Quicker Than Expected

I’m pregnant, I’m pregnant, I’m pregnant….. That’s me reminding myself as it has still not having fully sunk in yet, if I say it enough it might hit home. I did the at home test two days ago, and while there was definitely the second positive line, it was very faint. So I did it again today to be sure, and there it was, the second positive line showing much more clearly.

In between reminding myself that it is true I am pregnant already, much quicker than I thought it would take, I have 1001 things twirling around my head. Got to visit the doctor, how far am I already?, that explains why I got uncharacteristically weepy watching TV the other day and why I have been also uncharacteristically craving chocolate, I want to tell people, I want to wait before telling people, I so can’t make up my mind on that….. so I’ll tell anyone who happens to read my blog, at least for now.

1 gym, 2 gym, 3 gym 4, to which gym should I knock on the door?

Picking the right gym/antenatal classes/place to work out while pregnant is not easy. I cancelled my gym membership today (30 days notice so I’ll still be going there for the next month). Why? Because that gym is not suited to me for working out while pregnant.

Now I can hear some of you thinking any gym has to be better than none, why quit? Well to put it simply the gym I currently visit has no pregnancy appropriate classes at times where I can get in. I have quit so I can use that money at more suitable facilities.

Firstly I will be switching from kick boxing and combat style classes to swimming. While those that are already very fit are told they can continue with high intensity training, you need to be wary with high impact movements or those with directional changes, especially later in pregnancy, due to the hormone Relaxin making the body joints unstable. Mainly due to the stability issues I will be avoiding high impact classes from the start of my pregnancy to be on the safe side.

Swimming however is the perfect pregnancy exercise. The low impact nature means joint stability is not an issue. It is shown to help with fluid retention for those retaining too much fluid, and it is a great workout that is able to exert the fit with out being too taxing on a pregnant body. Swimming is also more suited than classes as you need to be carful not to over, exert yourself when exercising while pregnant, and it is easier to monitor your pace when not in a class.

In addition to swimming, when I get to about 12 weeks I will start antenatal classes. I have already looked into providers in my area, as last pregnancy I left it too late and due to waiting lists missed out. I have narrowed it down to two providers and will decide which list to put my name on when I am pregnant.

Finally in regards to resistance training, there is a gym near home that has fairly cheep casual visits. I will use that gym in the meantime, after my remaining 30 days runs out. When I am pregnant I will continue to do LIGHT resistance training with the bar and 20kg of varied weights I already have at home. Once again due to the hormone Relaxin, heavy resistance training in pregnancy is unadvisable as the risk of joint damage is quite high.

To sum up, the right exercise facility when pregnant, might not be the same as the one(s) you where using before hand and it is well worth investigating your options. If you are interested in a more comprehensive overview of safe exercise when pregnant see the Better Health Channel, or for those who like more of the reasoning behind the advice read the science of exercise during pregnancy.

Food Glorious Food

I love cooking. I will often spend hours in the kitchen cooking up an elaborate meal or trying out a new recipe. I love hosting dinner parties as it is a great excuse to go all out. Admittedly my love of food is part of the reason I am overweight as I can’t help sampling as I go. Food in pregnancy, however, takes on a whole new focus, with many things taboo.

While as far as I know I am not pregnant yet, the possibility is there, so I am trying to eat as if I am pregnant to get into practice. Just yesterday I had some soft serve ice-cream while out with the family. About half way through it I realised that soft serve is on the list of no-no foods for the pregnant. I added it to my rapidly growing mental list of foods to not eat.

When we decided to start trying and I decided to start eating as if I am pregnant, I thought it would be easy to remember what to avoid, after all it wasn’t that long ago that I was last pregnant. I was wrong! I keep catching myself going to eat things, or part way through eating remembering it’s on the ‘foods to avoid while pregnant list’. So after yesterday’s incident I decided to look them up again and share here for anyone else struggling to remember what to avoid.

Foods to avoid when pregnant:

• I’ll start with the obvious, avoid alcohol and cigarettes and limit caffeine.
• Soft and unpasteurised cheeses, basically any unpasteurised dairy is out.
• Processed sandwich/cold meats and cold cooked chicken.
• Raw seafood – brought sushi is definitely out unfortunately.
• Pate.
• Soft serve ice-cream - oops.
• Undercooked eggs, there goes those lovely runny yokes for a bit!
• Undercooked meats, if you like your steak rare, you will need to go medium for a while.
• Anything cold foods such as salads or dressings that have been sitting around at room temperature for a while. Basically anything that is meant to be cold that has been at room temperature for a while.
• Pre-prepared salads.
• And finally regardless of the food, watch out of food hygiene to ensure cross contamination between raw and cooked foods or other hygiene issues don’t cause salmonella.

The NSW food authority has a handy and comprehensive printable version of the foods to avoid that is easy to check foods against.

So now it’s off to the kitchen for me, to cook up a lovely dinner that contains nothing on the above list!

Fitness and Health are More Important than Age When Getting Pregnant

Recently Dr Barry Walters came out saying that women who get pregnant past the age of 37 are selfish as they will leave their children with geriatric parents by the time they are becoming adults. He also claims that the health risks for mothers are too high by this age and they should not be having babies. Read the full article.

Yes I agree that the risk of health problems would be higher as a person ages, but that does not mean that all 37 year olds are unfit, unhealthy and beyond being able to have a safe pregnancy. Some people over this age would be fitter and healthier than their younger counterparts. Shouldn’t this decision be done on a case by case basis between the potential mother and her own GP who knows her medical history and fitness level?

Further his claim implies that all females will be geriatrics by age 60. Given that the current average life expectancy for a female is around 85 years, I would say this it is a bit unrealistic to assume that the majority of people will be geriatrics by this age. Yes some people may be having major health problems by age 60, but many people are still fit, healthy and active at this age. Different individuals age differently and so the decision should be up to the individual, rather than a pre-determined age being considered ‘too old’ for all. In fact studies have shown that individuals who are fit can expect an extra 12.7 years of disability free life on top of what their less fit counterparts achieve, so fit people are not being selfish getting pregnant beyond their mid thirties.

Even though I firmly believe that when a person has children is up to them and no-one else, a better argument to have children early is the increased risk of Down syndrome as the mother ages. My personal preference would be to finish having children before age 34, when the risk goes beyond 1 in 500.

Rather than using age as a magical cut off point for getting pregnant; mums-to-be should decide if they are right to get pregnant based on their own fitness and health. A pre-pregnancy check up is always a good idea when your pregnancy is planned to allow any health issues to be addressed first. If you want to remain healthy and active well into your children’s adulthood, the most important thing is to be fit, before during and after pregnancy – keep on exercising for life.