Women who ride bikes and have been pregnant - I need your advice please

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Women who ride bikes and have been pregnant - I need your advice please

36 posts & 22 voices | Started 2 years ago by MountainMonkey | Latest reply from MountainMonkey

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MountainMonkey - Member

Hiya,

I've recently found out I'm pregnant. My husband and I are both over the moon and really exicted! Admittedly, had I known I'd be pregnant a month later I probably wouldn't have spent over £2,ooo on a new Orange Five, but hey that's just life

I've been suffering pretty badly from morning sickness (nothing really serious but haven't felt up to any exercise), however I'm really determined to keep fit through pregnancy and I'd love to keep riding for as long as practical too. I haven't riden for two months now but did 28 miles on my road ss on Sat and although was tired felt quite energised from it the next day.

So I was just after a bit of advice from women who ride and who have been pregnant about the best way to approach things or things that worked / didn't work for them.

I know I need to know my body and my limits, and I'm certainly not going to ride like I did before (or the trails I did before), but I figure I'm safer pootling down blue trails / bridleways than I am on the road... that said, I am wondering whether it would be worth getting a geared roadbike (hybrid) as it is easier to road ride than mtb where we live and I want to keep riding as much as poss, and I'm guessing my ss will become too hard work once I get a bit bigger...

Anyway, any wisdom out there from more experienced, wiser women would be very much appreciated! Thanks!

Posted 2 years ago #
jojoA1 - Member

Keep doing it and take it easy. You'll know yourself when you can't manage anymore. Be aware that your ligaments soften so all your joints loosen (some joints I didn't even know I had before like the one at the front of the pelvis) and can cause pain or injury. Your centre of gravity will shift too, so your balance can be affected as your body changes faster than your perception of yourself.

Alison Hargreaves the mountaineer climbed the North Face of the Eiger at 6mths gestation, so you won't be 'pushing the envelope' with a bit of cycling. Good luck

Posted 2 years ago #
mtbfix - Member

Congratulations to you both.

My better half packed it in at about 5 months as her tummy was getting in the way. Take it VERY easy though.

All the best for the months ahead.

Posted 2 years ago #
Bunnyhop - Member

I think it's up to the individual. My doctor told me to carry on and I would know when to stop.
The fear of falling off (must be the hormones) told me to take it easy, so I just rode the type of trails you're talking about.

My friend did spin classes right up until week 30, just taking it easy nearer the end.

Congratulations.

Posted 2 years ago #
MountainMonkey - Member

Thanks! Yep, I won't be pushing even my very small envelope! mtbfix, did your other half ride on the road or off-road? Do you know which she found more comfortable for the longest? And yep, I'll be taking it very easy however tempted I am!

Posted 2 years ago #
Bunnyhop - Member

Meant to mention, try not to get out of breath, plus keep your heart rate at a minimum, that baby needs oxygen too.

Posted 2 years ago #
MountainMonkey - Member

Ah, that's good to hear bunnyhop. Yeah, the falling off thing is a massive fear so I think that'll stop me doing any that's not sensible. I'm just trying to work out whether I'll be better off on the roads or trails for the next few months though, or whether there's not much in it. I guess I'll have to judge for myself, but I reckon my ss road bike will be uncomfortable before the orange 5! (I will look special mincing along bridleways on it!)

Posted 2 years ago #
MountainMonkey - Member

Hehe, out of breath? I rarely push myself that much anyway

Posted 2 years ago #
odannyboy - Member

"Alison Hargreaves the mountaineer climbed the North Face of the Eiger at 6mths gestation"
and more fool her!

yes im not a woman but i do have numerous children and we have also been through a miscarriage, so,

keep riding, but dont be a hero.you have the rest of your life to get back in shape....

Posted 2 years ago #
Bunnyhop - Member

It's sad that you had a miscarriage odannyboy, I doubt very much that it would be caused by cycling.

Posted 2 years ago #
MountainMonkey - Member

Yeah, although I don't know enough to judge Alison Hargreaves, from what I know it doesn't sounds massively wise. I certainly don't want to do anything to risk the baby.

I do know that they say cycling is good fitness for pregnancy and fitness is important... Definitely a balance to be had though!

Posted 2 years ago #
Burts - Member

Congratulations! We had our first scan yesterday, very exciting when you see it for the first time!

This is our first baby, my wife has ridden a few days at the 6 week stage, but probably won't ride much more. From my very limited experience so far, there are 2 main things to consider:

1) Exercise is good & recommended. Just listen to your body, don't over do it, overheating or dehydration are damaging to the baby. My wife hasn't done much XC in recent years so isn't going to try any long rides now.

2) Injury. You can't plan an accident, so there's a risk that something might happen and only you can weigh up the odds of that. If you fall off and cut your knee, its no big deal. However, you also have to consider the probability of something worse, either an injury directly to your abdomen or serious enough elsewhere on your body that may indirectly affect the baby. For us, the biggest fear was of my wife having an injury serious enough to require medication, because there's a whole world of complications that comes with drugs and pregnancy. Now is not the time to start pushing yourself on something new, if you're going to ride then ride well within your limits.

FWIW, my wife did 4 days sea kayaking the weekend before she found out she was pregnant (no problems) and has cautiously ridden 3 days of blue DH runs since then that she knew very well. She found herself getting tired earlier than usual, so she would quit for the day at that point. She's going to the gym now and doing easy stuff. We're now at week 9, no morning sickness just constant nausea and indigestion.

Anyway, that's my outlook on it, I'm sure others will be less/more cautious. Good luck!

Posted 2 years ago #
igm - Member

Congratulations. My wife finished riding for the duration at 10 weeks with a 26 mile event round Dalby - during which she fell off (you should have seen my reaction).

It took a while after the birth before she was back on the bike - a little tender on the saddle I think - but we just took our 3 year old down the trails in Les Gets last week, where her little Five Diva felt right at home.

Good chioice of bike and don't worry about buying it now - that design will last for a very long time.

But you'll need a hard tail for the baby seat until they're 2 or so - then you can stick a LOCT on the Five.

Posted 2 years ago #
Drac - Moderator

There's a member on here who's wife Mountainbikes and is also a midwife she will be the best one to give advice, even better than a GP in this case.

Posted 2 years ago #
Bunnyhop - Member

I did fall off my bike riding down the rocky section of Rushup edge in the Peaks, ironically it was my cousin who barged past and sort of made me wobble. I came home with cuts and bruises down my leg and hip. I was 6 weeks pregnant and it scared me after that.

Posted 2 years ago #
swiss01 - Member

all the advice above is sound.

the ligament in your pelvis is called your symphysis pubis and problems with it are grouped under symphysis pubis dysfunction. it's more common than people would think. it can cause long lasting and unpleasant problems so as above a discussion with a midwife would be well advised.

however, as with gps, there are good ones and others, well, not so good.

congrats!

Posted 2 years ago #
LoulaBella - Member

I remeber my midwife saying if my body was used to riding than just keep going until I felt like it was time to stop. I totally agree with the whole ligament thing, its weird, suddenly you just pull muscles left right and centre!
Fantastic news, I bet your really excited, try and enjoy your pregnancy. Do you have any cravings yet?
I just couldnt get enough Jalfrezi curry with mayonnaise on it, yum!

Posted 2 years ago #
MountainMonkey - Member

Thanks everyone! Really appreciate all the advice and encouragement.

I really hope I don't fall off! I'm thinking seriously about getting one of those 'baby on board' car stickers and putting it on my camelbak to warn potential over-takers! (What do you reckon?!)

The ligament thing does sound weird, I'll definitely ask my midwife about it more at my next appointment. I haven't met her yet as the first one I had has just gone on maternity leave!

Have had a few cravings LoulaBella, but nothing too crazy (yet!). I am curently going through a slightly annoying phrase of having to get up in the middle of the night to have a bowl of frosties though...!

Oh and I can smell EVERYTHING!

Posted 2 years ago #
FoxyChick - Member

Came off, straight over the handlebars at 12 weeks...that did it for me.

Just not worth the risk!

Posted 2 years ago #
MountainMonkey - Member

Eekkk! What were you riding? A proper trail? No surprised that did it! Did you stop riding all together or just off road. I'm assuming you and the bump were ok?

Posted 2 years ago #
Jason - Member

My wife cycled a fair bit through her two pregnancies. However she eased back on the proper off road stuff fairly early on, and stuck to tow paths and easy bridleways. She also spent a fair amount of time on the turbo trainer. For the turbo trainer I ended up modding her bike with a really high rise stem and riser bars when her bump started getting in the way.

If you do use a heart rate monitor, stop using it as your heart will not react in the same way as before you and the figures really won't be relevant. Work on perceived effort.

The book my wife found good was 'Exercising Through Your Pregnancy' by James Clapp as a good information source on exercising in pregnancy.

Posted 2 years ago #
FoxyChick - Member

I was only going around Loch an Eilein in Scotland so not a techy trail at all! Stupidly following right behind MrFC who decided to suddenly stop dead without any warning...

I was fine, as was my now 11yr old...but it really shook me up.

As I said...nothing is worth risking your unborn baby's life!

Posted 2 years ago #
igm - Member

My wife's midwife ran marathons and was well in favour of excercise. After quiting cycling for a bit, my wife continued horse riding for a while longer.

Posted 2 years ago #
Hooter - Member

Wow, congratulations both on the news and for starting a thread without a single jokey blokey comment A couple of friends were still MTBing up to 6 months, but it has to be said very carefully on the downs...

Posted 2 years ago #
GaryLake - Member

Woo, congrats!

Oh and you bought the Five in the end, nice one, at least you'll be safe in the knowledge that it's all but unchanged for 2010, and the '09 was barely changed since '08, which was identical to '07 and let's face, it 2011 probably won't be a huge departure!

Posted 2 years ago #
DickBarton - Member

Woohoo, nice one!

My wife was still riding just as she went 8 months pregnant but stopped then as the bump was making it uncomfy and she was feeling tired. She did a lot of exercise during her pregnancy but she made sure her heart rate didn't go above a level as apparently it would also affect the baby - no idea where that came from but it was her fitness instructor that told her that so she was careful about it all.

She has ridden a wee bit since giving birth (almost 15 months ago) but life has been slightly different for some reason and she is still tired but got other things to do (like running her business) so the biking doesn't get as much attention as she would like - we have a trailer though so Sunday afternoons are looking like they will soon be biking sorts which is good.

I'll try and convince her to post something on her shortly as I'm not really sure about it all...although I was there during the pregnancy she didn't really seem to change anything from what I could tell - she was very busy with everything right up until the birth so as far as I could tell it was business as usual!

Posted 2 years ago #
stumpyjon - Member

Watch the SPD (weird ligament thingy). My wife had it really bad for both pregnancies, still not as well known amongst the medical fraternity as it should be. It's actually quite natural, the ligaments (not the muscles) soften so that when the baby is born everything can move out of the way. With SPD everything softens too much and can result in quite a lot of pain. Can also cause complications at the birth if it is not a straight forward delivery.

Not everyone suffers but if you do end up with hip pains etc get them checked out. Worth visiting a physio (who knows about SPD), glad we did, the day before our first one was born. She worked out the maximum safe distance apart my wife's legs could go before damage occurred, it wasn't very far. Following day the birth was slightly complicated and the house doctor wanted to use forceps. Luckily we knew she shouldn't and finally got her to contact someone who knew what they were doing and got her in for an emergency ceasarian. It's not unheard of for women to end up in a wheel chair after birth due to SPD.

That all said it'll probably not affect you. Morning sickness is fun isn't it, wife had that bad as well, lasted nearly the whole of her pregnancy.

Anyway ignore all the doom and gloom, if you thinks it's bad now wait until you've had no sleep for a couple of years

Posted 2 years ago #
sharki - Member

Blimey i only stayed the one night and this is what happens......

Yikes!

Jambo, Si, ADH et all, go get some clear blues, it would appear the surgery didn't work..

MM, congratulations to you and Mike.

Posted 2 years ago #
cinnamon_girl - Member

Congratulations! As it's not just about you now, I would give up biking and take up walking, swimming etc.

This is coming from someone who used to horse ride who got the fright of her life when jumping when pregnant - the horse very nearly put the brakes on and almost threw me over the jump.

Pregnancy is not a life sentence so just put your life on hold for a bit.

Am quite prepared for the abuse I will now get

Posted 2 years ago #
twistedspokes - Member

Not wishing to be too alarmist but my wife found out she was pregnant and decided to knowck the offroad and racing stuff on the head. She was worried about coming off etc however she continued to ride to work every day as normal. She was hit by a car and not only was severely cacked herself but we lost the baby as a result of her injuries. She said that she felt mroe in control of her destiny riding offroad than going to work ! Next time round she just rode offroad and was a bit more careful but stopped commuting instead - and it was all fine that time Not good but worked out okay in the end.

Posted 2 years ago #
MrsMugsy - Member

Hey congratulations!! another pregnant rider here.

I carried on normal mtb until 4 and a half months, doing my usual ride in the peak and some trailcenters red, and beating guys while telling them 'oh, i'm pregnant by the way'.
When my belly started to be a bit bumpy, I suddenly felt very protective and not confident anymore, so I stopped. I also found the short intensive burst of power to go uphill on technical trails, a bit too hard.
but I carried on road riding as normal until my bump was getting in the way, so about 6-7months. and carried on commuting to work everyday up to 2weeks before the birth, even racing other riders up the hill in Sheffield (can't shake off my competitiveness). It was on a mtb frame, so more upright and i could cycle with my big belly. I must have looked like a lunny with my knees appart to accommodate the bump.
Anyway, I cycled through my pregnancy. and also carried on trail running, swimming a bit (I hate it, so it was only when i didn't feel like anything else) and doing yoga once a week (i also went cross country skiing at 8 and half month and climbed tryfan at 7 months. had to be pushed a chimney by a friend while another was pulling me as my bumped was starting to really get in the way).

I was very strict on doing some form or other of exercise everyday. As a result I felt full of energy all my pregnancy adn recovered from the birth very quickly (as in a couple of days).

but you must always draw the line between forcing yourself to go out but not overdoing it when you need to rest. (and don't get your body temp rise too much, not out of breath, mind your heart beat, etc...). When it comes to falls and confidence, only you can decide.

enjoy it and only listen to yourself (don't listen to people telling you that 'you're pregnant therefore you must sit in a couch for 9 months)

Posted 2 years ago #
MountainMonkey - Member

Thanks for all the congrats and comments! Really interesting to hear of different people's experiences.

Firstly, I should make it clear I really don't intend to continue mountain biking - or not what I'd consider mountain biking anyway. I really only plan on riding tow paths and bridleways, with maybe the odd (very smooth and well known) blue route. So not really trails as I know them. Despite being over-biked on the Five, I'm not going to risk anything remotely technical.

CG - I totally understand where you and others are coming from (and the idea of horse-jumping at the moment terrifies me!) but cycling is one of the two best sports you can do while pregnant (swimming is the other) and as my body's very used to cycling - the medical advice is to keep doing it. I really feel it's important to stay fit during pregnancy to help with the birth and recovery afterwards.

I just wanted to make it clear that my motivation isn't: 'I love riding so much, I can't give it up for the baby, so what's the furthest I can push it' (I've not ridden any trails since I found out) but my motivation is rather: 'fitness is important for both me and the baby, so what's the safest way to keep it up'.

Based on that, I’ve really appreciated hearing people’s different approaches and experiences. Twistedspokes' experience is what I’m very wary of (so sorry to hear of your wife’s accident, but I’m glad you got through it and it worked out ok next time) and I honestly think I'll be safer on bridleways with 5 1/2 travel front and rear than I will be on the road (especially in Bristol!). I like Jason's idea of using a turbo-trainer a bit later on too (i'll have to look into getting one maybe).

It’s also great to hear of women getting back riding after kids - I have to admit, I’ve already been looking at bike seats and trailers for those Sunday afternoon jaunts!

If anyone has anymore advice please keep it coming, but you can all rest assured I won’t be doing any proper trails, or heading down Gloucester Road again anytime soon!

P.S. Gary - the Five is awesome, and although it probably wasn’t the wisest investment, I don’t regret it (I even ended up with a 2010 shock before they were properly released?!). We went up to the 7 Stanes a couple of months back and it was awesome fun whipping around Glentress and Ae line, etc on it. You’re right - the bike will be there for me for years to come!

Posted 2 years ago #
DickBarton - Member

Good grief, don't stop exercising just because you are pregnant...the exercise can be a great way to relax...

Had a chat with my good lady last night and apparently once your heart rates gets above a level you start using more oxygen and it stops going to the baby (not all of it but the baby gets less than required).

She had the softening of the ligaments thing - her feet really hurt near the end but other than that all was good...after the birth as her body went into return-to-normal mode she suffered a bit with the ligaments thing but she seems to be fine now.

I guess it depends on the type of biking you do, my wife never did anything really hardcore, she'd go ride stuff (red at Glentress) but it was never aggressively, just at her own pace, so although she was riding up until about 8 months it wasn't race pace...the distances weren't quite so far but she still got out and gave it a bash...which was good.

This is only what I was told/experienced so please don't take this as gospel...if you have queries then get in touch with a specialist who deal with pregnancy and exercise and stuff so you get a proper answer.

Posted 2 years ago #
mrsflash - Member

Congratulations

I've never been pregnant but a couple of my friends who are keen cyclists have. One carried on commuting to work till about 30 weeks, she had to change from her road bike to her mtb to accommodate the bump the other did a half marathon at 14 weeks, and carried on as she describes it "cycling till about 24 weeks" and "riding her bike" till about 34 weeks.

Also remember the racer Sally Hibberd saying she was still using her turbo trainer up till the day before she delivered

Posted 2 years ago #
tinker-belle - Member

Congrats Mountain Monkey!

Currently at 34 weeks and I rode until I was about 5 months, I stuck mainly to blue and did a bit of red, but decided that anything that made me feel like I might fall off, was definitely a no go and best to walk around.

I gave up commuting to work, long before I gave up mountain biking as I have to ride on a busy A road and have been knocked off my bike before so it was a risk I was just not prepared to take.

As bunnyhop says, try not to get out of breath, and try and keep you heart rate as low as you can. And make sure you keep hydrated.

Just listen to your body, and you'll know when it's too much.

and congrats again - it's a fantastic time

Posted 2 years ago #

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