Pilates/yoga etc in first trimester?

[Ellboo]

Hello, have just had a very exciting bfp for my DC2 (eeek!), and am wondering what others do about exercise for the first 12 weeks?
When not pregnant I do an advanced pilates class once a week which i love - much valued me time and respite from a very energetic 2 year old at home. Last pregnancy I kept attending classes but with lots of alterations from my teacher, which made them sort of pointless (ended up just bouncing on a fitness ball for half the class). I then went to pregnancy pilates classes which didn't suit until I was about 30 weeks - lots of emphasis on breath and I'm not into visualisations etc (although quite liked them very late on in pregnancy when was so huge it was just nice to lie still for a while). So I guess I'm looking for suggestions of something safe to do that will keep me moving, stretch me out (I am prone to lower back pain) and give me a bit of head space once a week. Any bright ideas?

I tried to keep up with my usual gym routine, although I had to cut it back a little as I felt a bit nauseous and bloated in the evenings, and first trimester also coincided with the really hot weather we had in the summer. I tried to do pilates but was told by the instructor to wait until second trimester as it wasn’t recommended before 12 weeks, and the same went for yoga. Think it was something to do with the amount of relaxin your body gets in first tri. But if you’ve been doing pilates for ages it might be different – best chat to the instructor and see what they say.

(I tried pregnancy pilates but didn't care for it. That was probably because of the instructor who was a member of the anti-vaccine brigade and made some snobby comments when I said I was going for hospital antenatal classes rather than NCT!)

I'm 19 weeks and I've done pilates all the way through - tbf, I didn't tell the instructor until about 15 weeks, but everything I read on line said it was fine to continue exercising as normal as long as you felt ok and weren't advised otherwise by your GP/midwife. My instructor only makes minor alterations for me - ie I don't do anything that involves lying flat on my stomach, but beyond that I do the same as everyone else.

I've heard that maternally fit is good, if Pilates isn't doing it for you.
I kept up with Pilates in the first trimester but was often too tired to really enjoy it. I'm in the pregnancy mat Pilates class now which is working well and I'm getting to the gym about once a week to.