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!
I'm impressed with everything you've been able to do! Some pretty long workouts, plus a medal! :applaud:
Good luck at the doctor's -- hope his/her advice won't keep you out of the pool. Your due date is around Christmas?
Best of luck!
ViveBene
My due date is January 8th. However, if how I feel today is any indication, I'm not going to make it. I feel like I did when I ended up giving birth about a week later. Total exhaustion, stomach really hurts (kinda crampy), start of really bad back muscle pain (trying to stay upright!).
In Walnut Creek today they opened the first off-leash dog park. Pat and his new K9 Orfas were part of the ceremonies. Orfas got to "find" the key to open the gate. And Tony LaRussa was there, as he lives locally and founded ARF (Animal Rescue Foundation). Pat got to take pictures with him, etc. It was cool. Too bad I'M the baseball fan in the family! I'll post a picture here later.
Anyway, I think the hour and a half on my feet in the warm weather (70F) took its toll...
Just went to the baby doctor. He said my due dates were: Jan 12, 13, and 15th. He's going with the 13th, as that was the gestational age half way through the pregnancy, according to the really extensive ultrasound at that time.
My doctor said that I will have my C-section the first weekend in January. (Sorry Pat, no tax deduction!) And as far as the HR goes, he will ask his cardiologist friend. I told him what Gull had told me about my HR being higher (normally) in the 3rd trimester, however my doctor said it shouldn't be over 100. We shall see.
Was hoping to swim tonight. Just to see what happens with my HR during and after. I'll definitely wear the HR monitor. WCM is having a Thanksgiving practice at 8:30am. Hope to make that one too :)
Went to Turkey Day practice yesterday at 8:30am. My estimation is that there were about 150 people there. We used the entire 50m (set up short course), so we had 20+ lanes with at least 7 per lane. It was crowded, but still fun.
Kerry had a "menu" style workout. We had white or dark meat, stuffing, dessert, and another one I can't remember. We got to choose from each category (one choice had more stroke than the other). The total for each of the workouts was 4,200. Thankfully my lane liked to do stroke :)
I swam 2,500 and got out. I felt fine. About 2,000 I noticed my HR go up quite a bit, so I just swam easier (if that was possible!) And I had two kids with me and was supposed to go help my mom get ready for company! Again, it was nice to see everyone at one time and enjoy the beautiful sunny day swimming.
I skipped 7:30am workout today, and actually slept until about 10:00am. It was AWESOME! We were all so exhausted from yesterday- we had gotten home around 11:00pm. Tomorrow there is another 7:30am workout (Saturday). If I can get kids up I'd like to go.
Well back to nesting on this Friday afternoon. We are in the final stages of "musical rooms" and the house is a disaster, on top of the usual Mt. Laundrymore!
Today I go for my 34 week appt. at the baby dr. and for an echocardiogram for my heart. My resting HR has been REALLY high for several weeks and they want to check it out. It's been anywhere from 92-123! And that's resting. Hopefully, probably just pregnancy related... we'll see! And I wonder how much is because I haven't been swimming much at all, although my BP has been normal.
Wow, finally good news all around :)
The echocardiogram tech, who was so nice and friendly, couldn't tell me how my heart looked (officially), however she said if she could say she'd say it looked fine and no cardiomyopathy! You were right Gull :)
And, I asked my baby doctor about delivering Jan 11 instead of the 4th and he said fine. Yippeee. Not that I want to be pregnant longer, believe me I DO NOT, however I just "know" that Jan 4 is too early. However, I'm having some pretty good contractions already, and Wilson is head down. (His name's not really Wilson-it's just that I look like I swallowed a basketball! He could also be Rawlings I guess) :p Wilson could still come early.
And the baby dr. nurse told me I have gained 23 pound total. That doesn't seem quite right to me, but I'll take it! :agree:
I'm hoping to swim tonight, with the HR monitor, and see how it goes. It's been awhile, again, since I've swum...
Hang in there, Karen! I had the high BP problem toward the end of my pregnancy, and I'm convinced that's why my son was born 3 weeks early. Also found I had a heart murmer then, which I understand is not uncommon. I've had a couple of echocardiograms to check it out, and they say it's benign. It's really pretty cool to "watch" your heart beating like that.
Wow, finally good news all around :)
The echocardiogram tech, who was so nice and friendly, couldn't tell me how my heart looked (officially), however she said if she could say she'd say it looked fine and no cardiomyopathy! You were right Gull :)
Congratulations. That is good news.
Should I bill you or your insurance company?
Thanks Meg :) It was pretty cool to see. Absolutely amazing actually, to think that I (anyway) take a healthy, beating heart for granted. It's an impressive little machine chuggin' away in there. I should probably feed it better!
And Gull, you can bill Paul Smith :lmao:
Really, though, thank you for your help and assurances. If you're going to Austin I definitely owe you some drinks. (The insurance won't cover that I don't think!).
Karen
Hoping to swim tonight. I really miss everybody, especially Kerry.
Well, I haven't made it swimming lately. I'm thinking it's just not going to happen until after I deliver. Although I REALLY want to do the 108 x whatevers on New Year's Eve. In shape I usually do 100s on 1:20. When I was pregnant with Carrick I did 50s with fins (and delivered him one week later). This year I was contemplating 25s... we'll see.
I'm still working full time, planning 2 b-day parties in the next few weeks, Xmas, my brother just broke his kneecap (in half!) yesterday, his wife is delivering their baby today, and just doing normal day to day chores really tires me out! A lot going on. I noticed last night I was REALLY grumpy and short with my kids, and I wondered why- I get that way when I don't swim and I want to...
I also went to the hospital yesterday, from work, thinking my water broke, and was praying to God it didn't. It didn't :) There is another phenomenon going on with excess mucous, yadda yadda yadda TMI I think... anyway, my son is a good boy staying in the cooker longer.
On a more fun note, WCM had our annual Christmas party Sunday night. It was great. We had appetizers and a bar for about 45 min. Then we all went over to a beautifully decorated room for dinner. We had our annual meeting, expanded our Board of Directors to 12, ate the catered dinner, had our raffle drawings, live auction, and awards. It was wonderful to see everyone with their clothes on for a change :agree: I again realized how lucky I am to have this opportunity for swimming, but more so for all of the special people I know because of it.
And one more piece of good news: I only have 7 more days of work until the beginning of March :cheerleader: Yipppeeeee. Hopefully, everyone stays healthy and we can all get back into some sort of exercise routine.
