Pregnancy & Fitness??

[trimgal]

I have had 3 children. With each pregnancy I gained around 40 pounds and within 6 months it had all come off without dieting., just eating healthy. I usually weigh 116 -119 pounds and I think my body just felt right gaining 40 pounds. Had healthy babies -all delivered naturally.
Don't stress about the weight, just relax and try to eat healthy most of the time. I found that breastfeeding took the last of the weight off easily, some women don't lose any weight until after they quit breastfeeding.
The only exercise I did during my pregnancies was walking.
I do think some women use having babies as an excuse to stay out of shape and some women really have a hard time losing the wieight. I was lucky and my stomach went back to being flat fairly soon, took longer after the third baby though!
Amy

 

[Stebby]

Stebby,
Thanks SOO much for writing. For both the fitness aspect and the older than 35 first time mom piece. Im worried about my age and this being my first so Im thrilled to hear from you. Did you have trouble conceiving, do you worry about her being an only child? i think i may just have one so thats why im asking.

Also, you said you did the Cathe wight workouts, thats what im hoping too that keeping up on my workouts will help with delivery and recovery -
I was also thinking about joining a gym so i could do treadmill workouts.

OMG im getting very excited for this. Once I conceive, I hope everyone will be around to help with my questions!!

THANKS AGAIN

Hi Grace - it took us about 5 months to conceive (no intervention). That is probably longer than average but I'm really not sure. My doctor was trying to persuade me to go on fertility drugs but I didn't want to do that - I did NOT want to increase my chances of having twins. Fortunately everything ended up working out. I don't worry about my daughter being an only child. For awhile, when she was 5 or 6, she used to ask why she didn't have any brothers or sisters and we've always said "because we just wanted you". Now 9, she doesn't worry about it. She's very well adjusted. She has lots of friends, as well as cousins she sees regularly. She likes her alone time too - she's quite a reader, and she's happier in quiet rather than noisy surroundings. I have never regretted a single instant since we decided to try to have a child!

Another fun thing about being an older mom is that people automatically assume you're younger than you are. I'm 50 but a lot of people assume I'm 40.

I'm excited for you and I hope things work out for you! And yes, once you conceive we will all be here lining up to answer your questions!

Stebby

 

[mrsprincess07]

Another fun thing about being an older mom is that people automatically assume you're younger than you are. I'm 50 but a lot of people assume I'm 40.

I'm excited for you and I hope things work out for you! And yes, once you conceive we will all be here lining up to answer your questions!

Stebby

My mother had two boys when she was close to 40. As soon as they got into elementary, ppl thought she was the grandmother. I went to a few of my brothers' Christmas Parties and while the moms would tell her how great she looked, as soon as she turned around, it was a different story. I even had other parents asking if I was their mother and she was the grandmother. Just a Heads-Up! My mother is Model worthy too. So being complimented does always mean they're saying what they think. Some might, but others might not.

 

[GraceNote]

Hi! Wanted to chime in with some thoughts...

First of all, it may just be me, but is your DH's concern about your body changing a healthy concern? It's hard to tell in posts/print, but I just wanted to ask because it's not usually the first thing a loving husband who wants to have a family would mention. Making sure wife and child are healthy, happy and loved should be the primary issues, not how much the woman's body may change... Again, if I'm misreading anything, I apologize. It just gets me steamed thinking about someone's husband being that kind of jerk...

I've had 4 babies 'later in life' <haha> and worked out through all of the pregnancies, though I think the first one was the most cautious. We had trouble getting pregnant, and it was my first, so I probably didn't do as much as I could have. NOT THAT I'M COMPLAINING, mind you!! A healthy baby is so much more important than the pounds gained!

One caution I wanted to give is not to focus on the pounds, but to focus on eating healthy foods in reasonable quantities (you don't literally have to 'eat for two'...more like one and a quarter ) staying active and limiting stress. Honestly, you have to think about what your goals are for the nine months - making a healthy baby is probably number one. In my experience, you can't say 'I'm only going to gain X pounds' and make that a focus. Every woman's body is DIFFERENT and every baby is different. Your body will gain what it needs to, and it will lose the excess afterwards if necessary, as long as you keep your same lifestyle and eating habits.

Really, it's totally normal to gain 40 pounds (or more, if you're underweight to begin with). And it's also totally normal to gain less than 20. There's no absolute 'right amount' and you won't know what's normal for you until you've been down that road. Having a baby is a LIFELONG committment, so your horizon has to shift a little. The nutrition you provide to that baby for those nine months will have some impact on that baby's entire LIFE!! How amazing and scary is that?! Skimping on nutrition or food just to maintain some silly notion of 'only gaining 15 pounds' is crazy, IMHO, when you think about it in the big picture.

My main advice has already been stated - listen to your body every day, not your scale or your 'scheduled workout plan'. There are some days where you will be so tired that it's all you can do to stay awake. working out on a day like that could easily lead to an injury or strain that you could regret for YEARS! (Once you mess up your back or knees, you may have problems for a loooonnnng time - not a good lesson to learn after the fact!). Be cautious, and be gentle on yourself. Your body will be doing amazing things as it grows another person, and there's nothing you have in your life that is more important than that.

 

[Stebby]

My mother had two boys when she was close to 40. As soon as they got into elementary, ppl thought she was the grandmother. I went to a few of my brothers' Christmas Parties and while the moms would tell her how great she looked, as soon as she turned around, it was a different story. I even had other parents asking if I was their mother and she was the grandmother. Just a Heads-Up! My mother is Model worthy too. So being complimented does always mean they're saying what they think. Some might, but others might not.

You're weird.

Stebby

 

[JeanneMarie]

My mother had two boys when she was close to 40. As soon as they got into elementary, ppl thought she was the grandmother. I went to a few of my brothers' Christmas Parties and while the moms would tell her how great she looked, as soon as she turned around, it was a different story. I even had other parents asking if I was their mother and she was the grandmother. Just a Heads-Up! My mother is Model worthy too. So being complimented does always mean they're saying what they think. Some might, but others might not.

I think this story says more about your mother's "friends" than it does about being a mom at 40+.

Sounds like a bunch of two faced women who have nothing better to do than talk ugly about others.

I sure wouldn't let this stop me from having a baby at an older age. More power to the older mothers! I think they are more amazing than those of us who had our babies when we were younger.

 

[jacmar]

I think this story says more about your mother's "friends" than it does about being a mom at 40+.

Sounds like a bunch of two faced women who have nothing better to do than talk ugly about others.

I sure wouldn't let this stop me from having a baby at an older age. More power to the older mothers! I think they are more amazing than those of us who had our babies when we were younger.

Kudos to the older mothers. I agree that it's much harder and I give them a lot of credit. I was in my twenties when I had my DS and DD and it was easy.

I live in an area where the majority of woman did not have kids until 38+, so I am looked at as the odd ball

 

[mrsprincess07]

You're weird.

Stebby

Whatever....

 

[mrsprincess07]

I think this story says more about your mother's "friends" than it does about being a mom at 40+.

Sounds like a bunch of two faced women who have nothing better to do than talk ugly about others.

I sure wouldn't let this stop me from having a baby at an older age. More power to the older mothers! I think they are more amazing than those of us who had our babies when we were younger.

They weren't friends, they were mothers of other students.

Anywhoodles.

Having a child at an older age doesn't make one more amazing. It makes you an older mother. A mother is a mother, is a mother. Older moms tend to have more patience but more amazing, um no.

 

[JeanneMarie]

They weren't friends, they were mothers of other students.

Anywhoodles.

Having a child at an older age doesn't make one more amazing. It makes you an older mother. A mother is a mother, is a mother. Older moms tend to have more patience but more amazing, um no.

Friends, acquaintances, whatever they were... she knew them enough for them to be talking about her and with her.

You can take the word "amazing" whatever way you want. Bottom line, I think it's tougher on older mothers. Maybe that makes them amazing in my book, but not in yours. I think it's silly to argue whether they are amazing or more patient. You're just nit picking, obviously.

Oh, and btw, I was trying to compliment your mother. Guess you missed that part.

 

[Grace10209]

Wow, im sooo glad I decided to start this thread! SO much input and im so thankful.

Oh did i mention i found some youtube videos of pregnant moms doing turbofire, very excited about that. No high impact of course.

JeanneMarie
Thanks for cocoa butter comment, will make sure i remember that once i conceive and do it EVERYday religiously, neck to knees! love it!

Stebby
Thanks again, and for saying everyone will be there for my questions. I lost my mom when I was teenager so knowing i have women to go to once I conceive with the many more questions i will have is huge to me.

Gracenote
very nice of you to be concerned about hubby's hip comment but no, he wasn't being a jerk. I was over 200lbs as a kid. I am now a size 4 and very fit and aware of what i eat and my body. He would actually like me at any size but he knows how important staying fit and healthy is to me, so i think he was trying to make sure i knew ahead of time of all the potential changes my body will go through.

Thanks all again. Will keep you posted and please keep your stories of pregnancy & fitness
coming!

 

[ageleg]

Didn't change much

I also wanted to add that my body did not change much, especially considering I had my baby at 40 yr old. I had all the questions you do about getting pregnant and keeping healthy and fit. I found I had no problem at all maintaining my workouts right up till the end. I just modified in the 3rd trimester to low impact. It was a challenge to see if I could do a high impact in a new low impact way! I had also had a miscarriage the year before I got pregnant, so I was scared that exercise had something to do with it --- it didn't!! I'm not really sure how much weight I gained during pregnancy because I told the staff not to tell me. hahah. I just didn't want to be focused on it. I'm sure it was about 35 lbs. Most of it came off right away after birth and then fell off fast with breast feeding and light exercise. So many people tried to scare me and tell me I would gain weight and never get it off! LOL. Now, I am thinner and more fit than prepregnancy. You can do it. The first trimester was hard because I felt sick for most of it and had aversions to water and some foods. I still worked out through it (lightly) and then it got easier from there. I love my baby (one-year-old now) and so glad I had her. She watches me workout now and hopefully, will see me as a role model for health as she grows. Good luck!
Oh...I wish I had seen some pregnant moms working out on youtube when I was pregnant! Turbofire was great and I was doing it too when I was in my third trimester. It felt amazing to do the same workouts again once I had had the baby! Go for it!