Exercise

I guess my second major worry is a long hard labour & tearing during labour, after searching around, I found there are 2 ways that could minimise the chance or prevent this:

1. By exercise & relaxation techniques (by reading birth stories, I found women using breathing techniques or hynobirthing usually have an easier labour)
2. Birth by caesarean

Unless it's necessary for the saftey of the baby, I'll assume that I'll have a natural birth, so exercise is the answer for me. And exercise is good to knock off those extra pounds after birth if I don't gain so much now.

Yoga, stretching, walking or swimming seem to be some mild exercises for pregnancy. The main thing is to keep it slow and stop once you feel tired. Exercise during the second trimester and slack off to mild stretching during the third.

** Risky exercises to avoid:

- Any exercise that put you flat on your back after the fourth month or
- pull on the abodomen (such as full sits up and double leg lifts) or
- force air into the vagina (upside-down bicycling) or
- bending over backwards or
- stretch the inner thigh muscles or
- bringing the knee to chest while kneeling on all fours
- jumping, bouncing, or jerky movements


Some exercises that make a good routine:

- Shoulder stretch
- Standing leg stretch (to ease leg cramps)
- Kegel exercise (to prevent tearing & urine leaking)
- Pelvic tilt (to strengthen the back)
- Dromedary Droop
- Leg lifts

Kegel - firmly tense the muscles (it's the muscle that stop the flow of urine midstream when you're on the toliet) arond the vagina and anus, hold for as long as you can (working up to eight to ten seconds), then slowly release the muscle and relax. In Deepak Chopra's Magical Beginnings, Enchanted Lives: How to Use Meditation, Yoga and Other Techniques to Give Your Child the Perfect Start in Life, he even recommmends to do 100 every day to prevent tearing. Try a combination of quick ones & long ones. The book also recommends stretching the perineum a few weeks before the due date.

Also more exercise for easier labour, in Pregnancy without pounds, there're some core exercises that make labour easier.

Highly recommended: