Exercise like a Mom! 懷孕和產後運動心態
weighted 🤱🏼 sumo squats
Monday, February 6, 2023Summary in Mandarin:
前陣子，約有兩個星期的時間我以爲我有子宮脫垂。過去十多年來我都非常注重自己的健康，所以當我得知自己可能子宮脫垂，我真的非常難過。
不過呢，那時我也在YouTube上找到一位自身也有子宮脫垂狀況的骨盆底肌治療師。她教導我：不要為了身體健康卻過度運動。我必須學習怎麼放鬆，我的運動必須溫柔且保有一致性。後來我去看了一個醫生，她說我其實沒有子宮脫垂的問題。我鬆了一口氣！但是我也常常想到我上次懷孕期間不滿意的地方。下次我要改變自己的想法：平衡放鬆和運動這兩件事，才是最健康的。
目前我實行了兩個月，然後發現我恢復到孕前體重了（產後十三個月）！蠻開心的♥️
I thought I had uterine prolapse.
I recently got misdiagnosed with pelvic organ prolapse.
I thought I had this irreversible condition for two weeks, and I was shocked.
This was a wake-up call.
My vagina felt itchy. But we were going to 台中 the next day for the lunar new year, and so I ignored it.
As we walked to malls, ate with relatives, and received 紅包 (red envelopes of money) my yeast infection got worse. “When we get home, I need to go see my gynecologist,” I told my husband.
The doctor gave me two kinds of medicine. He pointed to the second knuckle of his index finger. “After you shower before bed, insert the tablet about this far into your vagina.”
For three days I inserted my vaginal tablet like normal. But on Thursday night I suddenly discovered something long poking down against the roof of my vaginal wall. It felt like the shape and size of a thumb. I was disgusted and scared. What is that? Why?
I Googled for half-an-hour trying to figure it out. I made an appointment with my doctor even before telling my husband.
The next day he confirmed what I had seen online: uterine prolapse.
“But it isn’t serious. Just do some kegels.” Just do some kegels???
I went home. How did this happen to me? Prolapse is something that happens to every woman…in her eighties! I had also heard of some women exercising within a month of giving birth and causing this problem. But I’m only 27! And I rested for two months after giving birth! Besides that, the birth of my son was smooth and easy, and now he was already a year old. I felt devastated. What did I do wrong?
I had tried to be responsible and healthy. Had I tried too hard?
Aren’t I healthy enough?
When I was almost five-years-old my little sister was born. I absolutely adored her. I really looked up to my mom, and wanted to be just like her: a stay-at-home young mom with lots of kids.
When I was a teenager I was listening to my mom read a biology textbook to us. The textbook said that a female is born with all of the eggs that she will ever produce: every potential child. This means that from the very beginning of a girl’s life, her health directly impacts that of her kids.
When my mom got married she was very skinny and had very little upper body strength. When she found out she was pregnant with her first baby, she started to exercise and take care of her health. Growing up I would see her workout several times a week. When I was 13 I began to walk on the treadmill and borrow my mom’s workout DVDs. Having kids has always been the most important thing to me, so I wanted to eat healthy and be strong for their sake.
Because I had focused on my health for over a decade, I had assumed pregnancy, birth, and postpartum recovery would be smooth. I was 26 when I gave birth to my son.
But being pregnant was very frustrating. I was used to “healthy” equaling working out. But my doctor was concerned the pregnancy wasn’t stable (不穩定), so he and my husband constantly told me to rest.
In the end my labour was easy and smooth, and I rested well for a couple of months afterward. At two months postpartum my stomach had naturally shrunk back down, and I was only 3 kilos above my pre-pregnancy weight, but I had also lost a lot of muscle and definition because I hadn’t exercised in something like eight months.
At this point I began to search for postpartum workouts I could do. I had to find diastasis-recti friendly workouts, so that was a bit difficult. Finally, I decided to just buy a 12-week postpartum program (from GloBodyPT). I enjoyed getting some strength and muscle-tone back, but because I was breastfeeding around the clock, I felt drained every day. I think the workouts were too much for me, so after the 12 weeks I scaled back.
When James was 10-months-old I started to go to the gym with my husband twice a week. I love pushing myself hard, sweating, and feeling shaky afterwards. This was my definition of a good workout.
By the time James turned one, I had finished breastfeeding, and felt like my body was back to being mine. However, I still wanted to “get back to normal.” I wanted to be able to do the workouts I used to, and to shed the last two kilograms of fat. I wanted a “reset” before getting pregnant again.
After hearing I had prolapse, I felt unattractive, ashamed, and discouraged. I had to apologize to my body. At the gym I would think “I want the people around me to see me crushing my workouts and using heavy weights on the machines.” I wanted to get back to normal and pushed myself to workout for a certain amount of time or do a certain amount of reps instead of listening to my body.
If I ate too much for a meal, or looked at my belly for too long, I would just workout harder. But this left me too tired and made my workouts inconsistent.
Building consistency is better than going hard.
During the two weeks of supposed prolapse, I found a pelvic floor physical therapist on YouTube: Dr. Bri’s Vibrant Pelvic Health. She’s thin, has defined abs, and looks like a 10/10 (and she’s at least 40-years-old!).
In one video she mentions that she prefers to do small exercises throughout the day instead of an intense 30-minute cardio or weight-training session all at once. She finds that movement as a lifestyle is more sustainable for herself, and keeps her from stressing out her body.
“I find that moving more throughout my day—for me—is the BEST way to maintain my health, strength, and cardiovascular fitness.” Seven ways to FIX your pelvic floor!
For example, she likes to use a standing desk for work, she might take her dog for a walk in the morning, do 10 squats between emails, and maybe some wall push-ups after lunch, and then add some stretches or yoga at the end of her day. She does what feels good for her body: maybe easy yoga on a tired day and jogging on a happy day.
I won’t copy and paste her routine, but hearing about her lifestyle taught me that I don’t have to “go hard” to stay healthy.
Resting is healthy, too.
In the end, I saw a pelvic floor specialist at the hospital. She did two physical examinations and an ultrasound. Nothing was wrong.
She drew a rough sketch of a vagina. “這是您的子宮頸，它會根據您在週期中的位置移動，” she said, “這是完全正常的。”
image from theflowerempowered.com
So what I had felt was simply my perfectly healthy cervix in a low position. I felt a little embarrased, but I was suddenly full of relief and joy! Nothing is wrong with my body!
“But, but—” I wanted to ask, since I had had this scare, “Is there any other problems that could occur after giving birth that I should be aware of? What’s the best way to take care of this part of my body?” Benjamin translated for me.
“Just do some kegels. We recommend about 100 a day. Hold a kegel for five seconds, then relax for ten seconds. Do this for ten minutes in the morning, ten minutes at lunchtime, and ten minutes before bed.”
The nurse checked to make sure I was doing the kegels correctly (which I wasn’t…I highly recommend you get this checked in person), and then we got to go home happy.
As I prepare to get pregnant again, I’ve been thinking a lot about what I didn’t like about my last pregnancy. This time I want to listen to my body, take it easy, and keep moving.
