https://elisabethbell.com/yvxatnpuh It was lunch time when I arrived at Isa Derungs home in the hills of Zurich. The Swiss professional snowboarder lives with her boyfriend on the first floor of a charming old house. She welcomes me with her big belly, shaping the blazer she was wearing. I knew she was expecting so I couldn’t help but feel excited: “How are you feeling? How is the baby? Is it a boy or a girl? When will we get to meet him?”… I said without even giving Isa the time to answer any of the questions. She was glowing and beautiful – pregnancy suits her! She calmly took the pumpkin I brought for us to cook with from my hands and invited me into her cozy home. I have to admit, I was never a baby or a kid person, but lately my clock has started ticking and DAMN I feel my uterus skip a beat now and then. I cannot say that I like kids, but I start to appreciate the experiences that many close friends are going through with their pregnancies and newborns.

https://wasmorg.com/2024/03/07/023pewt Isa and I walked into the kitchen to start cooking, when I realize I had forgotten the camera and had to drive back home to pick it up – of course, this would happen to me! When I finally came back, Isa had finished cooking the soup and we started chatting. This woman looks so full of energy and physically fit that I often don’t even realize she is eight months pregnant. We sit down at the dining table and I start once again bombarding her with questions.

Order Tramadol 50Mg Online What a surprise! Was it one for you too? I remember riding together and then suddenly you were pregnant soon after.

Yes it was a big surprise! Miro, my boyfriend, just moved to Engadin for an internship, I had just organized a trip to the slopes to ride the next snowboard season combined with my first fix employment. I have never had such an exact plan in my life before and this plan definitely did not include having a baby.

Also, for Miro, a Baby was not on the cards at that time. So it was more of a shock than a surprise I would say… Not living together made it even harder to get back on a shared path. It took us quite some time to find each other; time during which I went through a lot of thoughts and emotions that I’d never had expected to have.

Now we are both very happy to meet this new little human. This definitely changed our relationship – but I would say for the better. I’m excited!
Also, we don’t have a name yet… It’s so much easier to find a good name for a girl, don’t you think? I like „Miro“ but since we live in the 21st century, we might not want to name our son after his dad. We have been playing “kinder” which is Tinder but for baby names, if we both like a name then we get a match. It’s funny but hasn’t been very successful so far. Let’s see!

https://www.mominleggings.com/98hfli8vt How do you feel now? And how did you feel about the change in your body and eating habits since you fell pregnant?

Luckily, I’m feeling great. I was lucky to have had an easy pregnancy; everything went smoothly and I have never felt very sick. Of course, I feel tired quicker, but I guess that’s normal and it’s also due to the change of weather to winter, right? Otherwise, I’m not too paranoid… I do follow the doctor’s instructions when it comes to food and I’m avoiding uncooked meats and fish, some of the raw milk products and the direct contact with cats but I never took this as a strict duty. I even drink a glass or sip of wine/beer every now and then. At the end of the day, you just need to feel happy with yourself. Your body will tell you if you are over doing something or lacking something else.

Physically I was feeling fine at first then, one day, it hit me: my belly was growing. I know that this was due to the pregnancy but as I have always been skinny and athletic, this was something I wasn’t used to… I also got worried that this would affect the attraction between my partner and I. But Miro was amazing and he managed to make me feel comfortable with the physical changes and taught me to appreciate it as much as he did.

How about your mentality, how did the pregnancy affect your life?

When it comes to the mental side of this experience, it wasn’t that easy. I always thought I would have to someday choose between keep riding on a national level or build a family. When I got pregnant, I had at first the feeling that this choice had been taken away from me and that I would have to adapt to the idea that I would not be snowboarding at that level again. Finally, time passed and I started realizing that maybe I could someday manage both. Of course, my baby will forever be my first priority, but I still dream of snowboarding. I miss the feeling of taking off on the big jump, I miss the snow… This is the very first time that I’m spending this much time away from the snow. The other day, I walked on slushy chunks of snow and I got so emotional about it. This shows me that I’m not over snowboarding.

Of course, I do realize that when the baby arrives, maybe I will feel differently about riding again and maybe having a baby won’t allow me to snowboard as much… But, for now, I still dream of coming back and riding at the same level that I was before.

Do you think that having a baby will develop a hindering or fear when doing sports?

That is something that I’m wondering too. I would love to, this year already, be able to ride some jumps by the end of the season. I’m aware that it will take some time to get back to the same level that I left but I’m excited to try. Again, I don’t know how I’m going to feel once the baby is really here, but I know that I’m very motivated to ride again.

In general, I’m always a little nervous in front of a big jump and it takes me a little while to go through a personal process to be able to safely hit it. I guess step by step I should be able to find feet on the board again. You know, extreme sports requires your full attention if you do not want to get hurt, this means that when I’m standing on top of a big jump there is no space for anything else on my mind, not even my little boy. If I feel my thoughts wondering and drifting to my baby, I will know to step back from this dangerous situation and stick to a safer snowboarding level.

So, you wish to get back to the competition, continuing progressing or just cruising?

Of course, I would love to get back on tour if I get back to that level. But I’m aware that the bar is getting higher every day and I won’t be able to keep up with it for many years. The younger generation are improving so fast when my progression curve is now stagnating. My goal, for now, would still be to be able to compete in the tour in Europe for a few years. I don’t feel like following the team around the world anymore. It’s exhausting and, well, I have a baby at home.

Let’s see… First let’s meet this little fellow and then I will figure out how and if I can/want to manage both.

Are you doing something to prepare for him to come? Mentally and/or physically? Do you think that being an athlete helps/hinders?

I believe that being an athlete helped this process. First of all, I know my body very well and I know how to listen to it and to its need which supported me in understanding how I was changing and where to set my limits. Like in snowboarding, I have a personal process that I go through when I’m confronted with a challenge, which I applied to this new experience.

Also, I kept doing what I like. I’m very aware of my pregnancy and I know my physical limitations considering my situation. Usually, I skate quite often and now I just go skating in mini-ramps and won’t do very hard tricks…

Tramadol Buy Uk Wait! Do you mean “you were skating the mini-ramp a half-year ago”?!?

No now, just last week! Not big ramps, just small ones. Like the one under the bridge in Zurich.

Tramadol Overnight Visa This is NOT a small ramp Isa!

I mean, it’s not a big one. Should we go for a session?

Tramadol Uk Order You are joking right?

Not at all!

Her face lite up with an excited smile and determined looks in her eyes.

Nicki:
And so, we left the house after taking a few pictures of her home exercises. We headed to the skatepark in Zurich where only mothers with children where passing by. I was also there with a young mum, but my 8-month pregnant friend wasn’t pushing a buggy, she was dropping a 5-foot mini-ramp. I wouldn’t even ride it myself and there she was, doing 50/50 and other tricks.

Isa won’t ever stop amazing me! She is an inspiration of strength and passion. She has so much love to give because she is so grounded. She knows how to set priorities while keeping her dreams alive.

If Isa wishes to come back on a national Snowboarding level, she will be the first woman in the tour who is giving birth to a child and competing again.

Isa, I wish you the best of luck and no matter what you do, don’t ever lose your positive energy and happy go lucky attitude!

Pictures: Nicki Antognini
Words: Nicki Antognini & Julia Benn
Location: Zurich, Switzerland
Thanks to: Isa for letting me into her home and opening up about this intense personal subject.