Exercise and Supplements in Pregnancy

Oh, yes please Grace, tell us more about your never ending pregnancy.

Fine.

I know, I know ... I'm not a health professional nor am I any sort of pregnancy veteran and probably zero people (pregnant or not) care about my exercise regimen or the horse pills that I throw back on the daily but ... here I am ... typing and advising away.

Supplements:
I should probably preface this by admitting that I am guilty of taking those useless gummy prenatal vitamins that have almost no effect on my overall health other than probably only slightly elevating my blood sugar for a few minutes after I scarf them down so don't think that I consider myself any sort of free range health nut because I do not.

Blood Builder I don't know many ladies that don't suffer from at least mild anemia when they are pregnant. My mom is a reflexologist and a natural medicine guru and sent me this stuff as soon as there was even a hint of lowish iron levels with Julia's pregnancy and it shot my red blood cell count right back up to the normal range. I started taking it right away with Sebastian's pregnancy and never had a problem but didn't have any on hand at the beginning of this pregnancy and my levels were extremely low in the first trimester but one Amazon order later ... I was good as new. Blood Builder is great because it has folic acid as well and doesn't have any of the nasty side effects that taking straight iron supplements does. Get it and take it and kiss your Anemia and (some) fatigue goodbye.

Magnesium 400 mg Like most pregs in their third trimester I start to get a little achy and my ribs start to hurt and I like to complain at night about how I just feel (wait for it ...) "SO pregnant!!" Simon mentioned that one of the attending doctors he works with recommends that his patients take 400 of magnesium a day to help with the "aches and pains" associated with pregnancy. Maybe it was/is a placebo effect but as soon as I started taking it I felt a million times better than I had. I do think the baby dropped a little and helped with the rib cage achiness and overall soreness but I'm not going to take my chances and stop taking it. I take it at night and I have no idea if that matters or not. My heartburn also improved significantly and that could just be a crazy coincidence.

Super B-Complex Vitamin: There's probably almost no way to escape at least a little bit of overall fatigue throughout one's pregnancy but I was feeling especially worn down at the beginning of the second trimester this time around, you know, when you're supposed to start feeling that "burst of energy"? I started taking this B-Complex in the morning and again ... blame it on the effect of the placebo but I really noticed a difference and even on the days that the kids got in the way of my coffee/creamer drinking ... I felt a lot better than I had the previous weeks. I would imagine it would have a similar effect even if you aren't pregnant, right?

Exercise:
Without overdoing it, I'm a firm believer that the more active I am, the better I feel. I know - crazy. I find this to be especially true during pregnancy. I can tell when I've let a few days go by with my only physical exertion being that of dragging Sebastian away from the toilet and lifting a fickle Julia in and out and in and out and in and out of her crib because I feel restless and extra tired. Of course, even with regular exercise, I still have those afternoons that the mere thought of carrying Sebastian upstairs for his nap makes me really tired and really grumpy.

Running: I know I suffer from a bit of pregnancy amnesia and don't remember how bad my morning sickness was with Julia and Sebastian but it felt especially bad this time around. I found that a little cocktail of Zofran, one (cooked) egg, and a run in the morning before the temperature hit 111 degrees kept the gross at bay. There was one week in which the jogger was out of commission due to a flat tire and I pretty much camped out on the futon in the basement because I felt so sick even with some protein and Zofran. Is running the answer to everyone's morning sickness woes? No ... but staying a little bit active was definitely the ticket for me this time around. And when I say "running" please know that I mean something along the lines of weeks 1-7 in the Couch to 5K program (lots of intervals) and my pace is bordering on that of a geriatric tortoise. I think I maybe ran (no walking) my entire route two whole times while pushing the kids this pregnancy and a few more when I escaped without them ... but other than that ... I love a good "walk 2 min, run 3 min" pattern.

Summer Sanders' Prenatal Workout: Eh. I don't love it but it makes me feel like I'm doing something when the physics of the belly doesn't allow for regular Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30 in the third trimester. I only ever do the express option for the 2nd trimester because the 3rd trimester involves a chair that I don't want to drag downstairs to the basement because I'm too lazy to be doing that for a workout.

10 Minute Solution - Kickbox Bootcamp: I hate/love this lady. She has an Australian accent and a body made entirely of steel and wears camo capri pants and is totally nuts. You can easily do the arms and legs segments all throughout your pregnancy because you stay standing (lunging, squatting) throughout those portions and they aren't too killer. They are great for getting back into the swing of things in the postpartum period of "hell no I do not want to work out but I'm sick of feeling gross and stagnant so I guess I can handle this while the baby grunts and robot moves his/her little legs and arms in the bouncy chair" -- you know what I'm talking about.

10 Minute Solution: Prenatal Pilates: this should be reserved for the last 4-6ish weeks of pregnancy when you're feeling especially elephanty and don't want to move ... there is also a postpartum ab portion that I should probably check out in the Spring because my sister-in-law is getting married and I have a very pretty bridesmaid dress that I don't want to be spilling out of or layering 3 pairs of Spanx (fine, Assets) underneath that might inhibit my ability to dance the night away.

 
I'm sure you seasoned pregs have a zillion better tried and true tips to share .... and I hope you will. Thanks in advance.