Exericise when pregnant with two

New, young Mom who is thirteen weeks pregnant with twins. My husband and I both live very active lifestyles. I am used to doing curls with weights, using the elliptical, the rowing machine, etc. My doctor said I can continue to exercise because before I know it..I will no longer have the energy. When should I really start taking it easy? I do not want to hurt the babies by doing too much. We worked very hard to conceive and were absolutely blessed with these two babies..so I want to do all that I can to protect them. Thank you!!

 

Hi mkz, welcome to twinstuff and congrats on your twins.

I was in the military while I was pregnant, and it was no excuse not to show up for PT. I ran ( read jog ) until about 13 weeks, then I had gallbladder issues and had to have surgery, so had to stop exercising then. Once I was cleared from that, I walked PT day (3 x per week ) until about 30 weeks. At that time, I felt like it was so uncomfortable and increased my Braxton hicks that i stopped.

I'd say do what you can comfortably as long as it's non contact and enjoy it!

Edited for typos

 

Thank you YooperMom, my husband served in the military as well..thank you!!
I have definitely cut back since we found out. I would say I burn on average 530 calories per day/workout. I simply walk 3 miles on the treadmill or stroll on the elliptical..total time 45 mins. Only enough to get a little sweat on the brow. I quit deadlifts, squats, bent over rows, benching.. now I use only free weights ( 8 lbs each lol). And nothing lifted over the head. I am small. So I make sure to eat enough throughout the day. No problems there haha. Thanks again!! :thanks:

 

Congrats and welcome to TS. The best advice I can give you is listen to your body. It will tell you when it has had enough.

 

Thank you. My doctor said today to keep heart rate around 120 at the most. I bought a heart monitor lol!

 

I did water aerobics right up until I was about 28ish weeks along. I really only stopped because the session ended, but by then I was pretty exhausted anyway and didn't have the energy to lug myself out of the water anymore. My doctor definitely said that as long as I felt fine, then it was fine to continue.

Congratulations!

 

You will know. I did a lot of long walks when I could. In the first tri it was hard because I was so bloated and gassy (sorry TMI), I could barely stand up straight. But I had a good phase in the 2nd tri and I actually did some (moderate) hiking. DH and I went on vacation to Switzerland and I could hike for at least an hour at a time, and do all the usual tourist stuff.

Then suddenly it felt like I hit this point where I could barely stand up again. I was glad we got that vacation in when we did!

Congrats and good luck!

 

I was very active until 28 weeks when I was put on bedrest due to my cervix dilating... though, even then I had a lot of energy and would have continued my activities if not for the bedrest. When they took me off bedrest at 34 weeks I went back to being as active as I could be, but by then I had slowed down a lot. Up until 28 weeks I was swimming twice a week and doing taekwondo twice a week. I was walking on days I didn't swim or do taekwondo. I participated in softball practice (but didn't play in games - didn't want to chance getting hit with a ball) up until 24 weeks.

So, yes... you can be active! Just listen to your body and stay hydrated. If you're tired, rest.

 

I would echo what everyone has already said (listen to your body) but add a dose of practicality and caution. When I first found out I was pregnant, I was a very active practitioner of yoga. I was one of those people who could balance my weight on my arms while tied in knots. My OBGYN, who is a family friend and fellow fitness freak, told me I didn't really need to change anything at that time. I think she knew how "in" to my practice I was. So, I went about my business of handstands, balancing poses, etc.

When we found out it was twins, her tune changed. Maybe it was because I had a subchorionic hematoma, but she told me in no certain terms to quit trying to defy gravity and take it easy. However, it was at about that same time that I started getting the mommy-to-be worry bug. I can recall when I first found it I was pregnant thinking, "I am going to be one hot yoga momma." I even defiantly did handstands to prove how easy pregnancy was going to be for me. I found out it was twins and my first thought was, "what the H - E double hockey sticks was I thinking."

So, do what you are comfortable with. If your body says stop... STOP. But also don't be afraid to use your new found joy as justification for scaling it back a bit.

Congratulations!

 

Hi,

I was in fair shape when I got pregnant with twins, but no way like Arizona Twins , I was never able to stand on my hands , way to go there!!!

I had to do IVF so I knew it would help me to be in shape, I made sure I went to the gym about 2-3 times a week before IVF. After IVF they told me to stop during the process until we found out it worked, so I stopped for about a month. As soon as the doctor told me I can start working out again I went back to the gym and tried to take it easy.

Before getting pregnant I was going on the eliptical for 60 minutes at a high speed, after I started with 20 min, next time 25, them 30, and I think when I got to 40 minutes, I kept doing 40 minutes, and at a lower speed level. My RE told me to take it easy and if it feels OK to keep going, the minute I feel something is wrong just stop. Also I always made sure I stayed hydrated, I was drinking even more water than usual. I kept going to the gym until about 30 weeks. I did the 40 minutes on the eliptical, even situps on the medicine ball. I was doing light weights for arms - 5 # weights, 20 repeats, 4 series. I can tell you, I credit that with the fact that I never had backaches while pregnant, my feet and legs and arms stayed the same shape, I was always wearing my usual high heels shoes all the way to the end. I gained 37 # total. I lost this weight within a month after birth, and I think the fact that my body was in shape helped with that, of course, exhaustion and breastfeeding twins had A LOT to do with it also. I think working out helped me sleep better at night and it helped me feel like I had more energy. After 30 weeks I just worked out at home, at least 3 times a week, with situps on the medicine ball and upper body workout with 5# weights for arms, shoulders, back, pectorals about 30 minutes total. I gave up going to the gym because I thought people would think I am weird, my belly looked like a full term singleton pregnancy already... I never felt anything weird, I never had to stop working out. My babies seemed to be fine with my work out. I even worked out the morning of the C-Section. I wish I had the time to go to the gym now, but I still didn't get a chance to go to the gym after the babies were born, and they are almost 14 months.

Like everyone else said, make sure you stop if you feel anything weird and don't overdo it, you know your body and your limits. I recommend working out to every pregnanty woman, as long as the OB allows it. Also I am sure you heard this one a lot, drink a lot of water all the time, that helps too.

Congratulations on your twins, I hope you have an easy pregnancy and healthy babies. Good Luck!

 

Monica77 thank you!! And thank you everyone else! Before I even knew I was pregnant, I was burning a good thousand + calories easily. The more sweat, the better I felt! I too did fertility treatments and once we discovered (after the two week wait} that the IUI worked, I knew it was time to take it down a notch. Little did I know that I was carrying two until our first sono :banana: Then I really wanted to make sure I would do everything right!
I am walking at 4 miles per hour on the treadmill for 45 minutes..or, I do the elliptical for 45 mins. I do some light dumbbell exercises..and stopped the core exercises. I suppose now, that I am getting closer to twenty weeks.. I am most concerned about preterm labor. I want to keep these little ones in here for as long as possible so they can be as healthy as can be :]

 

:welcome: to Twinstuff!!


I agree you will know when it's time to take it easy, until then it's definitely fine to exercise, especially if you have always been active. :good: