Friday, February 22, 2013

The honeymoon trimester


Once you reach the 14 week mark of your pregnancy you are officially in the second trimester, and if you're lucky like I was, most of the horrible symptoms of the first trimester go away. That means no more all-day nausea and no more wish-you-were-dead exhaustion. Plus an added bonus, you can feel the little tyke move!

Around 15 weeks I started to think I could feel something in there, by 16 weeks I knew what I was feeling was baby, and by 18 weeks my husband could feel him moving around in there. Actually by 18 weeks my husband could see him moving around in there.

What does it feel like? Ask someone to come around randomly throughout the day and gently poke you right above your pelvis a few times with a finger. That's about what those first few weeks felt like to me. It is simultaneously amazing and super creepy. Or maybe I've seen too many sci-fi movies...

Unfortunately though, the second trimester of pregnancy brings it's own problems. For me, problem #1 was round ligament pain. Normally this is a sharp groin pain that most women feel when standing up or rolling over or something similar, it normally lasts for a few seconds and then it's gone. Well, let me tell you something my fellow riding friends: The stronger the muscles of your pelvic floor the worse you'll feel round ligament pain. Know what makes your pelvic floor muscles really, really strong? Horseback riding, especially dressage. Yay. So one Sunday morning, as I was trying to make myself breakfast, I ended up on the floor gasping and crying from intense groin pain that didn't quit for 10 minutes (my poor husband had decided to throw me in the car and take me to the hospital when it finally let up). When I called my doctor's office the next day, the nurse said that was normal. "But it put me on the floor!" I said. "Totally normal," she replied.

Uh huh, not acceptable. So I did some internet searching and found a website called Spinning Babies that had some exercises for stretching out those muscles and ligaments that were killing me. The first one is called the Inversion, it looks absolutely bonkers but it helped SO MUCH! It takes your head a few days to get used to it, but the stretch on my ligaments started to help immediately. If you can, keep this up during the rest of the pregnancy, not only is it a good stretch but it also helps get the baby head-down for birth.


Helpful exercise #2 were the pelvic tilts, these not only help stretch the pelvic floor muscles and ligaments but also stretch your lower back nicely in the third trimester. Feels SO good!
let the belly hang
tilt your pelvic toward your chin and round your back
 And finally, another exercise I couldn't do without, the Bird Dog exercise. These are for when your back starts to hurt and pain starts shooting down your legs. Give it a few days to a week to start working, but it will help the pain go away. This can be done in the third trimester, balancing becomes hard but not impossible.

 
After I started doing these exercises, the second trimester was a breeze for me. I even went for a few rides, much to Coriander's chagrin. Here's another tip: When you're six months pregnant, canter in two-point/half seat. Trust me on this.

At this point I've still got a month to go. We're almost ready to meet our little guy!

20 comments:

  1. You're lucky that you found these exercises to help you through. It won't be long now til you get to see the little one. Very exciting!

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    1. I will do any exercise that will keep me out of pain :)

      I'm sure these next few weeks will fly by, but I'm already getting a little antsy!

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  2. I do these exercises almost every day, even when I'm not pregnant. They're great for gently stretching and strengthening your core. Their a good way to start back to exercise after the baby is born, too.

    In my experience, the last month is the longest month. Hang in there!

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    1. Agreed, I knew to do the bird dog exercise because it was prescribed to me after my back surgery. Keeping that core strong is important always!

      The last month is the longest you say? Oh goody...

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    2. Well done hunting up all these great exercises... wish I'd known about them back in the day before the interwebs. Hate to say it, but time stands still at the end. ;D

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    3. Ugh, not looking forward to that. Though I still have a lot to do, so I hope he takes his time.

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  3. Thanks for the exercise tips! The inversion is new for me. I will have to give it a try!

    I have not experienced pain for 10 minutes straight, but I have had round ligament pain since I entered the second trimester. I started noticing it at night first. I would wake up and feel soreness around my abdomen and pelvis and then I would go to roll over and it would REALLY hurt. I mentioned it to women at work and no one seemed to remember pain like that (and none of them are riders). My saving grace was a "pregnancy wedge", which was the butt of all jokes for while there, but that thing seriously worked by supporting my abdomen at night.

    I believe you about the canter. On one ride in particular, I decided not to canter because I thought that my bladder couldn't handle it. Yet another thing that I never imagined myself worrying about!

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    1. I hope you don't have pain like that, it was scary! Most women I know didn't have round ligament pain that bad either, but like you said- most of them aren't riders.

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  4. Wow, take a blogging break and look what happens!!! Congratulations!!! I had that same pain with my babies, but I didn't know what to do about it. It makes sense because I had been riding a lot before I got pregnant. :)

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  5. Look at you, riding Coriander! Good for you. So glad that you are managing your discomfort. This last month will fly by. Looking forward to meeting your little guy. :-)

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    1. Well I haven't ridden since December, which is fine since it's been really cold and nasty. It's actually been kind of nice, I'm too big to ride but it doesn't bother me as much because of the weather :)

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  6. I'm so excited for you, apart form the pain I hope you enjoy your pregnancy, for me one of the best experiences in my life!

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    1. Fortunately the pain really hasn't been bad since I learned how to manage it, but I'm really looking forward to learning who this little guy is!

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  7. Loved this news (save the really scary/bad pain) about now your moving into the home ***stretch***
    Those exercises sound great
    Shannon!
    You are awesome for riding a little.
    So exited for you two...can't wait to see those horse's faces when they meet your new little one. Phys going to be such a greasy SPRINGTIME!

    Hang in , keep up the good work.
    KK

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    1. Oh really!
      It is going to be a great.SPRINGTIME!

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    2. Thanks KK, though spring seems to be taking it's sweet time getting here. It's back in the 20s and snowing again!

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  8. It's so interesting to read about your pregnancy and riding. Glad you found some exercises to help with the round ligament pain - it sounds awful. Hope you have it under control now.

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    1. So far so good, though now the little guy seems to have figured out how to make himself weigh 50 pounds, makes getting up a challenge sometimes!

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  9. Just started following your blog- I've had trouble with blogger, for the last year it wouldn't let me add blogs to my follow list- Grrr! Anyway, I hope the remainder of your pregnancy goes well, and that you have an easy delivery and a healthy baby.
    Any chance you could go back to my foaling contest and add a little more info to your guesses? I need time and colour!

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