Exercise and My Pregnant Body

For being four months' pregnant, I am still very small. I measured my belly last weekend for the shirt I'm sewing, and it has grown to about 30 inches, enough to give me a slight muffin top as it hangs above the only pair of pants I can still button. I was surprised when a student of mine asked me last night if I am expecting, a fact I thought I could hide from the class at least until the end of the semester. (After I said yes, the student asked me if this is why I've been so mean to them at times. I've felt bad because I know I've been running low on patience. This made me feel like a total heel, but I digress.)

At my last doctor's appointment, I had only gained about a pound and a half. He didn't seem too concerned, but I know that during the second trimester, I should be gaining a pound a week. I have no idea if I'm actually accomplishing this since we don't own a scale and when I was at the gym the other day, found that the scale in the ladies' locker room had mysteriously disappeared. Suffice it to say, I eat -- a lot. And in the past month, since I've been taking the sewing class, I have exercised less during the week than I was during the first trimester. I hope this equates to a fair weight gain.

Wednesday night, I ran for the first time in over a week on the treadmill at the gym. The run I had previous to that was just awful -- trying to push myself to get through three miles while my hips ached so badly I wanted someone to carry me home. So, I hopped on the treadmill, hoping for the best. The first mile wasn't bad, but in the second, the aches started to set in.

A few years ago, I had a bad bout of sciatica in my left leg. It was so bad that I couldn't sleep for days and had to go to the chiropractor several times before it felt better. Apparently, many pregnant women have problems with their sciatic nerves, and I'm becoming one of them. Depending on what I do (for example, standing bent over a table cutting a sewing pattern for two hours), my hips and my left sciatic nerve start aching. So, when I got to mile two of my run, I started contemplating whether or not I should keep going.

A roommate of mine in college ran all the way through her pregnancy, until three days before her son was born. Paula Radcliffe, who just won the New York City marathon for the third time, quit running all together when pregnant with her daughter. I assumed I wouldn't be able to make it all the way through my pregnancy but didn't anticipate giving up running so soon. Not to say that I'm giving up all together, but I can't push myself as hard as I'm used to and I have to figure out my limits.

I stopped running after 2.25 miles, got off the treadmill, and stretched my achy legs. That night, when I woke to go to the bathroom, my lower back hurt a lot when I got up, particularly on the left side. So, running might not be in my future for too much longer. But there's always swimming (a great pregnancy exercise), the stationery bike, the elliptical machine, and walking the crazy dog around the neighborhood. Oh, and prenatal yoga -- perhaps the best exercise ever to stretch out achy muscles and joints. There will be a lot of yoga in my future.