As per my morning ritual for the last several months, my first act upon waking is to look down at my belly and see exactly how much I seem to have grown over night and that, yes, I am indeed still actually, really pregnant. It has not been some long, exceptionally vivid dream.

I am 35 weeks pregnant. If you are not, or have not been pregnant, that’s pregnant-woman-speak for eight and a half months. If you are not, or have not been pregnant you might come to the mathematical mis-conclusion that I have only two weeks left to go. But in fact I am not due until February 14th, another approximately 5 weeks from now. How does that work? The human gestation period is not, as has some how worked it’s way into the “common knowledge”, nine months. It is in fact approximately 40 weeks, which, if you divide by four, brings you to a grand total of TEN months.

It is argued that many women don’t realize they are pregnant that first month, so you can’t really count it. But I knew almost immediately and therefore have had the opportunity to ponder, worry, plan, stress, and build anticipation for most of those many numbered weeks.

As owner and senior trainer at Gyrotonic Ann Arbor & The Movement Center, a Pilates and Gyrotonic studio in down Ann Arbor, and with training, certification, and much experience working with prenatal and postnatal clients for years, I feel I have some advantages in my pregnancy and postpartum health strategy. But now pregnant with my first baby, I have come to appreciate the vast difference between certification and the actual pre and postnatal experience.

Based on my training and experience I have designed for myself a program for staying fit and healthy throughout my pregnancy, and for my postpartum recovery. As an independent small business owner I can only manage to take one month of maternity leave. Upon my return I have only a few weeks before I will have to teach a physically intense Gyrokinesis teacher training course. I will need to be back in very good condition in order to conduct this course.

I’m taking this as an opportunity to challenge and deepen my understanding of the prenatal and postnatal work I have done for years. What better way to explore this than through my own experience? Every pregnancy is different, and every woman is different, but I feel my own journey through this process will inform my overall approach to the work I do and will expand my understanding and ability to help other women through their pregnancy experiences.

We’re planning a home birth and I’m fortunate to have Pat Kramer, an exceptionally talented and experienced midwife as my guide through this process. Some of the students who are taking my final Gyrotonic teacher training course before my maternity leave, which I have optimistically scheduled up to the 11th of February, expressed some concern as to what to do should I go into labor while teaching. They were not terribly comforted by my response to “just drop me off at home”. But I feel I’m healthy, well monitored, and close to U of M Hospital should we need it, so I’m more relaxed about the process than I would have imagined I might be.

Look for my next entry Wednesday afternoon. In the future I'll be posting Sunday mornings and Wednesday afternoons.

Aimee McDonald-Anderson is an Ann Arbor native and owner of Gyrotonic Ann Arbor & The Movement Center in downtown Ann Arbor. She has been teaching Pilates since 1997 and Gyrotonic since 2000. She holds a BFA in Dance from The University of Michigan. Email her your comments or questions.