can i still work in my yard while i'm pregnant?

Question

I love being outside and working in the yard. I just found out that I am 4 weeks pregnant so this is a big concern for me. I know, put the baby first and all, but I love working with my hands out in the yard. Is there some kind of medium to this delima?

Answer 1

Congratulations, I'm so happy for you.

Who is the Yahoo giving everyone thumbs down for perfectly good and true answers? They are all correct. You can exercise up until delivery. The only things you should not do are crunches and work around chemicals as one such answerer already said. Anyhow, it is perfectly okay to continue to work in your garden. Just be especially careful to wash your hands, don't handle toxic things, don't get over heated, and drink loads of water. I can tell you from experience though that you are likely to be so fatigued that you may not even have the energy to work in your garden. All I wanted to do was sleep during the first few months of my pregnancies. Fortunately, the good news is that your first few months are during the winter, provided you are in the US, which means that you can freely hibernate through the winter and be ready to garden in the Spring.
I wish you all the best of luck and happy gardening.

Answer 2

Hon, you're pregnant, not sick. You can do anything while pregnant that you did before. I'd be careful with any chemicals, but otherwise dig in the good dirt.

I skied until the slopes closed: 8 months pg
I won a raquet ball tournament: 8 1/2 months
I won a golf tournament: 1 week before delivery

garden on, congrats, good luck

Answer 3

Exercise is good for you but working in the yard is not. There is a desease that you can get from cat feces (I forget the name). It is very bad for the fetus. You can also get it from dirt.

I think you are OK if you wear gloves and clean up immediately afterwards. Don't work in the yard if you have a cut.

You probably should ask a doctor. I don't remember what it is called, but I think it is very very serious.

Answer 4

You can do anything your body was used to doing before pregnancy. My sister in law played volleyball the whole time she was pregnant. She got pregnant at a young age btw. Her doctor told her if her body is used to it then she should continue. I would just was my hands really well before and after and maybe even where gloves. Don't mess with any pesticides either.

Answer 5

Sure, go ahead. The one thing I might consider would be talking to your doc about a toxoplasmosis titer test. If you've already had toxo, you don't need to worry about picking it up from feces in the soil. (and no, cats are not the only source of T. gondii infections.)
http://www.dpd.cdc.gov/dpdx/HTML/Toxoplasmosis.asp?body=Frames/S-Z/Toxoplasmosis/body_Toxoplasmosis_serol1.htm

Until then, wear gloves, wash well, don't eat raw stuff.

Answer 6

Just know your limits. Don't get to hot or do anything to strenuous. Physical activity and fresh air is wonderful for your baby. My doc told me when I was pregnant with my first that the more active I was the faster my labor would be. Good luck!

Answer 7

Actually, exercise is suppossed to be the best thing when you are pregnant. Not hard core exercising, but easy stuff. Like walking a mile each day or something. The baby is born more healthy that way.

Answer 8

Absolutely. Just scale back the efforts once you get further along in your pregnancy. You don't want to strain yourself lifting 25 lb bags and rocks. Just stop when you get tired. You should be able to breathe regularly- if you are out of breath, you need to rest.

Answer 9

Always wear garden gloves. You wouldn't want to come in contact with any parasites. Enjoy!

Answer 10

Sure you can! Most doctors will tell you, that you can go about your regular activities as long as you don't over do it. But I wouldn't lift things are really heavy, or use any outdoor chemicals.

Congrads!