Hiking has been a fun and exciting thing that I can do in pregnancy.

I fired off a couple runs in the first trimester and quickly lost steam after that in the second trimester as far as running. Running around with a baby bump just didn’t feel right for me, though I did get the second wind that many women talk about in the second trimester. It was a good time to do tasks like organizing and moving and nesting.

In the third trimester (as we speak) I feel energetic but not like a power woman or anything, so, hiking and walking have become my favorite activity.

It’s been useful to get a pair of hiking poles and use the poles while on my hikes. I need to go slowly to hike, the poles help me with balance as I have gained 40-50 pounds and I gained at least 10 of those pounds in the last couple weeks of the third trimester. It’s not easy to balance with such rapid weight gain, my brain isn’t used to how difficult it will be for me to do things like crouch and get back up again.

For some, I hear it can be embarrassing to use hiking poles, because some of us associate poles with canes, but I figure that pregnancy itself can be the same way if we let it. I find it is much nicer to be out and proud with my belly and to be unapologetically pregnant and wielding poles. This is where I would insert a shrug emoji but I don’t know how to do that on this website, haha.

Another 36 weeks photo from an amazing hike near Brainard Lake

For the most part, I stick to flat terrain or terrain with gradual inclines. If something is too steep, I won’t do it.

Something that is kind of funny is that being pregnant and hiking reminds me a lot of hiking around with my painting easel - it’s a big unweildy thing that sets off my center of gravity in ways that can be tricky to deal with. Fortunately for both being pregnant and hauling an easel across the land, developing and maintaining core strength is something that can help with both. It sounds weird to want to keep up with planks in order to just, walk, haha, but it ends up being useful.

I am able to hike up to 5 miles, and while it sounds like a lot, I go pretty slowly. The 5 miles might take me 2 hours to do. The important part is that I am getting outside and getting the miles in. And, on many days, I’ve only been able to have time for 1.5 miles or even just 1 mile up and down the road.

I’ve gained quite a bit of weight during pregnancy though it may not look like it - before pregnancy I was usually weighing in at around 130 lbs, and in these final weeks of being pregnant, I am more like 175 and at night, 180. My height gives me a bit of a pass, as gaining 50 pounds across 5’11 doesn’t look like 50 pounds on someone not as tall. And fortunately, most of it seems to be purely the baby and blood volume or water weight.

But, I would have lost more of my fitness levels without hiking and walking. Weight is one thing, but losing my previous levels of fitness any more than necessary would be a bummer.

Finally, what I’ve loved most about hiking while pregnant is that it gives me something to see and think about that is beyond my computer, my art, my work, or health. I turned out to be one of those moms who likes to google just about everything in my early trimesters, causing me a bit of anxiety at some points. When I get outside, I don’t have to worry about anything - it’s nice to just look at rocks, plants, and landscapes and think about those, instead of whatever battery of tests and appointments that I have coming up. (Though, I am grateful for modern medicine and all of those tests, too!)

So, I hope this blog has helped share some of my love of hiking with you!

To sum up, here are my Hiking Mama takeaways:

Flat and shady terrain is great
Hiking poles make everything 100% better
Time doesn’t matter, just getting it in is enough!
The mental benefits of hiking are as good as the physical benefits