I’ve now entered the “less than 2 months until due date” stage of pregnancy, which before I was pregnant myself, I’d characterize to clients as the “freak-out zone.” Right on schedule, I’m suddenly feeling like “ooooh, it’s GO time.” Before I was pregnant, I’d tell clients that the highest anxiety point of pregnancy is usually around 32-33 weeks (this is often when moms have nightmares about labor and delivery, and spend whole days thinking “this baby is going to get bigger? And it’s going to come out HOW?”), and, now, I’m no exception! While we’ve likely got plenty of time, part of the anxiety and push to get things done comes from the fact that I’m already feeling so big and often uncomfortable- and know that this little guy is supposed to double in weight between now and his due date. So I am in “go” mode: nursery, work, Christmas shopping…it’s time to get things taken care of!
While I haven’t had much anxiety about birth (knock wood), I did have some about the baby’s growth. After the comments about my size that I shared on the vlog, I’ve been worried that maybe he was small, or that there was some growth restriction happening. I’m still (STILL, guys) experiencing some pretty tough nausea most days, and I haven’t been able to eat as much as my doctors or I would like. Good news is that my doctor scheduled a growth ultrasound and everything looks perfect. Having had a number of clients experience IUGR – “Intrauterine Growth Restriction” (and usually the mandated bed rest), I feel so relieved and lucky that things are progressing as they are, and that I’m able to keep exercising. After receiving the news from the ultrasound I feel much better about this stage of pregnancy.
Speaking of exercise, throughout my pregnancy I’ve been able to keep up with all of the Oh Baby classes. I’ve been teaching or taking all four of our class types- yoga, Pilates, Prenatal Toning, Fitness and Yoga Combo (aerobics, toning and weights) and water aerobics. I’ve also been going to the gym on my own to do weight training. Walking is still by far the MOST uncomfortable exercise for me due to round ligament pain—which I find so funny, since it’s the most recommended low-impact exercise.
As I feel heavier and more…lumbering (you moms know what I’m talking about), I’m especially loving my Oh Baby! yoga and water aerobics classes. It’s so interesting how I often feel lightest and least cumbersome when I’m exercising- it’s the closest I get to physically feeling like my pre-pregnant self. I think the urge is to rest or hole up on the couch when feeling uncomfortable during pregnancy, but I’ve found that actually makes it worse…. the best I feel during the day is during exercise.
In case you aren’t in an area where there are Oh Baby! classes, I wanted to share two of my favorite workouts that I’m doing at the gym. These are great as they focus on building the back body muscles—the ones that are often stretched and weakened by the increased weight on the front of the body. These are good for any stage of pregnancy, but especially helpful in the third trimester.
Third Trimester workout- The 250
Cardio Warm up (I like 20 minutes on either the stair stepper or bike)
50 wall balls
50 pushups
50 dead lifts (I used a 30# barbell)
50 assisted pull ups
50 step ups
Third Trimester workout- Tabata
Download a free Tabata timer app. Tabata is an interval timing protocol where you do an exercise for 20 seconds as fast as you can, and then rest 10 seconds. You do this for 8 rounds, or 4 minutes total before moving on to the next exercise
Squats
Lunges (Walking or straight up and down)
Plank hold
Bridging
What exercise did you like in your third trimester? Did you find you mentally started to get nervous around 32/33 weeks? Any tips for me as I tackle the last two months of pregnancy?
– Kathleen Donahoe, Co-owner and Senior Oh Baby! Fitness Instructor
