Fun and Games of Recording the Pre-natal Series
I felt as though I missed an opportunity when I was pregnant with Zoe, in that, I didn’t get to share my exercise journey with other mums to be. However, at the time I needed to be realistic and know my limits. I was working at the physio practice, operating Happy Place Pilates, growing a human and trying my best to manage severe NVP (nausea and vomiting during pregnancy)…stick a fork in me I was done!
However, the universe has a funny way of providing when we are ready, rather than when we want something. Although Happy Place Pilates has never felt like “work” (because I love it), with the support of BW, I had found a balance between stay at home mum and small business operator. So when Charlie was conceived 10 months after Zoe was born, there was time and space to record and share my exercise journey.
Again, I struggled with NVP and the anxiety that came with the thought of another miscarriage. The first few months of the pregnancy were absolutely brutal. I spent most of my days with my head in the toilet, trying to not beat myself up for letting Zoe and Ruby dog down and letting the house go to crap. I was used to training with my Fit Fam 2-3 nights a week and nap time Pilates sessions 4-5 times a week. All of which went out the window along with my mental health, in those first few months. Thankfully, at my first OB appointment, Charlie still had a heart beat and I was put on medication to tame the NVP.
So, there is no 1st trimester workouts in the Pre-natal Series for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the only core work I got done was as a result of the constant vomiting (which is counter-productive for pelvic floor integrity). Secondly, if you’re already exercising (including pelvic floor exercises) and have an uncomplicated pregnancy no modifications are required until 2nd trimester. Although I would caution high impact exercise from 10-12 weeks as Relaxin (hormone) levels rise and leave joints more susceptible to injury.
Now that I was feeling semi human, I acquired a decent camera and mic, and I was on my way! The whole experience was such a learning curve! I’ve been standing in front of people instructing for years, but as it turned out I was a little camera shy. Over the course of the series I settled down in front of the camera but I wouldn’t say I’m a natural. I learnt the hard way that “auto focus” is a lie! Or at least it doesn’t work how I imagined and I should check all the footage straight after recording (not weeks possibly months later). I gained some other useful skills such as; video editing, audio editing, compressing files, creating space on my laptop. Probably no biggy to most but those who know me know how terrible I am with anything computer based so it was a win for me.
I also learnt that a successful one woman filming session, required a number of stars to align. I couldn’t exercise on an empty stomach as it would make me sick. I needed to eat at least 2 hours before recording so my reflux didn’t bite me in the arse half way through. I needed to remember to charge the camera battery. I always tried to pick a quiet time of day so there was no school kids, garbage trucks, deliveries, posties for Ruby dog to bark at. It had to be a daycare day which limited me to 2 days a week. It had to be in the morning as we were located in South Ripley, Ipswich, and the studio got the hot hot hot afternoon sun, but I couldn’t run the AC as it created too much background noise. And of course mid way through recording the Pre-natal Pilates series the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
Happy Place Pilates is my business baby and I love it like I love my real babies, fur baby and man baby. So, there was some serious ugly crying the day I had to shut down all non-essential services and scramble to find solutions for my amazing clients, due to COVID-19. However, something I have always admired about humans is our ability to be resilient and to adapt and overcome challenges. So after drying my face on BW’s T-shirt and taking a few deep breaths the questions started to flow…. and then come 3am, the answers started to flow. The online competent of the business was already in the pipeline, as a planed maternity leave project. COVID-19 just made me hustle a little sooner than planed.
It is now just over 3 weeks since Charlie Rose was born (which is another storey all together). Although it was not the plan, I am grateful that the majority of the groundwork for the online component of Happy Place Pilates was done BC (before Charlie). As I am running on very little sleep and decision making is not my strong suit at the moment.
So, all in all recording the Pre-natal Pilates Series and getting it online was a great challenge! I love a good project to sink my teeth into and I’m grateful that I am able to share my movement knowledge and pregnancy journey with other mums to be. Stand by for the Post-natal Recovery Series.