BABY WAVES
Back home in the Netherlands it was windy! Finally wave conditions again! I remember being so happy but at the same time wondering how I would go in the waves. I thought at least I could do some wave riding. I was fourteen weeks pregnant and had a nice little bump already. I was growing quickly, no doubt about that. At my favourite spot, Wijk aan Zee, I was happy to see all my friends as well and show my little bump. The first perfect ramp I saw I went for a back loop or should I say tandem back loop? I land my back loops pretty consistently, but this day I was on fire, 100% success. Back loops felt safe for me, but push loops didn’t because I was scared to crash on the boom. A friend told my boyfriend, ‘If it was my girlfriend I would not let her windsurf anymore.’ My boyfriend told him she probably knows best herself, I agree! Back on the beach, many people had an opinion about me windsurfing. Positive ones like, ‘Cool, you are still windsurfing’, but also ‘Maybe it’s time to stop windsurfing’ or ‘I think it’s irresponsible to back loop when you are pregnant’. I talked and thought about it a lot. Of course I know I am responsible for a new human being, but I had the feeling I felt I knew what was right for me. Doing back loops for me felt safe. If this would have been a new move for me and if I still would make bad crashes, of course I wouldn’t do it.
LAST SESSION
At fifteen weeks pregnant I went windsurfing for my last session. My harness was giving me too much pressure on my abdomen and it took three days to recover after a session with back pain, pain in the abdomen and just general tiredness in my whole body. I knew it would be my last time windsurfing while pregnant and it was. I thought about going to windsurf on a lake, just cruising, but I knew myself I would get the temptation to jump around. I felt it was getting dangerous for the foetus with the weak body I had and it felt good to stop for me. SUP in the waves, I could still do to around 27 weeks and again I got so many nice, but also negative comments in the water. I didn’t care, they were some of my best sup sessions ever and an experience I will never forget.
ADVICE
So if someone asked me for advice on how many weeks into your pregnancy you can windsurf, I couldn’t really give a clear answer, except for experience it yourself. Just try and see how it goes. Maybe you will be one of the lucky mothers and feel great during pregnancy and will be windsurfing even after twenty weeks. Or it does not feel good at all in the first place and then just don’t go. People around you will all have an opinion about it, but don’t let them ruin your session or guide you on what to do. You are the only one who can feel what it’s like. And in the end, even if you don’t windsurf at all, it’s all worth it! Being a mum is the best feeling of my life!
“ It was a special feeling to jump with a baby inside me. ”