In today’s “Featured Mama” edition, E shares her powerful story and insight for staying flexible when things don’t go as planned! E’s motivation to stay strong helped to facilitate healing and an efficient return to the higher intensity level of fitness that she’s accustomed to in her life. All the effort in pregnancy paid off!
As always, we are strong mamas, we are smart mamas! We embrace one another with love and support. Thank you, E, for sharing your story and wisdom with us all! We Love You!
Tell us a bit about yourself:
I’m a scientist at the UW and a military reserve officer. I grew up in the Midwest and moved to Seattle two years ago. Our first child was born this January.
What made you seek out Bodies for Birth services and what about the experience has been most impactful for you?
I’m a runner, a swimmer, a skier, and a hiker. I’m also required to maintain a reasonable level of personal fitness for the military. I kept running throughout the beginning of my pregnancy, but somewhere in the middle, it got to be too painful to continue. I went on the Internet to find alternative exercises and discovered Bodies for Birth and the classes there.
Our son was born via C-section, which was not what I’d originally planned to be sure. However, the core strength training from the Bodies for Birth classes helped even in this case. I was able to essentially “reroute” movement and had only very minimal problems with movement in the first few days after the C-section. Indeed, when my OB came to release us from the hospital, she commented that I did not look like someone who’d had major surgery only two days prior, as I was up in the kitchenette on the unit making tea and wandering around the halls. Being in shape before the C-section meant that I was able to bounce back from it quickly and relatively painlessly. I’m already back into an exercise routine and back running.
What’s been the most surprising, challenging or joyful part of your motherhood journey so far?
It’s amazing how fast our little guy changes, and it’s absolutely wonderful to watch him learn and discover his world.
If you could go back and share something with your former self, what would you share? Ie: What do you know now that you wish you’d known before?
We say “semper gumby” (always flexible), and that’s definitely applicable here too. Plans are great, but in the end, what happens will happen and it’s important to be able to go with the flow.