HOOPRAMA MAMA: Hooping Through Pregnancy
by Sunny Becks, www.hooprama.com
I just had my third child, so what made this pregnancy experience so incredibly different from the other two?
Three words. The Hula Hoop.
My first pregnancy doesn’t count. I was young (21) and tiny and bounced back in a week. The second one, at 27, was much harder on me because I gained almost twice as much weight and it took me forever to lose it. On top of that, I had to have an emergency cesarean, so the recovery was extremely long and quite painful.
Pre-pregnancy on this round, I was in the best shape of my life. Having not been to the gym in years and easily bored by all forms of exercise, everything opened up when I discovered the hoop. I started hooping regularly January 2006 (after an inspirational performance by Miss Saturn) and a short six months later I was more tone and in shape than I could have ever imagined at 34.
Because hula hooping was such a large part of my life at that point, it naturally made sense for me to incorporate it as much as I could into my new pregnancy. Last summer I had met a hooper from Atlanta (Lara from Superhooper) who was teaching a class quite late into her pregnancy. She was big and beautiful and completely inspiring. Because of her, I was quite encouraged even though I knew there might very well be some unexpected changes along the way because of the pregnancy.
Sunny the month she became pregnant; photo by Joshua Black Wilkins
I performed and taught classes up to month three, and then we had an unexplained placental issue that forced me to stop all forms of activity, the hoop included. Sad at the thought of losing the hoop for months on end, but more determined not to be away from it, I continued to teach multiple sold-out classes with the assistance of my oldest daughter, Fiona. Thankfully and remarkably, and to our doctor’s amazement, around the end of month four in my pregnancy, my body had fully healed and I was given the go to resume hooping to its fullest extent. I moved forward, full steam ahead, and added even more classes continuing to hoop and perform up to my eighth month. Even in month nine I couldn’t put the hoop down and found myself hooping in the summer sun at the local Pride Festival!
Truth be told- I gained 45 pounds in this pregnancy; however, I really don’t think my body could have looked better! It was clear that my body was embracing the pregnancy so well because of my past and continued hoop experience. My muscle tone was incredibly strong and my abdominals were quite prepared, which in turn lessened a lot of the pregnancy complaints that most tend to have, like backache and lack of energy among others.
The biggest impact for me in this journey was the emotional and spiritual connection that I had with my body throughout the experience. Hooping had already given me such confidence and security in my womanhood and that in turn translated into the connection that I developed with this pregnancy in particular. For the first time in my life, I felt in sync with my entire being and that, for me, was priceless.
Hooprama Mama at 9 months pregnant; Photo: Heather Routh
With all that said, this pregnancy definitely kept us on our toes. While we had a long period of health with lots of happy hooping, towards the very end, it was discovered that the cord was marginally attached and that, combined with some other things, created an urgent need to bring the baby out early via cesarean. So, I found myself delivering a baby at week 37, who had a 2 week growth delay, so for all purposes, she was a 5 week premature baby.
In addition to dealing with the concerns of a premature baby I had serious concerns of how my body was going to react to the surgery and what kind of recovery I was going to endure on this round. Much to my surprise, I sit here only 2.5 weeks later having already lost 20 pounds as my body has been naturally snapping back! My recovery this time has been amazing and I attribute it all to how strong my abdominal muscles and body was going into the pregnancy. Granted, there is some discomfort that naturally accompanies a major surgery, but I can tell how much stronger and prepared my body was to deal with the whole birth experience from start to finish.
Hula hooping has been such a wonderful never-ending journey that I am pleased to say encompasses almost all areas of my life. I am excited at what will unfold in my next journey of post-partum healing through the hoop once I get the go from my doctor in four short weeks so stay tuned!
SIDE NOTE: Please obtain your doctor’s permission before hooping or doing any form of exercise while pregnant. [July 2007]
