Just Keep Swimming

I realize that I may be among the least sentimental person on the earth regarding her pregnancy, but seriously. Enough already. With the indigestion and the trouble sleeping and the bizarre round ligament pains and everything else, my beloved yoga practice has also been sacrificed. I posted recently about my renewed interest in fitness and health, regardless of this little... Turnip. But yoga is just not possible for me at the moment. It's more than the twists and inverted positions that are normally problematic during pregnancy. It's more of the, you know, breathing and moving parts. Like the part where I have to touch my toes or raise my arms over my head. It's all very unfortunate.

So I decided to try a change of tactic. I tried walking, but I find that it's SO HOT (when it's not really for normal people, but HOLY COW IT'S HOT) and I can't stand to be outside. I tried the elliptical at the gym, but again with the overheating and the moving. Then: stroke of genius.

Swimming!

I love to swim, always have, and have been very excited to get going on this new project (or obsession. Whatever.) I set about finding a bathing suit (not the easiest task when I am giving Playmates a run for their money) and some goggles. Today I went over to the Natatorium and decided to give it a spin. I had read online that swimming for about 30 minutes 4 times a week was optimal during pregnancy, and that seemed like no problem.

At first I was really self-conscious. There were all these tiny little people all around with no chest and muscular legs. I was there with my rather giant belly and enough chest to go around. I didn't want to look like I was as uncomfortable as I was, so I tried to walk out to the water like I'd been doing it for years. I might have pulled it off if I hadn't gasped out loud at how cold the water was.

Wow, swimming is hard! It's at least harder than I remember and more difficult to breathe when you're giving your Turnip space normally reserved for your lungs. I completed about 6 laps total, which is what I'd intended to accomplish in the first five minutes, but it felt so, SO great. I only managed to swim for about 15 minutes before I thought I might drown, so I got out and watched for a bit. When I went back into the locker room, an official looking lady came in and said to me, "Um... excuse me."

I was sure she was going to tell me that either 1) pregnant women aren't allowed to swim here or 2) people as slow as I was aren't allowed to take up space here. But no! Instead she said, "I just wanted to tell you that you looked great out there and to keep at it. Also, if you're ever worried about not having the strength to get out of the pool, you can use the chair." Then we proceeded to talk about fitness and how she would just tread water for 20 minutes while she was pregnant. It may come to that sooner rather than later, but it was very nice to hear something other than my own self-doubting thoughts.