To continue exercising, despite being pregnant and my husband not wanting me to?

[mummytoonetryingfortwo]

I found out ten days ago that I was nine weeks pregnant with twins. I’m 27, everything is totally healthy with the pregnancy and with me.

My husband and I struggled to conceive for three years before finding out about these babies. Before I got pregnant, I was very active. I had actively put on a bit of weight, as I was veering towards underweight and thought this may have been contributing to the difficulties conceiving. I’m one of those people where if I’m not careful, weight will drop off me easily.

I’ve had a phone call with a private GP who has confirmed that, as I was very active before my pregnancy, I’m okay to continue with my normal routine until such time as it becomes too difficult. I run most days, I tend to run as part of my commute (about six miles a day). It is my safe space, my time to turn off. I have a very stressful job in the city and without my running, I think I would go insane. I also tend to do Pilates or weight training 3-4 times a week, at home after work when our daughter is asleep.

My husband’s concern is that I’ll start to lose weight again now that I’m pregnant, or that the exercise will lead to a miscarriage. I had a scare just after I found out, where I bled for a couple of days. I think I should be fine, and I’m hoping to work with a PT to taper my workouts down when I am heavily pregnant. Fitness is something that I turned to when our daughter was young, and it’s kept me sane. I’m open to working with a nutritionist to ensure I’m eating right, but he thinks I should just stop.

AIBU to want to keep working out?

The twins look to be MCDA from the original scan, which we went to privately because of the bleeding. It was then that I found out it was twins and that I was further along than expected - but I’d been having some irregular cycles before so I didn’t even think to test.

That’s why my husband is concerned - I’ve carried on like normal not knowing I was pregnant, and had the bleed. My viewpoint is I’ve carried on, and everything is now healthy. We’re due our first NHS scan in a couple of weeks, but because we have the means we’re considering private healthcare for this pregnancy, as we know how overstretched the NHS is. But, that will obviously depend on what we can do.

I'd cut down personally, given your struggle to get pregnant.

Running was the only thing that kept my nausea at bay during my pregnancies. Listen to your body, listen to your doctor.

Congratulations on your pregnancy!
My best friend carried on exercising throughout, so did our PT. Our PT was extremely fit though, I couldn’t keep up with her when she was 38 weeks pregnant 😂
Listen to your body, follow your Doctor’s advice, you’re good to carry on 🥰 good luck throughout your pregnancy x

Your body will let you know when you need to change.

It’s healthy to continue to exercise when pregnant though I would be guided by your doctor with a higher risk twin pregnancy.

Make sure you are working with an expert in prenatal exercise in the weights classes. You will need to start modifying and probably early than usual with twins (I teach prenatal Pilates).

Also - if you’re prone to being underweight and are carrying twins, really make sure you are eating enough. Working with a nutritionist is a good idea.

Also listen to your body - I’m a runner but I was knackered in my first trimester so wouldn’t have felt like running every day.

The thing I'd advise checking out, especially with twins, is how it would work and how much it would cost should your babies need NICU and/or premature delivery.

We have some women that come private care for emergency treatment for one reason or another. Their lack of familiarity with our system and facilities can make it more of an ordeal for them. For that reason, I'd try and maintain some contact with the hospitals you might go to should you need such care so at least you know a bit about the place and the people.

Oh definitely, if at any point we were told NICU etc is likely, we’d follow their lead. From our point of view though, we both have good savings, good insurance plans through work and privately topped up, and other sources of funding it should we need to. The NHS is completely on its knees and the thought of experiencing that at the moment is concerning us

Mhhh pregnant with twins, you've been bleeding. I understand his concerns. Skip the running continue the pilates just to be on the safe side

I would say I would want advice from an ob/gyn rather than GP. Particularly in regards to the haematoma and twin pregnancy (higher risk)...I'm saying this as I had a negative outcome from a sub chorionic haematoma. Not wanting to scare you, and I'm undoubtedly overly cautious because of my experience.

Yes a common time people transfer care from private to us is because their baby needs NICU and either the private hospital doesn't have one or they can't shell out for that level of care.

Would he feel reassured if you joined a pregnancy specific exercise programme? Not only would the exercises be pregnancy safe, but they would also focus on preparing your body to support you through pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period, so there'd be focus on safe exercises to strengthen the core and pelvic floor etc.

Exercise is a great thing to do for a healthy pregnancy (including for your mental wellbeing), as long as you check that you don't have any contraindications and listen to your body.

This in spades. Stay active but I'd bin off the running and switch your run to part public transport part brisk walk - you'll still get the same "headspace time"

Also congrats!!!!!

My friend ran throughout her pregnancy and aas adamant she was "listening to her body" her pelvic floor 💯 didnt agree woth that assessment. She needed surgery at 32 to correct.

Also even with an ELCS your pelvic floor will be impacted ( i didnt realise this before I got pregnant!)

I’m not 100% aware of the costs, we’ve sat down to plan things out entirely tonight, but I’m hopeful they’d be manageable for us. It’s just all a bit of a confusing time

If my pelvic floor will be impacted I’ll definitely switch to a walk! I just love the high I get, it powers me through my mornings and evenings! It’ll be sorely missed

Your ligaments and muscles soften due to pregnancy hormones so your risk of injury increases a little so def listen to your body.

brisk walking might be better in a few weeks/months. I promise you’ll be able to get your run routine back again one day and some women find their times improve due to all the work their heart did while pregnant. It’s a really short time so if you take it down a notch it won’t be forever

It won’t be forever OP! I did stop running at 16 weeks as PGP set in and got very bad. It was so bad I actually couldn’t walk; but did a lot of pregnancy yoga and Pilates which I loved. I did have a ‘Mummy MOT’ which was worth every penny and I’d recommend to any postpartum mum wanting to get back to exercise after a twin pregnancy. I had a twin running pram we used to death from 6 months of age until they were 4.5 and still clambering in for ParkRuns. Very happy memories running with them. The pregnancy is only temporary in the grand scheme of things!

I used to take DD on my runs when I was in the midst of baby blues post having her, I really look forward to taking the twins out!

Hi @mummytoonetryingfortwo yeah the high is a good thing but you can do something similar from e.g. xtrainer.

My twins are 7 now and I've been back lifting serious weights, box jumping and running for a while though.

I would also find a good women's health physio who can support with PF rehab after. Your PF takes way more strain than with a singleton so it's a good investment.

I have pregnant women in my Pilates practice, but they do modifications. Once you have the OK from your HCP, I would suggest a 1:1 with an experienced teacher so that you can continue safely.

Do you have access to a decent pool? I’ve had to cut down on exercise whilst pregnant with my second as my pelvic floor is already suffering at 26 weeks. However, I can do 50 lengths of the pool and it feels great and is absolutely essential to my mental and physical health. It feels rubbish getting out though and feeling the weight in my abdominals again!

I found out I was pregnant just before a skiing holiday to the USA. I was assured by the doctor that as I was an experienced skier there was no need to cancel. I just kept off the trickier steep runs though…..
I also sailed offshore until nearly 8 months pregnant - would have gone on longer but squeamish DH read the section in Reeds Almanac about emergency childbirth at sea and decided to ground me. Just as well as DS arrived 3 weeks early….

Thanks everyone. I will find a pregnancy PT, and work out a plan with them. I just don’t really want to stop all together.

I would be careful. Twin pregnancy is not easy (I had one myself and am also active). It’s also not worth risking your babies for the sake of a run. If you need it to de stress then slow to a gentle jog and make sure that you are eating a LOT. One of my babies wasn’t growing and the fear I felt at losing her was horrendous.

Congratulations on your pregnancy. But I don’t really understand what you AIBU is? When people are giving you opinions on cutting down or moderating your running you are very definite in your plan to continue, so why are you asking?

For what it is worth (nothing apparently) I think you should continue the Pilates and weights, cut the running in terms of distance and pace and take up something more gentle like swimming in the meantime.

If something were to happen in this pregnancy would you ever forgive yourself, or would your husband be able to get passed it if it were thought that your lifestyle was a contributing factor?