, I watched my belly grow and wondered at what point in my pregnancy I would stop climbing. Yet month after month, I kept feeling surprisingly good about continuing to climb. So I did. Amazingly, I ended up being able to climb right up until my due date. In fact, the baby came a couple days late, so I actually went climbing on my due date. And amazingly (it was not a graceful by any means), I was able to climb 5.11a.
Being that I had never been pregnant before, I had no idea what to expect. And more importantly, I had no idea what to expect in terms of my climbing. Which was worrisome. I had heard all sorts of things from all sorts of pregnancy "experts" (with qualifications ranging from having been pregnant before to having an MD in obstetrics) stating from the vastly conservative end that jostling your baby around during any stage of pregnancy could cause miscarriage, to the much more liberal end of the spectrum that you could continue with your standard activities as long as you felt okay about it. Being that the latter advice was given by a good friend who was also a midwife, I took this advice to heart. That being said, I did take some precautions. For example, after the three month mark, I stopped skydiving. This was more a combination of the morning sickness that would always seem to strike on the flight up to altitude, mixed with a growing anxiety about the intense fuel fumes I was exposing my walnut-sized baby to. Needless to say, by the three month mark, skydiving didn't seem to be the right thing to be doing anymore. So I hung up the wingsuit.
Climbing, however, was a different story entirely. I had utterly no desire to stop climbing. And after consulting with my friend the midwife as well as my OB, I was given the green light free and clear to climb as long as I wanted. So climb I did. Following guidance I received from Carrie Cooper's blog, I set some short-term and long-term climbing goals. Short-term I wanted to continue climbing a minimum of three times each week, doing between 7-9 routes each session. Long-term, I wanted to be able to climb 5.11a until the day I decided I was too uncomfortable/anxious/whatever to keep climbing.
Long story short, I was able to achieve both goals pretty honorably. Month after month, I watched my belly grow and wondered at what point in my pregnancy I would stop climbing. Yet month after month, I kept feeling surprisingly good about continuing to climb. So I did. Amazingly, I ended up being able to climb right up until my due date. In fact, the baby came a couple days late, so I actually went climbing on my due date. And amazingly (it was not a graceful by any means), I was able to climb 5.11a.
Cragging at El Cap base, 5 months pregnant
Slabs in Tuolumne, 7 months pregnant
Knobs on Medlicott Dome, 8 months pregnant
The due date! Note the wide stance to support the extra weight...
Monday, July 30, 2012
Friday, July 27, 2012
Ainsley's Photo Shoot: Nothing but Awesomeness!
Susie, please don't kill me for posting this.
Ok, Ok, just kidding. Here is one of the million good pictures that we got. Ainsley was actually happy the whole time. The funny pictures are just the face she makes when she is excited.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Chouinard Herbert Route 5.11c, Sentinel Rock, Yosemite
I climbed the Chouinard Herbert Route on the Sentinel with Townsend Brown on June 16, 2012. It was a good route.
Townsend on the first 5.10 pitch.
The Afro-Cuban Flakes pitch was awesome.
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