Well, the end of the stationary bike, anyway!

I did indeed cycle yesterday and avoid a nap, and did 10.2 miles, to boot! The cycling, itself, felt great.

The problem? I had an achy, sore belly and cramps most of the evening, in addition to lower back pain. The angle the recumbent bike puts me at, plus my knees hitting my (ever-expanding) belly, is just too much now. If it is causing pain, it needs to stop until I am no longer pregnant (especially if one considers that I am essentially kneeing my offspring in the head every rotation of the peddles!).

So for now, I am shelving all cycling. I am pretty unhappy about it, as it was my main source of quiet exercise in this house, but you have to do what's necessary to remain healthy, and this is ceasing to be beneficial if it is causing me problems with my pelvis or uterus.

Feeling a need to move again today, I decided to take out some dusty Leslie Sansone dvds and walk a few miles, regardless of how uncomfortable my current footwear is (see previous posts :). I walked three miles at a 5 mph pace in about the same period of time I cycle 10 miles (40 minutes) and burned more calories doing it. Other than some initial muscles protesting it was fairly comfortable.

The problem with this, and why I shelved them temporarily, to begin with? I work out during my kids' naps, and though it may be coincidental, my youngest woke up halfway through my workout (and two HOURS early from her nap). We have wooden floors, and even with blankets hung to dampen sound and an exercise mat down, my feet still pound during these exercises, and I am afraid the noise of that is what woke her up. It is unacceptable for me to wake either girl from their naps, and not really possible to work out in a comfortable way outside with them at this time of the year. So I am stuck in a MAJOR quandary.

I did not think it sounded very loud to my ears, but by all evidence (an awake baby, which is terrible for the rest of the evening) I must have been pounding. It may have been a fluke, but she NEVER wakes up this early from her nap, and so it's hard to conclude it was anything but the noise from my feet that woke her.

So what do I do? I cannot do this while they are awake, as the downstairs is their only real play area and that is where I must work out. They will get stomped and constantly interrupt if I do this when they are awake, but it is interrupting their sleep. I am stumped, and more than a little annoyed. My only other 'solution' would be walking on a treadmill instead of on our floor, but that is just not financially feasible for me right now.

It's the end of the bike and a rough restart to walking, I'm highly frustrated at no apparent solution and it is important I keep moving throughout the pregnancy. I may just have to choose to walk close to the end of their nap (not ideal) and let it wake them up, but hearing them talk over the monitor or knowing they're awake in their cribs stresses me out and makes me itch for the workout to end. For now, I think I'll try again tomorrow or the next day I am ready to work out and see if they wake again, and decide my course of action from there.