Felicity Cooper was determined to have an active pregnancy.
The 35-year-old lawyer has long been an avid runner and swimmer, and was advised to keep up the hobbies well into her term.
But five months in, she was struck by overwhelming pain around her pelvis; a symptom of a debilitating condition she was later diagnosed with, called "symphysis pubis dysfunction".
"I basically went from being really active and using running as my hobby, stress release and everything to being on crutches and not being able to walk, let alone run," she said.
"Because the pelvis is connected to everything, you don't just have pelvis pain - you also have glute pain, thigh pain and significant back pain."
The condition sees ligaments around pubic bones, which are meant to soften before birth, do so prematurely and make bones unstable. It is relatively common among pregnant women, with experts estimating it affects between one in every 36, and one in 300.
While Mrs Cooper was able to ditch the crutches at seven months after reducing her mobility and the strain on her body, her recovery is taking longer than she anticipated.
She figured she would be back into running six weeks after her daughter Grace - now three months old - was born, but she is sticking to low-impact exercise like swimming, cycling and Pilates.
Mrs Cooper is also having physiotherapy and remedial massage to build up her strength, before undertaking her goal - the five-kilometre leg of The Canberra Times Fun Run.
"I've done the fun run five times now and I really love it. It's so beautiful running around the lake with all the landmarks, so I identified that pretty early on as a really achievable goal for me to have," she said.
"This time, I'll have Grace waiting for me at the finish line, which will be really amazing.
"It's a good way to try and get back to my old self in terms of running and the things I used to do before she came along."
After having the burden of the pelvic condition - "but is was all worth it, obviously, to have Grace now", Mrs Cooper said - she has a greater respect for the toll childbirth takes on women.
She feels lucky to have missed out on other negative side effects of pregnancy, like morning sickness, and acknowledges time as the best method of healing.
"Every woman will have a sense of what her body is capable of and how she wants to approach her pregnancy, but I probably underestimated how monumental having a baby is on your body, even if you're a pretty fit and healthy person," Mrs Cooper said.
"For me, if we're lucky enough to have another one, I'll certainly be a bit more aware and a bit more respectful of what my body is doing and probably not try and push it as hard as I did."
The Canberra Times Fun Run is on November 10 beginning at 7.45am with staggered starts for each distance. More information and registration is available online.
About 1500 people have registered to take part so far, with a total of 3500 expected to participate.
