Okay, I’m doing it. I’m answering the ‘How do you stay fit while pregnant?‘ question. As an added *bonus* {i.e. comedic relief} I’m including real life photos…of me…7 months pregnant…working out…in our blah apartment…with my three-year-old assistant. I’m embarrassed already.
First up, my supplies. Contrary to popular belief, they don’t include a pricey gym membership, a hot personal trainer, fancy exercise machines or a nanny to watch the kids.
1 – Two supportive pillows to prop my head higher than my heart for certain exercises.
2 – A pair of Embark 5-lb weights I bought at Target.
3 – The Perfect Pregnancy Workout {TPPW} Volume 1: Sculpting video I bought on Amazon.
4 – A step stool borrowed from my kids’ bathroom.
5 – A chair – not shown.
In all, my supplies cost me less than $30 {free weights + video} about 4 months ago. That’s right. What I’m about to show you is what I’ve been doing three times per week since the end of my first trimester. Before then, I was working out at a local gym ~2 times per week, mostly strength training and a little cardio. But with baby #3 on the way unexpectedly, a renovation in the works, and, hopefully, a career change in my future, I figured now was as good a time as any to cut my gym membership from the budget and find a more affordable way to exercise.
I work out in our ~980 sq ft apartment. No home gym here.
I play the video on my laptop in the middle of the living room floor. I prefer to workout in the morning after I get Layne off to school and it’s just me and Everett. But sometimes, I will wake up early on a Saturday or Sunday to squeeze in a session. It just depends what’s going on that week.
{step ups on the stool}
Oh, and I workout barefoot. It’s my personal preference. I just feel more grounded, balanced without socks and shoes on.
I love TPPW. I read reviews on a bunch of prenatal exercise videos on Amazon and this one appealed to me most. I was looking for a workout to maintain muscle tone, stamina and strength during my pregnancy. I want to be strong for labor and delivery this time around.
{pulls and extensions using free weights and a chair for balance}
You see, my last labor {nearly 4 years ago with Everett} was insane. 48 minutes from first contraction to baby’s arrival. That might sound nice but let me tell you it wasn’t. It was 15 hours worth of labor and pain crammed into a very intense, very scary 48 minutes. We barely made it to a hospital and I was completely not in control of the pain, my body or the situation. Not to mention that serious complications – for mother or baby – can arise due to such a short labor. We were quite lucky. Everett and I made it through without any complications. My doctor says it’s likely I will experience precipitous labor and delivery again, so I want to be as strong as possible to endure another natural, non-medicated childbirth.
{extensions with free weights}
TPPW is about 45 minutes long including the warm up and cool down sessions. The pregnant instructor is a former Cirque du Soleil acrobat who comes across as kind and calm – not in your face. The workout is not easy but it’s not impossible either. Because my body is changing so much, so rapidly, each workout gets a little more difficult for me. But in a good way. There are different options {beginner, intermediate, advanced} for certain exercises depending on your level of athleticism. I’ve yet to master the advanced versions of shoulder dips and side crunches. Oh, the side crunches. I think they’re my least favorite thing on the entire video.
So, where is Everett during all of this? Here’s my lovely assistant now…
{reverse lunges using the chair for balance}
Notice Everett is still in his pj’s. I get about 5-10 minutes of uninterrupted workout time before Everett wants in on the action. I don’t mind though. I think it’s important for kids to see their parents being active. Plus, I end up laughing and smiling a lot more during my workout than I would otherwise. Yes, every once in a while I do have to pause the video to get Everett a snack or something but he’s usually pretty good at waiting until I’m done. Like I said, no nanny.
{propped up on pillows for small ab movements}
I love it when he gets right down with me and mimics my movements.
{warm up stretching}
He always lets me know when I don’t do a movement exactly like the woman on the video. By far, my favorite exercises are the shoulder dips. I swear I’m gonna conquer the advanced version of the shoulder dips before this baby is born. It’s a personal goal.
{shoulder dips}
One more thing I’d like to mention. Kegels. I think they’re important and this video makes you do ’em. And so, yes, there are moments when you are staring the instructor in the face as she practices her Kegels and you practice yours. At first, it’s slightly uncomfortable {assuming you’ve never stared a complete stranger in the face whilst knowingly doing Kegels simultaneously} then it’s comical for a while. Eventually, it becomes just another part of the workout but sometimes I do find myself thinking, ‘Doesn’t she find it odd that lots of people are watching her while she contracts and relaxes her vaginal muscles?’ But 6 seconds later I’m thinking, ‘Her lip gloss looks nice.’ That’s how my pregnancy brain works nowadays. I’m easily distracted.
{Hello. These are our muscles and the faces we make when we flex them. Welcome to the gun show.}
Anyhow, doing this workout three times weekly does make me feel stronger and give me some confidence going into what I’m assuming will be another intense, non-medicated childbirth experience. I wish I would have found it 7 years ago when I was prego with our first child. I did prenatal water aerobics 2 times per week throughout my first pregnancy which I liked but, honestly, it was a little too easy for me. During my second pregnancy I skipped working out all together. During that pregnancy we were selling our house in Illinois by owner and moving {sound familiar??} across state lines. I thought things were too hectic to worry about exercising. Whew. Little did I know…
Now, I have two kids, a blog, a house under renovation + an apartment, am working more hours at my real job than I ever have since having kids {more on that later} and was told by my OB just today that I’m anemic {so that’s why I’ve been so freakishly exhausted the past few weeks!} BUT…I’m making prenatal exercise a priority. Because it’s important to me. I always feel better after I complete a workout. And, surprisingly, I end up getting more stuff done on the days I work out. It’s funny how putting aside one hour for working out can produce hours of productivity later. No joke.
So here’s my question for you. I think I’ve got the physical strength under my belt for labor and delivery but I’d like to add some visualization techniques to my coping-with-drug-free-childbirth bag. I practiced HypBirth during my other two pregnancies but wasn’t able to utilize any of the methods during my precipitous labor. Things just progressed waaaaay too quickly for me to even get in the HypBirth mindset. Any suggestions for childbirth visualization techniques that could be implemented during a precipitous labor? I’d love to hear ’em.
I guess if all else fails, Everett could always be my labor coach. Ha!
FYI – I was not compensated in any way to mention the products above. I’m just sharing what works for me! Please seek approval from your doctor before trying any form of prenatal exercise.
images: all Dana Miller for House*Tweaking
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