Gym Bunny MUMMY
Talitha worked out till she popped!
looking at myself in the mirror at the gym, I couldn’t believe how much I’d ballooned.
I was 38 weeks pregnant and ready to pop.
But it certainly didn’t stop me from working out. I felt fantastic! The whole pregnancy had gone smoothly, and I put it down to four gym sessions every week.
Back in 2014, I’d met Aamir, now 28, and he taught me how to use weights.
Slogging away on the treadmill or the bike,
I was always doing cardio in the gym.
But I wasn’t getting the results I wanted.
Watching others weightlifting, I was dying to give it a go.
‘I’ll show you how,’ Aamir offered.
In 3 months, my body looked better than ever.
They say those who train together, stay together…
And a year later, we were married!
Even competing in bodybuilding competitions, we were gym-obsessed.
We both went to New York in the summer of 2016 for a bodybuilding contest.
Then, just a few weeks later, I found out I was pregnant. We were thrilled. My daughter Brooke, now 11, from a previous relationship, was so excited to have a little sister.
When I first got pregnant, I stopped going to the gym.
I soon felt awful. Even my friends noticed it. ‘You’ve got to get back in the
At first, I stopped going to the gym – and felt awful!
gym, Talitha,’ they’d say.
Picking up a weight for the first time in weeks, the adrenaline rush hit.
Aamir then designed me a new fitness routine.
Weightlifting
The rest of my pregnancy was completely perfect.
No weird cravings. No sickness. I slept well, too.
As I did my squats at 38 weeks gone, Aamir watched me to make sure everything went OK.
‘You’re going to have this baby in the gym if you’re not careful!’ he laughed.
Occasionally, I’d get a double-take or a confused glance, but most people knew me and what I was doing.
And I knew it was good for me and good for the baby.
Four days a week, I was there weightlifting and stretching.
On the day I was due, I’d already tried everything in the hope of bringing on labour. From eating spicy food to drinking an entire box of raspberry-leaf tea in two days! But my baby wasn’t budging. Two nights later, I felt a twinge. But I’d suffered with Braxton Hicks, so put it down to that.
5cm dilated
Stretching and exercising on the ball, the stomach pangs kept coming.
‘I think we’d better get you to hospital,’ Aamir said. We arrived at 1am.
I sat down in reception – and my waters broke.
After a quick examination, the nurse beamed at me.
‘You’re in labour and you’re already
5cm dilated!’
Suddenly, I felt the urge to push.
This is happening too quickly, I thought.
Labour with Brooke had been three long days.
I was expecting the worst but this was a totally different experience.
With a few gulps of gas and air, my baby was on her way.
At 1.25am, Aamira arrived in the world, weighing 7lb 7oz. Born in just 10 minutes!
A trainee midwife gawped at us in amazement.
‘It’s not usually that quick!’ a senior midwife told her. We all laughed.
I stayed overnight but went straight home in the morning.
Six hours later, I was out doing our weekly shop!
Though I was dying to get back to the gym, Aamir urged me to rest up for a few weeks.
But I was still taking the dog out every day, pushing Aamira in her pram and doing my pelvic-floor exercises.
Two weeks later, I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight of 8 st.
And five weeks after that, I was back at my second home – the gym.
Taking it slowly at first, I felt amazing.
Aamira is now 18 weeks old and she’s so happy and alert.
I’m still in the gym as much as I can be with a baby.
Getting pregnant doesn’t mean you have to stop working out – just double check all’s well with your GP first.
After giving birth in just 10 minutes, I’d certainly recommend it!
Six hours later, I was out doing our weekly shop!