I had made a comment years ago that I wanted to get in shape before having a child. The response I received was, "Why? Why not just have the kid, then lose the weight once instead of twice?"
When looking at pregnancy, you want to be as healthy as possible. You want to eat the right foods (assuming you can keep anything down), and be fit. Many people realize, after becoming pregnant, that they need to infuse their life with physical activity. However, doctors will preach that you should not add any new activities to your lifestyle, and that you should not exercise more or with more intensity than you did before becoming pregnant.
With my first pregnancy, I had reached my highest weight in my adult life before finding out I was pregnant. I was going to the gym casually, but not engaging in any really intense activity. Because one of my symptoms was dizziness and lightheadedness, I quit my gym membership and decided I would just ride the exercise bike at our house, which of course never happened. I pretty much sat around all pregnancy, ate junk food, and gained 40 pounds.
Fastforward a few years. I reached the lowest weight of my adult life after almost 1 year of working out and eating better - down 47 pounds from November of 2012. I was running a few times a month, but eating right, and adding in some strength training and alternate cardio when I felt like it. I was also attending Zumba classes over the summer and into the fall.
Jeff and I completed the Warrior Dash in Virginia on September 28, 2013. In our hotel room after the race, I commented that I just felt like I was still moving, even though I was standing still. Jeff said he felt the same way and that it was probably a result of driving 4 hours that morning and another hour after the race to our hotel. We went out for dinner, but I still felt the same way afterwards- a little dizzy and lightheaded. We went for a run the next morning, but I felt so drained that I did a lot more walking than running. These two moments put together got me thinking, holy crap... I think I am pregnant - YAY! Sure enough, 2 days later, it was confirmed.
In the past few months, I have sat in the doctor's office with Jeff, asking, "How much can I do? How much is too much? What should I not do?" and every single time, each of the doctors has responded, "Do what you did before. Listen to your body. Don't do more than you did before. Stay hydrated. Stop if you start to hurt. Do not increase your intensity." Jeff worries about this, because I wasn't running daily (or even close to it) before, but he doesn't want me to overdo it. I appreciate his concern and the concern of so many others, who really encourage me to just stop altogether for right now, but I feel pretty good when exercising, and I don't push it too hard. I have still done a race a month since finding out we are expecting again, and I plan on doing one a month the entire year - though June/July I will walk the whole thing I'm sure. I started going to Zumba again, irregularly, to get in some cardio without the risks running carries with it. The nice thing about Zumba is that if a song is too hard, I can sit down. The thing that really stinks about Zumba is the jumping. I have taken multiple potty breaks during 1 song before. I really. hate. jumping.
Other than that, I am trying to keep some light weightlifting in my exercise repertoire. I'm motivated to not become a garbage disposal because I am going to be a matron of honor in a wedding just 3 months after our due date - so I want my arms to look good and want my belly to be as flat as possible. I focus on my arms when lifting, because the cardio works my legs. Then I am not worried about lifting too much.
It is difficult to find a balance between "enough" and "too much" exercise at this point, but it truly does come down to listening to my body. If running hurts, walk. If I feel like I am going to fall down, stop that exercise for a while. The center-of-gravity thing is a killer - regular exercises become more dangerous when you factor in additional weight up front. Talking to my doctor was incredibly helpful as well, because she really encouraged me to continue exercising with caution, though added that around week 20 we would reevaluate based on my size and condition at that point.
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