Hillary Sirmon doesn’t complain much about being pregnant. That’s why she wishes people would stop treating her so delicately.

"They don't want you to pick up anything,” Sirmon said. ”They don’t want you to walk to far. I've tried to carry on like it’s a regular day."

A regular day, that is, that also includes prenatal yoga, which concentrates on breathing and exercising the muscles needed in labor and delivery.

The class is designed to increase muscular strength and endurance by doing breathing and pelvic floor exercises. It’s all preparation for what could be one of Sirmon’s most strenuous activities to come – labor and delivery.

"Woman often say they believe their labor was shorter and easier because having done yoga,” yoga instructor Jennifer Teague said.

While there is no guarantee labor will be easy because of prenatal yoga, doctors said low impact exercises can help.

"If you stay in shape and keep your muscles well-toned, when it’s time for you to push, be more likely to push,” Dr. Thomas Kennedy said.

But before that can happen, mothers have nine months to prepare, and during that time, Kennedy advises his patients of what they can and can’t do.

"I want them to eat a healthy diet with lots of fruits and vegetables,” Kenney said. “They should drink a lot of water. They should cut out the caffeine for the most part."

Some yoga students have managed to find peace even with what’s been cut from their regular diet.

"Nothing has been too hard,” Elena Whitcloud said. “I guess my regular glass of wine at dinner has been hardest thing."

Said Sirmon, "Food-wise, sushi has been the worst."

But what’s worse than having to give up something is the pain you can get from being pregnant.

"Just the fatigue,” Sirmon said. “The fatigue was the worst and after 11 weeks, I got over that. I was able to stay up past 6."

"I've had some lower back pain,” Whitcloud said. “I’ve been more clumsy than usual, dropping things."

Kennedy said swelling is normal, though it worse in some people and can be associated with hypertension and pre-eclampsia.

And that’s where yoga can help, Teague said.

But there seems to be no relief from the myths associated with pregnancy, including what you can do to induce labor.

"Nobody knows exact stimulus causes labor,” Kennedy said. “We know some of the things, but we are not sure of what thing that starts it. That's why it’s so hard to control."

That’s not the only myth Kennedy dispelled. He said raising your arms above your head will not wrap the umbilical cord around the baby’s neck, and that you can’t tell what the sex of the baby is by its heart rater, nor how a woman carries the child determines if it’s a boy or a girl.

And with pregnancy comes a number of symptoms which can cause discomfort, such as round ligament pain, which is the sharp stabbing pains an expectant mother can get by twisting too fast or getting out of bed too quickly.

There’s also absentmindedness, which Kenney attributes to stress and thinking about all the changes going on in your body and mind.

And, one of the most dreaded side effects – stretch marks. Kenney said no amount of creams will change that as it’s all based on genetics.

There also restrictions that should be followed. Kennedy cautions to be particularly careful of what you eat, drink and do during the first trimester. He said to avoid alcohol during that time, and avoid exposure to any unnecessary chemicals such as hair dyes and medications.