I gained 50 pounds with the first pregnancy. I gained 70 with baby number two. I am determined not to do that again with this pregnancy. It’s not about the weight. It’s not about not being able to fit into my clothes by next Christmas. Actually, I rather enjoyed the goodies I could indulge in without criticism simply because I was “feeding two”. This is about my health.

With my first daughter, I took the attitude of “I’m pregnant, I don’t have to do anything, leave me alone” and I used it to get out of doing just about everything. I didn’t want to take a walk or do anything that might break a sweat. I was nauseous and tired, and long after those symptoms wore off I still used them as excuses. During my last trimester I had become so sedentary that just walking into the doctors office would leave me winded. My flexibility, which until then had been amazing, was gone. My hips hurt, my back hurt, my legs burned just walking around the grocery store.

You would have thought the entire experience would have taught me something. It did not. I used the same excuses with the second pregnancy. This time, by the third trimester I was practically spending all my time in a chair or laying down. The baby settled down in between my hips and I could barely walk without great discomfort. Let’s not even start on what all this did to my bladder. A year after she was born I still had difficulty walking from one side of my yard to the other, and it’s only 1/2 an acre wide.

It’s not just about the weight for me anymore. The pounds I can shed. I don’t want to spend the next nine months becoming increasingly immobile because I didn’t keep moving. So, before this baby gets big, before I have that extra weight to work with, I am going to start moving and keep moving. Why give myself discomfort, pain, and put us at risk for a variety of health conditions when it takes so little to prevent it? This time, I will exercise. Not much, but enough. I will walk with my daughter while she learns to ride her new bike. I can do leg lifts from my chair. I can still do my stretches. I can still turn up the radio and dance with my girls on a Friday afternoon.

Keeping my muscles active and strong will make the pregnancy better, the delivery better, and recovery a whole lot easier.

Here are some things to keep in mind when your exercising while pregnant:

• Check with your doctor before beginning any exercise program you are considering you’ll have to let him assess your risks so you don’t over exert yourself.
• Avoid activities that increase your risk of falls such as contact sports and remember your balance is completely different when you’re pregnant! Something that seemed easy before might not be so easy anymore.
• Avoid getting overheated exercise early in the morning or late in the evening during cooler parts of the day particularly if going outdoors, it’s easier to get heat exhaustion and dehydrate at this point.
• Drink plenty of fluids even if you’re not thirsty, you need to stay hydrated and can dehydrate quickly while pregnant.
• Begin slowly - particularly true if you aren’t in shape at the beginning of your pregnancy.
• Listen to your body signs and signals and stop activity if your body is telling you to take a breather!
• Avoid sit-ups and weight training exercises, especially if you’re a risk for pre-term labor, ask your doctor for a pamphlet of pregnancy exercises that you can do or check out the store for a dvd/video there are plenty of alternatives to the usual routines.
• Do not continue until you’re at the point of exhaustion you’ll be far more likely to pass out or fall.
• Dress appropriately and wear loose clothing and a comfortable supportive bra.
• Consider doing Kegels (pelvic floor exercises), this exercise can help reduce incontinence before and after the birth and increases blood flow to the pelvic area

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This entry was posted on Thursday, January 10th, 2008 at 4:26 am and is filed under Health & Fitness, Adventures in Pregnancy, Good to Know. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.