Bump Update: Favourite Books & Prenatal Excercise

This second trimester is so much fun. I am feeling great and my energy is back.
 While I am still working my normal and pretty busy schedule, every free minute is spent with baby/pregnancy related things.

I am making smoothies every morning, eating heaps of fresh organic fruits & veggies and I am back to my lively self.

We will probably only do this once, so I am enjoying taking it all in and making the most out of this special time. Every week this little bump is growing...it all seems to happen so fast.

I have been reading a great deal about pregnancy, birth and parenting. My favourites so far are:

Bountiful, Beautiful, Blissful by Gurmukh
Simplicity Parenting
You Are Your Child's First Teacher
Ina May's Guide To Childbirth
Gentle Birth , Gentle Mothering

It's all so exciting and I am so hungry for Information right now.

And while have been doing my Kundalini Yoga Meditations (many great ones are also in Gurmukhs Book above) I was craving a little more Aerobic exercise than just my usual yoga to replace my running.

I have never been to a gym in my life and I am not usually into funky workouts but I really started enjoying my "Expecting More" prenatal home videos by Sarah Hayley. There are dance style cardio workouts, strength & sculpt classes and combined workouts. They all have a great intensity and really make me sweat, yet they are gentle and safe enough for pregnancy. I have been following the suggested schedule of 5 workouts a week and two days off.I replace her "Salutations" with actual prenatal Yoga but stick to the other workouts. It has given me so much energy and really perked me up.
The real downside is the music in those videos, but after I learned all the moves I can now play my own music with it and just keep the video on silent.

I also went for my first swim of the season this week and hope to get to the beach a lot in the coming months, the cool water felt amazing!

If you are pregnant, planning to be or have a friend that is, I hope this was somewhat helpful.

I am by no means an expert and the above are just my personal opinions and experiences.