Back on the treadmill

It is not surprising to me that my back has been hurting, with increasing intensity and frequency. My feet have started going numb, and I can tell that the disks in my back are starting to slip out of place.

I've been instructed not to exercise yet, but last night I realized that I now face a choice: I can either not exercise, and let my back go out, and take longer to recover that way (and face doing with without painkillers because I am breastfeeding), or I can exercise sooner that I should and face a slightly longer recovery because of that. I anticipate worse exhaustion and more time before I really feel well again - and I will probably increase my bleeding and stuff like that, which I'm not supposed to do - but I really think that this is the best choice at the moment. I checked my thinking with my husband, and he agreed.

So, I walked on my treadmill again this morning! I started faster than I've been in months, though after about 1/8 mile I slowed down quite a bit. I stopped for a while half way through to feed the baby, and when I stood up again it was once again hard to walk so I slowed down even more at that point. Even so, I am happy with myself for exercising again. I truly want this to be who I am. I hope the side effects on my recovery aren't too severe, but I am sure that my back will hurt less within a week if I consistently do this.

Labor is a workout

Last Thursday (December 26) I had my baby! Hooray!

We basically chose a medical-backup-homebirth-like situation, so we went in at about 9:30 at night, had him at 1:30 (water birth and daddy caught him!), and we were home again a little after 7 am.

Recovery is going very well, if I compare to anyone else I know. On the other hand, it's not as easy as it was 10 years ago when I had my last baby, and instead of feeling like myself after 4 hours, I think it will take a couple of weeks this time. it seems so ridiculous to complain at all! Because, seriously, I do have it easy.

My respect and admiration for childbirth has increased. I remember it being easier than this, and the fact is, it is really hard. I admire women everywhere.

Christmas Eve

Last night we thought I was in labor for a couple of hours. Today, I am still pregnant.

I've spent most of the day resting, because if I had felt better last night, I think I could have had a baby then!

My back has twinged with some very painful moments in the last week or two, and at this point it's okay to have the baby ANY TIME, so I'm back to walking on my treadmill :D. I'm very happy about this, because I missed it and I want my back to not hurt. If it starts labor, that's great! If it doesn't, at least my back will feel better as long as I go back to doing this consistently!

Four More Weeks

And, for today at least, I walked! (And at a decent pace too, at least for me!)

Definitely Not Fast

Today's speed started slow (2k/hr) and got slower (down to 1.2k/hr) because of intermittent contractions. I need to not have this baby for at least one more week, but I'm also certain I NEED to walk in order to maintain the strength and stamina for labor. So, I'm the tortoise! But it works :).