A trip of a life time, a baby bump, beautiful students....and a wee story. My second trimester of pole dancing pregnant.

Weeks 12-16-18-20

As happens a lot in life, it never rains but it pours, and finding out the amazing news of me being pregnant coincided with some other big news: my husband being made redundant.  This was happy news for him, in a kind of bitter-sweet way, but, as you can imagine, financial security is pretty high up there on the "important stuff to consider when having a baby" list, so this news was also a little scary!  Months before we had said that if the redundancy came through we would take a lovely big holiday together, yet it was still a surprise when I came home in my 9th week of pregnancy to tickets for a 3-week trip to the USA!  So at exactly 12 weeks pregnant off we went for 10 days in New York, a weekend in San Francisco, and some time in Vegas and LA, the trip of a lifetime!  OMG I loved every minute of it, and am so grateful for the amazing surprise, but let me tell you, forget what they say about morning sickness ending after 12 weeks!!!!  Of course everybody is different, but I still had the seedy "hang over" feeling the whole time we were away, and it was exacerbated by motion sickness and jet lag.  What should have been "We're in Vegas-let's party!!" became "you go out honey I'm going to bed".  There was almost no pushing past 10pm every night.  Maybe a beachy do-nothing kind of a holiday is a better plan for pregnant ladies!  Seriously though, it was so amazing and I am so grateful to my gorgeous husband!

Grand Canyon

So, back to pole dancing!  I came back to teaching 15 classes a week at 15 weeks pregnant...3 weeks more pregnant (ie. heavier!) than I had been when I left, 3 weeks of no pole or exercise really, and 3 weeks of American food (even heavier!).  This is when things got really hard and when I really had to carefully tune into what my body was telling me.  As with the first trimester, I found my energy levels and strength changed daily, so I had to modify my teaching style around that.

It was actually a really fun time though, the morning sickness finally passed, my energy levels were up again and, best of all, at this point the pregnancy was public knowledge, and everyone from students to colleagues were really excited for me.  I was glad to tell my students finally as I wanted them to know I had a good excuse for getting fatter and being lazier in class!  It was really fun as every day I would see different people and go through the whole excitement and congratulations again.

In terms of modifying my dancing, I really had to take a step back now from demonstrating everything multiple times, and from doing every single thing with my students.  I really believe that this is a good thing for them, and that the standard of my teaching was in no way impacted by this.  Actually, I have been modifying my teaching style for a few years now, as I got older and as my workload increased.  With anywhere from 15-23 classes per week, you really have to protect your own body and minimise stress on your muscles and joints, especially when you rely on your body's health for your income.

I truly believe it is actually better for students not to be spoon fed, and I think everyone learns a lot more by trying something themselves (with guidance and spotting) than by watching the teacher do it 3 times.  So when it came to finding a new pregnant teaching style, I don't think it was a big change for my students.  I still demonstrated almost everything from weeks 15 to about week 20, and then as the weeks went on I did less and less, calling on students to demonstrate for me, or even just talked through the moves in more experienced classes.  I danced the routines with my students, but stepped out for breathers....again, I truly believe this is good for my students, teaching them to remember the choreography rather than follow me.

Which leads me to one of the best things about this journey: the support and encouragement from my beautiful students and colleagues.  This may sounds silly, but I was so afraid that I would lose students by trying to continue teaching throughout my pregnancy.  As pole teachers, part of our job is to be inspiring, not just to be able to explain moves well, but to demonstrate them perfectly, often in slow-motion, and all while hanging upside-down by one leg!  I'm sure we can all remember when our pole journey first began, watching our teacher in class, or in a week 8 show and absolutely falling in love them and wanting to dance like them one day.  Instructors have to be able to show how something is done "properly", with straight legs, flexy lines and pointed toes, with flowing transition, with grace and ease of movement, and all whilst smiling!

This is why one of my biggest fears with pregnancy and poling was NOT being an inspiring teacher.  I felt like I was getting fatter, less fit, falling out of moves, and I was unable to perform perfect inverts anymore...surely my students would not want to be instructed by me for much longer?  Yet, right through to now, my beautiful, loyal students have continued to attend and re-enrol into my classes.  I am so humbled and grateful to this amazing group of women (and a couple of men!) who are thrilled for me, interested in my journey  and who laugh with me when I can't Candy (twisty-grip shoulder mount) anymore.  They've helped me out by demonstrating things they are good at, they tell me not to worry about what I can't do, and that they are amazed by what I am still able to do.  On top of it all, they tell me I look great, bless them!  Once again, the amazingly supportive pole community astounds me, and my beautiful students remind me daily why I love my job so much!

Similarly to the first trimester, the biggest lesson I have taken away from this period is to have no expectations on what my body is or is not able to do from day to day.  As I said, I lost my Candy in about my 17th week, but yet here is a video of me teaching press up hand-stands and pull up static-vs (ayeasha) in my 18th week, and finding it all pretty easy!

The morning sickness finally subsided around week 16, and I finally began to feel more energetic again.  And then a couple of weeks later....BOOM! Baby belly!  Seriously, I just woke up one morning with a feeling of having a hard ball in my tummy, and I feel like it's grown bigger every day since.  This can wreak havoc with your centre of gravity and balance, although I feel like I haven't had any serious problems with this yet.  I still dance and teach in my 7-inch heels, and love wearing them and luckily haven't had any falls...which is pretty amazing considering I am generally a pretty clumsy person, preggers or not!  The most off centre I've felt was in week 22 when I was demonstrating a free-standing head stand and nearly overbalanced.  But here's a video I made afterwards, just to prove to myself that if I really switched on my core I would be able to do it.

Speaking of core strength, I had a bit of a chat to my physiotherapist about this, as I was a bit confused as to what the "right" thing to do is, and you may be too.  I wasn't sure whether to continue to pull my tummy in, or just let it all go.  I know that sounds funny, but I'm sure I'm not the only dancer out there who feels like I suck my belly button in basically all the time.  Is this bad?  Am I restricting the baby's growth? Or inhibiting my abdominals ability to grow and stretch as they need?  She told me as long as it is the transversus abdominals, or the deepest layer of muscles in the abdomen (which is basically the feeling of drawing your belly button to your spine and not of clenching or crunching) then it is totally fine, and actually beneficial, as your core will continue to stabilise your spine and help to prevent back pain or injury.

So what pregnancy blog would be complete without an embarrassing bodily functions story?!  Well, I've got one!!  Skip this paragraph if you're not into wee stories!  When I was 25 weeks pregnant I was teaching a flexibility class, rolling around on the floor, kicking and splitting... About 30 minutes into the class I felt what can only be described as a gush of fluid coming out of me.  It took me a second to think about...I had just been to the toilet before class, and I didn't feel the sensation of passing urine.  Just when I noticed I could see some wet marks coming through to the outside of my leggings then I felt it again!  I jumped up and squeaked "excuse me for a minute" and ran out (on my lovely class, who handled it like champs and just continued stretching themselves until I could grab another teacher to take over...thank you Jedda!!!).  Luckily my lovely boss Ness, who has had 2 kids, was there and I told her what had happened, not sure whether to laugh or cry and kind of doing both at once.  I have to add here that someone had asked me earlier in the week how many weeks pregnant I was, and when I said 25 had replied "oh my friend just gave birth at 25 weeks!"....Seriously?!?!!  So that was also lodged in my brain.  So I decided to pack myself off to hospital and luckily the amazing staff at Randwick Women's Hospital took me straight into a room, strapped monitors to my belly, tested for amniotic fluid and a host of other things, and then reassured me that the weight of baby and the uterus had just put pressure on the wrong thing at the wrong time and I had actually probably just wee'd myself!!!  I can laugh about it now....

Weeks 21-23-25-27

Now in week 27 I feel like my baby bump is really getting in the way and my slowly stretching abdominals are starting to hinder my ability to do anything.  I feel so much heavier hanging on in basic spins, I can't breathe properly when in certain stretches and positions like shoulder stands, I can hardly bend forward to stretch my hamstrings in a seated stretch, and I get out of breath performing the slightest activity.  Up to about 24/25 weeks I was still just about able to demonstrate a static-v (ayesha) or an extended butterfly, but it was tough, and a bit scary, not to mention very messy looking.  So I have decided to embrace the fact that my inverting days are over, mostly as I am just starting to feel so heavy and can't completely trust my body to hold me up safely.  I can't believe I still have about 13 weeks to go!  I'm actually really ready for a bit of a break, everything is aching and even buckling my stripper heels is becoming hard work!  Also mentally it will be good to reboot and enjoy a little bit of calm before the storm of a baby!

Well, I am super excited to be in the third and final trimester of pregnancy, and I am so stoked that I was able to continue to be as active as I have been.  I honestly feel like the decision to continue poling or not has been taken out of my hands by my body.  I have reached a point where it is not physically possible...for me at least.  Side note- did you guys see the video of the chick doing an iron-x during labour?!?!  If you haven't, check it out here.  Omg she is amazing!  It just serves to prove once again that every body and every pregnancy is different!

A new term begins at BPS and The Peach next week, and I will only be teaching 1 pole class a week, which is open level, as well as continuing to teach flex, chair and floor work.   So I will at least be able to report on any dance-related/pregnancy things that are going on in the third trimester (hopefully no more wee stories!!) as well as post a few special blogs on specific topics.  If anyone has any questions about anything pole and pregnancy related, please don't hesitate to ask!!  'Til next time gorgeous pole peeps!!

Roxy, the pregnant pole dancer xxx

Advice from your pole teacher to a pregnant student....

Heaps of people who read my first blog post about my first trimester of poling pregnant wrote to me (thank you!) and said there was a massive lack of information out there on the subject and subsequently they had felt scared to continue poling throughout their own pregnancy.  This is such a shame and is also my whole motivation for writing this blog!  Please continue to share your experiences with me so we can all contribute to getting as much info out there as possible and hopefully more women will be able to safely and confidently continue their favourite sport during their pregnancy!!

So I thought I would write a post specifically about this- some advice from a pregnant pole teacher to a pregnant student.  Almost every pole teacher I know has had the great privilege to be amongst the first few people to know about a student's pregnancy.  This is so beautiful and we are very grateful to be trusted with this secret.  And as such, we often find ourselves in the position of being asked for a little bit of advice- Should I stop pole completely?  Should I drop a level, or switch to flex or floor work?

I will preface everything further I have to say on the subject with this- I am not a doctor!  This is not professional health advice!  This is purely my own experience and thoughts on the subject.  Remember that every body is different, and every pregnancy is different!  Always seek advice from your doctor or obstetrician and always listen to what your body is telling you.

Ok, disclaimer out of the way, the general consensus on all sports when pregnant seems to be that if your body is used to the activity, and you do not have a high-risk pregnancy (again-speak to your doctor or obstetrician about your pregnancy and make sure they understand what pole is...show them a video if you must!), then you should be ok to sensibly continue with the type of exercise you are doing.  Think maintenance of the level you are at, not pushing yourself or learning new skills, now is not the time to have a go at the latest, greatest pole trick on instagram!


My advice as a pole teacher to any pole student who approaches me with their good news is:

*LEVEL- Most likely you will want to drop down a level.  You could stay in the level you are in for now IF you are very comfortable there and find it quite easy.  But at some point you probably will want to drop down one or two levels.  Do not increase the intensity level of your exercise program is the general advice, so that means stay at the same pace until your body tells you you need to back off even more.  You may prefer to drop it down a notch straight away to be on the safe-side.


*TRICKS- Don't learn any new tricks because there is a greater risk of you falling when doing something unfamiliar.  To be on the safe side you may prefer to stay low to the ground even in tricks you are experienced in, and only perform tricks you are super confident and secure in.  Keep a hand on, or skip it if anything feels risky.

Felix Cane's famous Spatchcock- pregnancy is probably not the time to try it.
Image credit-Vertigo Photography

*TELL YOUR TEACHER- I know it's still too early to be telling the world, but please make sure to inform your teacher so they know not to push you, and can spot you as necessary.  As I mentioned, you'd be amazed how often we have been amongst the first privileged few to know about our student's wonderful news, and your secret is safe with us I promise!


*TAKE IT EASY- Listen to your body!  Sit down when you feel dizzy, tired or nauseous.  Maybe don't do the whole routine, just do some bits and rest and get your breath back in some of the harder pole combinations or faster choreography sections.  The general medical advice on this is don't exercise to the point of exhaustion or heavy sweating and breathlessness.  Here is a great page from the Victorian government website about exercising during pregnancy.


*CHANGE IT UP- If there is a day when you don't feel like doing pole class, don't come!  Do flex that week instead.  Fatigue and morning sickness can be so debilitating so just stay at home resting (or being close to the bathroom-oh the joys!) when you need to.  Look after yourself.  Also if the spinning is making you nauseous, or you'd just prefer to be closer to the ground, consider switching to a chair or floor work class.

Chair is fun too!
Image credit The Black Light

 *INTERNAL STUFF- Remember that during pregnancy, even before there are any discernible physical changes, internally your body is changing dramatically.  Your heart is pumping up to 50% more blood around your body!  And you will have an increased resting heart-rate.  This can make you feel light-headed or fatigue may set in sooner.  Your uterus is growing, making everything squash up in there.  It's all a bit uncomfortable and exhausting growing a human!  Here is a nice positive article from Huffington Post about the awesome things your body does during pregnancy.  Nice to read, as opposed to always talking about the crappy side effects!


*JOINTS AND STRETCHING- Hormones such as relaxin and progesterone are softening your joints, muscles and ligaments to help make room for the baby inside your body, and to help with childbirth.  Unfortunately, this can potentially lead to laxity and instability in all the joints, not just the ones obviously related to the baby.  Being fit and strong pole dancers, hopefully we shouldn't have too many adverse effects from this, but regardless as you get heavier the load on your joints will obviously increase.  You have to remember to engage your muscles correctly, for example don't hang out of shoulders in spins, instead keep them pulling down to engage your shoulder stabilisers.

With regard to stretching, most pregnancy advice is to keep it up, as it will help to relieve some of the growing pains that go along with your body changing, but bear in mind that this advice is usually aimed at "normal" people (non-polers), so they mean gentle stretching, not crazy over-splits with 3 blocks under your feet!  Now isn't the time to try to get your middle splits!  Rather, maintain the level of flex that you had before pregnancy.  Also don't hold your stretches for too long or you run the risk of joint damage, especially later in your pregnancy.  Here is a little page from "what to expect" about stretching during pregnancy.

still not quite flat...fake it 'til you make it!
Image credit The Black Light

*INVERTS?- You will know when it's time to stop inverting, or when you just feel too heavy to even spin around the pole any more.  I've surveyed some of the Pole Mamas I know and they all said they stopped inverting around the 4 or 5 month mark.  Bear in mind they were all pole instructors so were very fit and their bodies very used to inverting.  You may feel like you need to stop sooner.  This is because we obviously use our abdominal muscles to invert and they are starting to stretch out to make room for bub, so will not function how they used to.  My experience was that I just couldn't do it one day!

Also, I started to find inverted positions on the floor uncomfortable, like you know when you lie on your back and throw your feet back over your head (the "plough" stretch in yoga)?  Or when we do shoulder stands in floor work? I just really struggle to breathe in these positions, so I don't really do much of them any more, and I definitely don't hold them for long when I do.

Floor inversion...can't breathe!!!  Image credit The Black Light

Also, FYI some old-school yoga peeps might tell you that you can change the position of the baby by inverting so that's why you shouldn't do it, but there is no scientific evidence to validate this claim.  Just smile and nod, remember the advice is well-intentioned, and do what you are comfortable with ;-)

I'll miss you my pretties!!!!
Image credit-Pleaser Heels

*BALANCE- Your centre of gravity will be changing with your growing belly.  If you dance in heels (the best way, in my humble opinion ;-) ) be careful!  I feel super comfortable walking around in my heels as I do it 15+ hours per week, but if you feel a bit bambi-on-ice-like in your heels, maybe pop them away for a few months until you're ready to make your post-baby come back!  Also, pregnant women are notorious for falling down stairs and stuff at this time, so just be extra careful generally.




So to sum up, just be sensible!  Check in regularly with your doctors, don't push hard in class and listen to your body!  After all how many times in your life will you be able to take it easy on your self without feeling guilty?  Enjoy this time and your changing body as much as you can, and keep doing what makes you feel good, whether that's body-rolling around the pole, or slothing on the couch with ice-cream!


My next post about my experience of my second trimester is coming in the next week or two, until then, thanks for reading!  Feel free to drop me a line with any questions, or I would love to hear your story or some tips from your own experience.  You can email me at roxycarless@gmail.com.


Roxy, the pregnant pole dancer xxx