Becca

My name is Becca and I am 38 weeks pregnant with my first baby.  I have been CrossFitting for one and a half years and have loved every moment of it.  Although some moments are more love-hate than pure love, for instance the exact moment a coach yells, "you're halfway there", the love has certainly overpowered the hate since I keep going back.  By the time I found out I was pregnant, I was already CrossFitting for ten months.  I continued for the first month of pregnancy but took a break until the first trimester was over, not because of CrossFit, but because of my morning sickness.

When I returned to the box, it was the height of the summer heat and humidity.  I quickly found out that I could not perform at the same level I had previously known.  The first thing to "go" were my lungs.  It seemed to take forever to catch my breath during a workout.  From there on, I began scaling everything.  I capped all my WODs to fifteen minutes, chose weights that were comfortable and took breaks for catching my breath as needed.  Very soon I became acquainted with scales that were not necessarily easier, but more suited for my changing body and needs.  Try doing parallete push-ups; they are a bear and certainly not easy.  When it came to strength days, I found myself hitting PRs on nearly every lift.  I was not necessarily aiming for each PR, they seemed to just happen.  I was told the added oxygen and blood flow are the reason for this added strength.  I still consider them achievements and know I will have to work even harder to reach them again after I have my baby.   

With only two weeks left, I still workout three days a week.  Everyone continues to support, encourage and check-in on me.  While I know I will have to take a break from CrossFit once the baby arrives, I am already looking forward to the day I can get back.  I am also looking forward to the day Aimee plans a Pregnant-Simulation WOD.  How great would it be for everyone else to wear forty-pound weight vests, oxygen deprivation masks and use all the scales my fellow pregnant CrossFitters and I used?!

Leila

Lindsey

My name is Lindsey, and I am currently 35 weeks pregnant.  This is my first child, who is expected to arrive October 29, 2012.  Oddly enough, one of the first signs of my pregnancy appeared during a CrossFit WOD.  It was the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, and I was partnered with my husband, Chris.  Boy, does that workout test a relationship!  Anyway, we were finally nearing the end and just had to get through the sit ups and squats.  These are two of my favorite movements.  So, although I was tired, I thought the rest of the workout would be all downhill from there.  Wow, was I wrong.  During the sit ups, I started feeling nauseous, but I was able to just push through that.  The squats were another story.  I will never forget having about 20 squats to go until the end and trying not to throw up almost every time I stood up out of the squat while Chris yelled, “Go faster.  Don’t stop.  I can’t hold this plate any more.  Just finish!”  He didn’t know I wasn’t feeling well.  I made it through those last squats and ran straight to the bathroom.  This was the first sign of my pregnancy, even before I knew I was pregnant.  See, I began CrossFitting about 2 ½ years ago and very rarely got nauseous during any workout.  Then, twice in one week I very quickly got nauseous.  Surprise, surprise...not long after, I found out I was pregnant.

I have continued CrossFitting throughout my entire pregnancy.  I didn’t really tell anyone at the box until I was out of my first trimester, but I began being more careful during workouts.  My doctor told me, “You shouldn’t be lifting heavy stuff...no more than 35 pounds, but it’s important to keep exercising during pregnancy.  When I say exercise during pregnancy, I mean walking.  However, whatever you were doing before you were pregnant, you should be fine to continue with during your pregnancy.  Do NOT start a new exercise routine.  Just be careful about what you are doing and take it easier than you did before.”  So, I lifted lighter weights than I normally would, and I didn’t push myself as much as I had before I was pregnant.  

I told Aimee about the pregnancy around my 13th week.  
She was so excited for Chris and me and so supportive.  She has helped me scale WODs appropriately...right down to giving me a special pregnancy WOD if I texted her the day of because I couldn’t figure out how to modify whatever was programmed for that day!  Instead of focusing on setting personal records and improving my numbers in the gym, she has helped me focus on scaling workouts, improving my form, and fitting in a healthy workout for me and the baby.  All of the other coaches at the box have been so supportive as well.  Many of them allow me to create my own warm-up that’s more pregnancy friendly, and they will all help me scale when I’m not sure about something.  They also check in with me to make sure I’m feeling alright while still encouraging me to find inner strength and keep going.   During the hotter days this summer, they all made sure I got the prime location in front of the fan – one of the perks of pregnancy ☺.

I have been lucky throughout this pregnancy.  I truly believe that without CrossFit, it would have been much, much more difficult, and I would have likely put on way more weight than I have.  CrossFit has helped me stay active and healthy during these past few months.  My hope is that it will help make labor and delivery that much more manageable as well!    

 Natalie

Kim

Hi!  My name is Kim, and I am currently a 16-week-pregnant KOP Crossfitter.  Deemed a "healthy patient" by my doctor, and encouraged to continue my already-developed level of fitness (at about 75%-80% intensity), I've been continuing my pre-pregnancy CrossFit journey, with just a few tweaks.  And, so far, it's been great (except for the whole "I CAN'T BREATHE!" feeling...or as Aimee calls it, "the elephant sitting on my chest.)!  Essentially, I'm no longer trying for my fastest times, or heaviest weights (although preggo hormones sure make weight go up easier!).  I do every WOD as intensely as I can, normally hogging all of the fan space from everyone else, and taking frequent water and breathing breaks.  Just recently, I stopped doing exercises that over-extend my torso, so I'm subbing in dead hang pull-ups (so hard!) for kipping pull-ups, partial range of motion kettle bell swings, and no more GHD sit-ups.  I also transitioned into doing paralette burpees, and step-ups instead of box jumps.  The last change for me so far is the frequency of wodding.  Pre-pregnancy I wodded 5 days a week, back to back.  Now, I get much more sore, so I normally do two days on, one or two days off.  I'll keep you posted as I get further along, but for now, all is well, in my CrossFit life and beyond.

Brady Cole

Click here to check out a post from Again Faster on Heather Bergeron.

"Pregnant CrossFitter - Tori"

My name is Tori and I have been a CrossFitting yogini throughout my entire pregnancy. This is my second pregnancy. I also work as a music therapist at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, teach yoga, and am an avid runner. I ran until I was 20 weeks pregnant when my bladder told me that it would explode if I kept it up. So, I switched to walking and my in-home stationary bike. I am currently 39 weeks pregnant and just did a CrossFit practice (I mean workout) today, "The Baseline". I call it a practice because that's what I am used to as we call yoga, "a practice". I have found that the things I do to stay physically and mentally healthy are practices in life. It is a discipline. That's what I have seen my "CrossFit practice" as...a way to maintain health during my pregnancy.

When I was about 7 weeks pregnant I was told that I had a subchorionic hematoma and that I couldn't exercise at all. That lasted about 4 weeks and was the most frustrating part of this pregnancy. You see, I had just run 8 miles a couple days before my positive pregnany test and started being able to attend crossfit classes regularly before I found out that I was pregnant. It was disappointing to me that I had to take a few steps backwards. However, everything turned out to be fine and I approached Aimee to help me maintain my CrossFit practice throughout my pregnancy. I set up private sessions with her for a few months to learn how to scale and modify the crossfit workouts. I had plenty of experience modifying my yoga practice as I have had a yoga practice for 11 years now and had practiced yoga throughout my last pregnancy. Working with Aimee taught me proper form, how to adjust myself around my growing belly, and what/how to subsitute. It was very empowering to be able to attend a regular class and know how I could participate.

So why has it been so important for me to maintain a CrossFit practice when I already practiced yoga and was active? Why couldn't I have just picked it back up after my pregnancy? First of all, I just wanted to. Second of all, it is a very holistic approach to fitness and I really gravitate towards that. Third, it made me feel good about myself as a woman. I am not concerned about setting PR's or lifting a huge amount of weight. I am concerned with being healthy and being completely present in my body. Lastly, I believe that I am starting my child's life in a healthy manner. My baby is benefiting from my healthy body and healthy mind. There is such an intimate physiological and spiritual connection that we as mothers can experience with our babies in utero that it just makes sense to me to maintain the things that make me feel healthy. I work with many sick children and was sick for my last pregnancy to the point where it was life threatening. This time around, I am healthy. I never take it for granted and I will never give up on it. It is a part of my life whether I am pregnant or not. CrossFit has integrated naturally within that life practice.

Fiona

"Pregnant CrossFitter - Jackie"

My name is Jackie, and I'm currently 24 weeks pregnant. I am expecting my first child (a son) on March 27th, 2012. Let's rewind to before I was pregnant for a second...I was slow to come to Crossfit...I had been friends with Aimee and Jason when they started Crossfit KOP but just wasn't motivated to work out. Then I spent a year doing my internship in Syracuse, living away from my husband and eating horribly, since my husband does all the cooking! I probably gained about 15 pounds and didn't like the way I looked at all. Meanwhile, at home, my husband had begun crossfitting and was noticing effects. Then in September of 2010, I returned home from Syracuse and was resolved to do something about the sad state of health I was in. About a week after I was home, I set up my fundamental sessions with Aimee...3 in one week after being non-active for a whole year (sure I dabbled in running sometimes or walked the dog, but really, that doesn't count). I couldn't move for a quite a while after those sessions, but I was hooked. So I started doing Crossfit lite classes once a week, as I was nervous about my ability to 'keep up' in the regular classes (I didn't really understand the concept of scaling back then). On Veteran's Day (11/11/10), I did my first regular WOD, Michael, and haven't looked back since.

Pre-pregnancy, I worked out twice a week (never really got to the point where I was Rx'ing WODs, but I could hold my own and lift up heavy weights) and was taking a month off after a neck injury when I found out I was pregnant. The neck injury was a great cover as I struggled with the first trimester slow down and kept people from asking me why I wasn't functioning at the same level during the workouts. I decided to tell Aimee I was pregnant to get some advice on crossfitting pregnant...as I'm sure most people have heard no heart rates above 140 and don't lift anything over 25 pounds from their doctors. Mine told me to not worry about the heart rate so much and to not lift anything over 25 pounds, but in the same breath said to continue what I was doing pre-pregnancy in terms of working out. My husband and I talked about it and decided to listen only to the last bit of her advice, and I have kept on crossfitting.

How to scale the WODs was difficult for me to figure out at first...I mean, sure I could do the WOD to the scale I was doing prior to being pregnant and that's exactly what I did for the first few months, but I started noticing that my recovery time was longer. The soreness lingered and it was WAY worse than before. That was when I decided I had to stop holding myself to the same standard mentally. Not that I should slack off in the WOD or stop doing my twice a week, but I knew I had to come in thinking that I was scaling the WOD, sometimes by half, or else I'd end up doing the whole thing and be hurting for many days after. It's been a really hard switch for me mentally, as I know I can still do the workouts, but it would take me way longer and the price after would be worse. That's when I started looking more to Aimee for advice on how to scale; she definitely has helped me to program my WODs accordingly. If I was going to a globo gym, I probably would've quit working out by now because I wouldn't know what to do without the guidance and support I've gotten from all the coaches and the community at KOP...there isn't a day that goes by when I'm at the box that someone doesn't give me some positive reinforcement for continuing to come to class while pregnant. It makes it a 1,000 times easier to show up when I'm exhausted after work!

Just recently, I've begun noticing my belly getting in the way of some movements that I haven't scaled. For example, I definitely bumped my belly when doing a snatch the other day (which means that I had good form at least)! I think it will be interesting to see after pregnancy how all the adjustments I'm going to continue to have to make to do lifts and WODs will affect my form later. But all in all, I've had a fairly easy pregnancy so far, which has helped me to be able to continue to be active. I plan to crossfit until either I deliver or my body (or my doctor) tells me it is time to stop!

Wes

Chloe at almost a Year...

I have no idea where the year went. It has been filled with memorable AMAZING moments. Chloe in year one has traveled to Hawaii, Canada, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, PA and DE (obviously), Virgina (twice) & California. She has had the opportunity to see and witness many CrossFit Level 1 certifications and CrossFit Kids, she will be a pro by age 5!

Click here check out this article from Mark Sission - "The definitive guide to feeding primal babies."