Let me start this post by giving you a brief description of my pregnancy with my daughter Sophia. I had really severe nausea pretty much the entire pregnancy. It was constant and I pretty much just learned to deal with it. Despite the nausea, I managed to exercise pretty frequently. I walked at least 20 minutes everyday and tried to do light strength training when I could. On the day of my delivery, I had gained 19 pounds of baby weight. When the day came to deliver, I didn't realize I was in labor until my husband finally convinced me that we needed to go to the hospital and they told me I was 9cm! After I was admitted, it took a few hours for my water to break, but once it did, I only pushed for 20 minutes and out came my new bundle of joy. A week after she was born, I was back in my jeans. They were snug, but at least I could button them! I tell this story not to make all you moms hate me, but as motivation about the benefits of being healthy and fit during pregnancy. I don't want to make it seem like I never felt any pain during my labor, but I think I had a lot more stamina to push and deliver because I had exercised and prepared my body for labor. After Sophia was born, I slowly began exercising again and have gradually built up to doing strength training most days of the week. Going to the gym has become a priority in my day and it is honestly the best way that I know how to relieve stress. My biggest motivation for continuing to exercise is my incredible desire to get pregnant again soon. I am hoping that by getting into good shape now, I can have another great pregnancy soon!
