Carrying heavy stuff

I was just wondering - when carrying stuff, how heavy is to heavy?

I gather it depends on your overall fitness and strength, and what you are used to.

But, if i carry something that is considered to heavy for me, what is the worst case senairo. At my stage of preg - i assume early labour - and being 36 1/2 weeks or so, am not to bothered by that. (not saying i trying to bring it on or anything).

I assume early on in pregnancy, can lead to more serious issues, but, i just carried something, that weighed about similar to a 30can pack of coke. Should be ok?

My doctor said nothing more then 5kg???

Thats seems fairly light to me...we have just moved house and i was lifting.. but nothing overly heavy...

I think it also depends on how you lift it.
I think that in all stages of pregnancy you should be careful.
My father-in-law used to tell us to be careful about lifting anything heavier than the baby would be and not to strain and stuff.... concerned we would damage the placenta, ditach it or something... weather or not he was right i dont know but my mother-in-law had one child that was underweight as her placenta wasnt working properly and she always over does everything... so maybe he could be right?

During pregnancy, your body releases the hormone relaxin, which relaxes yor muscles ready for birth. You're more prone to pull a muscle or hurt yourself carrying heavy things in pregnancy. Plus your centre of gravity has shifted really suddenly over the last few months, you're a lot more likely to fall over now. HTH.

I was picking up 14kg boxes of books yesterday and found it relatively easy just had to do a leg spred and bend at the knees and didn't hurt myself or feel strained at all, just depends on what you are most comfortable with and obviously don' go trying to lift 80kg tool boxes or anything like that (Dad2be tried that one and he's regretting it now lol)

You need to be careful because of the PG hormones and the way it affects your ligaments. Your joints are soft and the possibility of joint strain and injury to your lower back and pelvis is very real.

Besides the fact that it can be uncomfortable at the time, you could be placing yourself at risk of having back problems in the latter stages of your PG, or in my case even after PG's

When I was PG with Mason I worked casual in a bottle shop and had the attitude that as I was used to throwing around slabs that it wasn't an issue. Who knows if doing all that lifting was the beginning of my back problems but I do suspect it could very well be.

I know one thing for sure if I knew what kind of pain I have to deal with on a daily basis I would have erred on the side of caution. It's just not worth the risk. Be precious and look after yourself.

5kg does seem extremely light..
i pick up my 12 kg toddler most days...lift her out of the cot etc. I agree that its all got to do with your posture, how you lift, hold things etc. Ive recently come across some back pain that is a result of moping our new bathroom floors twice a day.....after the
3rd day my lower back was killing me. Funny, coz it didnt seem like i was doing much strenuous work at the time....

I've been having some pelvic joint problems (started around 12 weeks) and when we went home on hollies i had to do some (brief) lifting of our bags which weighed 12kg and 15kg. The physio was HORRIFIED and told me that was much too heavy - but that's with an existing joint problem (caused by, as Ryn pointed out, the relaxin). However, I lugged around a much heavier suitcase (20+kg) on several occasions during my first PG with no ill effects whatsoever.

So I really think it's an individual thing and the moral of the story is listen to your own body and only lift what you feel is well within your capability, without pushing the limit.

When I fell pregnant that was one of the first questions I asked my ob (who is one of the top obs in Melbourne).

I have a 1yo (nearly 10kg), so I have to carry him a lot... and at 39yo I didn't want to risk anything.
But he said: "there is no link between lifting and risks of pregnancy problems."

I wouldn't go doing anything ridiculous... but day to day stuff is fine.

I try to take it easy with this PG after having two m/c's, but I find that I still have to lift the full load of washing down the steps and bring in the dry washing when necessary, which on some days can be quite heavy. I try not to over do it because I dont want to risk anything with this long awaited bundle.
About the relaxin, that was probably what happened to me two days ago, I was washing my hair in the shower (not like I dont do that often or anything) and I reached up to put the shampoo back on the cupboard and I mustve pulled a muscle in my back!!! Well, I knew I had done some real damage as I couldnt even move my head without it hurting badly, even had to have a day off work lol. I am coming good now tho, after many applications of Deep Heat, wonderful stuff, just hope its ok in pregnancy, doesnt say its to be avoided on the tube, so thought all was ok.

lj268 - i am sure that there is another thread on the deap heat (several, i started one ages ago, but, i think there is a newer one in the 3rd tri section) anyway it was decided that its not good to use during pregnancy. even thou it doesnt mention it on the box, i think few peoples have researched it, and ask their various care providers, who have said to avoid it.
I use it on my DH at times on his back occasionally, but always wash my hands immediatly afterwards.

lj268 - i recently had a bad back issue and was told by a pharmacist not to use deep heat... dont want to alarm you but maybe ask your dr to be safe? i used those stick on heat packs instead - and was also warned that only a couple of those brands are ok...
i was v surprised thats why i am telling you as i also assumed it was fine.