Welcome back to our Pilates and Pregnancy blog! It has been quite the eventful couple of weeks around here. We moved to a brand new, larger studio. It’s beautiful and allows us to offer more classes – including new Barre classes and expanded yoga and Pilates options. Life was a little crazy during the transition and so Carey and I weren’t able to sneak my private in, but we’re back on track now and excited to share news from my last ultrasound.

My doctor thought that the baby might be measuring ahead and so we scheduled an ultrasound for 35 weeks and 3 days. I could tell right away that something was up because baby measured in at least the 97th percentile for every measurement the ultrasound technician took! Baby is completely fine and healthy – but he’s big! He was measuring 8 lbs. 3 oz. with four and a half weeks to go. My doctor isn’t worried about gestational diabetes (I was tested and passed) and said that it just might be that we’ll have a big baby. The news isn’t completely a surprise. The men in my life were big babies too: my husband was 9 lbs. 13 oz.; my dad was 9 lbs. 12 oz.; and my 15-month old nephew was 9 lb. 13 oz.

So with the news of a big baby, Carey and I jumped into our private lesson at 36 weeks pregnant. Although I shouldn’t be surprised at all, I was excited about how good it felt to move! I move much slower now that I did during the first and second trimesters. My low back is tight, my feet and ankles are often swollen, and my outer hips hurt if I stand too long or do too many strenuous movements. Taking everything into account, Carey tailored a perfect Pilates session that was gentle and therapeutic while still challenging.

We started with standing stretches: rolling my shoulders front and back, twisting gently side to side through the spine, and rolling my neck in easy circles. Just those simple movements loosened up the tension I didn’t even realize I was holding. We then moved to the Chair and warmed up a little more with Footwork and a Piriformis stretch.

Our new space has a designated Barre/yoga room and so Carey and I used the barre to do two ballet-inspired moves next. To begin, Carey had me place one hand on the barre and stand about an arms-length away with my legs in a wide turnout. We did two sets of squats. During the first set, I kept my feet flat on the floor and during the second (which was more challenging) we did the squats with our heels lifted. Both versions felt nice. I was able to get a deeper hip stretch with my feet flat on the floor, but the extra work through my quads to squat with my heels lifted felt good too.

The second ballet-inspired move was a big kick back. Carey had me face the barre and hold on with both hands. Keeping one leg bent, we kicked the leg back and then drew it forward in a big arc front to back (see photo below). The movement helped to stretch out my low belly and front of my hip while simultaneously working my glutes and standing leg.

Welcome back to our Pilates and Pregnancy blog! This week the baby is about 19 inches long and 3.9 pounds. I had a doctor’s appointment and am happy to report that everything looks good. Baby’s head is down, he had a strong heartbeat, and my belly is still measuring on track. Only eight more weeks to go!

This week I wanted to share my top 5 favorite Pilates exercises for pregnancy. Throughout my pregnancy, my body has changed immensely, but these exercises continue to feel good. Carey and I did some variation of each of these exercises this week.

1. Mermaid. The classical Pilates exercise Mermaid can be performed on the mat, Chair, Reformer, and Cadillac. My favorite version throughout pregnancy has been on the Reformer. This exercise is great because it stretches out the side waist and hips. Carey modified my leg position so that rather than having one leg stacked on top of the other, I position one bent leg up against the shoulder blocks and the other bent leg opens to the side of the carriage (see picture below).
2. Leg springs with my head supported. Using the Cadillac or Tower systems, Carey has me rest my head and neck on a small half barrel. I rest my arms beside me and she helps me get my feet into the leg springs. The added lift of the half barrel makes it more work to keep my hips stable, but also prevents heartburn or too much pressure from lying flat on my back. Leg springs feel great on both my inner thighs and outer hips, which are tighter now than they were before becoming pregnant.
3. Thigh stretch over the big ball. To do thigh stretch over the big ball, Carey has me sit back on my heels and then she positions the big ball directly behind me. I drape my body back over the ball so that my head rests on the ball. Even without moving this is a big stretch for my quads. To get the full thigh stretch, I lift my hips a few inches away from my heels on the inhale and then relax them back down on the exhale. Since everything in my hips/quads/lower abdomen region is tight, this exercise helps to gently stretch those muscles (see picture below).
4. Cat. My low back has felt tight or sore off and on during the second and third trimesters. There are many variations of Cat, but my two favorites are standing with my hands holding onto either side of the Chair, and kneeling with both palms flat on a big exercise ball. While holding either of those positions, I transition through a rounding and extension of the spine. I perform some variation of this exercise every day and it never fails to help relieve my low back pain.
5. Standing arm springs. Unlike the previous four exercises, the standing arm springs series does not stretch or relieve any pregnancy-induced tightness. However, this series is great for keeping up arm strength and working on shoulder stability (see picture below).