Anyone else find it hard to 'give in' to pregnancy?

[Byets]

Hi everyone,

I'm 24 weeks pregnant today and I am very active. I walk between 15-20,000 steps a day on average and a couple of times a week this gets up to 30,000 per day. I haven't yet found this difficult and have been able to carry on through my pregnancy (apart from a few weeks in the beginning with terrible morning sickness)

I moved house on Saturday (a move that had to take place despite the current situation) I packed and unpacked most things as I'm a control freak lol and my partner was at work, obviously didn't do any extremely heavy lifting. Since this am so achy and tired. Feel unable to go on a walk or really do anything. I guess I'm just in shock as it's the first time my body has been so impacted by pregnancy and I'm finding it hard not to try and push myself to carry on🤷‍♀️

Does anyone else struggle to just slow down? Would love to hear from people who feel the same!

I have felt the same a bit. We live in a rural area, I usually spend all day outside working, and rarely sit down from breakfast until dinner. Now 36+ weeks, and im tired after each small household chore or short stroll

Is this your first pregnancy?

I remember with my first I felt really good and was very active up until around the five/six month mark. I was swimming and tried to haul myself out of the pool using the steps at the side, and I couldn’t do it! Took me a couple of attempts. That really hit home that my body was changing and taking over. Didn’t matter what I willed it to do.

By the end of my pregnancy I was absolutely huge (10lb baby) and could barely waddle to the end of the road and back, let alone lift anything.

It’s a weird process having to ‘give in’ to your body changing and limiting what you used to be able to take for granted. Especially if you are a control freak! But there’s no other choice really. It’ll happen anyway! I was much more laid back in my second pregnancy.

labour will sort that out! 😁

Thanks for the replies, it is my first pregnancy and I think the fact that I have always had slight problems with weight (don't like to put it on) is making it harder. I have gained the necessary amount of weight so far and will continue to as baby is by all means my priority. I guess knowing I was staying very active alongside eating a healthy diet has been keeping me sane. I'm worried if I'm unable to exercise as much I may start to focus more on my weight. Any extra experiences or advice with this? 😊

‘Giving in’ might be your body’s way of saying slow down and look after yourself. It takes a huge toll on your body and where as you shouldn’t lay in bed for 9 months being waited on hand and foot, you do need to accept that you can’t do as much.

I completely understand not wanting to put weight on but a little weight gain is inevitable and if you’re into the habit of watching what you eat already then it’ll be easier to stick to this after baby’s born.

Don’t be too hard on yourself and don’t push yourself unnecessarily or you really will have to ‘give in’!

I’m 38 weeks with number 3 now and have had to admit that I can’t use the dustpan and brush anymore! I used a stain remover on the rug yesterday and was exhausted afterwards, I thought I’d done so well until this point!

Yes! Very much so! 34 weeks now and until gyms were shut a couple of weeks ago, I was doing body pump classes three times a week. Now, going up and down the stairs leaves me breathless and my daily walk, which takes me about an hour, is something I would ordinarily do in about half that.
Because of the warmer weather, I’ve painted my toenails this morning. That task gave me enough exercise for about a week!

Im just over 35 weeks and havent stopped yet however i have got slightly slower mainly due to the fact baby has moved down now! I've managed to keep the weight off due to this fact as I have always had in the back of my mind that it needs to come off after and that scares me as I just want to be able to focus on having a good time with my baby.

My mum keeps telling me to take it easy, have a rest. But I feel worse and more achy when I do so!!

x

Always listen to your body! You've done very well to obtain that level of activeness, I've done absolutely no exercise whatsoever throughout the whole of pregnancy (I'm 23 weeks) but that's been due to extreme tiredness and sickness. I ensure that I'm eating the right nutrients to make up for it but I honestly couldn't think of anything worse than being active. Just going up and down the stairs tires me out lol

I’m one of those annoying lucky people in that I’ve always naturally been slim and have never really needed to watch my weight. I didn’t bother to weigh myself during pregnancy (except once) and didn’t look at the scales if I was weighed at midwife appointments. I didn’t diet. And I didn’t (couldn’t!) exercise.

A few weeks before I gave birth I got on the scales out of curiosity and I was shocked to see I’d only put on a stone and a half. I hadn’t done anything differently except for continue to eat completely normally. By which I mean I didn’t use pregnancy as an excuse to eat everything in sight. You only need about an extra 250 cals a day when pregnant. Which is basically a cheese sandwich or two rounds of peanut butter on toast.

During my first pregnancy, a work colleague was pregnant at the same time. She put on three and a half stone and was always complaining about her weight gain. She used to get off the bus a stop early and walk the extra distance to the office. But, the crucial thing was that five days a week she was also stopping off at McDonald’s on the way to get a breakfast!

That sounds really judgy. I don’t mean to be. But You’re not going to be able to exercise properly in the third trimester, so if you hammer the cake you’re going to see the consequences.

I really struggled to slow down but was forced to in my third trimester when I just couldn’t exercise the same . I work on my feet all day and work was a major struggle but I hid it from everyone . I don't know why . I just wanted to keep up but I wish I had slowed down 😔 ! I wanted to work until I was 39 weeks but my waters broke at 37+1.

I’m pregnant again and this time I’m going to take it easy and go on a much earlier maternity leave !

I’m pregnant again and this time I’m going to take it easy and go on a much earlier maternity leave

Yes that’s what I did! Don’t try and be a superhero. If ever there was a legit excuse to do as little as possible, being pregnant is it. You’ll be busy enough once the baby’s born and you’ll look back and wonder what the fuck you were trying to prove.

@RUOKHon exactly !! I was such a fool the first time 🤦‍♀️

Yes, I've always been very active and did a lot of weights in the gym and also aerial classes so used to lugging heavy things (including my body weight upside down 😂) around. I've had a few niggles and aches etc and also the midwife told me early on due to a subchorionic bleed to stop anything heavy and switch to gentle exercise.
We had some furniture delivered recently and I felt useless standing by letting my husband carry it around. My hips even started aching after a long walk the other day which really made me realise how much my body is changing. But I need to do what is best and I'll start building my strength back up after the baby.

Weight gain isn’t inevitable at all. I ate whatever I wanted during pregnancy (wasn’t overweight to start with) and when I got home from the hospital a week after the birth and got on the scales I hadn’t gained any weight at all. The extra weight I had during pregnancy was all baby, waters and placenta (a small premature baby, but the extra weight was still 20 lbs or so).

Keeping active as long as you can will have good long term positive effects @Byets, so do keep going! Walking has so many benefits and as pregnancy continues, the fact that your heart rate etc increases on a short slow walk (when it wouldn’t have done so much for a healthy fit person pre-pregnancy) keeps you ticking over. Walking as much as you can in the third trimester is also very good for positioning the baby, engaging the head etc. For the last month of pregnancy I walked a lot, even if it was just a slow stroll to a cafe (appreciate that’s not possible right now but would recommend it if lockdown is lifted...)

I find that people who tell you to take it easy generally don’t do much exercise so their perspective of ‘normal’ won’t necessarily be yours.

I gave birth in February and I will say that something to bear in mind is how quickly some aspects of your body might recover. I was lucky enough to have an easy birth with no complications, and after birth was marvelling at how much easier it was to move around, stand up and sit down than it had been in late pregnancy, even when very tired and sore with stitches. I remember sitting with my feet tucked under me on the sofa, about a week after delivery, and marvelling how it was the first time I’d done that comfortably for about half a year. even showering & dressing in the delivery room was easier than it had been. I put on nearly three stone, which was stressful as I was very fit and active pre-pregnancy, but lost half of that almost immediately after birth and am working on the remaining 1.5 stone now. It’s natural to worry but as PPs have said, keep your diet as healthy as possible and don’t hammer the cake too much!

The more active you can be in pregnancy, the easier it will be to recover from pregnancy. I was in the gym when labour started last time and was running 6 weeks after my emergency cesarean. I suffer badly with nausea and vomiting so always have to take the first trimester or so to just rest, but after that I’ll be keeping busy in this pregnancy too.