When I was pregnant with Patrick (Jr.) now 7, I asked my coach, Kerry, if there was much information on competitive swimming and training while pregnant. He didn't know of any. Since then I've had two more kids (now 3 and 4) and there's still nothing really about this subject.
So I'll use myself as a guinea pig, and maybe it will help others in the future...
This will be our last, and with this one, I'd like to have goals, unlike with the other three. Obviously, my number one goal is to have a healthy baby. My nutrition is key here, for the baby and myself. Sleep is crucial for me, so that too is a goal. Other goals are lifting, and minimum weight gain (I still have 20 from last time, mostly in my stomach!) and to swim in Austin and be somewhat competitive. My due date is January 20, 2008.
I'm afraid I will be put on bed rest near the end, because Carrick (3) was born 5 weeks early, and we don't know why. He spent 2 weeks in the Intensive Care, and is fine now. I read that the odds have gone up significantly for me now to have another early delivery. (With all of my other deliveries, by C-section, I swam the day I delivered and was back in the water two weeks later.)
Tomorrow, I will be 4 weeks pregnant. And while I swam Saturday (2,000 SCM- see Rude Noodlers thread) I didn't get to do the only practice today (Memorial Day) at 8:30am because Brenna (4) was still sleeping...
I have some questions, and I hope you will all pitch in your :2cents: Sorry, I don't make change :p
How do I modify weight lifting while pregnant?
Anybody do OW swims while pregnant (water temps around 70)?
Thanks!
Swam last night- sort of!
Monday, my brother fell at work and shattered his right kneecap into three larger pieces and tore the patella tendon in half- ouch! They waited to operate to put it back together until his wife had their baby Tuesday morning. So he's on the 3rd floor of the hospital, she's on the 2nd.... crazy week.
The week got more hectic, my stomach grew even bigger and more uncomfortable, and I haven't gained an ounce in 3 weeks. I needed some relief.
As I was driving home last night, doing a two-hour errand for my mom, mostly in commute traffic, I found myself driving by Heather Farm Pool at 6:30 pm. I called Pat and said, "Do you mind if I swim?" I was 30 minutes early, so I took the opportunity to see if my swim bag was even in the car, and if so if I had a cap, goggles, towel, etc. Found my suit (size 38), a cap, a clean towel (miraculous in and of itself!)and put together some goggles with a strap that was way too short, but they were functional. (I'm getting tired of borrowing Kerry's goggles and towel!)
Got into the locker room, surprisingly my montly pass hadn't expired, and I proceeded to listen to the Aquabear girls scream (as they do in the shower after practice) and tried to get my suit on in the bathroom. Some former students are Aquabears and I try not to change with them, but now even more so with my largeness! That'd be weird changing with your teacher :shakeshead:
The suit went over my legs no problem. Stomach, BIG problem. Again, while I haven't gained ANY weight lately, my suit would not go over my stomach, and forget about the rest of the top of me! Not good. I really wanted to swim. It took about 10 minutes but I managed to squeeze in to my suit. It was far worse than putting on any "3 sizes too small" competition suit I assure you.
It was about 38 degrees on the deck and the water was 81. I got a hug from Kerry and then jumped in next to Andy Nonaka. He's a speedy one if you don't know, and his wife Marissa is about 6 weeks behind me in her pregnancy. Andy said, "Are you going to swim with us?" I just laughed. We talked about Marissa and I proceeded to warm up.
It felt so good. I felt so light. No pressure on my swollen ankles, or my feet. Ahhhhh. I swam about 35 yards and then felt really wet on my chest all of a sudden. I was packed so tightly into my suit that the water was trickling in after 35 yards!!!! I got to the wall and open turned. I didn't even attempt flip turns, and I realized fins would've been nice. I swam some backstroke and my breaststroke felt really good. Imagine how high my hips were in the water! I was still 8 strokes across the pool :) Life was seeming good again.
About 300 yards into my warm up my stomach felt really tight. Whenever I was horizontal my suit was really pressing on the baby. I swam 50 more and told myself to get out. Grabbed a chicken sandwich on the way home...
I just ordered a size 40 zip up water polo suit on-line and it should be here early next week. Hopefully, it won't be too tight. Only 4 more days of work and then I'm hoping to swim throughout winter break until our little guy arrives, hopefully in January.
Swam last night- sort of!
Monday, my brother fell at work and shattered his right kneecap into three larger pieces and tore the patella tendon in half- ouch! They waited to operate to put it back together until his wife had their baby Tuesday morning. So he's on the 3rd floor of the hospital, she's on the 2nd.... crazy week.
The week got more hectic, my stomach grew even bigger and more uncomfortable, and I haven't gained an ounce in 3 weeks. I needed some relief.
As I was driving home last night, doing a two-hour errand for my mom, mostly in commute traffic, I found myself driving by Heather Farm Pool at 6:30 pm. I called Pat and said, "Do you mind if I swim?" I was 30 minutes early, so I took the opportunity to see if my swim bag was even in the car, and if so if I had a cap, goggles, towel, etc. Found my suit (size 38), a cap, a clean towel (miraculous in and of itself!)and put together some goggles with a strap that was way too short, but they were functional. (I'm getting tired of borrowing Kerry's goggles and towel!)
Got into the locker room, surprisingly my montly pass hadn't expired, and I proceeded to listen to the Aquabear girls scream (as they do in the shower after practice) and tried to get my suit on in the bathroom. Some former students are Aquabears and I try not to change with them, but now even more so with my largeness! That'd be weird changing with your teacher :shakeshead:
The suit went over my legs no problem. Stomach, BIG problem. Again, while I haven't gained ANY weight lately, my suit would not go over my stomach, and forget about the rest of the top of me! Not good. I really wanted to swim. It took about 10 minutes but I managed to squeeze in to my suit. It was far worse than putting on any "3 sizes too small" competition suit I assure you.
It was about 38 degrees on the deck and the water was 81. I got a hug from Kerry and then jumped in next to Andy Nonaka. He's a speedy one if you don't know, and his wife Marissa is about 6 weeks behind me in her pregnancy. Andy said, "Are you going to swim with us?" I just laughed. We talked about Marissa and I proceeded to warm up.
It felt so good. I felt so light. No pressure on my swollen ankles, or my feet. Ahhhhh. I swam about 35 yards and then felt really wet on my chest all of a sudden. I was packed so tightly into my suit that the water was trickling in after 35 yards!!!! I got to the wall and open turned. I didn't even attempt flip turns, and I realized fins would've been nice. I swam some backstroke and my breaststroke felt really good. Imagine how high my hips were in the water! I was still 8 strokes across the pool :) Life was seeming good again.
About 300 yards into my warm up my stomach felt really tight. Whenever I was horizontal my suit was really pressing on the baby. I swam 50 more and told myself to get out. Grabbed a chicken sandwich on the way home...
I just ordered a size 40 zip up water polo suit on-line and it should be here early next week. Hopefully, it won't be too tight. Only 4 more days of work and then I'm hoping to swim throughout winter break until our little guy arrives, hopefully in January.
