This is super reassuring! Good to keep in perspective that it is a very short period, maybe 3 months or so, when I won't be able to work out. I tore my hamstring tendon 3 years ago and couldn't work out for several months, and that was absolute torture for me, but now I barely even think about it and I feel like my strength has totally recovered. This will probably be the same!
Yeah, multiple people on my care team warned me that dehydration might cause braxton hicks, and anecdotally, my best friend (who is terrible about drinking water) found that by week 25, if she fell behind on her water consumption she'd have braxton hicks all day, until she fully hydrated. I think the lesson here might be that you slacked on getting your pregnant body enough water and electrolytes while you ran around all day on a hot day, and that caused your braxton hicks. Not every OB would tell you this means you need to stop exercising. I think many would tell you to get on top of your hydration, and see how things go. If you find that your workouts are triggering BH regardless of how well hydrated you are, then yeah, time to stop. But in your shoes I'd try working on the hydration before completely giving up on working out. Though I'd definitely give my body a few days of total rest to recover from this before trying anything.
I think dehydration probably played a role in this - going to call my actual OBGYN on Monday and ask to be seen and hopefully she'll be able to give me more clear guidance about what to do! They said my urine was pretty dilute at the hospital so maybe I just wasn't getting enough salt? Not sure.
definitely up your electrolytes. I had a couple days of feeling terrible last week due to the heat so I've been putting the propel packets in my giant Stanley and sipping on those the last two days. It has immediately helped chase away the yuck I was feeling. Unless you have gestational 'beetus, I'd start with a full sugar gatorade/powerade just to help you catch up.
I’m sorry that is tough news to hear. I was hoping to continue jogging until 30 weeks (my random goal) and just had to stop this week at 24w due to some possible cervical problems.
I’m just telling myself it’s temporary and I was able to get in pretty good shape a year pp with my first.
I experienced this from 16w on and no one told me to stop exercising. At 33w I finally got my cervix checked and was sent to L&D for a four day stay on magnesium and gave birth at 36w as I was dilated, baby’s head was fully engaged and 60% effaced. I was sent home after this and put on bedrest til 36w (I started walking and basically gave birth immediately). I recommend listening because magnesium sucks.
Most docs will let you start doing things again at 36/37w since the baby is basically fully cooked by then, so it shouldn’t be too long!
I ran a half marathon at 4.5m postpartum so it wasn’t hard to get my fitness back at all. You’ll be ok, don’t stress.
I’m sorry, that’s really rough. I’ve heard a few things in podcasts lately that I hope will help you reach some peace with it…
Firstly, that it is much easier to gain muscle again when your body has done it before than when you’re starting from scratch. That will totally be you.
Secondly, that carrying a baby is resistance training that gets gradually harder as baby grows. So really, you don’t have 6 weeks until you start again after birth, it’s kinda from the get go.
I had regular painless contractions from very early on, 22 weeks or so. I was told to not exert myself and take a lot of rest as well. The contractions kept going till the very end, but my cervix and the baby were always perfectly fine and he came at 39 weeks. But yeah, working out and exerting yourself is probably not a good idea. Think about it, though. It’s technically only a very short amount of time in the grand scheme of things.
I totally empathise with you, I had to stop exercising at 30 weeks as I had to have emergency bowel surgery.
Literally the day before I did park run, then the next morning bam, extreme pain and a twisted bowel.
Not being able to exercise for the rest of the pregnancy was rough I won’t lie, like you I used it as stress relief! I just counted down the days until baby came and did a bit of yoga when I could.
It was worth it, I’m now 4.5 months PP, I run 3/4 times a week and did a 7k this morning. Baby is asleep on me now and she is perfect and worth it 💜
Hang in there! In the scheme of life the next 8 weeks is a blink, and you’ll be lifting again before you know it 🥰
I’m sorry that’s happening to you! If it offers perspective, I did work out until the day I delivered and wanted to get back into it right away but I ended up not doing anything until 3 months postpartum simply due to being tired and my husband didn’t take his paternity leave (started a new position, he can take it later down the line) so I couldn’t go work out. It ended up being okay though, I’ve started at home workouts and going on long walks!
I feel for you. I had to stop going to the gym in my first trimester and it was so hard and it did negatively affect my mental health but now I’m working out again and I do expect to need to stop when I’m in my third trimester too. Try doing some gentle workouts at home, it’s not the same but it’s something !
Had to stop running at 33 weeks due to concerns of preeclampsia. I was running a 5k a few times a week and was feeling great! Had high BP and protein in my urine at a weekly dr. Appt and was told no more running 😕 was encouraged to keep walking though- just not the same endorphins! Honestly it’s too hot to be running right now so it’s all for the best but still a little disappointing! BP went down and there was no traces of protein at all at my last appointment (a week after I stopped running).
I have very similar BH patterns, they’ve been increasing in intensity over the past couple of months but now get quite uncomfortable when exercising. 33 weeks today and while I’ve decreased what I’m doing, I’m not going to stop exercising. They don’t make changes to the cervix! I was running and doing a weights circuit, stopped running at 26 weeks from hip pain, now I’m down to walking 5km and doing a smaller weights circuit. It’s hard to adjust expectations of what we’ll be able to do, but this being my 3rd I’m confident it’s safe for me as I also experienced heaps of uncomfortable BH with my first two and still went after term 🫠
This is NOT medical advice!!
Can you meet with your primary OB to get a second opinion? A doc who may not be familiar with your history could just be acting with extra caution (reasonable).
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This is super reassuring! Good to keep in perspective that it is a very short period, maybe 3 months or so, when I won't be able to work out. I tore my hamstring tendon 3 years ago and couldn't work out for several months, and that was absolute torture for me, but now I barely even think about it and I feel like my strength has totally recovered. This will probably be the same!
Interesting…my OB said that exercise (as well as dehydration) may induce contractions but that it wouldn’t induce preterm labor.
Yeah, multiple people on my care team warned me that dehydration might cause braxton hicks, and anecdotally, my best friend (who is terrible about drinking water) found that by week 25, if she fell behind on her water consumption she'd have braxton hicks all day, until she fully hydrated. I think the lesson here might be that you slacked on getting your pregnant body enough water and electrolytes while you ran around all day on a hot day, and that caused your braxton hicks. Not every OB would tell you this means you need to stop exercising. I think many would tell you to get on top of your hydration, and see how things go. If you find that your workouts are triggering BH regardless of how well hydrated you are, then yeah, time to stop. But in your shoes I'd try working on the hydration before completely giving up on working out. Though I'd definitely give my body a few days of total rest to recover from this before trying anything.
I think dehydration probably played a role in this - going to call my actual OBGYN on Monday and ask to be seen and hopefully she'll be able to give me more clear guidance about what to do! They said my urine was pretty dilute at the hospital so maybe I just wasn't getting enough salt? Not sure.
definitely up your electrolytes. I had a couple days of feeling terrible last week due to the heat so I've been putting the propel packets in my giant Stanley and sipping on those the last two days. It has immediately helped chase away the yuck I was feeling. Unless you have gestational 'beetus, I'd start with a full sugar gatorade/powerade just to help you catch up.
I’m sorry that is tough news to hear. I was hoping to continue jogging until 30 weeks (my random goal) and just had to stop this week at 24w due to some possible cervical problems. I’m just telling myself it’s temporary and I was able to get in pretty good shape a year pp with my first.
I experienced this from 16w on and no one told me to stop exercising. At 33w I finally got my cervix checked and was sent to L&D for a four day stay on magnesium and gave birth at 36w as I was dilated, baby’s head was fully engaged and 60% effaced. I was sent home after this and put on bedrest til 36w (I started walking and basically gave birth immediately). I recommend listening because magnesium sucks. Most docs will let you start doing things again at 36/37w since the baby is basically fully cooked by then, so it shouldn’t be too long! I ran a half marathon at 4.5m postpartum so it wasn’t hard to get my fitness back at all. You’ll be ok, don’t stress.
I’m sorry, that’s really rough. I’ve heard a few things in podcasts lately that I hope will help you reach some peace with it… Firstly, that it is much easier to gain muscle again when your body has done it before than when you’re starting from scratch. That will totally be you. Secondly, that carrying a baby is resistance training that gets gradually harder as baby grows. So really, you don’t have 6 weeks until you start again after birth, it’s kinda from the get go.
I had regular painless contractions from very early on, 22 weeks or so. I was told to not exert myself and take a lot of rest as well. The contractions kept going till the very end, but my cervix and the baby were always perfectly fine and he came at 39 weeks. But yeah, working out and exerting yourself is probably not a good idea. Think about it, though. It’s technically only a very short amount of time in the grand scheme of things.
I totally empathise with you, I had to stop exercising at 30 weeks as I had to have emergency bowel surgery. Literally the day before I did park run, then the next morning bam, extreme pain and a twisted bowel. Not being able to exercise for the rest of the pregnancy was rough I won’t lie, like you I used it as stress relief! I just counted down the days until baby came and did a bit of yoga when I could. It was worth it, I’m now 4.5 months PP, I run 3/4 times a week and did a 7k this morning. Baby is asleep on me now and she is perfect and worth it 💜 Hang in there! In the scheme of life the next 8 weeks is a blink, and you’ll be lifting again before you know it 🥰
I’m sorry that’s happening to you! If it offers perspective, I did work out until the day I delivered and wanted to get back into it right away but I ended up not doing anything until 3 months postpartum simply due to being tired and my husband didn’t take his paternity leave (started a new position, he can take it later down the line) so I couldn’t go work out. It ended up being okay though, I’ve started at home workouts and going on long walks!
I feel for you. I had to stop going to the gym in my first trimester and it was so hard and it did negatively affect my mental health but now I’m working out again and I do expect to need to stop when I’m in my third trimester too. Try doing some gentle workouts at home, it’s not the same but it’s something !
Had to stop running at 33 weeks due to concerns of preeclampsia. I was running a 5k a few times a week and was feeling great! Had high BP and protein in my urine at a weekly dr. Appt and was told no more running 😕 was encouraged to keep walking though- just not the same endorphins! Honestly it’s too hot to be running right now so it’s all for the best but still a little disappointing! BP went down and there was no traces of protein at all at my last appointment (a week after I stopped running).
so sad
I have very similar BH patterns, they’ve been increasing in intensity over the past couple of months but now get quite uncomfortable when exercising. 33 weeks today and while I’ve decreased what I’m doing, I’m not going to stop exercising. They don’t make changes to the cervix! I was running and doing a weights circuit, stopped running at 26 weeks from hip pain, now I’m down to walking 5km and doing a smaller weights circuit. It’s hard to adjust expectations of what we’ll be able to do, but this being my 3rd I’m confident it’s safe for me as I also experienced heaps of uncomfortable BH with my first two and still went after term 🫠
This is NOT medical advice!! Can you meet with your primary OB to get a second opinion? A doc who may not be familiar with your history could just be acting with extra caution (reasonable).