Congratulations! So exciting! I was just at a rehearsal for a pole show a studio I work at is putting on in a few weeks, & one of our long-time beloved students/friends in the show is also about 4 weeks along w/her 1st baby -- she's also overjoyed, wanting this for years now... She will be performing in 2 or 3 #s in the show, mostly burlesque but 1 pole (lower intermed level), and she looks & feels great. Couple things to note is that she's been an avid poler for over 4 yrs now, already at a rather advanced level by the time she discovered she was pregnant. Also, she's got the greatest attitude/demeanor on the planet: happy, relaxed, always smiling & having fun. Says she's generally nervous abt the whole having-a-baby thing, but to me (I have 2 kids, & 3 pregnancies under my belt), no more than a normal new-mom-to-be. So that all said, we all agree she's in great shape to keep up the activity tht she's doing, tho she says it wears her down faster than before, & she's smart about honoring what her body seems to need & no reservations about taking breaks when she has to. I think if you & your situation sound similar to this, then go ahead and perform. Also, about nerves & adrenaline: from personal experience as well as research I've done on this, there is generally no harm to ur baby/fetus to be exposed to these kinds of changes in your psyche, for several reasons. The top one is that our bodies and the reproductive process are even more amazing than u might have already known, in that the baby in the womb is quite well protected & insulated from a lot of the "bad stuff" we worry about that we as moms on the outside holding that baby on the inside have to deal with sometimes. This runs the gammot from pollution (bad air/chemicals) to varied unanticipated physical or emotional states (stress/fear, dizziness, extra fatigue, etc). Of course, assuming that you are subjected to none of this on any kind of excessive level, there are amazing filters in place that manage to keep this stuff out of ur baby's system while only allowing the good stuff in. I could go on & on about this, but my point being that if u are generally not dealing w/abnormally high levels of stress in your life, namely due to BAD situations/circumstances, and u are generally a positive/happy person, AND (& this is *KEY*) you (a) approach performing as a POSITIVE and FULFILLING experience, so it just contributes to promoting your overall health & well-being & sense of self-satisfaction, AND (b) you also have a healthy balanced approach to preparing for your performance (i.e. proper warm-up/cool down & stretching, allowing your body to rest/relax in between practice sessions, & no OVER-training, either in the amount (# of hours in a session, so no more than 2-3, or no more than 2 consecutive days of practice) or the intensity (like someone above said, nothing new, harder, etc than what u were already managing before) -- THEN I think any nerves or adrenaline levels that will be altered in ur body due to performing will be JUST FINE for u to experience and harmless to your pregnancy. This could be a wonderful thing to carry with you as a memory (& to proudly share with your child & others!) of being this strong hottie future mom, performing with your baby growing inside you! Plus, do it now while u can -- a LOT more difficult to pull this off even a year from now when u will probably still be trying to "get on a schedule" w/baby, who you'll be nursing many times a day (I hope!), nevermind fit in time to train & recover your pre-pregancy body. Once children are in your day-to-day life, everything changes & gets more tricky to juggle. So enjoy this time & "freedom" in that regard now, to perform & train accordingly, & otherwise.
