1st Trimester fitness

There are many websites and articles on exercise throughout pregnancy, which I did look over for personal information and gain more knowledge. But I can only speak through my experiences through both pregnancies and how I was previously active before, which does make a different how you can train.
For me in the first trimester the biggest challenge was fighting off fatigue in my first pregnancy and headaches and morning sickness in my second. There would be days or even weeks I couldn't face the gym, but it did pass. Incorporate a walk within your daily routine would substitute the days

*The occasions I did manage to exercise I felt a million times better and it did  help increase my energy levels and minimize many pregnancy discomforts.

*A tip I discovered to ease the nauseous I ate a small snack within the hour before I started any form of exercise.

My main focus was to keep my strength, stability and overall fitness. Continue with what you had been previously doing and amend where necessary. 

If you are at a gym or looking for the support of a personal trainer, I would advise you seek a professional who has pre and post natal experience.

Most important thing to remember when your exercising for two, is especially important to warm up. When working out, going from zero to 100 is never a good idea. It's especially not a good idea when you're pregnant. "The ability for your vascular system to react quickly is not the same as it normally is," says Geralyn Coopersmith, Director of the Equinox Fitness Training Institute. Therefore, you need to give your body at least 10-15 minutes to warm up before performing any exercise. If you are still comfortable running then a gentle jog is great. I preferred the cross trainer as I found running uncomfortable. Mobility exercise are a great way of warming the body up too.

Plan a simple workout: If you are a non-exerciser start with brisk walking or take up a prenatal yoga class under supervision of a certified instructor. If you have previously been active, continue with adaptations. Seek professional advice

Be regular with workouts: Always make it a point to spend at least 30 minutes working out during the initial months, do something you feel comfortable doing. Intensity can be gradually built up. You can still challenge yourself with exercise.

Warm-up: Always warm-up before you start to exercise, either walk on treadmill at a slow pace if you are doing weights at gym or go for a stroll in the park to prepare your body for exercise. Remember to wind down and stretch too post exercise.

In another Blog I will talk about my training schedule and the exercise that are do's and donts.

My History

I thought it would be a good time to talk about what I am all about and my experience and vision for the future.

I am a mother of 2 beautiful girls a 4 year old and 7 month old.

I have always been very active since a child. I competed in swimming for county from a very young age, so became exposed to strength and condition from the age of 12. Athletics at school brought out my natural talent for long distance running. I began competing in County level for cross country and track athletics. This grew into competing in biathlons,  where I came 3rd in the British Schools.

As I grew out of my teens I found a passion for the gym which I've continued to this day. In my early twenties, I then began running again while living in London and competed in a few road races. I also discovered Ashtanga yoga, which I did twice a week.

When I moved up to Scotland I continued long distance running and obtained some fantastic times in my 10km and half marathon distance.
I turned 30 and was physically looking for a new challenge and started kick boxing. My fitness excelled and my body shape changed and really toned up.
I began competing and did really well in the short time I was in this sport. I achieved Scottish Champion 2 years in a row and silver in the English championships. This then opened eyes to try boxing and thai boxing. This is where I met my partner. I also found all these sports very sociable and found life long friends while training.

I was completing my fitness instructor course when I fell pregnant. I was probably at the peak of my fitness and I continued to train until 38 weeks pregnant. Returned to post pregnancy weight by 6 months postpartum. For my second baby I also trained but very differently and got back to post baby weight within 6 months again. This is where my passion began ...

Anterior Placenta

With my first pregnancy I was blessed to feel baby flutters at 14 weeks. This time I have felt very little movement and by my 20 week scan it was still minimal in comparison to my first. 

The midwife explained my placenta was sitting at the front of baby against my tummy. This is apparently why I have felt very little movement. The technical name for this is Anterior placenta. 

The has been a small section on my lower left abdominal wall where I can feel wee kicks. Over the past few weeks since scan the kicks are getting stronger to the point where I can see my bump moving! Yet still it is only in this wee section I can feel it. 

I  unsure for what will happen next, will it move or will baby just become stronger, so wriggles and kicks will be inevitable.

Over the next few weeks I will monitor it. I have a check up with the midwife on Tuesday so will ask her then. 

Spot the difference

The first picture is me 24 weeks pregnant with Layla-Rose and this is me know at 22 weeks!! 

Its a girl!!!

ISo last week was our 20 week milestone.  Which meant baby scan!!!!! Again I felt so anxious coming up to this date, as I hadn't felt baby kick much.  Unlike my first which became noticeable as early as 14 weeks.

But as soon as baby came up in the screen you could clearly see the womb acrobats going on. It's such a strange thing to see all that movement happening inside you but you cannot feel it. 

A full scale inspection of baby was done, no part was left. Brain, heart, limbs, stomach, bladder and kidneys were just some of the areas we were blessed to see. 

While they were looking at the bladder area, I noticed the genitalia. At that moment I knew buy kept it to myself...., just incase I was wrong. Once all the necessaries were done they asked if we wanted to know the sex. Without hesitation we said yes, it would drive crazy not knowing. 

On this occasion it was a quick confident answer 'your having a healthy little girl'

So my guess from both scans and gut instinct were correct! 

The future is exciting and Layla  is beginning to understand more. I can keep all the clothes, blankets and bedding we have. It will be lovely to see her wear the wee items layla used to wear. 

I cannot wait to meet her! 

10 weeks!!

So it is true you show a lot sooner on your second. I'm only 10 weeks pregnant and when naked there is an obvious bump. 

When I'm at the gym and catch a glimpse in the mirror, I see skinny arms, skinny legs and a barrel of a body.  Bye bye waist line. 

It is slowly becoming hard to disguise my pregnancy. Clothing consists of blouses and leggings. I cannot wait to have everyone know and I can go back to wearing what I want 

Surviving

I am now 9 weeks pregnant and it's only now I am starting to feel human again. Between week 5 and 8 I felt so nauseous. I couldn't function it was so overwhelming. My heathy eating went out the window and was gorging on carbs.

I couldn't go to the gym, cook or even clean. Now I understand why they describe morning sickness like having a constant hang over. Luckily my partner was so supportive and did the cooking for me. 

Eventually I started actually being sick and that was when the constant nausea feeling disappeared. My eating is more under control and I can actually eat fruit and veg again. 

I'm back at the gym and have fantastic support from the personal trainers that are specifically trained in pre and post natal excercise. They are producing programs for me for each trimester which I will list up on here. I'm still doing classes with adaptations throughout. The main thing is to keep heart rate down and not to over heat. First trimester you can still do many of the exercises you were doing before but cardio is the biggest change, I cannot do to hiit training!! 

I really don't know how women manage to survive having morning sickness up to and past 12 weeks..