Recovery

I think my recovery from Kate’s birth has gone really well. Sliding off of my bed in the hospital was a little sore, but once we were home I was fine. I was able to “go” only a few hours after having Kate, and only experience a minor hemorrhoid. I did tear, but I was healed up just fine only 2-3 weeks later. My biggest setback was having a new, tiny tear to the side of my scar tissue between weeks 3 and 6, but that went away too. I did have an episode of contraction like cramps when Kate was only a few weeks old for about an hour. That had me really nervous! Talk about PTSD—I was so afraid to have more contractions! But it only happened one time. I got an IUD at 6 weeks and had almost no cramping and had only light bleeding for 6-7 weeks.   

Mentally and emotionally, I could not have asked for a better post-partum experience. I didn’t have baby blues in the least. I was as happy as I have ever felt in my life. I specifically felt and overwhelming love for Chase and our marriage. And I adored Kate more than I thought I could. I was “spongy” for about a month. Anything made me cry! I think I was even less irritable! It was a sweet time and I will cherish the newborn stage with Kate and Chase forever.

Getting my body back after Kate has been a good experience. I think I have learned an appreciation for my body, different than the appreciation I had as an athlete. I have stretch marks on my boobs, and under my belly button. I still have the linera negra, even though it is light. Both the line and stretch marks are fading. My boobs definitely look different, and that’s ok. I also noticed my butt is much flatter after being pregnant. After the marathon in October, the following 7 months were probably the most inactive of my life. Next time I will try to be better about that, which won’t be hard with Kate running around. And I also had the expected extra donut of fat around my belly button.

When I got pregnant I weighed 145 pounds. I like to be at 138. I didn’t gain a pound until I was 16 weeks, then I gained 42 over the next 24 weeks! I delivered at 187 pounds. And when I got home, I had only lost 9 pounds! That is pretty much Kate’s 8 pounds 2 ounces and maybe the placenta. But I had several bags of fluid pumped into me, so that made a big difference. And then when Kate was 9 days old, I had lost 30 pounds! Most of it was water I think. I was stuck at 157 pounds for a couple weeks, then slowly it came off. At 13 weeks, I am now at 149 pounds.

I started running when Kate was 29 days old. I ran one mile in 12 minutes. The next day I ran one mile in 11 minutes. The next day I ran one mile in 9:30. All of this was with the stroller. Then the fourth day, I ran one mile on the track without the stroller in 7:40! I was very proud of myself. I ran 1-2 miles each day for a couple more weeks. In July I did GGP (crossfit), and that felt amazing! It’s really expensive so I only did one month. Then I started work in August and I didn’t work out for almost two weeks. And now I have 5+ weeks until the Huntsville half marathon! I am feeling good physically and I am happy with how my body is doing. What a miracle the whole process is! I got pregnant almost exactly one year ago and I am amazed at the process my body has gone through!

This is July 1 on the left and August 1 on the right. 

   

This is July 1 on the left and August 1 on the right. 

   

And these were both in April 2015 before I was pregnant.

I think it is important for me to see these pictures because I can See how far I have come and that makes me feel great! And I can see how I need to keep working hard to maintain a healthy body and not let myself lose fitness over time, even after having a sweet baby. Kate is worth every little mark and pound!