At age 22, Oxana Rumyantseva was pregnant with her first child and feeling awful.
She'd always been athletic, but doctors told her to refrain from exercise while she was with child. Following that advice, Rumyantseva suffered terrible vein discomfort, back problems, swelling, and difficulty walking, during and following her pregnancy.
Desperate for a remedy, Rumyantseva turned back to fitness. She slowly rebuilt her strength, started feeling much better, and simultaneously fell in love with weight lifting.
Now, Rumyantseva is a personal trainer and European fitness champion, who competes in body building competitions and has over 58,ooo followers on social media.
What's more amazing — she's 38 weeks pregnant for the fourth time, continuing her now doctor-approved workout routines, and feeling totally amazing.
While she's physically feeling her best, she's also, unfortunately, suffering harsh criticism from online trolls, who berate her body, her "selfish" commitment to prenatal fitness, and her character as a mother.
Despite haters' attacks, this strong mom is staying body positive. Fitness saved her life, and she's devoted to sharing her journey and her knowledge with other mommies-in-the-making.
Keep scrolling through our gallery to learn more about this powerful mom, and how she stood her body-positive ground against relentless bullies.
[H/T: Redbook]
When Oxana Rumyantseva first learned she was pregnant with her fourth child, she was over the moon. That is, until the social media haters started chiming in with their two cents.
Rumyantseva is a fitness competitor and personal trainer, with over 58,000 Instagram followers.
She regularly posts photos and videos documenting her workouts and physique, inspiring others to explore their own strengths and start reaping the rewarding health benefits of a physically fit lifestyle.
So, upon learning she was pregnant for the fourth time, this fitness guru immediately consulted with her doctor, seeking guidance as to whether or not she should continue engaging in her diligent workout regimen during her upcoming pregnancy.
Her previous three pregnancies, you see, had all warranted different recommendations on this issue.
During her very first pregnancy, Rumyantseva had been told to take things easy. In response, she refrained from exercise, and subsequently suffered terrible discomfort.
She was only 22 years old and, as Rumyantseva told LittleThings, "I gained 48 lbs. I had a lot of discomfort from my veins, serious problems with my back, swelling, and difficulty walking."
On top of all of that, she even had trouble lifting her daughter after she was born.
Desperate for some relief, Rumyantseva, who'd always been athletic, turned back to fitness.
Rumyantseva began lifting weights, fell in love with body building, and devoted herself and her life to competing and training.
While her doctors discouraged her from training during her second pregnancy, she did exercise during her third and said, "Everything was fine. I was training, eating clean, walking, and swimming during my the third, and my delivery was absolutely organic and natural."
So this time around, with her doctor's approval, Rumyantseva continued her four, and then later on two to three weekly, low impact workouts, regularly sharing her journey on social media.
Early on, fans praised her inspiring photos. However, as her pregnancy progressed, haters began swarming in, bombarding her posts with vicious backlash.
Rumyantseva told LittleThings that she received comments from "so many haters who don't understand fitness during pregnancy and call[ed] my pregnancy ugly."
Some threw out labels, deeming her "too skinny" and "selfish", while others speculated that her workouts were stunting her baby's growth.
"I was so disappointed about it at first," she told LittleThings, "… And decided to turn away.
"But then, I thought I should talk about healthy pregnancy and lifestyles, because most women think that pregnancy is [a] disease and prefer to lie in bed," a preference that, Rumyantseva reminded us, often isn't necessarily the healthiest choice.
This strong mom, therefore, continued and continues sharing her pregnancy journey with the world, bullies be damned.
As she wrote on Instagram, "I am what I am and can be no other! I'm warts and all."
What's more, Rumyantseva's haters' concerns couldn't be further from the truth. Her doctor regularly checks in on her little bun in the oven, and has recently confirmed that she's right on track, growing at a normal rate and doing great.
Since her story has gained media traction, fans have flooded Rumyantseva's posts with praise.
Her supporters continue celebrating her body positive message, and asking all sorts of new questions about how they, too, can lead active lives during pregnancy.
As this mom told LittleThings, "Now I think, I'm not a dollar and can't fit everyone. I know what I'm doing, and I'm feeling good. My baby is a normal weight, I have more energy, and I don't have pain or fatigue. That's why I'm sharing my workouts."
Still though, she remains vigilant about advocating for medical approval before any pregnant woman engages in exercise, explaining that she's "always warning women to check with their doctors before training, because each woman needs her own program."
This strong mom is holding strong in her commitment to sharing her life lessons and expertise with other expecting mothers, hopefully motivating more women to find ways to live their happiest, healthiest pregnancies.
Despite garnering vicious backlash, this strong, fit mom continues offering her journey and body-positive message to the world, inspiring other people — pregnant or not — to embrace fitness and spend every day as their best selves.
What do you think of this mom's body-positive pregnancy journey? Did you exercise during your pregnancy? Tell us about your experience in the comments below.
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