Tired

It was a rough night with our baby. I walked anyway, because I am tired of feeling bad and I know it is the only way to really feel better.

On the bright side, I am now 48:26 into watching The Return of the Jedi while I walk!

Overdid It

So, my "awesome workout" last week felt awesome at the time... but the next day I really paid for it. Apparently I overdid it, and it took several days to start to feel better. Our two week checkup was on Wednesday (even though my baby wasn't technically two weeks until Thursday), and my midwife said I should be okay walking now. I had planned to walk yesterday (which was Thursday) but I did a couple errands on Wednesday after the doctor's office, since I was out anyway, and I didn't feed myself well and apparently I overdid it again! I felt terrible yesterday.

Today I have felt fine - good even - so I did get back on the treadmill. I can tell my body is still recovering and getting better, since this is the fastest mile I've done since mid pregnancy. My hips are continuing to hurt frequently, and sometimes it is difficult for me to even walk down the hall carrying my baby. I hope to start walking every day again, or at least nearly so, but I'm going to have to take it one day at a time and listen to my body as I go. For today, I am happy with what I have done.

Awesome Workout

Today I went faster than I have in probably 4 or 5 months, and it felt fabulous! I even jogged for about 5 seconds (though don't tell that to my midwife or my husband, because I'm supposed to wait another week for that!). 

Also, we got a BOSU from Costco! I decided about 6 months ago that if they came to Costco I would get one, in hopes that it would be cheaper than they are everywhere else - and it was, by about $35. I'm looking forward to inflating it later today and just standing on it, to start rebuilding my core. 

I am now a person who enjoys exercise, and who loves the way it feels to be strong. I've only been this person for a couple of years, or less, but I like this part of who I am.

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!)