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

Welcome 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!