Exercise!

Fetal Development at 27 Weeks

Now in my 27th week of pregnancy, which happens to be the last week of my second trimester, I consider myself fortunate to be having an uncomplicated and enjoyable pregnancy so far. Of course, adding about 20 pounds of weight to my front side has made my body a bit weary, and I occasionally have some back pain and strain in my abdominal ligaments. For the past few weeks, Robbie and I have been very busy with rearranging the house and painting the nursery, which has made me especially achy. Some nights after doing a lot of physical labor, I felt like I needed a professional massage or something. But rather than spend $50-$100 regularly on prenatal massages (which I am sure are delightful), we decided to get a YMCA membership for me. We really don't have the money for the expensive YMCA membership, but in the end it would be cheaper than going for massages and will help me to continue having an enjoyable pregnancy because I can now do my favorite form of aerobic exercise: swimming! Unfortunately Planet Fitness doesn't have a pool, and I was getting tired of using treadmills and ellipticals...especially now that their is no longer ice on the sidewalks and I can walk dogs at a brisk pace. So I am really excited to have switched over to the YMCA and to be swimming. While a member of the Y, I will also be taking a prenatal water aerobics class (free with membership), which I am super excited about.

According to Pregnancy Childbirth and the Newborn, The Complete Guide (Simpkin et al. 2010):

In general, low-impact aerobic exercise is best for pregnant women because it doesn't involve movements that can strain joints. Swimming or taking a water aerobics class provides a total-body workout with the lowest possible impact, because the water reduces the force of gravity on your body. In addition, standing or sitting in water that reaches your shoulders reduces swelling by pusin gtissue fluid into your circulation (and eventually out of your body through urination).

I have been swimming regularly for a couple of weeks now, and already I feel like my back muscles have been getting stronger and I have been less achy. I love feeling weightless in the water; I can swim just as fast as I did before I was pregnant without any extra fatigue. With walking, which I do a lot of everyday, I find myself getting tired very quickly and I have to be really careful of not overdoing it. But with swimming, I can just go for it and it feels good to be able to move quickly. Plus, I just love being in the water, and I imagine the baby enjoys the feeling of weightlessness as much as I do. Here is a link that discusses more benefits to swimming while pregnant: BabyCenter

Besides swimming and walking dogs (usually 1-2 hours a day) I have also been continuing yoga and I started belly dancing occasionally. I have just finished my winter session of prenatal yoga and am starting the spring session this Thursday. Yoga has been great for me both before and during pregnancy, and I can't imagine my life without it anymore.

According to Pregnancy Childbirth and the Newborn, The Complete Guide (Simpkin et al. 2010):

Yoga practice promotes self-nurturing and harmony of the mind, body, and spirit. Yoga builds strength and stamina, improves flexibility and balance, encourages mindfulness, increases energy, and promotes meditation (which calms the mind and nourishes the spirit). Yoga also strengthens core muscles (abdominal, pelvic floor, and back) and postural muscles, and improves breathing and mental focus.

I really do feel like I gain all of these benefits from yoga, and would recommend the practice of yoga to everyone.

Belly dancing is something I had never done before, and now I am doing it at home with a DVD. I think its really fun, empowering, and it makes me feel stronger and less achy. I have been using Amira's Bellydance and Yoga for Pregnancy DVD. The neat thing about this DVD is not only do you have the opportunity to dance around, she also uses yoga to warm up and cool down, some strength exercises that will aid during childbirth, and instructs you on different movements that may be helpful during labor. Sometimes I just put on Arabic music now and dance around the house because it releases a lot of pressure to move my hips around like you do in belly dancing. I am hoping to become comfortable/familiar with the movements so that they will feel like second nature when I am labor.

Uh-oh, back pain at 24 weeks

Development of Baby at 24 Weeks

Wednesday night, I had my first case of intense lower back pain, and it was far from enjoyable. For a few hours before bed on Wednesday, Robbie and I played Minecraft together and eventually I had to stop because my back was getting achy. I probably wasn't sitting correctly in my chair, so I tried using pillows to support myself better, but I guess the damage was already done.

That night, my lower back was killing me. I tossed and turned for hours, but no matter what position I slept in, or how many (or how few) pillows I used to adjust myself, the pain was too strong for me to ignore and fall asleep. Usually if I have a migraine, I can still usually manage to fall asleep eventually despite the pain. So it was frustrating that I couldn't just doze off. I think Mattimeo was really down low and pressing on my spinal column. I could feel him kicking really low, and there was so much pressure on my back. Then he started kicking my bladder and I could actually feel liquid jiggling inside me. So I had to keep getting up to use the bathroom. I also kept getting up, starting around midnight, to try various yoga poses that would alleviate back pain and potentially encourage the baby to move. The pain would go away for a bit, but would just come back and I would be back on my mat an hour later trying new things. I also tried some belly dancing; I would gently move my hips in big circles which was both calming and a temporary pain killer. But I was so tired, I couldn't just keep doing yoga and belly dancing all night, I wanted to sleep! At 4 am, I decided to try taking a warm shower to see if that helped. That felt wonderful, though I felt strange taking a shower at that time. But as soon as I got out of the shower and back into bed, the pain was back. Robbie also got up at some point to give me a little massage. It felt good when he pushed down on the back of my hips.

By about 7:30, Robbie woke up to get ready for work (poor guy had a pretty sleepless night due to me tossing and turning) and he convinced me to take some Tylenol so that I could sleep for a couple of hours. That ended up working and I fell asleep until 9:30 when the Tylenol started to wear off. I got up at that point and made some breakfast. It felt wonderful to stand up and cook, it took a lot of pressure off my back. Then when I sat down to eat breakfast, I found rocking gently back and forth was very soothing. That afternoon I had to walk a few dogs, and getting some exercise finally made the pain disappear completely. After that, I was fine for the rest of the day and enjoyed going to my yoga class, then playing board games with friends, and finally having a beautiful deep sleep last night.

I'm not sure if the back pain came from the position of the baby, from my poor computer posture, or a combination of both, but I hope it doesn't become a regular occurrence. I am definitely more motivated to be more careful at my computer, and make sure to fit in more yoga throughout the day now. The cats seemed to really enjoy my sleepless night. They followed me around the house purring, laying next to me while I did yoga, then laying on me or Robbie when I tried to go to sleep (Pi would paw Robbie and wake him up sometimes; he didn't want him to miss out on the fun). Theta even tried to take a shower with me and kept opening the shower door and sticking his head in to lick the water. I was happy to have their company, they made me laugh and I was glad that they were at least happy I was awake all night to pet them. I don't know what my life would be like without my boys!