Pregnant runners' club

boing for Mette Kirkensgaard

Mrs O, can I ask how long its normal to stay on Clomid for before seeking further advice. I'm on my 3rd month and the dose has been doubled this time as no signs yet of ovulation. Being 34 sort of don't want to wait for ages if I can try something else!

Cinders, i was on clomid for about just over a year in all. Started on 25, then i had 2 cycles each on 50, 100 and 150. On the second cycle of 150 i got vision distrubances on the last day of taking the pills and tried one dose at 200, but had to abandon after 3 days as the visual disturbances came back and never ovulated once. So expect your doc/consultant will try you on higher doses before referring you on for different treatments.

Thanks Mrs O, am just trying 100mg dose so probably a few more months yet, sorry to hear about your side effects.

Hi there - I took 100mg doses which can be taken for up to a year. Is your doctor scanning & montioring you during your cycles? I had no results at 50mg but ovulated straight away on 100mg. If they are scanning and there is no result directly, I would not expect them to keep you on it. I know how you feel about the age thing. I pushed to understand the next steps and when every step of the way. I found you have to be pushy at times. Hope this helps.

Hi Clare and thanks for the info, she put my dose up this month as I spoke to her and said my temp chart was still flat but other than that guess its up to me to keep pushing like you say.

Hi,
I am new to this site, so I have already posted this once (before I was made aware of this specific thread - thanks Mrs O), but here goes again:
I am pregnant (week 12). In my running I have for some time now been experiencing that I am becoming unusually slow (not that I ever was an especially fast runner... ;-) but I am becoming even slower).
Before my pregnancy, I ran about 5.45 min/km; now I should be happy if I can keep the time below 7 min/km!!
Is there anyone in here with experience with pregnancy, who can put my mind at ease..? Even though I am happy and excited with my pregnancy, I do get a little frustrated when I look at my "lap times". Will I need to start from scratch once my pregnancy is through, or can I hope to keep at least some basic shape even though my lap times are decreasing through the pregnancy...??

Looking forward to hearing your input.

This is my second pregnancy. I did not run during my first (and regretted it)due to a job with lots of european travel which was tiring. That said when I went back to running after Sadie was born (4 months after), although the 1st four weeks were hard, when I found my stride again, I was actually fitter and faster than before. This may have been down to my determination to get fit again though :-). I am 10 weeks now and planning to run as long as possible. Yes, my speed has dropped loads, but I am suppose I am just pleased to still be out there this time.

hello turtle!

welcome and congratulations!

yes - you will slow. it's normal to do so, and in fact, it's very important that you don't overdo it. your body will tell you when you are working too hard, and in my experience, if i get carried away with my running and 'forget' to be careful, i end up feeling very very sick quite quickly!

one tip: try leaving your watch at home, or don't time yourself. just enjoy being able to run and relish the thought of the good it is doing baby and you. several of my friends COULDN'T do anything during pregnancy because of high blood pressure and bleeding (i think hegs also had problems from quite early on, so she can confirm how frustrating that is). it's FANTASTIC that you are still out there running. make the most of that. and forget about times!

don't forget that your body is working hard making the baby and all the other bits the baby needs. your resting heart rate will increase during pregnancy, and your heart is working harder to pump extra blood around the body to support the growing baby. my resting HR has gone up by about 10 bpm already (I'm 18 weeks now).

the most important thing is to listen to your body, and keep exercising at a comfortable level for as long as you can. if you have to stop running because of pain, discomfort or because you are worried about anything, that's absolutely fine too! and if you can do some swimming, x-training etc as well as running, that may give you something to carry on with once you do stop running.

i'm just taking it a run at a time at the moment. i'd love to be running throughout my pregnancy, and i'm totally NOT bothered about how slow i become. i ran an 8mile race at the weekend, and started right at the back so as not to get carried away. i didn't finish last, but was sooooo much slower than i normally would be. it really doesn't matter, though. i was plodding along on sunday grinning stupidly to myself because it was a sunny, cold day, and there i was, bringing up the rear of the field but feeling fantastic because i was running. and because i could run. and so many people can't. and i was enjoying myself, because i know it's good for me and baby.

and as for getting back into it after pregnancy, as clare said, many people find that they are actually quite fit after pregnancy. being pregnant is hard work for your body with the extra weight and functions it has to perform. and if you continue to do some exercise throughout, your body will be in the best possible shape to pick it up again once baby is born and you are given the all clear to get back out there again.

and if you have to stop completely, then so be it. your baby and your health are more important than how fast you can run, after all!

i too am quite scared at the thought of having to start from scratch once the baby is born, particularly because mine is due in july, and i am deferring my FLM place to 07, so i will need to get out again fairly soon to start building up the miles for the marathon. but if i have to do a run/walk thing and get around in 5 hours, i will!

hegs will be able to comment on this if she is around, as she is training for FLM now and had a baby last year...

sorry that was a bit of an essay. ;-)

Hello! Happy to share my experiences ;o)
I had to stop running at 16 weeks (doctors orders) as I had early signs of pre-eclampsia and high blood pressure. In fact I probably stopped earlier anyway since I needed to pee constantly when I ran (I carried low right from the start) and felt totally nauseous too. I was up to 18 mile training runs for NYC marathon when i found out I was pregant, so pretty fit. I did press on with swimming and pregnancy yoga until about 28 weeks, but was in hospital from about 31 weeks anyway so stopped entirely then.
I ended up with an emergency c-section and after a few complications (won't bore you with them, but all related to the pre-eclampsia/ eclampsia) I went for my first run 4 weeks after delivery!
I the went on to do a 10k when my little boy was 4 months old and did a PB (it was a flat course though), and to be honest I think that I have definitely got faster/ stronger since pregnancy - so don't despair ladies! Let me quantify however - I am no Paula Radcliffe - my pre-pregnancy 10K PB was 56 mins and my post-pregnancy PB is 53 mins.... And I still have about 6 pounds of pregnancy flab to lose (tummy is flat again - thighs are just rather "chunky").
I am currently training for FLM and hoping for 4:20ish (with the wind behind!), but as Caramel says, any time will do as long as I finish.
Am also now starting to think about another baby - it's this thread - making me all wistful and broody ;o) Lucky my husband isn't a runner or he'd be dragging me off this thread by the hair - he's only just got over the first pregnancy!
Lots of luck
Hegs x

thanks hegs :-)

4 weeks after a c-section?? did you get a medical go-ahead to do that, or did you just go out anyway? i was speaking to a midwife during the race on sunday - who ran during all her pregnancies as well - and she said not to do any running until after the 6 week check. that sounded a bit dire to me. obviously i may feel truly grim, in which case, i wouldn't run, but if i felt ok, i would be really frustrated not to be able to run because of received medical wisdom. (not meaning to offend those in medical profession, though!)

6lbs will fall off with marathon training, i'm sure.

but if you are going to have another baby, may be best to wait until after FLM! ;-)

Hi again,

Thanks for your great input. This site is really great. It is very nice to have someone who wants to share their experiences within running.

I will take your words to heart and be glad that I AM running - however slowly ;-)
I also do some swimming and spinning, so luckily, I won´t´be completely without excersise if I have to stop running at some time later in my pregnancy.

Looking forward to hearing your stories unfold - and to share mine.

Caramel

I see I'm gonna have to watch you after you've given birth!!! Believe me its finding the time to run, I'm finding it quite hard as hubby works shifts and disappearing overseas at times. Hoping to go tomorrow for a gentle plod - lets hope my liver wants to aswell.

The reason you shouldn't do any over the top exercise before you're 6-8 wk check up is because your admonial wall actually spilts down the middle and separates when you're pregnant - ouch I hear you cry. The 6-8 wk period of rest afterwards is to help your body to settle back and let those admonial muscles join/knit back together. Otherwise you can end up with a gap in between and they stay separated. I've seen my mate's stomach as she couldn't wait to get back in to fitness - and oh dear its not pretty!

Only another 4 days to my Doc's appt and hopefully I'll get an answer or they'll cart me off to the looney bin.

Hello Turtle, I agree with Caramel, just go slow and be glad to be out there running, so many girls can't!! I was one of the lucky ones, I ran up to 37 weeks, albeit slow... sometimes I would walk as I got a stitch, but other times I could run around 10 miles and feel great. I even ran a half marathon at 30 weeks of pregnancy, received 2 medals at the end for me and for my bump, which was great. But I was always careful and would never run if it didn't feel right. My daughter is now 12 weeks and I was out running again 4 weeks after my caesarian. And yes, finding the time is difficult, sometimes a bit frustrating, but my gym has a nursery and I have just started putting my little girl in there for 1 hour to do some cross training during the week, as I can only run at the weekend (can't wait for the dark evenings to get lighter!!). My stomach muscles seem ok although not sure where they are at the moment, too much padding still present all over!! I keep reading all your messages and really enjoy it, keeps me positive and wanting to run even more. I have to say that when I went for my 6-week check at the GP he was very vague and couldn't answer any questions about how much I could excercise, I got more information from you all. Keep up the running and good luck to all the bumps out there, Marijke

Mini MoJo - did you get out for your run? How was your liver?

Yes - I had heard about the abdominal muscles thing, but is that only if you have a vaginal birth, or is it also if you have a c-section? It seems both Hegs and Marijke were out before 6 weeks, although both had c-sections. I would have thought it applied to both types of birth, and would have thought the c-section was even MORE traumatic for your abdominal wall!

Anyway, I'm sure I'll just feel tired and grim after the birth and won't feel remotely like running. We have a treadmill in the garage, which I should imagine will get some use after the birth! It should make it a tad easier to run when hubby is not around as long as we have a baby monitor thing and the baby actually sleeps!

I have done NO running this weekend. Had a friend to stay from London, so we did some walking in the Wye Valley, lots of pub lunches and gossiping and setting the world to rights, which is just as important as running really :-)

But I will be heading out later, as long as I stop feeling sick at some point. Week 19 now and STILL nauseous. Oh dear!

Good luck to all other bumps and mummies!

It is the same with the abdominal muscles for both types of births. I did feel very well and energetic immediately after the birth of my daughter, and felt ready to go out for a run. But now....12 weeks on, I am just recovering from my second cold in two weeks, have not been for a run (because of cold) for nearly two weeks and really need to motivate myself to start running again! Reading this forum keeps me slightly motivated, but feel quite tired at the moment and not at all energetic!! I have heard that you are on a bit of a high immediately after giving birth and that you have a lot of reserve, maybe this reserve is drained after about 10 weeks, with the lack of sleep and breastfeeding all the time. But I will keep reading your threads and will be back on the road as soon as my sinusses clear, have booked gym for two days this week to keep me going..I hope your nausea goes quick Caramel, I'm a bit jealous of your treadmill in the garage, hope you feel better soon!

Caramel

Yes managed a run yesterday, made hubby throw me out and lock the door and not let me in until I came back. Felt totally depressed though as it took me 40 mins to run 3.2 miles, whereas it use to take me 27 mins but hey ho. I haven't really been able to get out much but am now trying to make more of an effort, have a little "me" time and hopefully what with seeing the Doc this coming Wed may get a few answers (liver not so bad).

Hope bump is well...

MMJ - but you did it!!! and you have been very very poorly, and haven't run for many months. Don't be depressed about it. Be happy that you can get out and do it.

You sound a tad fed up actually.

(((Mini MoJo)))

Really hope the doc is more attentive this time. Write it all down on a piece of paper to make sure you say it all. And if necessary, have a strop. It's your health and your baby needs her mummy to be strong and fit and not have a headache.

Well, I did my wee plod down to the estuary and back. Felt gooooood, inspite of nausea. May be the only plod I get outside this week, as off to Reading and Rochdale for the rest of the week. Ho hum! Am so relieved that bump is still letting me run. Even though I did feel like my bladder was about to explode as I was running, and actually since I got back, don't even feel like I need a pee anymore. It's very very strange!!

((Marijke)) - hope your cold clears up. Sounds like you have been expecting a lot of your body, and you really are feeding two now, so make sure you are refuelling properly and getting as much rest as you can (ha ha ha! yes, i know. not easy).

the brighter, lighter, warmer days *should* be on their way soon, and that is bound to help us all.

I think you're right caramel, just feel a bit deflated after feeling so well to start with I suppose. And having had decorators invading the house hasn't helped! But they've just finished, so can start living in our own lounge again once the furniture is back in. Good for you MMJ for going out on that run! Just stop your watch until after the birth so you don't know your time. 40 minutes of running is great considering all you're going through! I'm ashamed of my earlier moan when I've been so lucky to fly through pregnancy and c-section and have bouncy cuddly baby sitting on my lap as we speak!