Let the prenatal exercising begin!

I actually lost the 4 pounds I suddenly gained one week, putting my weight gain to 9 pounds so far, not too shabby for a woman who felt like doing nothing but eating for a good six weeks.  I've maintained m weight for the last few weeks, which is good since we technically have one week left in the first trimester. 

I read you shouldn't try any new exercises until you are in your second trimester because your body is getting used to being pregnant.  I say, don't exercise for the first trimester because you will feel like shit.  But now we are safely into "body used to pregnancy land," so I can begin the exercise. 

Like any new endeavor I tend to over-do it at first.  Since winter is here and I don't want to pay for a class or a gym, I ordered four prenatal exercise DVD's from Amazon.com.  They are still being packaged and/or shipped.  They are a combo of yoga, pilates, and plain old aerobic and strength training for pregnant women.  I have an appointment on Friday, and if all is well, I will ask my midwife if I can go ahead and try it out. 

I suspect I will get the OK.  For now I wait and think about the toned arms and legs I'm going to get and how prepared I'll be for birth.  This should help keep weight gain to a minimum too.  Which will be my next question, exactly how much am I supposed to gain now?  I was told 15 to 25 pounds at my first visit, but I've already blown through 9.  So 6 to 16 pounds?  Or should I still gain 15 to 25 more?  Or now is it something like 10 to 20?  And what does that mean exactly?  A couple pounds a month?  Should I gain some the second and more the third? 

And here I sit with an appetite that has maintained my weight for a few weeks wondering how it's possible to gain another 20 pounds in only 6 months.  Do you have to really force yourself to eat?  Will I get more hungry?  Can you gain too little?   Doctors told my grandmother back in the 1950's that she wasn't to gain more than 20 pounds.  Her babies turned out fine.  I have an aunt that didn't gain a single pound during her pregnancy.  Again, baby was fine. 

Babies are usually fine.  This will be my mantra for the next six months.  Because I suspect that in reality, every woman is different, as long as she doesn't have an eating disorder and has access to proper nutrition, chances are she will eat what's right for her. 

I plan to do some kind of exercise everyday, either one of the DVD's or just some plain old walking.  I will let you know how it goes when the DVD's start arriving.  First we need to clean our living room so I can actually exercise in it.  I can't remember the last time I cleaned anything around here.  Hey, if I can't scoop the cat litter box I might as well avoid all housework.