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Pedaling All the Way to the Delivery Room

Upon entering the final two weeks of my pregnancy I was happy to still be able to teach indoor cycling and even ride the trainer a bit. People seemed concerned about the fact that I was still teaching, but I felt fine on the stationary bike. I had even ridden a little bit outdoors up until thirty-four or thirty-five weeks and so riding indoors at thirty-eight weeks was no big deal to me. I was expecting to teach until a week or so before my due date, but I was definitely not planning to ride on the day I gave birth, or so I thought.

The day before I went into labor when I thought I still had a week to go.

The day before I went into labor when I thought I still had a week to go.

Last Monday morning, twelve days before my due date and a week before my scheduled C-section I taught an early morning indoor cycling class. This one class was no big deal in my mind, there were some days I was still teaching multiple classes. I started teaching class feeling pretty much normal, but by the end of class I felt more overheated than usual, out of breath, and was experiencing a little bit of dull pain. I chalked it up to the fact that I was thirty-eight plus weeks pregnant and told myself I would just take it easy when I got home.

Sitting on the couch back at home, I still felt tired, out of breath and just not quite right, but I am used to pushing through fatigue and suffering and so I did just that. I had a doctor’s appointment later that morning for one final check checkup before the baby was to be born.

I arrived at the doctor expecting just another routine visit, but moments into the appointment he determined that I had already made it through early labor throughout the morning and that I was definitely not going to make it to the date of my scheduled C-section. I was surprised, but I thought I still had a couple more days to go. I went back home to tie up loose ends, but while in the midst of that I started to feel pains in my low back. Never having had a baby before I didn’t initially realize that these were contractions. After this went on for an hour or so, I finally called the doctor and he told me to go to the hospital immediately. Upon arriving at the hospital my other doctor informed me that I was not leaving and was in fact having my baby in just a couple of hours.

By 4:35pm that day my baby girl was born, just nine and a half hours after I had finished teaching that early morning cycling class. I kept telling people that I planned on teaching until the very end of my pregnancy but I didn’t expect to actually teach a class on the day I gave birth.

Now recovering from my surgery, I am happy to be able to walk just a half mile around the block, but I guess I am also happy that I was able to teach and train literally right up to the very end. Now six or seven weeks of rest and recovery and then we will see if I can turn my jello legs back into those of a competitive cyclist and triathlete.

In the operating room with my baby girl just moments after she was born.

In the operating room with my baby girl just moments after she was born.