intro and prenatal workout recommendation question

cblakin

hey ladies! 

i have been lurking the board for a few weeks and am excited to have a place that is supportive of natural birth.  i am 30, the hubby is just turning 29 in two weeks (and freaking out a bit about it) and i am due with our first in august.  i live in portland, oregon, which is overall a pretty supportive place for natural birth and my midwife practice is great.  As a nurse, i'm really pretty comfortable with the hospital environment but not medications when they are not necessary and really do not want an epidural and would like to avoid all meds if i can.  even though i am getting a lot of support, i am also getting a lot of negativity from people (especially coworkers).  it's frustrating and starting to wear on me and i think beginning to psyche me out. 

i also am currently in grad school and between that and work i'm having a really hard time finding time to prepare myself since i can't take any regular classes.  i am doing the hypnobabies home study but have also been told prenatal yoga is super helpful.  unfortunately, they really only have classes on sundays and i am always at work or at school on the weekends.  did anyone find anything else helpful or know of some good prenatal yoga videos?  Thanks and happy to join you guys!

hollyfp

Under Style you can choose prenatal - there are a few.

https://www.doyogawithme.com/yoga_classes

Regarding unsupportive people; I don't discuss my birth plans with many people (especially coworkers)... it's just not necessary.

aylafsu88

I was finishing my doctorate when I had LO as well. It was tough to find the time to go to classes and stay active. I ended up walking a lot since I could do that very easily when I had free time in my schedule. I felt like that was enough to give me some activity during the week and I had a great labor.
As for supportive people, you will run into more of those than supportive ones. Sadly enough our society fears child birth and views it as a scary process. The best thing to do is not discuss your plans (like PP mentioned). My H and I stopped talking to anyone about it as we did not want to hear their comments. We did tell everyone afterwards (as they always asked) that I went natural and how great it was!

marriedinaugust

I would also recommend not talking about your labor plans with anyone. You do not need any negativity in your head. As for workouts, I kept up with my normal exercise until 38 weeks - walking, lifting weights, step class, modified Pilates and prenatal water aerobics. I also did the recommended Bradley stretches. This time I am nowhere near as active other than running after my 4 year old. We are starting to workout together and plan to start yoga on youtube soon as well as our normal nature walks/hiking (we are north of Seattle). Good luck!

hollyfp

I will add that it is awesome when you find other supportive people IRL, but I have come to not expect them.

Last night at the gym I was talking to a woman about general stuff (how far along are you, blah blah) and she mentioned she had her daughter using hypnobirthing.  I told her I'm also planning a hypnobirth and we had a great conversation - she was so happy to share her positive, successful experience with me.  
I think a large part of it is believing in it and being completely confident about your choice.  I don't need to discuss with anyone else (except my H and people like the above) in order to solidify my thoughts and feelings.  I'm due in 5 weeks and this confidence just fully established over the past few - so just keep practicing and reading up and it will come!

vvvvvfee

i had this video and loved it: https://www.amazon.com/Yoga-Pregnancy-Post-Natal-Workouts/dp/B00109KNA2/ref=sr_1_9?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1399472423&sr=1-9&keywords=prenatal+yoga

it was not a super-intense workout, but i always felt great after i did it. it also has a post-natal workout.

stephl3055

I did the cobbler's pose and the cat/camel stretch 4x a week, along with walking 1.5 miles and lifting some light weights while on a yoga ball.  I did this up to the day I was induced and I think it really helped.  

NYGirl02

My husband and I do this video occasionally. 

https://www.amazon.com/Prenatal-Yoga-Partners-Joe-Kulak/dp/B003T0PMB0

I 

I also have done some prenatal yoga sessions on you tube and have the book Active Birth, which has a lot of yoga poses, though I haven't specifically used the book for that yet.