I had many pre conceived ideas of how active and fit I would be when I fell pregnant. I had visions of myself doing rep 200m’s running round the bend at my athletics track with my spikes on. I pictured myself in the gym doing chin ups and barbell squats. I pictured myself doing Pilates on a reformer looking like a goddess….. Oh well wasn’t I heavily mistaken.
My first trimester went quickly and without a hitch (minus the announcement of a global pandemic… but I will get to that in another blog post), I was lucky to have minimal fatigue and absolutely no morning sickness (yes I’m sorry fellow mamma’s please don’t hate me). I was still training on the track and in the gym as I had so vividly pictured ….
…..until BAM 16 weeks the morning after a normal track session I woke up and felt like my pubic bone may actually be broken, my coccyx felt like it was going to fall off and just turning over in bed was super painful.
WHAT DO I DO NOW!!???!!!! How am I supposed to prepare my body for these babies? to prepare for birthing these babies? Be strong enough to look after these babies? be strong enough to carry these babies ? Everyone says that exercise during pregnancy is so important and what if I can’t exercise?!?!?! THE PANIC AND ANXIETY WAS REAL!!!!
Those who know me well know that I don’t like to rest, I am constantly on the go and a very busy bee. Well this pelvic girdle pain floored me. I had to walk slow, get up slow, move slow and I actually had to REST!!!!! WHATTTTT??? WHAT IS REST?????? I did absolutely no training for the next two weeks and was very lucky to be treated by a pretty awesome Osteopath (thanks dad!). My pain eventually settled along with some help from a SIJ belt and a belly band worn all day every day.
SIJ belt I wore all day every day
The exercise I eventually returned too looked a whole lot different. It took me a while to come to terms with the fact that this pregnancy wasn’t what I had planned or envisioned.
(NOTE to any future mammas pregnancy is rarely what you had planned.)
I had to accept that each day would look different and there was not much point in making too many exercise plans. I learnt that a small walk around the block was ok, that lying on the couch for the full day watching Netflix was ok, that going to the gym and doing some reformer Pilates for just 10 minutes was ok, that doing only body weight squats was ok, that only managing to look after your other children that day is ok, having a bath drinking fake wine is ok, just playing with my dog in the garden for 15 min was ok, that using 2kg arm weights was ok, that getting up and walking from the couch to the fridge and back again was ok.
I decided from then on that I would take each day as it comes and do what I can, everyone’s pregnancy is different and I think it is very important to embrace that. Some mamma’s get horrific morning sickness and end up on bed rest for their whole pregnancy, some mamma’s manage to walk for kms each day and some mamma’s even manage to throw heavy weights above their head and do box jumps and chin ups! Kudos to all the mamma’s out there doing whatever movement they can and cooking a baby or multiple at the same time, but please remember we are all different and THAT’S OK!!!
I am now 28 weeks pregnant my pelvic pain is still giving me grief, walking has become a waddle and I need help getting off the couch . My weeks look a bit different from one to the next however I try my best to do at least
- x2 online stretch sessions (ran by my fabulous osteopaths during lock down free for patients of the clinic).
- x2 small walks around the block (they may be a 10 min slow waddle).
- x2 exercise/movement sessions either an online FAST class (also ran by my wonderful osteopaths free for patients during lock down) or a tailored one I make up that can be easily done at home using a couch, some hand weights and a Thera band.
- X1000 reps of Lying on the couch.
Here is a quick snippet of me doing one of the workouts that I have been doing 2 times per week. I do 10-12 repetitions of each exercise and I always plan to do one set, If I finish that set and feel ok I do the second set , if I still feel good then I do a third set.
Yes movement, stretching and physical activity are very important during pregnancy, but so is resting. I believe what is most important is to do what feels right and feels good for you, and judge yourself a little less. Big love to all the mummas out there at the moment I hope this helped.
Move well, move often (or just rest)
L-J