Pregnant runners' club - Page 30 - Health + Injury

Feet in Clouds

11/04/2006 at 17:01

Towards the end, I blew up like a balloon with Sadie. I could not get shoes on - only brikenstocks - which was not ideal in January when snowing. My fingers swelled and I even after loosing all the weight had to have my wedding rings made bigger. My face looked like a pumpkin!

I have one other friend who suffered like this and she swam daily. So exercise did not affect help her.

My BP shot up a few weeks before Sadie was born, so she was induced a day early. In saying that my BP calmed fairly quickly after. I was given not reason for the bloating and neither was my friend. Perhaps some of us just turn into bloaters rather than bloomers :-). At least it will be summer this time, if it is back to the birkenstocks!

It took me a month or two for the swellings to calm down, hopefully that will be the case for your friend too.

HerefordshireLass

11/04/2006 at 17:11

Minks - just to reassure you. One of the smallest, most petite women in our church has had 3 children now and you could only tell she was pregnant from about 7 months. Seriously I don't know where she hid those babies (in each pregnancy they worried the babies were small but in no case were they) so when your time comes you may not have to declare yourself too early!

Caramel Macchiato

11/04/2006 at 17:20

clare - the swelling up doesn't sound good. i naively thought that if you exercised you were more likely to avoid swelling. but the case of your friend doesn't seem to underpin that. eeeeek!

minks - you will probably find that on your first baby, you don't 'show' too early on because everything holds itself in place quite well. the uterus doesn't really start heading northwards until about 14 weeks, so you are very unlikely to show that much. at the worst, you may look a bit bloated round the middle, which you can disguise with baggy tops.

i've just been to the GPs to get a certificate to say i'm fit to fly on saturday, and put on a normal top (not maternity) over some normal trousers (not maternity, but quite baggy) and thought - honestly, if you didn't know i was pregnant, you might just think i'd had one or two pies too many! there's really hardly any bump at all.

anyway, heard the baby's heartbeat again - which is always nice and seemed to make the doctor's day. he had a huge grin all over his face. and apparently, the baby is head down on the right handside - although if that's the case, what is this really hard lump under my right ribs???!!!

oh and - something which made me crack up. the GP asked me if i was having braxton hicks contractions and i said 'no'. he had his hand on my stomach and he said 'you've just had one then'. hey?!? i didn't feel a thing? how does that work then?? is it possible not to notice them? or was he just making it up?

Hegs

11/04/2006 at 19:51

Did your friend have a girl, Minks? I noticed that all my friends who have had girls got quite bloated faces, ginormous boobs and fat tops of arms regardless of their original size/ shape. Nothing scientific about this, just my observations!

I, on the otherhand, carried all my weight around my bum and hips and boobs only went up 1 - 1.5 cup size (to a HUGE 34C ;o)).

caramel - one of my friends had exactly the same thing with the braxton hicks contractions - really common not to notice them at all. Was watching Home and Away earlier and giggling at the totally useless representation of the onset of labour (Hayley, for those of you who watch). She went from nothing to screaming, doubled agony within the space of 5 minutes!!

The truth is that contractions are more like period pains, dull, tight aches or crampy feeling that become tighter and less dull as they go on (I only got to 3cm dilated when i had my c-section so can only talk about my experience here). But certainly no screaming agony in the initial stages!!

HerefordshireLass

11/04/2006 at 22:31

I don't remember ever feeling any Braxton Hicks contractions :-)
Agree with Hegs re contractions - 12 hours at home before even a whiff of gas and air :-)

Caramel Macchiato

12/04/2006 at 08:30

i feel reassured now. my husband is now convinced that i'm retarded because i can't tell the difference between a movement and a braxton hicks contraction!

we did the whole labour thing AGAIN in our ANC last week (for about the 5th time). apparently, 48 hour labours are not uncommon for a first baby. oh joy. and spending 18 hours or more labouring at home before you go into hospital is also completely normal. sounds like an AWFUL lot of hard work to me!

Hegs

12/04/2006 at 09:54

Caramel - honestly, early labour is not really that painful. I was in labour for 12 hours with zero pain relief and having contractions every 4 minutes for 1 minute each. It is soooo hard to explain the feeling - it takes your breath away, but is not sharp pain. Everyone is different though and responds to the feeling differently, so some people need pain relief earlier than others.

I think the best thing is to try and keep as relaxed about the whole thing as possible (not easy at the time!) - I was just so relieved to be having my baby that I was actually enjoying it - until things went a bit pearshaped and I had to have him out the sunroof!

Minks

12/04/2006 at 10:01

Thanks for the reassurance, Sian and Caramel. Can't believe I'm thinking about things like that already when I'm not even remotely pregnant!

Hegs, yes, my friend who swelled up did have a girl. So, however, did my 'skinny Minnie' friend, and the only swelling she experienced were her feet/ankles in the last couple of weeks. Friend #2 had a boy. She also said labour wasn't nearly as bad as she'd expected, and likened the contractions to the kind of tummy cramps you get if you have a dose of diarrhoea - pretty uncomfortable but at least you get recovery time in between. And as she said, you don't get gas and air for diarrhoea (well, maybe the gas!!)

Mum2Liya

12/04/2006 at 10:03

Hello ladies, I haven't read all of the previous messages about labour, but if I may, I'll give you me tips based on my experience: if you're in pain, but feel that it's too early to go, make sure you keep eating, as you may need the strength if things last quite a lot.
I think that for most women it's the exhaustion more than the actual pain that is difficult. Sooo make sure you relax and try to sleep as long as you can, and as for the food: I had a bit of pasta, but couldn't face a proper meal, so I kept eating dried apricots and drinking Lucozade. That really helped me. And make sure to take some to the hospital to keep munching until they tell you you can't anymore.
And then I found having the rest of my fruit and Lucozade in the postnatal ward quite comforting when the hospital food wasn't too appealing.
That's something they don't really put on the list: make sure to take some nice comforting food for when you're in hospital, after you've given birth. the couple of toasts and tea given by the midwife were welcome, but not enough for my sweet tooth!!

Caramel, don't worry too much: I spent my whole pregnancy convincing myself I'd have an easy, fast labour and that helped me being quite relaxed on the day. Now I look back and all I can remember is the intensity between me and my husband while he was helping me with the breathing. And of course, the moment my baby was put on my chest: AMAZING!!!!!!!!!

Caramel Macchiato

12/04/2006 at 10:31

thanks for all your reassurances. my husband seems to think that i will panic like mad about being in labour and expects me to be useless. what with him telling me that and my mum telling me i'll be a useless mother, i'm beginning to feel a bit inadequate. ;-)

i'm actually feeling quite relaxed about it. around here there's a 25% c-section rate anyway, so there's a fair chance he'll come 'out the sunroof' anyway (great term hegs!), so i am not getting any ideas in my head one way or another about how it's going to be.

but he has to come out somehow! and that's all i'm focussing on.

we're having our downstairs bathroom redone at the moment, and i've just watched our bath, toilet, sink, shower etc being walked out the front door. hurrah!!! the lilac bathroom suite is no more. yippeeee!

the only trouble is that the water has been switched off, and i keep needing a pee...

MrsT

12/04/2006 at 10:40

I hadnt even considered food in the whole labour thing. Will definitely bring some with me now!
SO cannot wait for that moment when they put baby on my chest.

Minks re size and bumps showing early on etc.. I'm not quite as tiny as you..pre bump I was 8st 3, 5ft4..small build..I was showing at 7, 8 wks(sorry!) but I managed to just buy work jackets a size bigger and always wore black t shirts underneath..which disguised it quite well in work. Only 1 girl in work actually guessed I was preggers b4 I announced my pregnancy so am very proud of myself!

So far I have put on 10 lb..so I look massive..good massive tho..I love having my bump. On my last visit with m-w, the baby bump measured about 2cm bigger than it should be...argh!...she said not to worry just yet about big baby/diabetes..so am putting it out of my mind..well I'm trying. In the meantime am cutting down on fruits,biscuits and trying to replace with raw veggies..not quite so yummy :-(
Hopefully the measurements will be fine on my next visit.

CM well done you on your diagnosis on my pains!

MrsT

12/04/2006 at 11:02

Yikes CM..no loo ..get out to your neighbours house fast

You're right to be relaxed about whats going to happen on labour-day. I'm the same. I've heard some friends of mine really determined on the way they want the labour to be..and end up being really disappointed with the whole experience.

All we want is a healthy baby after it all..so whatever has to happen to make that possible..then thats fine.

Caramel Macchiato

12/04/2006 at 11:29

mrst
it's not quite that bad - we have 3 other toilets, although one is outside and full of spiders (haven't got round to clearing it out yet this year - that's on the list for friday. oh joy!). if we didn't have a toilet at all, i'd be in dire straits by now!

when is lunchtime? i'm STARVING again!!

LozF

12/04/2006 at 11:56

Hi folks

Just wondering if I can join in. I found out on Sunday I was pregnant (first month of trying so a little surprised) and I was supposed to be running the Reading Half, but didn't as I hadn't had a chance to read up on whether it was safe or not! Decided to err on the side of caution and not do it. Then had to make up a fake illness to friends and colleagues as to why I didn't do it, and why I've made a miraculaous recovery.

No symptoms just yet apart from the incredibly sore boobs and slight bloated feeling (and needing more sleep - I wasn't expecting that so early).

I plan to keep running and do pilates etc but have slimmed down both the miles and speed. (Mind you, speed was never up to much anyway!) Can now actually go out running with hubbie as he's the only person I know of who is actually slower than me - so it could definitely have benefits!

Good to know I'm not on my own or mad for wanting to keep running. Have bought the runners world book on the subject when we started planning so I have a good reference!

Caramel Macchiato

12/04/2006 at 12:28

congratulations!!

we also conceived on our first month of trying - you never think it will happen given that you spend all your life trying to avoid it!

i'm sure you would have been fine to run the reading half, but erring on the side of caution is always sensible.

you may find that as things progress you start to feel worse from nausea and running becomes a challenge, but some people sail through with no problem.

pilates is a great thing to do while pregnant but you should really tell your instructor because there are some moves that aren't recommended while you are pregnant and some other things you should only do after 16 weeks. maybe you know about them already, but if you don't and you mention it to your instructor, hopefully they will manage to be discreet about it and not holler out 'and for you pregnant bird at the back...'. normally they will be quite good and say things like 'for anyone not wanting to put too much strain on <x body part>, then do the following'...

LozF

12/04/2006 at 12:55

Thanks Caramel!

It's all a bit surreal to be honest. I've already spoken to my Pilates teacher, and he's going to leave out the 'dodgy' exercises for the next couple of weeks so no one notices, and then customise my workout for me as I get bigger. Bless him!

It feels strange telling a relative stranger when I've not told any friends and family yet! Waiting for a while before I tell them all - I want to make sure everything's okay first.

Caramel Macchiato

12/04/2006 at 13:31

LozF

that's great news. i was terrified about telling my fitball instructor in case she blabbed to everyone but she was actually very good!

i found it really hard telling people - and do even now (and i'm now approaching 28 weeks!). i think it's because you worry they think you are only telling them so that they can congratulate you. and, certainly, until i'd had my 20 weeks scan, i didn't want any congratulations because i was worried about things going wrong! i waited until after that scan to tell all but my closest friends (whom I'd told after the 12 week scan), because there would have been nothing worse than having to un-tell them if there had been a serious problem detected.

i did tell my mum and hubby told his mum as well as soon as we found out. we figured we'd probably want their support if something went wrong. but we didn't tell anyone else until after 12 weeks.

12/04/2006 at 13:57

Running when Pregnant question

Hi, i may have asked this already, but how hard do you run whilst pregnant. Don't have a hear rate monitor and not sure how hard to push it without overdoing it. Most of the time i feel a wee bit puffed and go a bit red as usual but can still hold a conversation ok. There is the odd steep incline on a lot of the routes and i have been walking up these, if i was to try and run up them i would definetly be puffing really hard and my face would be purple for about 30 seconds and i would be knackered at the top. None of the inclines or wee hills are very far, you're only talking about 30 secs to a minute to get up them, but is it ok to push yourself a wee bit for a short time or should i just stick to walking up these steep bits ??

Caramel Macchiato

12/04/2006 at 14:19

mrs o

this is just my opinion - but as long as you FEEL ok when you are doing it, i think it's fine to push it a bit, as long as you are not overheating or pushing it for too long. at the end of the last race i did, i put on a bit of a sprint down the last straight and round the bend into the finish (well, no-one would have identified it as a sprint, but *i* felt like it was!) and i felt fantastic at the end of it.

in fact, some of the research that i've read has said that even periods of sustained intense activity (such as speed sessions) have caused no problems to pregnant women, but most people wouldn't actually recommend them.

and if we had been prehistoric pregnant females, we'd have needed to run pretty fast to get away from predators, so i think short burst of intense effort are fine.

believe me, if you are doing too much, you will almost certainly feel it yourself before you have a chance to do any damage to the baby!!

LozF

12/04/2006 at 14:38

We're thinking of telling parents at around 10 weeks - they'd be so excited I'm not sure I could cope with it! That way they get to know before anyone else, but it's not right away.

I'm sure they'll also tell me to give up cycling to work (dangerous - even though I use a cyclepath), give up running (dangerous, I might pull a muscle), give up my motorbike (dangerous, I've only had one for 18 years) etc etc and get some nice velour tracksuits, start watching all the soaps, dressing in pink, must eat more red meat, and eat until I burst.....sorry went off on one there. They already think my lifestyle is mad, so I'm sure both mothers will now expect me to conform to what THEY expect from a wife and mother (to be)!