Pregnancy & Exercise

I'm just back from a most excellent workout at the gym. Of course, my definition of excellent has changed significantly as of late. Today, in meant 30 minutes on the elliptical in zone zero (around 130 bpm) followed by super light weight lifting just to make me remember that there are muscles in there.

I am totally and utterly confused by all of the conflicting information about exercising during pregnancy. My most recent conundrum is the vastly different recommendations I have heard for maximum heart rate when you're expecting. SG said no higher than 150. A pregnant friend, who is in much better shape than I, said her OB told her not to get her heart rate above 140. What the heck? Doesn't one's fitness factor into these broad recommendations?

After weeks of frustration about this, it occurred to me that the  recommendations might have more to do with not elevating the baby's heart rate too high. That must be it.

I will keep reminding myself that I am now a "baby house" [thanks for that gem, Julie S.] and that my primary job is to take care of the life inside of me. So, if that means running 15:30 miles, as I did last night to keep my HR under 150 [ugh!] then that's what I'll do.