I had heard from many women, books, and blogs that the 2nd trimester is like the light at the end of the brutal tunnel that is the 1st trimester. And those sources were pretty spot on! The new burst of energy and feeling pretty much “normal” has been wonderful. Fatigue still comes and goes, but that is way better than nausea, plus it forces me to be diligent with my bedtime…which is always a goal of mine.
There are two things I’ve been focusing on at this point in my pregnancy:
1.Staying active
2. Listening to my body
Staying active has always been an important part of my life. Exercise (especially running) is my outlet for relieving stress, so now, it’s more important than ever before for me to stay consistent with my goal of staying active. Additionally, there is so much research that supports exercise during pregnancy, and I’m a research junkie because of my training as a PT. Prenatal exercise benefits both mom and baby, improves the labor and delivery experience, is correlated with higher APGAR scores (which means the baby is healthy, strong, and responsive at birth), and can reduce pregnancy-related complications like hypertension and gestational diabetes. It also makes me feel good, so staying active is a no-brainer!
Now, the thing that has changed is what I’m doing for my exercise. With all the changes going on in my body, my activity has had to change as well. Honestly, running and high impact moves haven’t sounded good throughout this pregnancy. And now that the baby bump is growing, impact activity causes pressure in my lower abdomen that just doesn’t feel so hot. I’ve found other ways to get exercise and have focused on yoga (hip openers feel amazing!), strength training, core work, and low impact cardio. FabHIIT at FabYOUlous Fitness has been an awesome class that combines cardio, strength, and core. By doing this, I’ve been able to stay relatively pain free and feel good.
There are always ups and downs on any journey. Right now, I’m thankful to be having more ups than downs. There has been excitement with getting the nursery ready, finding out our baby is a boy, seeing the baby bump grow, and feeling him move. Empower Physio and Wellness is doing great as well and it is so fun to see my clients share in this excitement with me.
These principles of staying active and listening to your body apply to the non-pregnant person as well. This is the foundation of living a healthy, injury-free lifestyle!
Questions or comments? Comment below or let’s chat.
