Pregnant runners' club

Hi Mini Mo Jo,

From my own experience, once I got my groove back after Sadie my running improved dramatically. I certainly ran some of my best races. I am unsure how much was re-newed determination after being off for so long or physiological. I am sure it was a mixture of both.

When I get back into the groove I put some speedwork in and really saw the difference.

It is hard work after a baby physically, mentally and time wisw. Sounds like you are doing great!!

Did any of you actually take days of sick due to being pregnant?, i feel a bit horrible today, thumping sore head, nauseous feeling, tired etc etc, but would feel a bit guilty going home sick as i'm not really 'ill'

I am self employed so if I do not work I do not earn :-).

If I was a perm employee I am sure I would have ;-)

Just ignore me if you want, but just feel like having a bit of a moan today. Went to get properly fitted for a bra and told i'm actually a 36G !!! Apparently since your ribcage can expand you're better to get a size bigger and wear it in the tightest setting and then you can let it out as you expand. The fitter reckoned the 36G fitted perfectly just now, i'm only 6 weeks gone, and worried about how big i'm going to get, starting to feel like i'm losing control of my body. Now that i'm wearing a proper fitting bra and not all squashed into one thats too small, my boobs feel and look huge and the range of bras for soft cup G and above is rather limited, going to end up in horrible boulder holders soon. Don't get me wrong, i'm ecstatic that i'm pregnant after trying for so long, but just feeling a bit out of control of my body today!!!!

Please don't feel bad for moaning. It is a scary time and when you are fit and active it is hard to let go of your body.

I was unable to run during my last pregnancy and lost a lot of fitness and after indulging my cravings I put on a lot of weight.

I found it very hard after having Sadie as I had gone up from a size 12 to 16. Thankfully I got back into my running and after 9 months, I was a size smaller than before Sadie. You think things will never get back to normal but they do it just takes time.

Don't feel bad I am sure you are happy to be pregnant. I had a miscarriage in July and realise I am really lucky to be pregnant again. Even so it has still been hard to say goodbye to my fit trim me again.

On the one hand I am less worried this time as I managed to get back in shape after Sadie. However, I do worry how a second pregnancy will affect it all?? How much slacker will everything be?? Will I find it more diffcult to loose the weight being older?? How will my bladder cope?? I am trying not to stress to much and just be sensible with my diet and excercise.

Unfortuantely un glamourous bras can be part of the territory. You should see my passion killers!!

hope you have a lovely time in holland marijke.

the problem we have with carseats in our car is 'buckle crunch'. the belt goes around the seat ok (ie there is enough belt length), but the buckle is jammed up against the side of some seats (depending on the shape of the seat base) because the buckles in our cars are on quite long straps (not tucked in between the seats as they are in some cars), and this is dangerous because it can snap in an accident. we've had this confirmed by two shops now, so i don't think it's just a fallacy (or else there is a wales-wide conspiracy to stop me buying the bugaboo!).

the chicco i'm looking at folds down to half the width of the bugaboo when collapsed, so it will be better for my car. i know the bugaboo would fit the boot, but with all the other junk i expect to be accumulating (and a week's shopping, for instance), the less space the pushchair takes up, the better!

you girls really are doing a hard sell for the bugaboo. are you sure you're not on commission??

i know what you mean about body size. my hips and thighs are sprouting rapidly, in spite of regular plodding. i'm really trying not to overeat, and to eat sensible things, but i'm STILL piling on the lard. i know it's par for the course, and i'm sure it's not excessive, but it IS depressing.

the bit i'm REALLY dreading is 4 weeks after the birth, when i'm feeling like a big, fat, ugly, saggy, greasy and knackered blob - with 3 stone to shift and no energy to exercise. dieting, exercising and breastfeeding - oo what a lovely thought!

my running is going ok. since i got pregnant, i've been taking it very slowly - ie i dropped to 10 min/mile pace from about 8.5 previously just to keep my HR low. but i'm still running 10 min/miles, so i haven't slowed anymore in that time. i'm running about 5-7 miles about 4 times a week, and doing some swimming and pilates as well, so i'm not doing loads, but just enough to keep me ticking over. if i do too much, i get really really bad backache for a few days so have to lay off it all.

just want to keep plodding for as long as i can, because i know how hard it is to get back into it once you stop!

mmj - it's great that you are back out again! how is your head these days? any news on the scan yet?

Mrs O - yes I had 2 weeks off as I was doing the job of 3 people and getting really stressed out, so my Doc signed me off. I felt like pooh all the time and so tired (which eventually passed when I was 5 months), even feel asleep at my computer once and got woken up by a customer - opps!

Caramel - headaches still coming and going, but since I've been getting out more running the exercise seems to be helping, which makes me think its blood pressure related still... No news on the appt for the Neurologist yet. You made me laugh saying the exercise you're doing at the moment is just keeping you ticking over - I think you're Superwoman really. By the time I got to 20 weeks I was only swimming a mile once a week, going to my pregnancy yoga and a trip to the gym for the cross trainner as thats all I could manage. Would get very strange looks in the gym whilst me and the bump exercised a way.

Hope everyone has a nice weekend. Just about to sit down and have a chinese take-away yum x

Not yet been to Holland yet, leaving on Thursday, can't wait. My sister still hasn't had the baby, so hope it arrives before or while we're out there!!

No, not on commission for Bugaboo, and now understand why it wouldn't fit, don't mind if you don't buy Bugaboo, honest!!

I did go through some blues, about 5-6 weeks after giving birth, with all the doing nothing and it was also Christmas which didn't help with the healthy-eating plan!! Was weighed for smeartest two days after Christmas, 6 weeks after having Liesje; how cruel is that!! But have to say, that after I had a good moan on this forum you all pulled my out of the dumps again!! Feel a little more human now, although still not back in pre-pregnancy clothes unfortunately...

ooo girls, we were on page 2. that's not good.

have been fairly cruddy this weekend due to stinking cold. that could explain why i felt so rubbish at the beginning of last week.

went down to see some friends in woking at the weekend, and was heartened to hear them say that i don't look pregnant and don't seem to have put any weight on. they are now my best friends in all the universe! they have 2 small kids, so we got in plenty of practice entertaining them.

i also popped into sweatshop in woking to get some new running shoes as NB have stopped making the model i have run in for the last 2 years. the girl in there was amazed that i was pregnant as well. so perhaps it's not as bad as i imagine.

mmj - glad your headaches are improving. do you think your BP fluctuates? could you get them to give you a monitor so you can test it yourself and see if it coincides with the headaches?

marijke - wouldn't it be lovely if you could see your new nephew/niece while you are out there. especially if it arrived while you were there. do they induce you after a certain amount of time in holland or do they leave it longer? i know in france, they measure pregnancy as 41 weeks, as opposed to 40 in the UK, so fewer babies get induced.

right, time for work now. boooo!

Any advice on morning sickness ? I am now 7 weeks and this weekend the sickness really kicked in. Haven't actually been sick, but felt tired and really nauseous (all day and night), am managing to eat, but just feel it sitting in my stomach afterwards. Last night hubby made a lovely roast beef dinner but spent most of the evening and night burping, feeling bloated and could feel the food lying in my stomach all night. Am burping for Britian at the minute even after not eating much or just sipping water. Any tips on dealing with this, really hope i'm not going to feel like this for the next 6 weeks. Got the cold as well and don't think thats helping, am at work, but really wish i was home in bed. Aploogies for moaning again, one of these days i'll do a cheery post, you lot must be getting fed up with my moaning. Hope everyone else is feeling better than me !!

Caramel; still no baby...my sister is not bothered though, her little boy has chickenpox at moment, so she can do with a little longer before her little girl arrives. The Dutch are very much into keeping everything as natural as can be, but do induce after two weeks like they do here. They're not big into pain-relief, and coming from a family with big heads, this is not necessarily comforting for my poor sister!!

Mrs O, I didn't really suffer bad morning sickness, but as soon as I ate I felt better. Apparently ginger is good, but I never needed to do anything except eat. My sister used to drink tonic water, which made it easier for her. Pregnancy causes delayed gastric emptying, so your food does stay in your stomach longer. And I burped for Britain AND Holland when I was pregnant too, don't know what that is about. I think you are allowed to burp when pregnant!

Ran 10 miles yesterday!! Felt great afterwards, proper drizzly running weather, so left husband at home with Liesje, who has just filled her nappy with the funniest look on her face, so better change her before it runs up her back...

mrs o

hurrah for sickness! it's a great sign for you that the hormones and present and strong - >whispers< and if you *are* expecting twins, you are likely to have it worse. oops, i shouldn't have said that.

i know it's no comfort whatsoever, but it is a great sign.

try eating smaller meals, and eating them more frequently. that way your stomach doesn't get over full.

i didn't find eating more/less helped me. i just felt sick all the time anyway. and mine was made worse by anything touching my neck, such as clothing or jewellery, or by bending over to pick things up. or by cat vomit. or the *thought* of poo. or when i ran. or... etc etc.

Thanks for that, i have a bit of a chesty cough so thought it best not to run today, so went out for a walk for 30 mins instead and felt a lot better for it, yesterday i was feeling really crap and just lounged on the sofa all day, maybe if i'd gone out and got some fresh air i might have felt better. Think the thing about eating smaller meals is a good idea, becuase i just felt full and bloated all last night.

Also another question, i visited my sister and her baby (4 month old) had just had her injections the other day (don't know what the vaccinations were). Anyway, baby Lucy puked and Jenni dumped her on me while she went off to wash her hands, muttering something about it had been a live vaccine and she had to wash her hands. I also got puke on my hands and passed her on to my Mum and went and washed my hands, but not sure if i should worry about this and if i shouldn't have been in contact with baby or the puke, as my Mum and sister don't know i'm pregnant i didn't make a fuss and ask a lot of questions. Anyone know if it would have done me any harm ??

mrs o
if it was a live vaccine, it was probably polio. as long as you washed your hands, it will be fine. you didn't ingest it, so there will be no problems. and as long as you are immune to polio anyway (which i assume you are if you have had the vaccine yourself), it's not going to be a problem for you even if you ingested it.

thanks for that Caramel, put my mind at rest

Mrs O

I have the same problems with nausea. I am now thirteen weeks and still suffering. I am sure I was over this with Sadie!! I have not actually been sick & sometimes I think it would be a relief if i did. Grazing has helped and snacking on plain things.

My turn to rant now! Since my scare last week I have been advised to have a restful few weeks (mot static!!). My problem is my defintion of restful and my husband's is very different!

I understand I need to be careful, but the doctors have said I can exercise again, although I should just take it easy for a few weeks. Anyway my husband will not put my new cross trainer together until the weekend at least and he says no running until a week later.

I know he is just trying to look out for me, but it driving me mad nothing! I nipped out for a quite power march round the shops at lunchtime to keep me sane!!

Iwas getting low enough before my break, I will be running backward when I start again :-(

((clare)) - can you get to a swimming pool and do some swimming. perhaps he'd be happy about that because it's impact free?

walking is a good substitute, if you can't reason with him.

he's just looking out for you and bubs, but i know it's frustrating. he doesn't know what it's like to feel blobbier and blobbier.

i'm so frustrated at the mo because i'm chocka with cold and can hardly breathe. i haven't exercised since last thursday and then i only ran to see whether i could because i was already unwell, so really it's a week since i did any proper exercise. and my cold is getting worse not better. normally i find a cold is a day coming out, a day full blown hitting me and then a day or two going. this one took 4 days to come out and now it's come out, it's been getting worse steadily for the last 3 days. argh!!!

i would exercise if i could actually breathe, as the symptoms are all above the neck (except the aches and pains). but i do feel rubbish as well, so it's probably best not to.

has anyone else had colds when pregnant, and did you find they took ages to clear up?

Colds do drag on when pregnant. It is a due to your immune system being less effective. You do get more of a sinus nose too in the second trimester down to ... you guessed it hormones!

I hope you shift it soon. You have been doing so well with your running. I have been quite jealous :-)

Swimming is really not my thing, so I think I will have to grin and bear it until I get my cross trainer at the weekend. It is running in the great outdoors I pine for. Hopefully in a few weeks time..

It is hard to feel you are getting bigger and bigger and not be able to do anything. I guess I am also haunted by the weight I put on last time. I vowed to do things diferently this time. However through all my winging the baby is the most important thing and if I lost once I am sure (I hope) I can do it again!

Caramel - been told to buy a blood pressure monitor or the other answer from one GP was to pop into Med Centre when had headache and get blood pressure checked then (yeah right the duty medic will really thank me for calling them out at 2am)!

Mrs O - eat little and often and try lighter meals, that don't tend to sit heavy in your stomach. I never actually was sick just had constant nausea. As I said to the others previously "ginger biscuits" they work wonders, even if its only one with a cuppa or dried apricots if wanting something a little healthy. My Midwife told me that nausea can also be a sign of your blood sugar levels dropping as so much is going on in your body at the moment, and thats why its better to eat little and often to regulate the level - hope that helps. But like Caramel says if you're suffering that bad it could be TWINS or a boy!

clare - get some more sneaky walks in, and you will soon be able to get out again for a run.

i'm sure you will do things differently this time. you are much more aware, for a start, of the potential for the pounds to pile on, and you are being much more careful.

and, as you say, if you do end up putting more weight on again than you want to, it WILL come off. you know what you have to do to lose it, and although it's supposed to get harder as you get older, you're not THAT much older than you were last time, and you know what to do to lose it - as you proved last time. so you'll be fine!

i've just had a walk to the post box and taken a look at all our neighbours free range chickens, wondering how long they are going to be free-range for. we are right on the severn estuary in south wales, and there's a wetlands bird reserve 3 miles down the road full of swans and wild fowl, and it's one of the main stopping off points for migratory birds. so sad to think of what is likely to happen around here :-(