In our mothers and grandmothers days, women were told not to exercise during pregnancy in fear of harming both mother and baby. However, obstetricians and midwives now tell us to do some form of exercise to get fit or fitter during pregnancy to help cope with labour and the body recover.
When I was pregnant with my first born from the first trimester, I went to prenatal yoga and aqua aerobics classes on a weekly basis. The frequent images that sets in our minds of aqua aerobics is of older ladies with floral swimming caps bouncing up and down in the water. This is actually not far from the truth! Sans the floral swimming caps, in place, frilly, floral one piece swimming costumes.
The aqua aerobics classes that I attended were more ‘energetic’ and was participated by a younger group of ladies, and on occasion, a man. It wasn’t specifically designed for pregnant women but I found that exercising in the water helped support my weight because of the water’s buoyancy. The water’s temperature also helped keep my body temperature from over heating.
You don’t need to know how to swim to do water aerobics as classes are conducted in waist deep or chest deep water. It’s a lot of fun and can be done up until week 40 of your pregnancy.
I did prenatal yoga up until the 40th week of my pregnancy. I attribute my intervention free, first 24 hours of labour to prenatal yoga. I was able to cope with the labour pains purely through the breathing techniques I learnt in my yoga classes. After that, the doctors intervened and that was the end of yoga positions and practised breathing. My son’s head was looking up instead of tucked in so I wasn’t dilating beyond 4 cm and the labour wasn’t progressing. I ended up taking oxytocin and an epidural and that speed things up and I gave birth (with assistance of the forceps) to a healthy boy 8 hours later.
Pre-natal yoga helped me relax when I felt anxious or frustrated. Some positions helped with the swelling in my ankles from fluid retention. It was also a time that was just for baby and I. You don’t need to be super fit or flexible when you start prenatal yoga for the first time. The instructors are quite clear with their instructions and you perform the routine at your own pace so starting yoga when you’re pregnant is perfectly alright.
This time around, with baby number two, I have returned to my old pregnancy exercise regime. With the nausea and vomiting significantly reduced, I have more energy and have started to enjoy the pregnancy. I think it’s important to take time out to focus on baby number 2 and I, and give us time to connect as I did with baby number 1.
I read a great blog the other day that got me thinking. We have a 3 year old boy and being almost 5 months pregnant with our second child and looking more pregnant than someone having a ‘fat day’, I’ve recently received comments and questions regarding the sex of our unborn child. For the most part, they are harmless. Water on a ducks back. However, there are a few that I have found plain rude and annoying.
“You must want a girl now because you have a boy.” - no, I just want a healthy baby.
“I want you to have a girl.” - if you want a girl, then you should try and get pregnant.
“If you have another boy, then you will have to try again to have a girl” - who says I want 3 children?
I get these sorts of comments left right and centre. From close friends, family to strangers. It really makes you think what the purpose of these comments are for. To put pressure on a mother to produce the perfect boy/girl pigeon pair? Once this perfect pair is produced, then what? Does one stop having kids because one is to have it all? And what happens when a family only has boys or girls? Are they to keep trying and trying until they have at least one of each sex?
Throughout both pregnancies, I have a fear at the back of my mind that our baby is unhealthy or has some form of disability. It is a fear that I try to push back and not think about too often. I reassure myself that everything will be ok, that tests and ultrasounds have not revealed anything significant. But that fear still lingers.
So for someone to tell me or comment on something as trivial as the sex of a baby seems so absurd that I almost want to laugh in their faces and tell them that they must be joking. If they are not, then they should go to the neo-natal intensive care units and the childrens’ hospitals to open up their eyes as to how ridiculous their comments are.
There are so many people who try for years and years to have a child and are not blessed with one, or have miscarriage after miscarriage before successfully conceiving. Ask these people if they would like a girl or a boy?
It’s hard to imagine that I have almost reached the middle of my pregnancy. I still feel like I just got pregnant, except the time spent sick and tired during the first 3 months felt like forever. Funny how quickly I have almost forgotten the horrors of the nausea and vomiting. I’ve lost 4 kgs and I’ve yet to gain back the weight plus the extra weight that I think I should have put on. My boobs have ‘porno star potential’ written all over them. I’ve grown from a C cup to a DD cup. If I didn’t wear anything too tight, it’d be hard to figure out whether I was pregnant or not. I’m still wearing my low cut ‘fat’ jeans and all the tops that I was wearing before I was pregnant.
Finally, things are looking up and I’ve even started to eat normally and cook again. The poor stove and oven have been neglected for too long. The only downsize is that food doesn’t taste the same as before. I think I’ll still stock those sweet tasting, crunchy granny smith apples, for some odd reason, they taste so sweet and refreshing in my mouth!
This week, I started to feel baby move inside, my husband just thought it was my stomach digesting food… But I know better. The movements are more obvious than with my first pregnancy, or perhaps I just know what they feel like now and can detect them earlier.
The fatigue hasn’t completely disappeared, I still look longingly at my bed or sofa for some quiet time and nap. Unfortunately, with a three year old running around, it isn’t so easy.
I’m contemplating going back to doing pre-natal yoga and water aerobics. I found that both forms of exercise were helpful with keeping me fit the first time around. Yoga was especially helpful in helping me cope with the labour pains.
Nothing else exciting to report other than that I’m looking forward to the 19-20 week ultrasound to have a good look at baby.
It’s been 2 years in waiting literally for our 3 year old son to attend kindergarten. He’s been on the waiting list to attend a French/Australian kindergarten since he was 1 years old.
The decision to send him this year to a 3 year old kindergarten and not next year was solely based on when he would be accepted to attend. When the time came for him to go, I started to doubt my decision.
The anticipation and anxieties I had for him attending the kindergarten felt like it was myself starting a new school. All those feelings and questions rushed through my mind as I tossed and turned through a sleepless night. Will he cry non stop? Will they know to take him to the toilet if he doesn’t ask? What if another child hits hit or snatches his toys? Who will be there to watch out for him? Questions after questions streamed through my mind that night.
When his dad finally had him all dressed and packed to go to kindergarten, I couldn’t help but shed a tear or two. This was it, the end of that stage in my life where he stayed home with me. It was sad but just the beginning of his educational life.
When I went to pick him up a couple of hours later, I was happy to see that he was fine and amongst other little 3 year olds eating their morning tea. It was a strange feeling, seeing him part of a larger group of kids for the first time, without his mother or father.
I guess the adjustment to kindergarten hasn’t been as long and hard as I had anticipated. It’s only taken him 3 sessions to know that he is in a safe environment that he can enjoy, that he is dropped off and will be picked up. But I still worry every morning when he’s at kindergarten, I wonder if it will ever stop? Or will I continue to worry when he’s at primary school, then at high school…
