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Thursday, February 10, 2011

Topic Thursday: Swimming while pregnant



Thats right. Swimming, while pregnant. Might not seem like a lot to those who haven't been pregnant or tried to swim while pregnant. Trust me, it can be challenging. I've loved the water my whole life. My parents took me to the shore every year since I was a toddler. I loved swimming and playing and especially diving. I would spend hours in our above ground pool. Even though, true be told, I didn't learn how to swim until I was around 12 or 13. It wasn't that I didn't *want* to, it was just no one ever taught me. Regardless I loved the water. I loved swimming while pregnant. For a short amount of time my back wasn't killing me, and I felt weightless. It was truly an amazing thing to be feeling the fresh pine air on my skin, breathing in the salty ocean mist, and feeling Ollie kicking away loving the sounds of the water swishing against his little home. Not to mention the invigerating 52 degree water...
Yes the water was 52 degrees, and that was the warmer of the two days. I should probably mention I was in Bar Harbor, Maine for 4th of July vacation with just my parents. They wanted one last vacation with just me, for ole times sake. I'm sure now they fantasize about how cute lil Ollie will look on sand beach with with pail and shovel. I can't wait. He'll have to prepare, I know I wasn't even close to prepared when I first dipped my feet into that water. Instantly numb. Then I got braver, ankles, calves, thighs. What was I thinking?! I didn't even have a full bathing suit on! I had swim shorts and a talk top on. It was incredibly cold, the temperature outside was barely 80 degrees and it was windy on top of that. But with that sun beating down on my bare skin, and my bun in the oven, I felt like s million degrees...
Ollie was kicking me every so offen. The water rose up just around my bust. I gazed out across the water, blue, green and white with foam. I could see my feet, even 4 feet down through the mint green tinted water. I didn't ever want to leave. I'd let myself bob and float there every other minute. Lifting my legs and wiggling the sand outta my toes. Seaweed wrapped around my arms and legs, but the view kept me from caring. The sounds kept me from being bothered that I couldn't feel anything below my waist. The smell of pine and sea salt rushing into my nostrils kept me from thinking about anything except me, Ollie and the sea. I daydreamed about being a mermaid and swimming out to one of the many rocks and sunbathing. I thought about the sunken ship parts scattered below "Old Soaker" on the ocean floor. I was having the best time. It was incredible. Being pregnant only made it better. If I couldn't have Dave there then th next person I'd want to experience that would be Ollie. He may not have gotten to see it,(yet) but he was there. And whenever I tell him this story, I'll get to say "you were there with me, in my belly".

2 comments:

  1. I LOVED swimming when I was hugely pregnant with Lulu. I felt the same way, totally weightless and comfortable. I remember walking out of the water and feeling the WEIGHT of me pushing down again. It sucks being pregnant in the summer for a lot of reasons, but swimming is amazing.

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  2. Yes me too! It just figured that I was soooo pregnant last summer, the hottest summer in 10 years!! Lol I guess it's just a true testament of what the human body can truly endure ; )

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