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!

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