So this is how pregnant women exercise

Up to this point in my pregnancy, I've been burning calories by walking, doing yoga, and growing BabyBear. In my first trimester, this plan worked marvelously. The pounds have started to pile on of late, however, so I started wondering if yoga would cut it.

Looking for an alternative, I recently attended an aquafit class at the local community centre. What I hadn't anticipated was stepping into the Twilight Zone of fitness classes. Allow me to offer a summary:

• The instructor - A gentleman in his 70s, sporting a white headband and purple unitard. Head to toe spandex, leaving nothing to the imagination (especially when he emerged from the water halfway through the class and pranced about in the wet, clingy fabric). I couldn't contain myself when he led us through a series of pelvic tilts, hip sways, and even kegel exercises meant to help bladder control.
• The music - A Bette Midler dance mix, played on a pink 1980s cassette tape player, identical to the one I received from my parents for Christmas 1986
• The class participants - Seven elderly ladies, sporting Ester Williams-inspired bathing caps and skirted bathing suits, and 2 moms-to-be, doing our best not to laugh out loud at the spectacle
• The workout - What one would expect from an aquafit class. Lots of hopping around underwater, knee lifts, toe touches. The ladies kept warning me to pace myself, but I held my own.

How far I have fallen. Over the years, I have run 10 marathons and I ran 8 miles "for fun" just days prior to BabyBear's arrival. Now I'm doing aquafit with elderly women awaiting knee replacements.

I'm not sure what is more laughable: the class, the sight of myself in a maternity bathing suit, or the high probability that I'll return for another round on Wednesday night.