Chlorine Addict?

I wonder if it's possible to be addicted to chlorine. If so, I think maybe I am. Just a little. Oh I love the smell of a chlorinated pool. Is that weird?

It all started when I was young and my mom would drop my siblings and I off at the Hartselle City Pool nearly every day of the summer. We got summer passes so we could go almost every weekday, from opening time at 1 until 4 or so. In those days my sister may have cared about laying out, but I was in the water from the moment I passed through the gates until we saw Mom's blue station wagon waiting in the parking lot. The Hartselle City Pool had it all- diving boards, high dives, water to the depth of 12 feet, and a water slide. Oh how I loved summer. Then, as a senior in high school, I taught swimming lessons and lifeguarded at the Hartselle City Pool, once again loving the coolness of the water, the warmth of the sun, and of course, the chlorine. :)

Years passed and I only had random opportunities here and there to swim at a friend's pool or our apartment pool on my off days, which just wasn't the same. Rarely did I have access to a lap pool- usually they only went to 4 or 5 feet and there was no room to actually swim at a crowded pool party.

Then a few years ago, we became members at the Southeast YMCA. And guess what the Y has. . . a POOL!!! I was thrilled to find that there were usually lanes open and really good water aerobics classes offered three times a week. When Maggie was around 6 months old, I started going to water aerobics three times a week and swimming the other two days. Sometimes we were even at the pool twice a day, because in those days Allie was taking swimming lessons in the evenings, and I had Maggie enrolled in a "Mommy and Me" swim class. I mean we were in the water nonstop! Then there were a few months when I got all weirded out about swimming, because I had a miscarriage and I read an article in Prevention that said high levels of chlorine can be linked to early miscarriage or birth defects. So I avoided the water like the plague when we started trying to get pregnant again and in the first trimester of my pregnancy with Penelope. Finally the day came when I passed the first trimester, and away I bounded into the pool. Oh how good it felt on my expanding pregnant body! It certainly kept me happy and sane during that pregnancy. And I think it kept me in good shape for labor and postpartum.

When I got pregnant this time, I researched as much as I could online about swimming in chlorinated pools during pregnancy, and really couldn't find anything conclusive about any possible danger. I only found that swimming is a wonderful exercise for pregnancy. I will say that I pretty much didn't get in the water until last week, when I was "officially 12 weeks", and I've been taking a hot shower immediately after getting out of the pool to wash off the chorine, but I have been in it three times now and am loving it. :) There is nothing like exercising in the water. It's relaxing and invigorating at the same time. You burn lots of calories while really having fun. It's not just for old people! I used to think it must be "easy" because I only saw old people in the classes, but those old people are in terrific shape! I get a great workout every time I go. It is by FAR my favorite exercise. SO much more fun than the treadmill. And as an added bonus, you get to smell the chlorine. :)