I have been avoiding writing this topic for a long time, but the unpleasant facts that have been circulating around me lately, related to children born with health problems or severely ongoing pregnancies, have made me decide to share my real experience in this matter.
I would like to mention in advance that the author of this article has several years of experience in self-work and continuous exercise, some knowledge of physiology, which has allowed him to take responsibility for his own health and that of his future little one. So the narrative below is not an instruction of any kind to anyone else.
It is about exercise during pregnancy. I have already posted a few topics that were mostly built on official medical guidelines, however I was still sharing my accumulated experience in the future. First I wanted to fully test what a pregnant woman can do, what level and type of activity; How exercise affected the body and the course of pregnancy; How to feed a pregnant woman and how much it was possible to give birth to a healthy baby without the help of "medicine" or any kind of vitamins, and I wanted to see the result of all this - my own child, that I could boldly tell you - exercise girls! Practice for future mothers! Exercise pregnant women! - Take care of your baby's health before he is born, all the minutes spent and the energy expended will be fully compensated in the form of your healthy, strong and always smiling child.
Of course there is a lot of literature, materials, recommendations about this, you can consult a doctor, there are special classes for pregnant women, but it is a different personal experience when you can listen to your body, observe its reactions, explore the possibilities. I do not consider it necessary to talk to a doctor about the exercise of a pregnant woman and take recommendations that she herself has no practical experience in this and is guided only by written guidelines (although I do not share this opinion with anyone, it is my personal opinion). Too many doctors insure themselves and only recommend walking to a pregnant woman. However I understand them in this case, if you had no experience before pregnancy, pregnancy is not a good time to get new experiences.
7 months have passed since the birth of my child, even though he was recognized as a completely healthy child without any problems during childbirth, at least this period I was observing his development, immunity, nervous system, etc. I can already boldly say the result is really excellent and I will allow myself to share my experience with you.
I discovered my pregnancy a little later. I was already 8 weeks old when I blamed a small stretch in my abdomen for the New Year's holiday diet and doubled my workout, running at a fast pace of 5-6 miles, performing a 30-minute high-intensity trace cardio with total jumping movements. Because I knew from my timely consultation with my doctor that my chances of getting pregnant were minimal without proper treatment, the suspicion of pregnancy came to me quite late.
Upon arrival at the ultrasound, I was confirmed to be 8 weeks pregnant and my future child was already listening to my heartbeat. I was in absolute shock! But I still had a pretty hard workout routine the day before, big fitness plans for the future, and most importantly I was accustomed to just being a parent to a mother, an already grown up child. In a few minutes everything was upside down.
I was depressed for a few days after the shock. It seemed to me that I was in danger of terminating my pregnancy because of so much exercise, I was afraid of even a slight movement, in a few hours a completely healthy person would have it all together. Wasn’t it a joke, the main part of the first trimester, when I was most at risk of having a miscarriage, and those weird discomforts were the usual toxicosis.
Exercises
Since I was actively exercising for a long time before I got pregnant, I decided to continue the routine, only to get out of a regimen that was not strongly recommended for pregnant women.
These are - high-intensity loads, if before pregnancy I was beating my heart rate at 150-160 beats per minute, now I set 120 as the upper limit; I took out the jumps; I removed the bottom press; I took jogging, although medical and sports sources do not agree on this, as many sources indicate, if the expectant mother ran before pregnancy, then after abstinence in the first trimester, and from the second trimester can continue jogging at moderate loads. However, I still refrained from jogging because there were so many loads I could do.
Here I would like to recall one interesting case that I came across on the internet. One of the female athletes spent 9 months of her pregnancy training and jogging, ran until the last minute, took part in a marathon in the 9th month and was taken straight from the finish line to the maternity ward. The child was born completely healthy 🙂
3-4th month of pregnancy - I was practicing yoga, doing abdominal presses, but with full posture, I was doing arm and leg exercises normally. I was doing dance activities of medium activity, without jumping. With the exception of jogging and jumping, these months have not seen a change in exercise routine.
From the 5th month of pregnancy I took out yoga because lying and inverted poses on the abdomen were already causing discomfort and it was not even desirable, I took out the press. Yoga can be practiced until the last months with proper postures and program, but I was never satisfied with Yoga alone, I wanted more activity and because of that I changed my program. I continued to do moderate-intensity cardio, arm and leg exercises, and added walking. Since I was not running, I was trying to climb 1-1, I was holding 1-1 kg dumbbells while walking to increase the load. In the 5th-6th months, I added steps, that is, climbing on a 30-centimeter platform with dumbbells or other combination exercise complexes. I tried not to relax as much as possible and to stay in muscle tone for as long as possible.
From the 7th month of pregnancy I increased walking instead of dancing cardio. Since walking straight was not tiring at all, I took the turtle lake to the target. Every other day I would walk all the way to Turtle Lake and come down. The rest of the day I spent training my arms, leg muscles and waist.
From this period I remember very happily how they offered to help me go to Turtle Lake, when they saw me standing on a hill with such a big belly, they stopped my car and cordially offered to take me. I could hardly believe that I had left my car downstairs and I was consciously tired 🙂
I had my 8th month in July, it was already quite hot and because of that it became impossible to walk uphill, so I was limited to exercising in the fresh air and walking only in shady areas.
In the 9th month, in August, when my measurements peaked in parallel with the heat, I admit I would give up, only lightly exercise for 15-20 minutes once every few days, and spend the rest of the time watching the clock. I was already expecting freedom and planning a new exercise routine, but already alone, without a belly.
Depression and shock lasted 2-3 days. Eventually I came up with a new sports plan and started implementing it.
The plan was as follows: Exercise, proper nutrition, and minimal medication to give birth to a healthy and strong child. Make the next little one a part of my sports experiment!
food
I ate pretty well and healthily before I got pregnant and so I made no changes to my diet. The only weakness I found and gave up was this khachapuri. For the rest, I continued my eating habits - no junk food, hamburgers, chips, fizzy drinks, smoked products, sausages, etc. Because I decided not to take any medications, vitamins, various regulators, I had to replenish my supply of nutrients somewhere, so I increased the number of meals - I ate a lot of fruits and vegetables (I gained weight quickly in 7-9 months because of fruit), and I was in great demand. I ate cottage cheese, curd, cheese.
drugs
After the pregnancy, like all pregnant women, I was introduced to the popular "tonus" and was prescribed a treatment familiar to all pregnant women - papaverine candles and nospa. Of course I was banned from being active and was advised to lie in bed to avoid getting upset in the first trimester. As I mentioned above, I was in a state of shock for 2-3 days after the pregnancy was diagnosed, then I bought both noshpa and papaverine and I could not get out of bed for fear. I had to take Noshpa-Papaverine only once so that the fear passed, I threw both drugs somewhere far away and started exercising again, instead of rolling in bed.
Here I would like to mention that in foreign sources and practice uterine tone is considered as such a common phenomenon by foreign doctors and does not prescribe any treatment. I can agree as far as I know in physiology and also from practical experience. However, if of course you have other medical indications and signs, then you should refrain from excessive activity. I would like to tell you that the author of this article had enough training experience, a relaxed body and the ability to listen to his own body when he allowed himself to ignore the doctor's prescription.
Until 12 weeks I only took iodine and folium, both of which are considered vitamins and are essential for this period. I have not had any abs until 6 months after that. At 6 months, the prothrombin test was not approved by the doctor and he was referred to one of the well-known angiologists. About 150 GEL worth of medicines and needles I got out of there. This destination was also torn and blown away, after I myself tried to understand in more detail the problem of my prothrombin and fibrinogen increase. I overcame all this by drinking a large amount of cherries, wood, lemon and water and in 10 days all the indicators returned to normal. Financially, if we calculate this "aluchatotherapy", it probably cost me 15 GEL.
By the 9th month I was still on my tablet. I did periodic ultrasound and only the necessary tests, I controlled the blood and the amount of proteins. I felt extraordinary. I did not have any discomfort, weakness, pressure or other complaints. I had to have a caesarean section again due to previous surgeries, so before the operation I obeyed the doctor's request and agreed to take a cardiomagnil and detralex 2-3 weeks before the caesarean to avoid the problem of blood clots.
The result obtained after 9 months was excellent. Children in the maternity ward were examined by a pediatrician every day. At the second examination, the pediatrician turned the little one over, clasped his hands and put them back on me - what should I see, it is a lie, I do not need anything!
Resume :
I was closely watching the coming months of little development as well. Lots of healthy babies are born every day (so was my older daughter), but most problems, even mild colds, diathesis, irritability, as well as periodic consultations with a neurologist, orthopedist, or pediatrician, usually do not go unnoticed by most parents. So was my older son. I am deprived of these problems even from the result of my little "experiment". I just can not understand and can not find the reason why I need to see a doctor or need some kind of consultation (hopefully it will be the same in the future). A little strong immunity and a calm, happy psyche - that’s what I got as a result of a sporting pregnancy.
What was the biggest benefit from my workout? - Oxygen, more oxygen!
My future little one was getting the most precious thing the human body needs for proper development - it is air, oxygen!
It even turned out to be more valuable and effective than consulting any prestigious doctor, controlling thousands of tests or expensive medications.
During exercise, the whole body, its tissues, each cell breathes at full capacity, more than in the normal state. Oxygen at the cellular level allows the body to produce biological and physiological processes to a greater degree than occurs at rest. The strengthened mother's body met the little one because of the exercise, and she herself continued to develop in the same mode. (However, it should be noted that I was considered to be pregnant at a late age and at risk, in addition to my injuries and surgeries I underwent 3 years ago)
So future moms, start taking care of your little one today by taking care of your own health. Do not ruin your health with cruel unbalanced diets, do not spend free time with the computer, move more, act more, exercise, eat right, forget about junk food, products of dubious origin, know what and what you eat with your little one!