Thread: Pregnancy and The Dancer's Body

On a good note, if you continue dancing while pregnant there is a good chance you'll end up even more limber (due to the "relaxin" hormones that loosen everything up in preparation for the big day). My down hips started really rockin at about 7 months, and they still look pretty sweet!

Also, please look into EFA supplements for the sake of your baby's brain and your skin and mood postpartum (I'm recommend starting now and then check with your doc at the first prenatal).

vaginal hemmies? keee-reist glad i didnt experience that

i made my husband buy me depends diapers to wear cuz i had so much butt cream and TUCKS pads crammed up the crack. didnt want my sun dress to pucker out in the back.

i begged the docs for narcotics. they told me to take tylenol.

one night it was so bad we went to l and d, of course THE hottest doc was on the floor that night..it was the one hot asian doc who was part of our clinic but i didnt choose him to be our ob doc because i couldnt bear to let him see me at my ..not best condition..

the nurse told me to undress from the waist down so the doc could see the hemmies, in walks the HOT DOC i wanted to DIE!!! i can blog all day about **** piles and farts and dont care if anyone on the beach sees my stretch marks but HIM!! he had to palpate my butt and stare closely at the monsters. i was soooo degraded.

what can you do about the hemmies and how do they fix them? How do you know you have them?

The only GOOD advice I can think to share with you is to remember to drink an insane amount of water (I don't have stretch marks b/c of this, so my Dr. said) and DON'T eat for two, I did and now I'm stuck with a body that shows I did. I have that horrible belly overhang b/c I have alot of fat in my belly and no where else. I gained 50 lbs. throughout my pregnancy and lost most of it except in the belly. I am 5'6" and I went from a 33- 24- 36 to a 36-32-42. My hips stretched out like there was no tomorrow and I haven't been able to loose them in 10 years.
I would speak to your Dr. about continuing your regular exercise through out your entire pregnancy. My Dr. said as long as it is something my body is ALREADY used to doing it wouldn't harm me or my child.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!
(*runs screaming, chucks her uterus in a steel filing cabinet, slams it shut, locks it, and throws the whole thing in a snow bank in the backyard.*)

;-) Just kidding...sort of...but maybe not really...sort of... Sorry, the whole hemroids in various places got the better of me...

*faints*

yup i second the water thing..been drinking lots of it lately and already see a difference, it really does flush away all the yuck

how to know if you have hemmies? i'm writing a book about my pregnancy experience..but there's NO mistake..there's a burning in your arse and there may be small or large knobs growing out of it. there's no mistaking it..if you tuck a mirror between your legs you will see grapes.

Crikey!!! I am falling off my chair I'm laughing so hard!!!
Yes, one day when your 13 yr old treasure is pushing you to your absolute mental and emotional limit and you are sitting on grapes and your deflated balloon of a belly has totally enveloped the seatbelt as a result of HIM!!!!! you will need the fortitude of a saint not to push him out of the moving vehicle at 1.30 am in a blinding blizzard.
Besides that, my lower ribs spread a little and never quite went back, I got stretch marks on my boobs but not my belly, luckily, and that is apparently genetic. I have a friend who was in the bath in the last week of her pregnancy, delighting in the fact that she had no stretch marks, and then to her horror, saw one 'appear' before her very eyes!!! By the time she delivered, she had several. Umm, what else?? My butt dropped ever so slightly, and my waist has never been the same. However!!! There are so many body shapes that it just dosn't matter - my pre-baby body was never as good as some other post-body babies and some women will think there no-baby bodies are not as good as my post-baby body. And really???? any belly can dance!!!

oops!! 'post-baby bodies' not post-body babies'.....

I gained about 50lbs with my son, and still have 10lbs to lose at 16 months post partum. I think my body has plateaued, and I've resigned myself to not losing the weight until I wean Gideon.

(to be fair, I have a crappy metabolism and need to subsist on coffee and salads to maintain my pre-pregnancy weight...and that just can't happen when nursing).

Also, it IS incredibly hard to find time to get to the gym now. I work full time and between work, spending time with Gideon and trying to squeak in a dance class or two, I'm exhausted.

Try not to worry about all the horrible stories people tell you. You'll discover that during your pregnancy people want to regale you with horror stories about pregnancy and birth - don't feel bad if you politely tell them that unless their experience was a positive one, you don't want to hear it. I loved being pregnant (no hemorrhoids and very few stretch marks), and although my labor lasted over 24 hours I'd class my birthing experience as an excellent one.

Lastly, check out The Shape of a Mother - I enjoyed seeing pics of other pregnant women, as well as many many post-partum bodies.

Drink water, remember you only need between 200 to 300 extra calories a day, use cocoa butter on tummy (esp. in the 3rd trimester) and keep dancing right up to the epidural (even helps with labor&delivery but they make you stop and get in bed when the anesthesiologist comes in)... most of the things your concerned about are primarily genetic (stretch marks, deflated balloon belly, even hems) so ask your mom & grand mom and you'll have a better picture than any of us can paint for you...
Oh, and Nasila, my hip movements still rock too!!! I can pop & lock & rock it these days!!!
Blessings,
Rach~Bellydancing Mom of 5

I had my first at 25 years and my 2nd at 32 years. I have never had an athletic body but have always been relatively sensible about food and exercise and a medium sized women

Do not eat for two, thats a big no-no, just eat healthily and maintain regular exercise. I went for lots of long walks and that's about it, dance came after my second child.

I just wanted to say Lilya, congrats for nursing still at 16 months. Good for you and great for baby!!

Thanks, Nasila! :) We're aiming for 2-3 years or child led weaning. I think it'll drive my pediatrician crazy, as his eyebrows nearly left his forehead when he found out I was still nursing at Gideon's 15 month checkup. And here I thought there were enough hippies in the People's Republic of Cambridge that it would be fairly acommon.