Week 30 was the last week I successfully ran or jogged for at least 15 minutes without immediately needing to pee. Then, I got sciatica in week 31 and had to stop running/jogging completely. Still to this day, even though it’s only been over a week since I experienced that awful pain, I can tell my right side is weaker than my left side. But I wondered whether I could still jog on the treadmill, so today, I tried it out for the first time since the sciatica occurred. Well, I tried, and for about two minutes, it felt just fine… until I could almost feel the weight of my baby’s head bouncing up and down, up and down, literally on top of my bladder, and I knew I had to stop the machine and go to the bathroom.

Welp, this isn’t going to work, I thought as I stopped the machine. The real reason to stop running during the third trimester is not so much that I’m not fit enough anymore, have too much weight now, or my lung capacity isn’t quite there anymore with an expanding uterus, but more that my baby really loves resting her head right on top of my bladder and making me want to pee, even when I have emptied my bladder just a minute before my run. So for cardio moving forward until the end, I guess it will just have to be walking on and off an incline and elliptical. I generally avoid the bike machine since I spend most of my day sitting, and I got a suggestion from the very first personal trainer I ever worked with during college at 24-Hour Fitness that when it comes to cardio, unless there’s a health problem, you should do the opposite for cardio of what you usually do during the day. So for example, if you have to stand most of the day for work, they recommend you use a rowing machine or bike for cardio. On the other hand, if you sit at a desk/computer during most of the day, it’s better for you to be standing (running, jogging, on an elliptical) for cardio work.