Pregnancy tips?

[Miranda]

Congrats on your upon new addition! Good for you on staying fit, but yes things start to change as the baby fills up your body. My thought for you is to find a gym with good spinning classes, and ideally a pool with organized water classes.

One of my gym GFs that's a marathon runner took spin class literally up to days before delivering her baby. One of the keys in there is adjusting your bike. I ride mine adjusted as well to give some back issues a rest from my usual road position (bars and seat even). I put my bars on the spin bike upright like a comfort bike. That is how the prego gym GF rode too.

Yes, riding inside is not the same adventure as outside. But, it can really work for you on many levels with an open mind, IMHO. You have the group of folks, like you do for club group rides outside. That covers the social aspect. You don't have to worry about getting hit by a car, or the balance issues of falling into traffic. There is a cpr certified staff near by, if lord forbid being prego you had trouble with your heartrate, got lightheaded, etc. It keeps your lungs active and your legs loose until you are ready to return to the road post delivery.

The pool is another great alternate exercise during pregnancy. A group class can keep it from being boring. Also, even if you have a "kick board buddy", that would help, vs just lap swimming.

Plus, with all of this, the bathroom is usually never far away.

Good luck
Miranda

[Crankin]

I agree that it is really hard to have to modify your activity as the pregnancy progresses. My pregnancy advice is ancient (my youngest is 23) but I was extremely active during both of my pregnancies.
I was doing aerobics, at the gym and pretty much didn't have to change anything until my 7th-8th month during the first one. I tried to keep my HR below 140, though. At that point, I started walking and swimming near the end of the pregnancy because I just felt unbalanced and awkward. At the time, I wasn't really exercising outside and the change was good for me.
During my second pregnancy, I was really fit. One day I decided we should go for a family bike ride when I was starting my 8th month. Somehow, I got nervous and stopped quickly, forcing the down tube shifter into my stomach. I had a huge bruise, but was fine. But 5 days later I went into premature labor. Everything was fine, but I should have thought about the fact that my center of gravity was different before I went riding, especially since I didn't ride all that much back then.
It was really hard for me to accept the fact that I had to slow down, but then when my son's well being was threatened, I snapped out of it. It would have been better to skip that ride, because after that, I had to stay home for 6 weeks, no work, and my mom had to come and stay with us for a month. My 2 year old was calling her "mom" by the time she left...

[Tuckervill]

When I first read this, I didn't respond because I don't talk pregnancy much anymore (although my DIL is pregnant with my second grandchild!). Anyway, if I were going to buy a new bike to ride while pregnant, I might get something more practical for the impending lifestyle change than a mountain bike. A hybrid or commuter bike with a much more upright and comfortable position--for attaching the baby trailer to later, places for racks, fenders, etc.--might be a better option.

My DIL still rides her Raleigh mixte a little, with my grandson in the trailer, although she's high risk and doesn't take any chances. I see you're quite the competitor and probably can't imagine going from a Farrari to a mini-van! But in practical terms, the hybrid/commuter/utility bike looks like a better choice to me in the long term.

Congratulations on the baby!

Karen

[xeney]

I don't know, the moms I know mostly pull their kids with their road bikes. As do I. I haven't seen any reason to need a more upright utility bike for pulling the trailer.

[Andrea]

...I might get something more practical for the impending lifestyle change than a mountain bike. A hybrid or commuter bike with a much more upright and comfortable position--for attaching the baby trailer to later, places for racks, fenders, etc.--might be a better option...

I had to smile at this because one of the toughest women I race against on a regular basis has 4 kids... the legend surrounding her says that she got stronger as she had them because she'd just add them to the kid trailer and go do hill repeats.

[Eden]

I had to smile at this because one of the toughest women I race against on a regular basis has 4 kids... the legend surrounding her says that she got stronger as she had them because she'd just add them to the kid trailer and go do hill repeats.

There may be some truth to that for another reason..... each time a woman gets pregnant her blood volume increases, as she is supporting both herself and the baby. When the baby is born though the volume does go down again, it does not decrease to the original level - it stays somewhat higher. More blood =more red blood cells = more O2 to the muscles = more power! Its like perfectly natural, permanent and legal epo.....

[cwodiva]

Thank you for the great advice and encouragement! Your words were the pick me up that I needed.

[curiona]

I'll echo the previous thanks. This is very reassuring. I wasn't sure how to take the 140 recommendation as I'm fairly fit and bike all the time. I am only into my 6th week and find myself strangely tired already, which is really weird because that's pretty early into my pregnancy. I was having doubts about continuing to bike but everything I read tells me it's good for me so I'll just keep at it. I have 2 questions:

Hills. The thing that worries me is that I have some short but steep hills on my way to work; no way to avoid them and for those hills only I do find myself out of breath. But we're talking about 5 minutes of a 30-minute ride. Any thoughts on the hills? My instinct tells me it's okay. And given that I'm basically a very lazy person who loves to bike, biking is really my only source of exercise so I'd like to hang on to it.

Seat height. I'm only 4-11 so every bike that I own fits relatively well but I can not touch the ground with my toes while on the seat. I did just buy one of those lightweight retro beach bikes with the wide seat and the upright handle bars and this allows me to touch the ground somewhat, although I am on my tiptoes. Does anyone have any thoughts on whether I should buy a bike that lets me fully rest my feet on the ground?

Thanks

[xeney]

I'm not sure why you need that. Is it a balance thing?

As for fatigue, that is an early pregnancy symptom. Some people have some fatigue throughout pregnancy, but I think for most people it subsides after a couple of months. I would not really try to fight it right now -- there is not much you can do, and it's probably supposed to tell you that you need some rest! For me, it got much better in my second trimester.