Pilates and Pregnancy – Week 24: High Kicks and Making Room for Baby

Welcome back to our Pilates and Pregnancy blog. This week the baby is the length of an eggplant. He weighs 1 pound, 10 ounces according to an ultrasound that I had to make sure that baby’s heart was looking good (which it was). During the ultrasound the technician noted that baby is measuring a little bit ahead – in the 62nd percentile – and has a long femur bone. He might be a tall one!week24

The biggest change I’ve noticed lately is that baby is a lot more active. I used to only feel kicks low in my abdomen, but lately have felt them as high as my belly button. As my body grows to make room for the little soccer player, I have noticed that certain areas – including my side waist and hips – are really tight.

To work on creating more space in my midsection, Carey and I spent a lot of time doing different side bending exercises. One that was really tough for me was to try and move my ribcage side to side as I was kneeling without simply jutting my hip to one side. Although the movement itself was small, I could tell right away that those muscles needed and loved to be stretched.

We also did a lot of rounding and extension of my low back. Most women in their second and third trimester feel a variety of sensations in their low backs, ranging from pain to joint movement to tightness. So far I’ve avoided the pain and tightness, but have noticed some joint movement that causes me to feel that I am out of alignment at times. As a Pilates instructor, it’s hard for me to be okay with my joints not lining up! Thankfully, the rounding and extension exercises not only stretch out the low spine, but also are a safe way to strengthen my abdominal muscles, which in turn help support the position of my sacrum, pelvis, and hips.

I didn’t get a good exercise picture this week, but I did get to celebrate my sweet nephew’s first birthday. Here’s a picture of me and my baby’s soon-to-be cousin!

See you next week,

-Cassie

Pilates and Pregnancy Week 23- No more Lying on my Belly and Other Fun Changes!

Jon, Cassie, Abby vipWelcome back to our Pilates and Pregnancy blog. After a brief hiatus for the holidays (and lots of cookies) I am ready to be back moving again! This week the baby is the length of an ear of corn (8.5 inches) and weighs around 1.5 pounds. I’ve definitely noticed the growth in my stomach and my clients have too!

The biggest changes in the last two weeks are that I no longer feel comfortable lying on my stomach and it’s a challenge to pull my boots on! My feet aren’t swelling yet, but bending over and trying to pull my boots on takes some maneuvering around my belly.

This week Carey and I worked on the Reformer. Early in the workout I could tell that certain exercises were more challenging than they were pre-pregnancy. In particular, Short Spine (where your feet come back over your head) was difficult. Hundreds were also a lot of work. I can still come up into the upper ab curl, but it’s becoming more difficult to engage my abdominal muscles as they stretch to make room for baby.

Other than those few exercises, the rest of the work felt great. In particular, we worked on hip opening, side bending, and upper body strength. Some of my favorite exercises at this point in my pregnancy are Knee Stretches, Mermaid, and the Side Arm Series on the Reformer.

The picture this week is of me with two other studio clients, Abby and Jon. We each received studio awards for our dedication to Pilates over the past year. It’s harder to see the bump head on, but I promise you, it’s there!

See you next week,

-Cassie

Pilates and Pregnancy Week 21- Adjusting to my growing belly!

21 weeksWelcome back to our Pilates and Pregnancy blog. We’re over halfway there! This week, the baby is the length of a spaghetti squash (about 8 inches) and weighs around one pound.

I am feeling great and have much more energy than I did in the first trimester. There are a few new pregnancy quirks, however. First, I sometimes have tingling in my right heel, which is more fascinating than annoying. It’s like your foot is about to fall asleep, but decides just to tingle instead. Second, my low back feels like it needs to realign itself most of the time, but won’t. My guess is that my bones are shifting and ligaments are stretching to make room for baby.

This week Carey started me on the Chair. We did a standing version of Cat/Cow where you start like you’re going to do Upside Down Push-Up (standing on the paddle, facing your Chair, with your hands on either side of the seat). Instead of lifting the paddle, you flow from a rounded spine into extension and back. It was great for all the tightness in my low back and abdomen.

We also did a version of the piriformis stretch that was wonderful. Sitting on the Chair, you put one foot on the paddle and cross your other ankle over your knee. Instead of leaning forward to feel more of a stretch,you let your paddle foot lift up to elevate both legs while still sitting tall. This is perfect for pregnant women who might feel uncomfortable trying to lean forward with a growing belly in the way.

Carey then switched me over to the Tower where we did a fabulous variation of Front Push Through. Instead of sitting with one foot placed up against each vertical pole, I took my legs wide, bent my knees, and let the bottom half of my legs dangle over the sides. This allowed me to push the bar further forward without running into my belly and to get a great stretch across my hips (which seem to always be tight these days).

The picture this week is of me doing Standing Arm Springs on the Tower. We will not be blogging next week because of the holiday, but will be back to share more of this wonderful journey in the New Year.

Wishing you and yours safe and happy holidays!

Pilates and Pregnancy Week 20 – The joys of stretching and finding out boy or girl!!

week 20

Welcome back to our Pilates and Pregnancy blog! I’ve got a big announcement to share with you this week – I’m having a baby boy! Going into the ultrasound I was convinced that baby Cumings-Peterson was a girl and so it was quite the shock when the technician told us otherwise.

Baby looked healthy and was squirming all over the place. He weighs 13 ounces and is lying sideways across my abdomen. I’ve definitely felt more movement; especially during the late afternoon and early morning.

This week Carey taught me on the Reformer. We did both Short Spine and Long Spine, which are exercises where your feet come back over your head. Some moms-to-be are wary of doing any inversions, but I checked with my doctor and she said that as long as I was comfortable, it’s safe for me and baby.

I noticed that it was harder for me to get my feet into the straps today because my growing belly was in the way. Once I was in the straps, however, it felt great to stretch out my low back using those two exercises. We did modify Short Spine slightly in that I kept my knees extra wide to accommodate my stomach on the roll back down.

In addition to working on the Reformer, Carey had me do a long series of leg and hip stretches on the High Barrel. Your ligaments relax during pregnancy, which is why pregnant women need to be careful when exercising, but my muscles felt tighter than ever! My hamstrings are especially tight, which Carey said is probably due to the fact that I am tucking my tail bone under to support the new distribution of weight in my body. Needless to say, the stretches felt great.

We wanted to incorporate something blue into this week’s picture, and so here’s a picture of me, halfway through the pregnancy, sitting on a blue exercise ball.

See you next week!

Pilates and Pregnancy at 19 weeks- Enjoying new changes and getting excited!

,

week 19 Welcome back to our Pilates and Pregnancy blog. According to the app on my phone, this week the baby is the length of a mango (about 6.5 inches) and weighs up to 10 oz. We have an ultrasound scheduled for next week and so I’ll be able to report actual measurements and the baby’s gender in our Week 20 blog.

This week Carey taught me on the Tower. We started with an exercise that is similar to cat/cow in yoga, but I was sitting back on my knees holding on to the roll down bar, moving from a rounded spine into extension and back. I am so thankful for the one-on-one sessions during this pregnancy. Carey is able to modify things to accommodate my growing belly and all the other delightful/strange changes that pregnancy brings.

We did a lot of upper body work and I noticed the next day that my arms were sore. When the baby comes, I’ll need lots of upper body strength to carry baby, a diaper bag, car seat, and who knows what else, and so it is wonderful to keep that strength up now.

Carey also focused on my precision. Whether you are pregnant or not, one of the many benefits of Pilates is that the work intensifies the more you focus on your movements. We made a tiny change to my arm position – hugging my elbows in and activating through my arms – during the leg spring series, and by the end of the series it was my arms that needed a break more than my legs!

The picture this week is of me doing chest expansion on the tower. Next week marks the halfway point of the pregnancy and – if baby cooperates – I’ll announce the gender.  You won’t want to miss it!

Pilates and Pregnancy Week 17 – Stretching, slowing down and feeling baby move!

,

18wks

Welcome back to our Pilates and Pregnancy blog! This week the baby is the length of a sweet potato (about 5.5 inches). I am most excited this week because I felt the baby move! Early on I thought I felt movements, but as this is my first pregnancy, it’s really hard to know for sure. Lately however, they’re pretty consistent. Baby likes to move in the late afternoon, if I’m sitting still. What a wonderful feeling!

This week we started working on the half barrel. The half barrel is fabulous for pregnant clients, especially later on in their pregnancy when they cannot lie on their backs for extended periods of time. It allows you to do exercises while being propped up at an angle.

We started with some stretches. I’m really enjoying the side stretching (lateral flexion) and extension exercises. Variations of Mermaid and Cat are my favorite. I think this is because my body is concentrating so much energy in my abdomen right now that everything gets a little tight. Stretching out my side waist and belly feel great!

We also worked on the Tower. Exercises that were “easy” for me pre-pregnancy, like different variations of our Leg Spring Series, are more difficult now. I move at a little bit of a slower pace, but it’s still fabulous to move.

We forgot to take a picture this time, but my mom was here over the weekend and snapped this one.

We’re going to take a week off for Thanksgiving, but I’ll be back with a blog for Week 19! Enjoy your holidays!