Recovery

So fitness is fairly important to me and I was worried how I would fit the subject into my blog without taking a complete departure from the adventure of parenthood. But recovery after pregnancy is a very real subject for most women. There is that social push to lose the baby weight and lose it FAST. Which is totally unrealistic for most people, by the way. I am a firm believer in the fact that since it takes most women 6 months to put on the bulk of the weight, it could take that long to get it off. And there is no shame in that.

That extra weight is really important too. Breastfeeding alone requires extra fat intake and aggressive exercise can really slow milk production. That said, I'm hoping to lose the weight before 6 months. In fact, I hope to be WAAAAAYYYY below my pre-pregnancy weight come November. But I've had a really tough time with my milk supply and have decided since I can't fully breast feed my child I have to take extra measures to improve our health. And that's where my fitness endeavors fit in. I want to make my body healthier to better take care of my family.

Now I know I'm jumping the gun a bit, but I know I want to have another child, eventually. And because I had so many small problems with this pregnancy, I want to do what I can to make the next pregnancy go a bit smoother. I haven't yet discussed it with my doctor, but I believe the chances of being a candidate for a VBAC are much better if I am in much better shape. And if I do have to have a cesarean again, I know that being fit makes the recovery that much easier.

I exercised throughout my whole pregnancy. I did prenatal yoga for a good part of it and also walked 7 miles a day for the last 24 weeks of pregnancy. I was hoping this would help with the delivery, and it may have in the fact that my post cesarean recovery was so quick. I felt pretty healed after 7 days and after 10 I was ready to get back into the swing of things. I used very little medication in the hospital, although all the nurses tried to push me to take it. I have 2 full bottles of painkillers left over. I do tend to think I'm a pretty tough cookie, but I believe my body was just well prepped to recover quickly. But perhaps the pregnancy would have been easier had I not started out at close to 200 pounds!

That said, I will be tracking my fitness progress here. It keeps me accountable, which is one of my biggest downfalls in weight loss and fitness. I'll post my weekly stats every Monday so we can see how I've advanced. And I won't share my weight, because I'm that kind of girl, but I'll try to post weekly photos so you can watch me shrink (hopefully) and Hunter grow!

Hunter's eyes remind me of Laser Cats

xoxo,

Lauren