Great Pregnancy Exercise: Swimming (Week 21)

I am pleased to say I am feeling less breathless and dizzy since my post last week. For one, I doubled my iron dosage, which has helped elevate my daily energy as well as my capacity to climb stairs. I also have started to take it easier in general: I walk, climb stairs, and do everything a bit more slowly than I used to. But what I'm most pleased about is that I've gotten back into the pool and have started a swimming regimen again. This is after  finding a new bathing suit that fit me.

How I Found a Swimsuit in the Fall
Given that it is the fall season and swimsuits in general are harder to come by, I found it difficult to find a maternity store that sold bathing suits. There is a specialty bra and swimsuit shop in Toronto called Melmira that not only offers a great selection of maternity bras, but also maternity swimsuits. Although I did go there to buy two maternity bras a few months ago, they cost me $250. Given the high prices of their bras, I assumed their swimsuits would likewise be expensive.

So instead I paid a visit to Bikini Village, who doesn't sell maternity swimsuits at all. I asked the clerk if there was any way I could find a regular suit that would fit my new body, and she said "of course!". I tried on two swimsuits before deciding on a simple Roots one-piece that was a few sizes larger than what I normally wear. Easy peasy!

Why I Love Swimming Right Now
Although walking is also great exercise when you're pregnant, when I walk for an extended period of time, I tend to feel pressure from the weight of the baby  in my lower abdomen, which is a bit uncomfortable. When I swim, I feel completely comfortable moving around in the water. In fact, it's a easier to move slowly while I'm swimming because I'm so buoyant now!

The Benefits of Swimming During Pregnancy
Swimming is great exercise because it uses both large muscle groups (arms and legs). It is both low-impact (reducing the risk of injury) and it is a great aerobic workout. In general aerobic exercise

• improves circulation
• increases muscle tone and strength
• allows you to sleep better at night
• improves your energy
• helps you cool down from the emotionality caused by pregnancy hormones

Swimming Tips

• If you are new to exercise, check with your doctor or midwife before starting any exercise 
• Drink plenty of water to stay hydrated (swimming in a pool of water doesn't count!)
• If you're in your first trimester
• Try to swim for at least 30 minutes daily (if you have the energy). 
• Swimming first thing in the morning may counteract nausea and energize you for the rest of the day
• If you're in your second trimester
• You don't have to change anything that you were doing in your first trimester--except you might need a new swimsuit
• If you're in your third trimester
• The breast stroke is particularly beneficial in the third trimester, because it lengthens the chest muscles and shortens the back muscles, two areas that typically become misaligned as your body changes during pregnancy

Breathless and Dizzy...and Not in a Good Way (Week 21)

Being a (self-acclaimed) superfit mom, I went into this pregnancy pretty confident that I would be able to maintain a level of fitness that I could be proud of. Of course, life has a funny way of cutting me down to size once-in-a-while--even though I'm short enough as it is.

My Near-Faint Experience

Late last week I experienced something I had never felt before. I was walking with a client around their neighbourhood for our weekly one-hour walk, at our usual moderate pace, when I started to feel out of breath. At first I thought it was funny because a walk like that never used to make me feel like I had just done a 30-second sprint. "Ah, the joys of pregnancy," I thought. Soon enough, it became apparent that my heavy breathing was not subsiding, and I was starting to feel dizzy. I began to feel faint. To my minor embarrassment, I quickly reached a point where if I didn't sit down, I was going to collapse. My poor client, who had no idea what was going on with me, was understandably concerned. I was having a hard time breathing, and my heartbeat was pounding in my ears. Without having much choice, I sat down on the curb to try and recover. It took all of 30 seconds to feel normal again. Without skipping a beat, I got back up and we completed our walk. I had no idea what to make of what had happened, and what was worse was that I couldn't explain it to my client. 

The very next day, I walked home from the cinema with my partner--it's all of a 10 minute walk. We reached our building and headed up the four flights of stairs to our apartment. By the time I had reached the hallway, a huge wave of dizziness came over me. I was breathless yet again, and my heart was going a hundred miles a minute. I needed my partner to help me through the apartment door. I was starting to see stars, and I realized I was close to passing out. After collapsing on the couch, I panted for another 30 seconds, during which time my breathing and heart rate quickly subsided. It was at this point I decided that I should figure out what the heck was going on with me. Thankfully I could easily find out what the problem was--and that it was nothing serious. 

Pregnancy and Breathlessness

In pregnancy, your ribcage widens to allow for an increase in lung capacity. This works to offset the problem that the growing uterus plays in constricting your breathing. As your uterus expands, it pushes up into your diaphragm, making it harder to pull in your usual-sized breaths of air. Moreover, with all those pregnancy hormones that cause your muscles and ligaments to relax, your diaphragm is on a mini vacation, not working as hard to pull air into your lungs. 

To make things worse, the increasing progesterone in your body makes you more sensitive to the carbon dioxide your muscles produce as a waste product when you move. The resulting breathlessness is caused by your body trying to get rid of the carbon dioxide and replace it with oxygen as quickly as it can.  

Breathlessness can also be caused by low blood iron levels, which I am prone to.

Pregnancy and Dizziness

By now, if you've been following my blogs, you've learned that there's a lot of hormone-induced relaxing going on in the body. One of the other parts of the body that are relaxing as your pregnancy progresses are your blood vessels. They are widening to help increase blood flow to your baby. This causes your blood pressure to be lower than usual, which can reduce the blood flow to your brain, temporarily causing dizziness.

Dizziness is also caused by low blood sugar levels that may occur as your body adapts to changes in your metabolism. Women who are anemic or who have varicose veins may be more susceptible to dizziness than others (not only do I have low blood iron levels, I also have varicose veins, which explains the severity of my symptoms).

When you Need to Worry About Breathlessness and Dizziness 

There are not always benign explanations for why you may feel breathless and dizzy during pregnancy. You should contact your health care provider immediately if your dizziness is accompanied by vaginal bleeding and/or pain in your abdomen. This could be a sign of an ectopic pregnancy, a low-lying placenta, or placental abruption.

You should also contact your health care provider immediately if you have persistent dizziness or dizziness accompanied by blurred vision, headaches, or palpitations; this may be a symptom of severe anemia or some other illness that could have a negative effect on your pregnancy.

If you are feeling breathless and you get the feeling that your heart beat is racing, irregular or missing a beat, or if you feel chest pain--especially if it starts when you exert yourself--or if you have difficulty breathing when you're lying down or at night, see your doctor.

Pain in the Hip! (Week 20)

So, remember that article I wrote not-too-long ago about how the back and pelvis slowly may go out of whack as your pregnancy progresses? Well, it couldn't have been more aptly timed. For the past few weeks I have been experiencing pain in my lower back and hip. It first started pretty mildly, and would only hurt if I moved a certain way, like turning or bending over. It was a sharp stabbing pain that would go away whenever I stopped the particular movement I was doing.

As the weeks progressed, I maintained my toned-down exercise regimen that I've implemented since getting into my second trimester. However, the pain became more frequent and more movements became difficult to do. My clients would notice me limping about and would offer to help me do the normal tasks I would do while training them. Hmmm, not cool. It's one thing thing to endure some discomfort, it's another to let it affect my job. On top of which, it became increasingly difficult to exercise.

Katrina Kulhay to the Rescue
Fortunately, one of my clients referred me to a Toronto Chiropractor that specializes in pregnancy, Katrina Kulhay. I met her for the first time today. She is a positive, energetic woman who sincerely got excited over the news that I was pregnant, and began spouting words of advice on nutrition and exercise. Aside from telling me a lot of what I already know, she also told me to tone down the impact of the exercise I've been doing (which is something an active person hates to hear). This is because as my pregnancy progresses, the levels of relaxin (the joint-loosening hormone) will increase to a point where too much impact could cause my joints to slip around "like a banana". Eeesh.

When it came to the treatment, she obviously knew what she was doing. She was quick, efficient, and actually took the time to explain what she was doing to me as she was doing it. Since that single treatment this morning, I have progressively felt better throughout the day. In fact, as I write this, I am fully mobile again and almost completely pain-free.

Changing my Exercise Routine
Dr. Kulhay advised me to perform special exercises to help strengthen my pelvic floor. This will prevent future pain, as well as make it easier to push out my baby during delivery. These exercises included kegels, supine pelvic tilts, and assisted squats.

Assisted squats can be done with two chairs on either side of you. Holding the back of each chair in each hand, slowly lower yourself down into a squat position. Return to standing. While you complete the movement, use your hands to help slow you down as you lower your body, and help push you up as you raise your body.

Kegels and supine pelvic tilts can be done every day. Do 3 sets of 15-20 reps. For squats, do 3 sets of 15-20 reps every other day.

As far as working my abs and upper body, she said I could continue as I had been before. If you are suffering from lower back pain and discomfort like I am, I would recommend performing upper body exercises that are seated or lying down, so as to not stress your back.