Fitness During Pregnancy: Success Stories?

[aymbereye]

So I saw this article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/05/he...th/05BROD.html

in the NY Times today, and it got me thinking. I'm a fit person, I'd like to be fit all my life, and I imagine I'll be having kids sometime in the next 5 years. But, amazingly, I don't know anyone else who is really into fitness, not who's had a baby anyway.

So, I'm curious - how did being fit influence your pregnancy and delivery? Was it great? Fast? Did you have one baby when you were 'unfit' and later have another one when fit? Etc?

I'm quite curious, since I think a lot of those old myths ('stay in bed all day!') are still out there!

[Ghira]

So much depends on the pregnancy.

My first, I was quite fit. I had almost no trouble with swelling, but did run into back problems (scoliosis and swayback didn't help). Still, I was able to stay in pretty good shape throughout. Even though I put on 40 pounds by D-day, I was wearing maternity clothes 2 sizes smaller than my regular clothes since I wasn't packing on weight in my hips or thighs.

Labor was NOT faster. I was in labor for two days. Labor was actually slower, but very strong. I had two minute contractions every five minutes, which totally confounded the nurses when I called to see if I could come to the hospital. I finally started leaking fluid after a full day, so they agreed. I walked in 10 cm dialated.

I still chuckle over the memory of the L&D nurse's face when I arrived at the hospital. She told me to get up on the exam table -- and since I'm quite short --turned around to get me a stool. I hop-boosted myself up with my arms and she just stared at me with her mouth hanging open, saying "I don't think I've ever seen a pregnant woman do that."

They sent me on to the birthing center. As I was walking to the center a nurse looking for me passed me three times not realizing I was the woman she was looking for because (as she told me when we finally hooked up) I didn't waddle like a pregnant woman, I walked.

I had an all natural delivery, and it was one of the greatest moments of my life.

My second pregnancy I was all set for the same wonderful experience, and two things got seriously in the way: One was that the pelvic ligaments decided to soften at the start of the 2nd trimester and even walking at a snail's pace was hideously painful. I spent as much time as I possibly could in the pool, but I confessed it was mostly in a beaching-whale impression.

The other problem was placental insufficiency. For some reason or another, my placenta started to shut down at 30 weeks. By 35 weeks I was ordered for an emergency c-section, and the baby spent his first week in NICU.

I was up and about after the c-section much sooner than most women (according to the nurses), though part of that was because I was bound and determined to go see my baby. It's a pretty huge incentive to walk. I also used less medication for pain.

Being a fit pregnant mom sure can't hurt, but pregnancy problems sometimes just happen.

[LovingLife]

Thanks for giving me some reading material while I ate my lunch!

For me, I gained just about the same amount of weight with all 6 of my pregnancies, whether I worked out or not (in fact this last time, I gained 5 more pounds -- usually I gain about 25 pounds and this time 30 -- perhaps due to me doing Power Hour and such up until the end -- maybe I lost muscle mass in previous pregnancies or something because I didn't feel any bigger this time).

But anyway, with my first I didn't exercise at all because I thought I was too busy when working and I hated exercise. Everything went wonderfully well with that one (but I was just 25, so I don't even know if that can compare to now).

With my second, I was worried that I'd have no energy to keep up with my first while pregnant, so I started taking step classes, then switched to swimming laps later on when I was getting bigger and did that religiously until delivery. I remember making a ton of sugar cookies with little "2"s frosted on all of them on my due date (which was my first daughter's birthday) and just feeling great as can be. I've never had real long labors and have always had super short pushing stages (as in just getting down to 1 big push the last few times), but I'm thinking that may be more hereditary and have to do with the size of the pelvic bones? But I do remember the nurse coming into my Post-Partum room and showing me a big lump on the right part of my abdomen about the size of an orange. She told me that that was my uterus, that it had already contracted within just a few hours and that I must have exercised to have it contract so quickly (and that it would soon settle back into its place where I could no longer see it) -- so that was pretty fun to see.

With my 3rd, I exercised at home (bought a step) and just did a free-for-all with Campbell's soup cans for weights (little did I know). That pregnancy went well too, but I got lower back pain near the end. Didn't really know anything about strength training to help out those lower body muscles.

With #4 (are you bored yet? ) I did the same with the step on my own and once again had a lot of lower back pain near the end. If I did the dishes standing for a long time or vacuumed the whole house, it was enough to wear out my back for the day.

After #4, I discovered exercise videos and learned that strengthening the abs would strengthen the back, so I went into my 5th all toned and ready to go -- I did Beginnerish videos (Denise Austin, Donna Richardson, a few Firms) throughout that pregnancy and felt great most of the time (had my first experience w/ tons of nausea though -- that was no fun). I still had lower back pain near the end and just attributed it to how it is the last trimester as I get older.

With my last (just born before Thanksgiving) I started out at an advanced fitness level -- primarily doing Cathe, Firms, Yoga and Pilates. I had so much fatigue in the first trimester that I did hardly anything beyond walking from pillow to pillow. But at least I didn't have nausea, and once I came out of that, I worked my way back up to doing Cathe and FIRMs and some yoga with modifications as I got into my last trimester. I feared all my usual lower back and restless night symptoms of that last trimester, but this time with all my weight workouts continuing, I nipped them both in the bud. I practiced pelvic tilts throughout the day and really concentrated on the form in my workouts and was able to get rid of the lower back pain that first week of the last trimester. I had a little bit of leg twitchiness, but tried to listen to my body to do the workouts that I thought would help when needed and felt really great. I was astounded that at 38 with good solid workouts, I was able to feel like I did in the first few pregnancies of my 20s. My delivery was just as fast and "easy" (that's what the doctor and nurses call it -- it still hurts like crazy and I end up demanding an epidural ). But speaking of epidurals, my anesthesiologist told me this time that it is so much easier and it works so much better to deliver and localize the epidural on someone like me. I asked what he meant by someone like me and he said "well, you're so thin." To be called "thin" at full term was quite a delight!

So, sorry to take you down memory lane, but I'd say that exercise has enabled me to be active and strong in pregnancy -- however, some women have problems in pregnancy that exercise could not chase away. It's so different for everyone. I mainly wanted to feel good enough to still be able to do what I needed to do to keep our home together.

And I've never been able to just walk out of the hospital in my jeans (I tried with my 5th to wear home my "big" jeans and they hurt so bad, I could hardly breathe walking out ).

So exercise doesn't guarantee an automatic bounce-back body, but I do think it helps the body to have a good place to start once your ready to work out again.

[aymbereye]

Hey guys, thanks for the great stories! I love this stuff. You both definitely got your fair share of surprised looks and comments from medical staff, sounds like. I hope to be like you guys, down the road!

[Sunrise]

http://205.214.68.83/vbulletin/showt...&threadid=5550

Here is a link from one of the FAQ pages of fit pregnancies vs unfit pregnancies. Lots of good stories there (including mine !).

[AlisonH]

I wasn't nearly as fit as I feel I am now when I was pregnant, but I was in pretty good shape. I tried to do videos while prenant, but after working all day and having a long commute, I usually couldn't get more than 15 minutes in. Part of my commute was a 7-block walk from Metro to my building, so that gave me some exercise twice a day. I ended up gaining 50 pounds, which was really, really hard to lose. But I had a C-section, and I recovered much quicker than they told me I would. Lots of people said it was because I was in pretty good shape, so that might be part of it.

Now I teach aerobics too, and I'm afraid of how hard it will be to teach if I do get pregnant again, which I do want sometime.

Alison

[Fitnik]

From my experience, being fit throughout my pregnancy kept my weight down and meant that I was back to pre-preggers me very quickly indeed (like within 2 weeks!) Muscle memory has meant that I have been able to tone up quickly with relatively little (but daily) exercise (30mins. max). I still had a long labour (24 hours!) but was able to push for nearly 3 hours thus avoiding a ventouse delivery. I can honestly say that keeping up my aerobic endurance helped with the pushing stage - LOL!

What I did during my pregnancy was a lot of power walking mainly with very little resistance work. It seems that this was enough for me.

I would highly recommend staying fit during pregnancy as much as possible.

Needless to say my family and friends thought I was mad constantly walking etc.. whilst preggers but have been amazed by how quickly I have sprung back into shape. I put all this down to exercising! I do not come from a family with "lucky genes" when it comes to body types etc.. My mum and I have the same bodytype yet pictures of her when she'd had me and pictures of me now having had Max just don't compare. Mum admits now that literally eating for 2 and putting your feet up are not a good idea afterall.


HTH!

[kplondon]

I had every intention of staying fit during my pregnancy but ended up with pretty bad all-day pregnancy nausea which was not alleviated by working out and was in fact aggravated by it. The only thing that did seem to help was to eat frequently, and I was hungry all the time (I would even wake up in the middle of the night to eat!). The combination of inactivity and lots of eating led me to gain 42 pounds during my pregnancy, but looking back, I don't think I could have or would have done anything differently. Just getting through the day (particularly in the first five months) was tough enough.

I lost the weight within three months, just by breastfeeding (initially), eating sensibly and gradually increasing activity.

So while I applaud anyone who can stay fit during her pregnancy, if you are really feeling awful/nauseous/exhausted, I don't think a woman should feel guilty if her body is telling her to rest or eat (there's that listen-to-your-body maxim again!). And while I lost the weight relatively quickly, I think women should not feel pressured to match Sarah Jessica Parker, Liz Hurley and all the other celebrities who lose pregnancy weight in record time! We have enough pressure on us as new moms.

[cmhazlett]

Originally posted by kplondon
I had every intention of staying fit during my pregnancy but ended up with pretty bad all-day pregnancy nausea which was not alleviated by working out and was in fact aggravated by it. Just getting through the day (particularly in the first five months) was tough enough.

So while I applaud anyone who can stay fit during her pregnancy, if you are really feeling awful/nauseous/exhausted, I don't think a woman should feel guilty if her body is telling her to rest or eat (there's that listen-to-your-body maxim again!).

I had a similar experience during my 1st trimester. I was unable to stomach any meat/poultry/fish at all and only small amounts of dairy, legumes & nuts. I wanted to make sure my baby got the little protein I was able to eat so I stopped exercising. By the time the nausea subsided in my 2nd trimester I'd lost a lot of strength. I was able to do light weights using beginner tapes (Kathy Smith & FIRM Basics) until week 30 when I was just too exhausted and huge. I was able to keep walking however until the night before I delivered.

After getting my dr's okay, I started walking again at 2 weeks post-partum and added weightlifting & Pilates at 10 weeks post-partum. At 17 weeks post-partum currently, I've made signifcant progress towards regaining my strength, aerobic capacity, and hopefully getting my body back. While I'm not quite where I was a couple years ago, I'm in way better shape than I was say 10 years ago

Claire & baby Erika born 10/17/02

[Sung Tse]

Currently, I am in the best cardiovascular shape I have ever been in my life (I am an avid runner) and foresee exercising as long as I am able. I exercise before and between my pregnancies, but not during - only some walking.

HOWEVER, although I think moderate exercise like walking is great, I think that our society places WAY too much importance on physcial appearance and a pregnant woman's first and foremost concern should be keeping herself and her unborn HEALTHY with PLENTY of rest, avoiding stress, proper nutrition, etc.

But, when I hear about women who run into their 8th month of pregancy, I cringe.

I wonder "why?" To maintain her weight/keep from getting fat? You're PREGNANT for pete's sake.

To "bounce back" more quickly? All the evidence I see of this is anecdotal. I've never read about a scientific study.

I really think a woman IS in a "delicate condition" when she is pregnant. Our bodies go through enormous change during pregnancy and I think it would be healthier for both mother and child if she allowed her body to just concentrate in allowing her body's resources to be tapped for nourishing the unborn baby.

There is plenty of time to lose the weight after birth.

This is all JM(NSH)O, of course.