Activity levels in pregnancy

[LunaDreams]

Hi all,

I'm almost 31 weeks with my first and just wondering how active other pregnant women tend to be in pregnancy?

I've gone from working full time in a hospital where I was commuting and then on my feet all day to working from home and do almost no exercise. I read earlier that pregnant women should still aim for 10,000 steps a day which I am absolutely no where near meeting!

I'm trying to go out for regular walks and doing some pregnancy yoga but am getting quite a lot of hip and bump pain now so find it hard. I know everyone will be different but wondering if anyone else is the same boat as me?

My stretch marks and pregnancy weight gain have really hit so just feeling a bit rubbish and guilty!

Thanks for the responses everyone....its so interesting to read how different we all are (reinforces PP points!).
No one should apologise for what they do or don't do- what is right for me will not be right for the next woman.

As was mentioned, I'm finding it hard to translate my step count that I was getting from work into my now pretty sedentary WFH lifestyle. I guess it is important to not put too much pressure on myself though.

I did just buy a yoga/birth ball to help with lower back pain and it is delightful! Highly recommended

25 weeks and have definitely cut back on pre-pregnancy activity! I’m still riding my horse probably four times a week, but it’s only for an hour or so each time, sometimes less, and I’m still walking my dog for probably an hour all in each day.
I do spend a lot of time out on our farm still but have stepped back from a lot of the more manual jobs, altho it all counts as I’m still walking about I suppose.
I’ve just been so sick throughout, every day since about five weeks 😂 so that’s really capped a lot of what I would normally be doing.
Everyone is different though, there really is no normal.

@SillyBry, no shaming experienced here! It's great that you're still able to be so active! I miss being active, it's so helpful for mental health as well as physical - hopefully I can get back to it in a few months.

I'm only doing the bare minimum as my pelvis and hip are killing me. Physio has reccomended no hills or strenuous activity .

@Ughmaybenot Well done on the riding! I think I last schooled my horse at around 28 weeks... and realised that holding everything together to do canter poles or any kind of canter more than 2 x 20m circles was starting to hurt! Carried on hacking out a few times a week (I have a couple of friends who are amazingly riding my horse for me!) until 31 weeks, but I was having to dismount on the mounting block... and suddenly felt like my legs had gotten too short and my balance felt all funny, so I gave up.
I'm not missing the day to day riding, but I do find myself whistfully watching videos of me jumping, desperate to go to a competition!!!

@Scirocco I'm definitely mainly keeping going for the sense of freedom I get from being out in the fresh air on my own!! I'm like enjoy the independence whilst you can! ;-)

@SillyBry yea it’s getting harder and harder as time goes on, I’m certainly not schooling, hacking all the way that’s great that your friends are so helpful, how kind of them! I’ve one similar who’s keeping my lad in check while I am otherwise preoccupied 😂 I’m dreading having to stop altogether but I think that’s coming up fast!!

I’m another who had HG so I went from pretty active to lying down for three months. It’s taken eight weeks but by swimming four times a week I’m back to my pre-pregnancy pace and distance in the pool. I’m 28 weeks now, and swimming almost every day for 45 mins at the moment, but a HUGE caveat is that it’s the summer holidays so I’m not constantly in my feet around school as I was a few weeks ago.

When I was really suffering with sickness I never imagined there would be a point in my pregnancy that I would feel this good, so I’m making the most of it and building my fitness whilst I can before I have to slow down again. I’m sure I’ll have to cut down on the number of swims I do each week at some point, but I really hope that I can keep swimming as close to birth as I can.

@Ughmaybenot one is a very nice rider (far better than me!) and her mare is in foal, so I was like how do you fancy riding harmony twice a week and you can compete her as much as you like? She’s awesome to jump and I know you’ll enjoy it… no commitment, but basically, anything you want to do is better than her doing nothing!
And my other friend loans my old mare, who has been off work with an injury, so I have kind of sidelined her into keeping the younger one going. Thankfully, they’ve qualified for some Riding Club champs in September, so that will keep them all motivated to keep riding her 🤣🤣
I’m not especially looking forward to having missed a summer of competing (especially after COVID shutdown) and then having to get back on and go out all winter… seems I planned it poorly there 🤣🤣

10 weeks and I’ve barely moved. I used to be reasonably active but I’ve just been laid low by fatigue.

I’m hoping to be able to get into a healthier more active routine when that second trimester energy arrives!