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drivel
Nov 2, 2011, 6:02 PM
Post #26 of 44
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kickasssoprano wrote: Thanks for the advice :) Unfortunately, climbing now is not an option for me. I'm almost 30 weeks pregnant and in the middle of an MA. Also, I don't think I'd enjoy it as i think i'd be too nervous about potential damage to the baby (see my other posts). Pregnancy exhaustion coupled with the demands of full time graduate school and my duties as a teaching assistant doesn't leave much time or energy for climbing. I'll get back into it slowly- bring my baby when I can and climb without baby when I can. Since I'm due in January, I don't think I'll be doing any outdoor climbing for quite a while.
i hope your baby is safe. but you have the right idea.... if climbing isn't fun... don't force yourself. in my experience, even without kids, climbing interest waxes and wanes over time. and forcing myself to keep going (because I felt like I was letting my partners down if I didn't) just made me feel worse, and like climbing was an obligation and not fun. when i took a break for a bit, I missed it, and when I came back, I enjoyed it more. So enjoy being preggers, if you can/if you do :), and when you feel like you'd actually *like* to go climbing again, do that. But in the meantime, try not to feel guilty about what you think you "should" feel or some such bullshit. you feel what you feel, and if you feel like you'd rather stare at your baby all day than go climbing, do that, until you feel like you need a break. And if you feel like you'll go insane if you have to spend one more minute with babytalk, get a sitter or get your partner to watch the progeny, and get out of the house! neither way of feeling (besotted, trapped) is wrong. Feel what you feel, and do the best that you can for you and the baby.
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lalavina
Nov 2, 2011, 8:21 PM
Post #27 of 44
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Hi Kickassoprano! Don't worry, take your time to recover. You (and I, since I'm 29 weeks preggo) will be forced to start out easy after the delivery. But as long as we have fun climbing, I have no doubt that we will be back to our regular shape in no time. In the beginning of my pregnancy I was worried about being super weak and warned my husband that I would need time to take kickboxing classes, go swimming, and climbing, to get back into shape as soon as I could. But I am being more realistic nowadays. I love climbing, my husband loves kayaking, and both of us will be crazy busy with the baby and 9-5 jobs - so I'll do my best to go climbing often (as he will with kayaking) but I won't worry much about the grades. We'll get back in shape naturally if we keep climbing. I figured it'll be just like when I first started climbing (except I'm better now)... My upper body looked like I had never picked up a 3 pound weight before in my life, but I started climbing and kept climbing, until before I knew it, I was in awesome shape!
Congratulations on your pregnancy! I hope everything goes well! :)
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clee03m
Nov 3, 2011, 3:45 PM
Post #28 of 44
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Registered: Oct 29, 2004
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I am not trying to say that people (parents included) shouldn't be courteous to other climbers. Unfortunately, what constitutes courteous varies from people to people. I would like to think that I am a courteous climber. I believe that my son is very well behaved at the crag, and the largest group I have climbed with my son has been with 4 adults and my son putting up one rope at a time without having all of us climb that one route (both husbands not being serious climbers). My son is no where near belayers because I believe 1. being so close to a belayer is not safe for my son and 2. I would not want the belayer or the leader to be distracted by my son which would be dangerous for everyone involved including my son.
However, my son has gotten cranky and cried at a nap time. He has also gotten fussy when I started to climb despite that my husband had him. For the nap fussiness, both of us were trying to comfort him, and fortunately, we were climbing something away from anyone. But when he gets a little fussy when I start to climb, my husband soothes him, and he stops very soon. I believe this is acceptable. I know many who simply do not want kids around at a crag who would frown at that.
Lena's kids are about as perfect crag kids as you get, but I have seen first hand people getting annoyed at her son because he started to ask when they were going to be done. They may not have said anything, but I did notice the dirty looks.
I encountered the same issue when I used to take my dogs climbing. They were well behaved and didn't mind being tied down while my husband I climbed, but for some people just their presence was annoying.
Just as people find different things annoying, I find someone who has the need to tell an expecting mother who isn't climbing during her pregnancy to not join a mommy group and be 'fucking super obnoxious' with her future child...well...fucking super obnxious. And no, I don't really need any of you to tell me not be fucking super obnoxious because I am pregnant and expecting. I believe that is rude. I also think that it is mean to imply my difficulty finding partners who are OK with kids is somehow dependent on my behavior. I am having a hard time because my partners now climb much harder than me, and they like most people do not want to climb at crowded single pitch areas. WA unfortunately doesn't have a lot of areas like the Red with awesome climbs that are kid friendly. People are all cool climbing with a baby until they realize, oh, yeah, that area we were thinking about has that notorious Leavenworth Buttslide approach, and yeah, that other area has narrow ledge belaying, that's right that area is way too chossy and wouldn't accomadate kids, and the list goes on. I also want to find other parents with kids because I hope that would make climbing more enjoyable for my son, but unfortunately none of my current partners have kids. But like I have said before what is courteous is different for different people.
As far as sheer number constituting rudeness, I couldn't disagree more. The group I described earlier with 6 adults and 6 kids were quite and very courteous. They put up at at most 2 routes, and since two of the kids also climbed, there were more than enough parents to go around to supervise these kids. They came very prepared with so much stuff for their kids (toys, food, etc.) that the kids were happy to play with each other and didn't even really need much supervision. They chose an area with wide belay area where having a lot of people didn't make much of a difference. We were a bit shocked when we saw the group at first, but the were so quiet that unless I looked, I could forget they were there as we climbed a different section of the cliff. And when we finished climbing on one end of the wall away from them and wanted to climb near them, they were more than happy to share the climbs. In fact, they were eyeing the climb my partner wanted to lead, but they were more than happy to let us climb it. The guy who was about to rap down near that climb refused to rap even though my partner told him multiple times that he dosn't mind, because he said there is no way he would rap so close to a leader, especially a leader climbing a blank friction climb with no holds at all. Only person who was not a parent at that particular part of the wall was my partner. Everyone was courteous, didn't hog any routes, and I believe everyone had a wonderful time climbing. But if some of you were there, you may have thought that group was very rude.
Who annoyed me more that day was a guide service who decided to take up 8 routes all next to each other for the entire day with 2 groups of people on two different shifts.
Funny thing is, when I climb without my son, I do prefer to not have kids around as well. Or dogs. Or gumbies. Or a bunch of people. So I choose to climb at areas where I know I don't have to expect to be around a crap load of people--because I know that even with the best intentions, sometimes crowds, whether they be parents, or groups of people, or dog lovers or whatever can get annoying.
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caughtinside
Nov 3, 2011, 3:59 PM
Post #29 of 44
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clee03m wrote: As far as sheer number constituting rudeness, I couldn't disagree more.
In reply to: Funny thing is, when I climb without my son, I do prefer to not have kids around as well. Or dogs. Or gumbies. Or a bunch of people.
Yeah, funny how that works huh? But your big group is cool and of course your kid/dog/gumby is never the problem.
It's true that the shitshow always goes for the low hanging fruit with the 2 minute approach. So if you find yourself deciding to go to the 2 minute approach crag because you are heavily laden with children and their gear guess what: you are the crag shitshow.
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kickasssoprano
Nov 3, 2011, 9:16 PM
Post #30 of 44
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Registered: May 16, 2010
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Just wanted to point out that no where in my post did I mention bringing kids to the crag. In fact, I believe I stated that I personally (at this point) don't feel comfortable with doing that and would get a babysitter for outdoor climbing days...
Just sayin' 
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drivel
Nov 3, 2011, 9:23 PM
Post #31 of 44
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Registered: Apr 22, 2010
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kickasssoprano wrote: Just wanted to point out that no where in my post did I mention bringing kids to the crag. In fact, I believe I stated that I personally (at this point) don't feel comfortable with doing that and would get a babysitter for outdoor climbing days... Just sayin'
yeah... to just keep yammering on and on about it isn't very supportive, is it?
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maxaeturner
Dec 3, 2011, 7:01 PM
Post #32 of 44
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Registered: Nov 29, 2011
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Super happy to see this post (minus arguing). I have a 4 month old baby girl. It was really really hard to give up climbing while pregnant. Like you, climbing wasn't an option for me. In the beginning I planned on continuing to top rope throughout my pregnancy, then ended up on bed rest due to complications :(. Then ended up with a c-section!! I climbed for the first time 6 weeks post partum, and had to give myself more of a break. My baby is now 18 weeks and I am just now managing to get to the gym to boulder 2-3 times a week (I'm a single mama with a full time job so leaving the babe is tough).
However, like the other folks have said, your technique will still be there but the strength/weakness is where I’m struggling (I was only able to stick with light prenatal yoga after being taken of bedrest at 6 months). Also mentally I’ve been really hard on myself because I do not have the endurance I used to have. Be kind to yourself after climbing post baby. Don’t compare yourself to other climbers OR (what’s really hard) compare yourself to where you USED to be. What’s been a life saver to me these days, is conditioning at home when I can’t hit the gym. Baby’s there staring and cooing and I’m able to get a really good work out in (Hangboard/Fingerboard, Pull-up bar, and Conditoning for Climbers by Eric Horst and a little jogging w/ baby to help get the weight off). Keep us updated, congratulations on your little one coming mama!! Such a gift.
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kickasssoprano
Dec 4, 2011, 5:57 PM
Post #33 of 44
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Thank you so much for the vote of confidence! I am now 34 weeks and getting very excited to meet my little one 
I have a treadmill at home, so I plan to use that for the first couple of months until the weather warms up and baby is safe to ride in a jogging stroller. I plan to get back into bouldering at around 5 or 6 months pp- I live quite far from the bouldering gym- I don't drive and winter is cold and long here. Luckily, I have some friends who climb who also recently had babies so we might take a trip to the gym and take turns playing with the babies and climbing. I also found out that my gym might be building a daycare!!
To be honest, I'm way more excited about meeting baby than climbing at the moment, but I'm itching to go for a run... I'll keep you all posted on babies arrival!
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clee03m
Dec 14, 2011, 5:22 PM
Post #34 of 44
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maxaeturner wrote: (I'm a single mama with a full time job so leaving the babe is tough). Be kind to yourself after climbing post baby. Don’t compare yourself to other climbers OR (what’s really hard) compare yourself to where you USED to be.
I hear you! It is really hard to tear myself away from my son to go to the gym. Going climbing with my son outside is one thing, but the gym is very tough because after all day of work, last thing I want to do is leave him and go out again.
I also think what you say about being kind to yourself is very important. I stopped comparing myself to how well I used to climb. I am much happier now that I stopped doing that. While some moms seem to climb just has hard (or harder!) after baby, I have not been able to do that mainly because I am not climbing as much. But I figure when my son is older and don't need me much, the rock will still be there. And with training and more climbing, may be eventually I will climb better. Sometimes, other climbers are not as kind to you. Once I was struggling on a climb that would've been a warm up climb at my best, and some kid in his 20's came up to me and practically screamed, "I can't believe you can't climb that! Didn't you red point X (a climb 2 number grade higher)?" *sigh* Thank you Mr. Insensitive for drawing attention to how shitty I am climbing...
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aimeerose
Dec 15, 2011, 5:03 PM
Post #35 of 44
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Registered: Jan 21, 2003
Posts: 574
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That's 28 weeks? You look amazing! I'm 29 weeks and huge! I just posted a pic of me climbing at 29 weeks. Check it out!
http://www.rockclimbing.com/photos/Sport/7_month_pregnant_5.12a_118985.html
All the pregnant ladies can also check out my blog at www.mamaclimbs.com to see more about climbing pregnant and climbing with kids (I have a 4 year old and I'm due March 3 with #2)
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clee03m
Dec 15, 2011, 5:26 PM
Post #36 of 44
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Registered: Oct 29, 2004
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I loved your blog! Preggo send is pretty funny. My partner coined the term PLAKing when I was still leading. Pregnant lady ass kicking. He used it when I would climb harder than him. "She plaked me all day!"
Impressive. You're climbing as hard as I ever did while you are 7 months pregnant! May be I will run into you at Smith sometime with my two kids :)
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aimeerose
Dec 15, 2011, 8:19 PM
Post #37 of 44
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Registered: Jan 21, 2003
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Thanks! How old are your kids? We're always up for getting out to Smith with other folks with kids. It's so much more fun for our 4 year old to have someone to play with.
Yes, I can't believe I can still get up these climbs this far along. I think the verticality of Smith and the fact that I've been able to keep climbing consistently helps a lot. It will be interesting to see if I come back quicker post-baby. Last time around I couldn't climb 5.9 without pulling on draws at 37 weeks, but it was an overhanging 5.9. I feel like this time I'll be able to climb at least 5.10 til the day I deliver (assuming I can still hike out!)
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aimeerose
Dec 16, 2011, 5:24 AM
Post #38 of 44
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I forgot to mention about getting into shape after you climb to be careful of having a diastasis recti (google it). If you have a vaginal delivery, have someone check to see if you have a diastisis because you will still want to avoid contracting your abs for 6 weeks and wear an abdominal binder when you are exercising and during the day. This is very important for gaining your core strength back.
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smallclimber
Apr 17, 2012, 2:36 AM
Post #39 of 44
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Registered: Nov 11, 2003
Posts: 301
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Okay ladies I have uncovered the secret of regaining your fitness after pregnancy........This does not actually get you climbing again, but it gets you in tip top shape for when you do. My secret..........all you have to do is change diapers! Yes, it really is that simple, no gym, no expensive DVDs, just something you will be doing anyway. (note you do need to have two children for this to really work).
This is how the fitness program goes.
1. Baby (3 months) needs diaper change. Toddler (19 months) agrees to stay downstairs.
2. Mummy carries baby (medium weight) upstairs and begins diaper change.
3. Toddler changes mind about staying downstairs and starts climbing stairs on her own, which is not allowed.
4 Mummy goes downstairs and suggests toddler might walk upstairs with Mummy's help to save Mummy having to carry her.
5 Toddler refuses, so Mummy carries toddler (very heavy!) upstairs.
6 Toddler realizes she has left favorite stuffed dog downstairs.
7. Mummy goes back downstairs, locates stuffed dog (light) and brings him upstairs.
8. Mummy completes baby diaper change.
9 Mummy carries baby downstairs.
10. Mummy comes back upstairs and suggests toddler might walk downstairs with Mummy's help.
11. Toddler refuses so Mummy carries toddler downstairs.
12. Toddler realizes she has left favorite stuffed dog upstairs.
13. Mummy goes back upstairs, locates stuffed dog and brings downstairs.
14. Repeat process every 2-4 hours, preferable at least 6 times a day.
Result - Fit Mummy!
And in the meantime I can only dream about ever going climbing again.......
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lena_chita
Moderator
Apr 17, 2012, 2:16 PM
Post #40 of 44
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smallclimber wrote: Okay ladies I have uncovered the secret of regaining your fitness after pregnancy........This does not actually get you climbing again, but it gets you in tip top shape for when you do. My secret..........all you have to do is change diapers! Yes, it really is that simple, no gym, no expensive DVDs, just something you will be doing anyway. (note you do need to have two children for this to really work). This is how the fitness program goes. 1. Baby (3 months) needs diaper change. Toddler (19 months) agrees to stay downstairs. 2. Mummy carries baby (medium weight) upstairs and begins diaper change. 3. Toddler changes mind about staying downstairs and starts climbing stairs on her own, which is not allowed. 4 Mummy goes downstairs and suggests toddler might walk upstairs with Mummy's help to save Mummy having to carry her. 5 Toddler refuses, so Mummy carries toddler (very heavy!) upstairs. 6 Toddler realizes she has left favorite stuffed dog downstairs. 7. Mummy goes back downstairs, locates stuffed dog (light) and brings him upstairs. 8. Mummy completes baby diaper change. 9 Mummy carries baby downstairs. 10. Mummy comes back upstairs and suggests toddler might walk downstairs with Mummy's help. 11. Toddler refuses so Mummy carries toddler downstairs. 12. Toddler realizes she has left favorite stuffed dog upstairs. 13. Mummy goes back upstairs, locates stuffed dog and brings downstairs. 14. Repeat process every 2-4 hours, preferable at least 6 times a day. Result - Fit Mummy! And in the meantime I can only dream about ever going climbing again.......
If you want to go for power training, rather than endurance, you should consider carrying the baby, toddler and dog upstairs/downstairs in one step (bigger weight, lower reps).
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clee03m
Apr 17, 2012, 10:46 PM
Post #41 of 44
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Registered: Oct 29, 2004
Posts: 785
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smallclimber wrote: Okay ladies I have uncovered the secret of regaining your fitness after pregnancy........This does not actually get you climbing again, but it gets you in tip top shape for when you do. My secret..........all you have to do is change diapers! Yes, it really is that simple, no gym, no expensive DVDs, just something you will be doing anyway. (note you do need to have two children for this to really work). This is how the fitness program goes. 1. Baby (3 months) needs diaper change. Toddler (19 months) agrees to stay downstairs. 2. Mummy carries baby (medium weight) upstairs and begins diaper change. 3. Toddler changes mind about staying downstairs and starts climbing stairs on her own, which is not allowed. 4 Mummy goes downstairs and suggests toddler might walk upstairs with Mummy's help to save Mummy having to carry her. 5 Toddler refuses, so Mummy carries toddler (very heavy!) upstairs. 6 Toddler realizes she has left favorite stuffed dog downstairs. 7. Mummy goes back downstairs, locates stuffed dog (light) and brings him upstairs. 8. Mummy completes baby diaper change. 9 Mummy carries baby downstairs. 10. Mummy comes back upstairs and suggests toddler might walk downstairs with Mummy's help. 11. Toddler refuses so Mummy carries toddler downstairs. 12. Toddler realizes she has left favorite stuffed dog upstairs. 13. Mummy goes back upstairs, locates stuffed dog and brings downstairs. 14. Repeat process every 2-4 hours, preferable at least 6 times a day. Result - Fit Mummy! And in the meantime I can only dream about ever going climbing again.......
May be it was a mistake to get my husband to agree to do the diaper duty....
On a brighter note, I am one hang board richer and has even climbed at a gym once. (My baby is 7 weeks old. That is really sad. And I am fat. Damn.)
Freaking washingtonian hippies and their anti-vaccine stance. I am effectively on total house arrest with the baby since the whooping cough epidemic. For some reason, I am a little bit less willing to leave the baby, grab the pump, and head to the rocks this time around. Oh well, I figure my kids will think I am loser and wanna have nothing to do with me soon enough, and I can get burly again.
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kickasssoprano
May 29, 2012, 3:59 AM
Post #42 of 44
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Registered: May 16, 2010
Posts: 53
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UPDATE:
I had my beautiful boy, and he is amazing. My husband and I moved and are now within walking distance to our local bouldering gym and our gym has started a bouldering group for moms and babies! I've been back to climbing for a few weeks now and am having a blast. Despite the excellent advice I got here, I expected a bit too much of myself initially and felt terrible the first couple times I climbed, because my brain knew the moves, but my body couldn't execute them- beyond frustrating!
I made piece with the fact that I am about 15 pounds heavier than I was and my body is not quite the same anymore- now, I am having fun! I can no longer rely on being super flexible and very light, so I am learning new ways to climb and I feel like I am even stronger than before in some ways. At the moment, I'm only able to climb once a week, but once a week is better than no times a week!
Life is good, and being a (fit) mom is amazing :)
Ps- my foot swelling issue ended with my pregnancy and my favourite climbing shoes still fit! Now if only I could say the same thing about my harness... |
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sroehlk
May 29, 2012, 7:14 PM
Post #43 of 44
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Posts: 484
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Pre-baby I was climbing once a week in the suburbs (live in Chicago), but around 3 months prego I was too tired to venture to the burbs and post-baby, well I'm still too tired :) Would love to get back into it, but I don't think it's in the cards. Between baby and work, I'm having a hard time finding time to even do yoga. Luckily we have four floors in our house, so I'm getting that diaper workout in :)
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clee03m
May 30, 2012, 1:02 AM
Post #44 of 44
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Registered: Oct 29, 2004
Posts: 785
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Bouldering group for mom and babies! That sounds wonderful.
Congrats. Glad everything is going so well.
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