Capoeira in the third trimester

For me, the third trimester was quite a rollercoaster.

At the start I had another IBS episode, lost my appetite, and my steady weight gain halted for a few weeks. Weirdly, at the same time I experienced a sudden burst of energy and I went berserk with capoeira, the gym and conditioning. However the aches and pains were still developing and in the end I stopped capoeira at 33 weeks, and everything else at 34 weeks.


Early third trimester

* Foot and calf cramps, swollen ankles
Overnight cramps led to severe stiffness and pain in my calves while my feet continued to cramp constantly during classes! The painful sprained feeling post-training also got worse.

* Abdominal weakness
I started to become aware of weakness in my abs, although I wasn't directly exercising them anymore. Bracing them, my belly stuck out in a ridge (the beginning of the muscle separation).

* Difficulty bending forwards
Depending on the position of the baby, bending at the waist became painful - especially when wearing a cordao! Unfortunately I could arrive at a class feeling fine but often the baby would get settled into a lower, more awkward position during training! Meia lua de compasso and negativa became very hard to achieve.

* Round ligaments 
From about 29 weeks, possibly due to my bump having a growth spurt, the round ligament pains returned. However they persisted far longer than previously.

* Pain when baby moves
At the same time I started to find that the baby moving (i.e. turning rather than just kicking) was causing cramps in my belly and back. Doing exercise - particularly twisting motions - was great for relieving the discomfort.

* Sacroiliac and coccyx pain
I continued to experience SI pains throughout the trimester but at 32 weeks this was joined by pain in my coccyx which had been broken a few years earlier.

At 33 weeks, mostly due to difficulty bending over, I stopped doing any capoeira. To be honest, by this point I was feeling a bit like a hippo in classes.


The final stretch: 33 weeks onward

After I stopped training I continued going to classes to play in the bateria and also kept busy taking photos. There were plenty more physical reminders to stop exerting myself so I moved around less and less.

* Hip and knee pain
Ligament slackening is very common, particularly towards the end of pregnancy. Around 34 weeks my hips and knees were sore just from sleeping overnight.

* Round ligaments
These stitch-like pains were now brought on just by walking. Walking 15 minutes to class became a bit of a trial.

* Extreme discomfort when baby moved
Particularly from 37 weeks onwards, the discomfort from the baby's movements got much worse. When she kicked near my navel (through my divided abs) it was particularly tender!

* Upper and lower back pain
My lower back became very tired and sore from the size of my tummy, and my upper back became sore from my growing chest.

Throughout pregnancy my fundal height had measured a bit small, and at my 36 week check-up I was referred for a scan. The measure continued to fall behind expected size and further scans showed that the amniotic fluid was diminishing (one sonographer even asked whether my waters had broken!). The lack of fluid, oligohydramnios, was probably responsible for the pain during those late weeks when the baby moved or kicked. Perhaps I could have kept training a bit longer if not for all that!