In March of 2011 it was three years since I started with Inner Icon and "gone paleo." I was in good shape, although I'd had a few too many "cheat nights" and missed quite a few of my classes due to stress at work, so not the best shape I'd been in over the three year duration.  Weird things started happening to me for a few weeks, and I'd share them with David and he had me avoiding spicy food, for one, and eating more veggies, less fruit, etc. I'd learned early in my time with Inner Icon I had a gluten intolerance, so we wondered if my body was reacting oddly to other foods now as well. My body continued to get weirder and weirder, and finally I had the strange thought, "Hmm...could I be pregnant?" To my surprise, I was indeed pregnant with my now three-month old, Gavin James. I shared the news with David and he worked with me, giving me great nutrition advice to help Gavin's growth and health and mine, of course too. He did extensive research and modified safely all of my workouts for the next 8 months (I didn't find out until I was almost 2 months pregnant) and encouraged me to continue even when I felt horribly sick those first couple of months...forget morning sickness, I was I always sick! It was such an encouragement - even if I was complaining at the time - to show up at the gym and even just walk a few laps and do some light lifting. I've talked to a lot of moms who have told me they felt they "lost" their body when pregnant and I definitely felt mine was being uncomfortably shared, but never "lost," much due to David's coaching.

As I got bigger and the baby grew, the doctor would often comment on how strong the baby's heart beat was and that he was unusually healthy. Once I hit 30+ weeks, I would literally sometimes get the breath knocked out of me when Gavin would kick because he was so strong. I attribute all of this to the paleo eating. I should mention I was eating paleo when pregnant, but not as strict as I had been. My body needed more carbs and so at times I was having grains, (mostly rice) especially when I felt sick, but I stayed about 75-80% paleo and stuck strictly to my vitamins and supplements recommended by David, in addition to a prenatal. As the baby got stronger, I realized I still had much of my strength, too. I received comments often about how "I didn't look pregnant from the back" or, "I've never seen a pregnant woman with strong arms!" I always responded that it took work, and then received some sort of lecture about stopping lifting...blah, blah, blah. Most annoying thing when being a pregnant paleo-crossfitter: people constantly trying to stop you from lifting things. Like a chair, or a box; even my laptop bag...and, no, I am not kidding. It's as if people think you are crippled, not pregnant!