Do you have an exercise ball?

[hillarywhitney]

In the Mayo Clinic book it suggests various exercises using an exercise ball. Does anyone have one? Do you find it's helpful?

[FastHands]

My husband got one free for some reason from work at some point. It is still folded up in the box and not inflated. No, I'm not finding it very helpful there.

[mrssandro]

We do and I used it towards the end of pg last time. I know I used it to prep for natural labor but I found that it somewhat helped with back pain.

[katiek]

I'm going to buy one soon. My prenatal yoga class just did a whole class with the ball, and it's awesome. Apparently bouncing on it can help labour and calm the baby once it's here, and it was also just fun. If you sit on it, it helps posture, which made my back feel better. I guess I'm slouchy. There were also a bunch of other stretches/poses she showed us, but those are the ones that stuck out to me. Most of it was for labour itself, to help ease the pain of contractions.

[missbella]

Yes. We got it a couple weeks ago after playing with one in childbirth class. I love it. The best thing for me right now is getting in hands and knees position while leaning my arms and head  on the ball and having DH rub my hips. It feels awesome. Sitting on it is good too. I definitely recommend it.

[Odonata]

Mar 31, 2014 13:47:21 GMT -5 FastHands said:

My husband got one free for some reason from work at some point. It is still folded up in the box and not inflated. No, I'm not finding it very helpful there.

Besides how we obtained the ball, I can say pretty much all of this applies to me as well!

[anna7602]

Yes, but I only used ours during labor with DD and then to calm her down when she was a colicky mess. I've never actually used it to exercise. 

DH uses it to do crunches, but I feel like you're not supposed to do those while pregnant. 

[bananapancakes]

I have one. I sit on it if I'm watching a show or something. It is supposed to be good for opening up the pelvis late in pregnancy. I also recently started bouncing on it as it may help induce labour (I don't really buy it, but I'm in the "try anything" camp). I hope to use it in labour and also once the baby gets here. I like mine.

[pacificrules]

I didn't use it before DD1 was born, but bounced on it for HOURS when she was an infant. Considering I'm getting ridiculously little exercise these days, I should use it for exercise right now.

[Deleted]

Mar 31, 2014 13:55:33 GMT -5 mrssandro said:

We do and I used it towards the end of pg last time. I know I used it to prep for natural labor but I found that it somewhat helped with back pain.

Same. I used mine with both my pregnancies and in labor. At the end of my last pregnancy I was using it as my desk chair.

[laurack]

I have one. It's in one of several boxes from target.com I haven't gotten around to opening yet