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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

Tell me how dumb I am to consider a 10K walk at 39ws

56 replies

southpacificgoat · 09/02/2018 14:49

Work is doing a 10K fundraising run with option to walk it for the less fit. It's a really good cause and I would love to do it. The thing is that I will be just past 39 weeks (It's in the summer)...

This is baby number two. I was induced last time at 41 weeks and would love to have a natural start to labour this time round. I am planning to walk to work and back when I don't feel comfortable cycling any longer. This is just over 5K one way, so roughly the equivalent distance of the charity run/walk a day. Last time I got to around 37 weeks doing this and then had to stop because my shins started hurting really badly. I also got really heavy legs and water retention in the last couple of weeks of that pregnancy.

I really would love to do it though and think it might be a good way to get things going if nothing has happened by then. Obviously I can still pull out if I am not up to it at the time, but I don't want to let people down by pulling out of something I should not have considered doing in the first place. Also, I am not super fit, just average. Is this madness? Has anyone else done this in a previous pregnancy or is considering doing it this time? How did it go?

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Bythepath · 09/02/2018 16:03

I live in a national park. I went walking up pretty steep hills right up to the days before I gave birth all 3 times. I am pretty fit and found it gave me something to do to get through the boring last 2 weeks of waiting. I had very quick labours but whether the walking had anything to do with that I don't know. So yes I could and would do it but I know friends of mine who couldn't walk to the end of the road at full term.

blackberryfairy · 09/02/2018 16:07

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

NoSquirrels · 09/02/2018 16:13

I think if you couldn’t manage it with baby no 1, because of the shin issue, it would be unwise to think baby 2 would be different.

Support the team another way.

robertaplumkin · 09/02/2018 16:18

this would have killed my lower back after 30 mins. my baby was born at 39 weeks.

Thishatisnotmine · 09/02/2018 16:20

I walked loads throughout both my pregnancies as I do not drive but would not have considered a 10k walk at that many weeks. At that point I was so slow and at the end of each day exhausted from walking to and from buses and shops plus the extra work of looking after dd1. I enjoyed walking and kept active but if I did too much I suffered the next day. And felt misserable to be reminded of how useless I felt! Oh, and my feet were ridiculously swollen!

Could you get involved in marshalling or something instead?

WildCherryBlossom · 09/02/2018 16:42

I would do it. I walked a lot in my pregnancies.

QueenAravisOfArchenland · 09/02/2018 17:14

Can i ask, those of you who walked a lot through your pregnancy, how was your labour?

I had a v straightforward labour, birth and recovery.

Are the team going to be able to enjoy the walk if they are worrying about you?

OP's an adult woman. Why on earth should she not do something that she wants to do that may be fully within her capabilities because someone else might worry about her? And unless the walk takes place in an isolated area with no traffic and no phone reception, why should she need someone to walk with her? I walked 10k or more a day up to my due date and, shock horror, always alone, or as alone as anyone is in a city. The walk would have been within the capabilities of plenty of us, and OP has been 39 weeks pregnant or thereabouts before and presumably remembers how capable she was.

Enough bullshit is put on pregnant women as it is. There's someone "worrying about you" in pregnancy all the time whatever you do. The fact that it's well meant doesn't make it not intrusive and an overstep.

NoqontroI · 09/02/2018 17:17

I did a 5 k walk at 38 weeks and the need for the toilet was an issue. I was diving into the bushes every ten minutes.

BitOutOfPractice · 09/02/2018 17:17

So walking 10km (broken into 2 5km segments) left you in pain last time at 37 weeks. And you're thinking about doing 10km at 39 weeks this time?

I'd have a rethink if I were you!

iatethepies · 09/02/2018 17:19

If you feel up for it then do it but make sure you stay hydrated with plenty of rests. With dc 1 and 2 I walked miles and miles without any trouble, dc 3 I couldn't even walk downstairs without my feet feeling like they were going to explode!

BikeRunSki · 09/02/2018 17:23

I could have done this in the one pg when I did get to 39 weeks (dd born at 39+0), but I would have been concerned about water breaking and labour starting whilst I was far from car/hospital/home. Previous baby came at 36+5.

WildCherryBlossom · 09/02/2018 20:26

@Merrz In answer to your question about waking & labour, I'll never know what helped but all my babies were large and all were natural labours with no painkillers. With the last baby I was walking close to 8km a day just in school runs, plus whatever extra I needed to do every day, plus swimming whenever I could. Baby was close to 5kg with a fairly straightforward delivery. But I may just be lucky.

DrinkFeckArseGirls · 09/02/2018 20:29

At that stage I peed every 30 minutes.

DrinkFeckArseGirls · 09/02/2018 20:30

I was super active too and didn’t have a hige bump so DD was having a merry way with my bladder.

Thistlebelle · 09/02/2018 21:31

Queen we clearly take a different view regarding consideration for others.

I fainted in church while heavily pregnant. I didn’t go back to services while I was pregnant after that because I felt that there was potential for it to happen again and a heavily pregnant woman fainting and getting stuck between the pews was needlessly distressing and disturbing for the rest of the congregation.

If the OP feels she can do it, she’s free to go ahead, I was just offering a different point of view.

Skittlesandbeer · 09/02/2018 21:48

My biggest concern would be going into labour after (or during!) the walk, and already being tired. You want to be as mentally and physically prepared as you can be, right? Why risk wearing yourself out, and raising your blood pressure for that long?

Being fit is great, of course, but being fit and exhausted likely cancels fit out!

And yes, I’d also want to avoid ruining other people’s walk if I went ‘belly up’ during it. People would stop to help, and they’d have a case for being a bit cos it would seem fairly predictable that you’d run into trouble.

I’d have no motivation to prove ‘pregnant women can do anything’ and be on the evening news. It’s not about you, it’s a fundraiser. Only participate to the extent that you are supporting that cause, and don’t put it (and yourself) at risk.

That aside, good luck for the home stretch of your pregnancy!

hotelduvin · 09/02/2018 22:09

I am only 34 weeks with my first, but most days I walk about 10km per day, what with getting to work and home, walking to the gym etc. I wouldn't have thought ten km is too far if you walk a lot already?

CL1982 · 09/02/2018 22:13

I won't lie-right now I'm 37 weeks and couldn't even consider it!! It highly depends on how you are but I'd consider it very carefully simply from a toilet point of view!

TheHeartOfTeFiti · 09/02/2018 22:21

I did a similar distance at 39 weeks but don’t think I’d have signed up for it. Could you not be support team?

123bananas · 09/02/2018 22:28

I think it depends, with my first I walked on average 10km a day. On the day I went into labour I had walked 10km then did a supermarket shop whilst in labour (I had an emcs in the end).

Location and companionship are important. I would want to be with someone and not too far from civilisation should things happen quickly.

TriJo · 09/02/2018 22:29

I did a total of a similar distance over the course of an afternoon when I went to a rugby match at 40+6 when pregnant with my first son. No issues but I went into labour the next day!

Didn't make it to 39 weeks second time but I ran until 34 weeks so walking a 10k wouldn't have been a massive stretch.

Piffpaffpoff · 09/02/2018 22:35

I normally wouldn’t recommend this but given that you do regular exercise then I’d say it’s not unreasonable to do it if you want to, providing you listen to your body and are sensible. By that I mean you are prepared to pull out at any time in the run up and on the day, depending on how you feel. Including stopping at the 9k mark if you have to!

SuperBeagle · 09/02/2018 22:40

Depends how much you walk, on average.

I was an 8km per day walker right throughout my pregnancy (and beforehand, of course) because I have dogs who require that amount of exercise. I was still doing that when I was overdue.

I probably wouldn't recommend it to someone who wasn't regularly walking distances though.

Can i ask, those of you who walked a lot through your pregnancy, how was your labour? I've heard it tends to make labour easier?!

I had three easy labours/deliveries and one more difficult one. The difficult one was because baby was posterior with their fist beside their face. I do think that being fit plays a big part in your labour/delivery, but there is, of course, also an element of luck.

trilbydoll · 09/02/2018 22:48

What if it's a boiling hot day? It would be awful! I think you'll know by about 28w if you're falling apart or not, I seemed to totally disintegrate with dc2 and needed walking sticks for long distances. If you're walking to work anyway though it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

TriJo · 10/02/2018 12:58

Would second what SuperBeagle says regarding being fit and it helping with labour and delivery. Second delivery for me was an absolute stinker (shoulder dystocia with a very average sized baby!) but I've been able to recover surprisingly quickly.

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