Since September is Menopause Awareness Month, I thought I would share my own menopause memoir to commemorate the month.  I should warm my male readers that this post will contain information about my girlie parts, hormones and my periods menstrual cycles.  If you are squeamish of such topics or simply just not interested, then now would be a good time to click away.  However, if you stick around to read my post, you may learn a little more insight to the baffling female species.

Before children, my cycle was 21 days, but at the age of 34 after the birth of my second daughter, I began to have irregular periods.  For some cycles, my period would arrive 6 weeks later.  As you can imagine, these irregular period patterns would cause me to think I was pregnant, but then my old reliable Aunt Flo would finally arrive. 
About two years ago in the midst of this new pattern of irregular menstrual cycles, I became pregnant.  Unfortunately, the pregnancy was not viable and I lost my baby at 10 weeks, which was my first miscarriage and my first experience with all the awful symptoms that occur as a result, such as severe cramping and weeks of very heavy bleeding. 
Then, almost a year later to the date, I experienced another episode of severe heavy bleeding, which I thought I was another miscarriage.  I took a pregnancy test which read negative, but I doubted the accuracy of the test and tried 2 more tests which also read negative.  I began to think there was something more serious happening with me and I made an appointment with my obstetrician.

When I visited my OB, a number of tests were performed on me: a pregnancy test, blood work and an ultrasound.  As the other pregnancy tests already demonstrated, I was not pregnant.  Thyroid was also ruled out.  Nothing irregular showed up on my ultrasound.  So, what could be wrong with me? 

That’s when the nurse practitioner revealed to me news I was not ready to hear.  “You are experiencing pre-menopause.” 

*Freeze frame for dramatic effect and insert tragic climatic music.*

According to my NP, my heavy and irregular periods could only be explained by perimenopause.  It would not affect my ability to get pregnant, but simply my biological clock ticking and reminding me to get cracking if I want more children.

After I left the doctor’s office, I researched pre-menopause and I even recalled a show that Oprah did years ago about the topic.  When the episode aired, I remembered thinking what an unfortunate situation for these women in their thirties to face.  Who knew I would be one of those women? 

    
As I read the symptoms of perimenopause, it became a checklist for all my bizarre ailments over the past 2 years, particularly an increase in allergies and insomnia.  Even my poor sex-deprived DH would attest to my change in libido. 

Upon my research, I also discovered that perimenopause can occur 5-15 years prior to the onset of menopause.  I recalled my mother’s menopause experience.  My mother went through her change when I was teenager.  When I did the math, I realized my mom could have very well been my age when her symptoms of perimenopause surfaced.

As with everything else, diet and exercise seem to be the key to ward off the symptoms of perimenopause.  At the time of my menopause manifestation, I consumed a lot of Diet Dr. Pepper, so my first course of action was to replace my daily dose of diet soda with green tea.  I began to eat more flax seeds and other foods with Omega-3.  I added soy milk and soy beans to my diet.  I also limited my morning coffee to one cup.  I increased my number of work-out days from 3 days a week to 5 days. 

Within a week of changing my diet and increasing my exercise, I felt remarkably better.  My energy levels rose and my sleeping patterns improved.  My menstrual cycles became more regular and my menstrual flow gradually decreased.

It has been a year since my menopause manifestation.  By simply changing my diet and increasing my exercise routine, I feel I have found my own Fountain of Youth.

It was once believed that pregnant women were fragile creatures, who should avoid exerting themselves during those 9 months.  However, now many studies have established that exercise actually helps the body deal with the stresses of pregnancy with benefits for the: aerobic system,  respiratory system and cardiovascular system.

That said there are some basic guidelines to keep in mind to keep both mama and baby safe while breaking a sweat.  ALWAYS check with your doctor before beginning (or continuing) a workout program, while pregnant to see if you have any special needs or restrictions.

• Workout with the goal of maintaining fitness, rather than training for competition.
• Avoid exercising in hot, humid environments which challenge the body’s ability to cool itself.  Your body temp should stay below 100 degrees.
• Stay well-hydrated, drink (preferably water) until your urine runs light in color
• Have a light snack before to avoid low blood sugar
• Keep energy bars, fruit and juices on hand in case of low blood sugar
• Do longer warm-ups and cool-downs
• Reduce the frequency, intensity and time of your workouts as your pregnancy progresses
• Try to exercise on flat even surfaces, balance and joint laxity is challenged during pregnancy, increasing the risk of ankle sprains
• Wear supportive footwear
• Work at an intensity you would describe as “somewhat hard”.
• Avoid situations which could result in abdominal trauma (roller-blading, kick-boxing, mountain biking, downhill skiing) especially as the pregnancy progresses
• Avoid breath-holding during exercise
• Avoid rapid changes of position between exercise or prolonged standing as these can result in dizziness or fainting from blood pooling in the legs and feet.
• Avoid lying flat on your back after the first trimester, as the weight of the baby can impair blood flow back to your heart and brain, making you feel dizzy, faint or uncomfortable
• Keep your pelvic floor strong by doing Kegels both during your workout and during the day (some experts recommend as may as 50 reps, 10-20 sets every day — Geez, that’s A LOT of Kegeling!!).  For directions on how to Kegel check out this link to The Mayo Clinic

Again, this list is just a guide and women with certain medical conditions and/or a high-risk pregnancy may need additional modifications.  Unfortunately, in some cases women may not be able to exercise at all.   Be sure to talk to your doctor and make sure he/she is okay with what you are planning to do.

Geralyn Coopersmith is the author of the critically-acclaimed book, Fit + Female, The Perfect Fitness and Nutrition Game Plan for Your Unique Body Type. Geralyn served as the exercise consultant for the highly-successful Joy Fit Club Program with Joy Bauer on The Today Show.  She is a contributing reporter and editorial advisor for iVillage.com and a member of the advisory board for Health Magazine.   Geralyn is frequently featured in national magazines and newpapers, including:  Health,Fitness, Self, Fit Pregnancy, Marie Claire, Family Circle, Seventeen, Cosmopolitan, Redbook, The New York Post, Newsday and many others.

I was so happy to hear recently that my friend Carrie is pregnant with her third child. Carrie is a working mom who has worked both part-time and full-time. But about a year ago she accepted a new full-time position with a bank. So when she told me her employer doesn’t provide any maternity leave benefits, I couldn’t help but be shocked. Shocked. Even though I know very well paid maternity leave is not standard in this country. In fact, I discussed the issue briefly in my very first post on WMAG. I just can’t help but be shocked (over and over again) that many US employers still do not offer maternity leave benefits. According to MomsRising.org, 51 percent of new mothers in the U.S. have no paid leave at all.

Without paid maternity leave on the horizon, Carrie decided to leave her job, although her baby isn’t due until later this year. Many other expecting mothers do the same thing if they’re financially able to. But, what about the mothers who need that paycheck? Who can’t afford to take four or six weeks unpaid after having a baby?

Opponents to paid maternity leave believe if you can’t take unpaid time off, then you shouldn’t get pregnant. They don’t want their tax dollars going to Americans who can’t afford having a baby in the first place.

Other countries like Papua New Guinea, Swaziland, and Lesotho feel the same way. The U.S. joins them as the only 4 countries in the world who don’t offer paid leave to new mothers.

So what do you think? Does your employer offer maternity benefits? Does the U.S. need to get its priorities straight and give working parents a freakin’ bone?

Back to my friend, Carrie… After she gave her notice, her employer offered her a part-time schedule to stay. She accepted and now is the first part-timer in her department. I’m glad they recognized the value of retaining a good employee. She’ll still go unpaid during her maternity leave. But at least now she has something valuable to go back to.

When women become pregnant, we experience the most remarkable changes to our bodies during our gestational period, such as expanding rib cages, a widening of the nose, lovely liver spots and particularly, pregnancy nose.  Prior to today, men have been unable to relate to pregnant women who simply sniff odors on the other side of the hemisphere and become violently ill.  However, pregnant women everywhere can now rest easy as I have finally found a concrete example to help us explain this phenomenon in terms a man can understand.

During my short time running, I have rediscovered pregnancy nose.  It must have something to do with the heavy breathing and panting (Go ahead and giggle and then get your mind out of the gutters, please.) that forces my nose to work overtime.  While running, my super snout will smell everything and anything, which then causes me to be completely repulsed by all the odors, just like when I was pregnant.

For example, I can name the neighbor smoking cancer sticks on his back porch, although I am still working on detecting the brands.  Other neighbors nauseate me with moth balls in their yards to protect against pesky armadillos.  If I get a whiff of bacon browning on a griddle, it causes me to crave pancakes.  Exhaust fumes from cars and heavy construction vehicles two blocks over choke me.  Unclaimed piles of dog dung will bung up my supply of fresh air.   Stagnant swamp water and decomposing vegetation causes me to become queasy.

In summary, running may cause pregnancy nose, therefore please take appropriate safety measures when running.  Unfortunately, holding your nose may be your only defense.

This concludes your Run DMT public service announcement.  Please forward this along to all pregnant women and expecting fathers uninformed men to further educate the public on this matter.