I wonder how much longer I can balance?

[Guest fastfeets]

There is a question here....and I might be in the wrong place (again), but this thread could get chatty..and it's not about technique..so.

 

Ok, here goes. I'm going to be out of ballet for a while...well, at some point, anyway. I'm hoping to keep it up for several more months, but that's not entirely up to me.

 

Hubby and I thought we were through with the baby thing, but the universe did not agree, and so I'm expecting a little one (hoping for a girl this time), sometime in early october. It wasn't planned, I wasn't thrilled at first(been years since we've done the diaper/midnight feeding routine....ugh) , but now it's pretty exciting.

 

 

So the question is for any adults who've danced while pregnant...well, actually the question *is* have any of you danced through a pregnancy? If so, how far into it? How intese? Did you cut back? etc...etc..

 

It might be a long shot...but I was curious...

 

Also, in the meanwhile, when dancing becomes impossible...did you/were you able to do anything to keep ballet fit?

[cmtaka]

I did everything but jump so have some of the teachers I've had through their pregnancy. Really though ask your doctor before you do anything. Mine was okay with it and I did floor bar the last month when I got too big. Anything to stretch my hips and back.

[Victoria Leigh]

Congratulations, fastfeets

 

As long as you are dancing very regularly and are in good shape, with your doctors' approval you should be able to continue through most of the pregnancy, with the exception of jumping. When you reach the point where you cannot continue in ballet class, you can probably still do quite a bit of florr exercise, maybe even Pilates. However, everything should definitely be done only with agreement from your doctor!

[liebs]

I'm a total non-pro and I danced and exercised right up to the end with the OK of my doctor. No laying on the stomach though. Nice loosening in the hip joints, great for splits.

[wembley]

What a lovely suprise!

 

While I haven't ever had a baby, I would also expect that turns could get very interesting! Firstly, because you may have a bit of nausea, and secondly because of your changing centre of gravity.

[duckie9876]

I danced (3 classes per week) througout my pregnancy all the way up to week 34. I stopped after the end of December because I needed the time to get stuff ready for the baby that was due in February.

 

The bottom line is, you can continue all your activities as long as you are careful not to get too overheated or dehydrated. I pretty much did all the combinations except for grand allegro. The petit allegro I did only if I thought I was up to it and even then, I didn't push it to the the limit that I normally would have if I had not been pregnant.

 

Turns were interesting. I kept doing them only if they were slow. I skipped fast combinations because I didn't want to fall down and hurt myself. The best part is that it keeps your weight gain down which is healthy overall, as long as the pregnancy is progressing normally.

 

As a general rule, I would look at each combination and decide at that time whether or not I would try it. I also brought a large container of water to class and sipped water whenever the instructor was demonstrating a combination.

 

The best part is -- if you don't look in the mirror, you forget that you are pregnant which was a nice break from feeling so bloated and huge. In the end I put on about 14-15 pounds and gave birth to a healthy baby boy 7 lbs 14 oz. I also believe it helped in dealing with the pain of labor.

 

Basically, if you don't want to stop -- then DON'T stop unless your doctor tells you not to do it. My OB was fine w/ it as long as I was OK w/ it.

 

Good luck with the pregnancy.

[Guest fastfeets]

Thank you all so much for the wonderful encouragement! I definitely do not want to stop during this pregnancy. I've been reading up and so far have found nothing negative about continuing ballet while pregnant. (in fact, the grande plie's should be quite beneficial particularly.). I think I may cut one class during the week, because as it is, I do average about 3 hours per day...minus thursdays. (that does include the beginner class I teach, but I'll get a demonstrator in there later on...).

 

I'm pretty sure things will get amusing from here on....but if the classes recently are any indication, this baby's going to be a turner. I've been nailing really nice triples! Even on my bad side! Wait...*especially* on the bad side. Now if she could just get those fouette' turns down....we'd both be happy.

 

 

I do plan to speak with my doctor extensively about it, and will give up the big jumps as soon as it's necessary. I didn't expect to hear petit allegro would be alright for a while longer, though. Even in a doctor written article, it was mentioned that a changement exercise could be done quite late into the pregnancy as long as the changements were small.

 

So I suppose I'll have a good bit of time to perfect minute issues in techinique, increase the flexibility...this might be quite something indeed.

 

Then when she's older (i still have a very strong feeling it's a girl..) she'll surely feel right at home in a studio...

 

 

again, thanks so much for the advice, and the congrats. This was very unexpected, as our current children are 10 and 13...and we rather thought we were done with the kid thing...but I've gotten used to the idea, and am even quite anticipating the event now! (even the bulging belly part....maternity clothes got much cuter than I remember....)

[Amy Reusch]

I remember some teacher claiming that her turns were better than ever when she was pregnant! She seemed to think she had some sort of gyroscopic center.

 

I can't say I found that to be the case... but perhaps she meant earlier in the pregnancy...

 

I was too nauseous to walk down the hall, let alone dance until the sixth month.... and then our school closed down for it's extensive summer break about halfway through my seventh month.

 

I felt rather cheated that I couldn't dectect any extra flexibility... if anything it was the stiffest period of my life!

 

One thing to watch out for... to counter the huge weight in front, I naturally stood with my weight way back... after giving birth, it took a long time to get my weight forward again... even though I wasn't bulging out in front so much any more, I was still carrying the baby in my arms/baby bjorn all day and the weight-back posture was still being reinforced...

[Guest fastfeets]

Amy, I can sympathize with the morning sickness thing. It's hit me pretty hard the past several days (only in afternoons, right about when i'm to be readying for classes...naturally.) I will watch for the weight back issue, and try to keep it in mind...

 

I've been turning even better this week. I swear this girl's a natural turner! Petit allegro she's not thrilled about, though. I've been managing very consistant doubles, and my triples are becoming quite regular. Don't ask me how, but I managed a triple en pointe tuesday night...I would bet a lot of money on my never doing that again, but it was a nice feeling all the same. I wonder if I've already adopted a stance change that is responsible for this newfound turning ability.

 

just wish I could kick this nausea...blech. I dont like feeling it (but on the upside, i wont be worry much about weight gain..I can barely eat enough right now do gain anything but baby weight...)

[dido]

This is ony marginally releveant.

 

One of my many bosses (who, together with her 1st born daughter, has mangaged to form a life long relationship after three months) was 6 months pregant when I started working for her.

 

I just want to remind you all that you are SO beautiful. Cari was working in a 6x7 room with her belly out to there at the end, and I walked into work every day (at the age of 16) thinking how priveliged I was to see this growth.

 

One of my main goals in life is to never have children, because I think I understand how hard it must be. Please don't make it harder on yourselves. Just the shape, the form, the curve of a pregnant woman, is so astoundingly gorgeous that words fail me.

 

I can (duh) give no medical advice, but please come to class, show us all up.

[Guest scuffite]

Congratulations!

 

I am presently over 33 weeks pregnant myself and did ballet until the 6th to 7th month. Until then, I did everything but not jumps (although my obgyn said it was OK except for big jumps and as long as I was not bleeding). In fact, ballet was great for me especially during the 1st trimester as I felt my normal-self during class and for the rest of the night whereas at other times, I would be feeling tired and "off".

 

I stopped only because everyone else (including my teacher) apart from my obgyn felt that I should have stopped as soon as I found out that I was pregnant. From what I understand, even the professional ballet dancers here drastically cut down their classes once they find out that they are pregnant and stop totally by the 5th month. Well, it's just the culture here.

 

However, I have since regretted stopping. As I read more books on preparing for childbirth (especially those aimed at natural childbirth) and am understanding which muscles are important during delivery, I think ballet was totally useful! Yes, you are right on the grand-plie. I have just started pre-natal yoga and I keep thinking "I could have gotten the benefit of this exercise from ballet!".

 

Having said that, I have read ballet web-sites and childbirth books that say DO NOT do the following exercise (usually without saying why): sitting on the floor with your soles together and pushing your knees down. I stopped that from an early stage although surprisingly, that was in the pre-natal yoga rountine! I went along, did it and felt great but after the session, my pelvic region felt like it was splitting apart everytime I moved!!! I must have injured some muscle/ligament somewhere down there and this I am sure, is not good for delivery.

 

One happy thing for me is that I do not have backaches! I am sure that it is because of ballet - my back muscles are stronger and I have developed a good posture.

 

If you are not a high-risk pregnancy and your obgyn OKs it, go for it! I am sure you would know when to not overstretch yourself and take it easy during class.

 

Happy dancing!

[Guest fastfeets]

Scuffite, congratulations on being nearly there! You must be quite excited at this point! (probably a little more than ready to be done, too, right?)

 

I did read that the stretch you mentioned is forbidden, though I don't understand why, either. I've read it in a few books, and several articles, but you're right. They never explain the reason.

 

Currently I'm continuing with a full class if the moves are ones I'm comfortable with, and know I can land softly and safely. I refused to execute a russian pas de chat this past week since I know I don't land them well, but my grande jete' I can land very softly. (though I will be omitting the big jumps very soon...meaning I'm out of the show in june...at least out of all but one dance. no big deal. I'm relieved, in a way.)

 

I posted really not expecting the response I've gotten, but it's absolutely invaluable to hear from others who have done this. I had no idea there were so many ladies here who have had ballet babies

 

It's my hope that I can continue through at least 6 months. Perhaps longer if I just do the barre portion...but it'll be summer, and the a/c isnt always on at the studio...so I'm pretty sure I wont be terribly comfortable.

 

Thanks again to you all for the advice and votes of confidence. I can't tell you how valuable it's been!

[Jaana Heino]

Where I come from, we have a superstition against congratulating pregnant women on the pregnancy, so I won't.

 

But as far as I'm aware, stopping excercise (unless it involves a risk of hits to the stomach area or falling hard on it) is not at all recommended during precnancy these days, and experienced mothers are encouraged to "go by the feeling." So talk to your doctor and your teacher, go for it, and just stop doing whatever feels bad.

 

I've had people take classes with me during their pregnancies; some stay right to the last month and some stop earlier. Most of them have been adviced to stop or felt themselves like stopping jumping at some point, and the teacher's have all been fine with whatever limitations they've had. One student asked for excercises to do while off from the teacher, and the teacher, being a mother herself, gave her a lot of things to try.

[Guest fastfeets]

Jaana, I'm very curious as to the superstition now. Is it considered bad luck, like telling someone "good luck" before going on stage? There are loads of folks in the states who wont tell anyone til after the first 3 months because they are afraid of jinxing it....