Pregnancy and Exercise

This pregnancy has been extraordinarily different from my first. There have been two major lifestyle changes that I believe contribute the most to this. The first is, I no longer have a paying job. What a huge blessing this has been! Last time, I conducted a concert 3 weeks before my due date. No wonder I had pre-eclampsia! Also, I was so stressed with making all my sub plans. Every evening was spent on the computer working on things. Ugh. I don't miss that part of my job at all!

The other big factor is exercise. I didn't start exercising until last June, when school was out. While working, I didn't feel like it was possible. I was already drowning under all my responsibilities and couldn't add one more. But when I quit, I no longer had an excuse. With Apple, I gained 61 lbs. Yikes! I didn't exercise and while I ate a lot of veggies, I also ate whatever else I wanted too. In three months, I lost 30 lbs. Ugh again. That left another 31 to go. I worked really hard and got within a couple pounds of my pre-weight. Then, I was suddenly pregnant again.

I decided to keep exercising. By this time, I was exercising 5-8 hours a week, depending on what else was going on. It was really hard the first trimester because I have a HUGE problem with morning sickness. While it was bad this time, it (thankfully!) was nowhere nearly as bad as with Apple. However, I had seen on a birth board that many people stopped working out the first trimester due to sickness or tiredness, and then had issues getting back into it. I was determined to push through. There were a few times when I had to leave the class early because I thought I would get sick if I stayed, but most of the time, as long as I took my prescription before, I did fine. And then came the second trimester. No more sickness, much more energy. Exercise=game on! Once my OB asked what exercises I did, and I responded with, "Oh, I go to several step classes, a weight lifting class, 2 Piloga classes, a yoga class, and a high-low aerobics class each week." She said, "So, when you say you exercise, you don't mean you walk for 30 minutes each day." "Um, no."

Enter trimester 3! Month 7 was the same as the 2nd trimester. Everything was fine. Now, I'm 32 weeks. I can still bend over and touch the ground without bending my knees. (We'll see how long that lasts!) Unfortunately, I can no longer, as of this week, attend two classes in a row. So, how has this changed my pregnancy? I can't believe how much more energy I have this time around. I can do so much more. I hear other pregnant women (especially from a birth board for others due in July) complaining about all sorts of pregnancy-related stuff (tiredness, not being able to get comfortable, not being able to paint toes, don't want to walk long distances, etc.) for several months now and I'm only now starting to feel some of these things. I definitely felt those earlier with Apple. I don't get as hot as I did. I look like I did when I was 6 months pregnant the first time. My stomach doesn't itch like it did. My blood pressure is MUCH lower. I really think it's because of exercising. My body is still strong and it's made a huge difference. Also, I've only gained half as much weight this time around as I had the last time, and it isn't because I started out so much bigger, because I was only a few pounds bigger! I wouldn't have exercised if I was high risk or my Dr. said it wasn't good for me or baby, but I'm so happy that I have been able to exercise. So, if you're thinking of getting pregnant, I highly suggest starting a workout routine now and keeping it up, even when it's hard. It makes such a huge difference!

Now the question is how will this affect my labor and bounce-back time? An update on that (hopefully) in 8 weeks!