Brown discharge and exercise

[chelle85]

I'm 15 + 2 today. I had a bleed at 11 +5 but have since had my dating scan and all well and good. No reason seen for bleed but I do have a large cyst om right ovary but has shrunk from 6cm to 4.5cm between scans (sonographer wouldn't say if bleed cpuld have come from there).

Wasn't advised to refrain from exercise or anything at EPU following bleed and have been fine for 3 weeks but went to my usual class on Monday and have had some brown discharge from the day after.

TMI warning....it has been like stringy mucus in the morning with just faint traces when I wipe during the day and then slightly worse again before bed. Had this now for 3 days

As it is old blood I wasn't overly concerned especially as I have been having a lot of stretching pains recently and put this doen to old blood left over from previous bleed but midwife advised me to ring EPU to see if they wanted me to be checked out. The nurse there spoke to me like I was the worlds worst mother when I said I had been doing exercise classes and said that I shouldn't be doing anything like that now that I am pregnant and now is not the time to be concerned with my weight.

I was a bit taken aback by the tone she took as I had asked my midwife at booking who had encouraged me to continue as I was extremely active before pregnancy and no one had said to stop after my proper bleed. I did up to 8 classes a week with heavy weights and hiit training pre pregnancy and have reduced this to 3 a week and dropped all plyo and lowered my weights. According to nurse I shouldn't be lifting any weight at all!!

I don't know what to think now as I don't want to take any unneccesary risks but if I am expected to be cooped up and not move for next 6 mths I will go crazy! The classes are a socialising thing for me and with the hours DP works I will be feeling pretty isolated without this.

Anyone else had brown discharge and carried on exercising? Are they being super cautious or is it something I should be worried about.

Nurse is not right. I stopped lifting when I got pregnant but I was lifting heavy free weights for rowing and hadn't been back to them for very long so stopped to be on the safe side.

Noone expects you to stop exercising, and if you were doing so already, it's fine to keep going.

I've just stopped rowing at around 20 weeks but because I'm too heavy for my boat now, and I get too tired to actually do the amount I'm used to- I find it very frustrating that I can't do what I think I should.

However I'm walking the dog every day, and try to really march doing that, and doing a load of gardening as that doesn't do itself and will not just wait til next year!

I think, with moderation, some exercise is fine, just do have to consider what. Centre of gravity will change and bump will get in the way of some activities though.

I told her I had lowered my weights from 20kg to 10kg on squats in body pump and was told I shouldn't be lifting any weights at all. She really went on about how she had been doing this job since 1980 but if I don't want to take her advice on my head be it. She even wanted the name of my midwife to ring and tell her she shouldn't be advising to carry on with that type of exercise! I felt like a small child who'd had a right telling off at the end of the call!!

I have already adapted so much and know that as I get a bump will need to adjust more but a blanket ban on exercise just seems excessive when I was so active and given the benefits to mum and baby of easier labour and delivery.

Your ligaments are weaker in pregnancy. I don't know about the uterus suffering, but the rest of you is likely to. Couldn't you change to exercise that involves less weight lifting? HIIT without weights?

I jogged & cycled thru 39-40 wks pregnancy (many times)... I know mad footballers, swimmers & other sporty people who never stopped when pg. All fine, but weight lifting is quite different on the body from those.

ps: I don't think there's any proof of easier delivery due to mum's fitness. Recovery easier yes, for sure, but not the delivery.

I think it's the weights, exercise other than weights should be fine. But your ligaments loosen and your tummy muscles there is a risk of separation later in the pregnancy.