We've watched the scale go up together, wanna watch it go down? - Page 2

[Leiahs]

Originally Posted by Jane 

Eek! a walk at 5 days? Don't do it!!
A week in your nest, people. A full week.
No walking for exercise til 6 weeks!
You can walk, you know, to get out of the house. To go grocery shopping. To get the mail. But please, no walking to exercise. For your poor pelvic floor. Do it for me.
Ok, stepping off my soapbox.
I am wondering how much fluid I was packing around. I'm 2 weeks post partum and down 35 pounds, -5 off pre-pregnancy. That is just odd to me. WTF? I was swollen, but not that swollen.

Jane, I'm honestly very curious, because I haven't heard this particular reason before:  What does walking to exercise do to your pelvic floor?

Personally, I'm not going to really think about exercise at all till about 6 weeks.  My midwife said 1 week in bed, 1 week around bed/staying in the house, and I'm just barely out of that.  I'm totally up for quick shopping trips now, but I still get tired pretty quickly.  I'm going to go ahead and wait the recommended time to get back into real exercise.  Though I might consider walking with my kids to school if I'm feeling particularly adventurous. 

So, I totally have to share.  I weighed myself for the first time since birth today.  At my last appointment, 2 days before birth, I was up to 228lbs.  My prepregnancy weight was 212, but since I started exercising right before I found out I was pregnant (though I was actually pregnant the whole time, technically), I did loose some weight to start with, and my lowest weight was 207lbs.  So today, at 17 days postpartum?  206, baby!!!!!  22lbs lost already!  I almost jumped up and down and screeched, I was so happy.  :)

Granted, I have a lot further to go.  My pre-preg weight with my last baby was 177, and that was still more overweight than I would have liked to be, at that time  But honestly, if I can get back to the 170's, I'll be thrilled.  So, once those 6 weeks are over, I have GOT to get back into the habit of exercising again. I want to keep this momentum going!!

[lifeguard]

This morning I hit the weight I was just before I got pregnant for ds! That was the lowest weight I had been in several years & I had just bought a new pair of jeans. So this morning I tried on those jeans & they zipped!!!! Now the muffin top is AWFUL so they won't be worn in public anytime soon, but they zipped!

[yellowdart]

Woo hoo, down 30 pounds today from my weigh-in the day of my induction!  That means I'm up around five pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight.  I'm still obese and I want to lose a lot more weight moving forward, but it's really encouraging that even though I gained 35 pounds in pregnancy, most of it actually wasn't fat on my butt.  

Our bodies have done amazing things this year, and gone through amazing changes.  For me, thinking about that fact is extremely motivating for future weight loss efforts.  I just made a beautiful baby - I can do this too.  

[KristinaMarie]

The twins are now a month old, and I finally stepped on a scale. I have lost a total of 55 lbs. I am lighter now than I was when we started this journey in 2008. I just hope the weight continues to come off, as I have about 25 lbs to go to reach my goal.

Keep up the awesome work mommas!!

[DragonflyMom]

Running back and forth to the NICU has not left much time for eating.

2 days after birth I had already lost 15 of my 22 gained pounds.

Its now 12 days after birth and Im down another 5 pounds...yay?

Im sitting at 246 now.

Now can we all talk about the sagging skin problem?

Because I have been avoiding mirrors...its going to shrink back up right?

[emmaegbert]

I too am interested in this about walking. I will ask my own MWs their reccs of course- their patients are all NYC ladies. We live in a pedestrian-oriented city, I do not own a car, I cannot afford to take taxis around, and I walk quite a bit just for transpo going about normal life. Now, I expect to take 1 weeks where I really, really take it easy and don't leave the house much. And then weeks 2 and 3 I will be careful to take it way extra easy and ask family and friends to run errands, pick up the kids, etc. But for me to take my daughter to her babysitters house and stop by the grocery store is at least a mile of walking total.Its not going to be possible living where I do to take 6 weeks before I am walking much! I currently walk at least a mile a day, but 3 or so is more the norm, and that is me taking it easy since I am 39 weeks pregnant and lugging a 2yo everywhere with me!

[RosemaryS-F]

Still pregnant here: just referring to my last pregnancy: I took a walk 4 days pp and that was a bad idea as a.) I fell over (balance issues) and b.) bleeding increased. I waited another couple of days, and then I just started taking little strolls at a very slow pace in the evening while dh held the baby. It seemed to work fine for me. 6 weeks would have been too long, mentally.

[Jane]

I'm finally able to type without NAKing, so I have both hands.

I am not suggesting anyone not walk, just not walk for exercise. Only walk because you want to get from Point A to Point B. And walking gets you there. I would suggest not doing anything "for exercise" for 6 weeks. Resuming daily activities is good. Taking a week or two weeks off from the heavier stuff is good (ie, slinging wet laundry up 3 flights of stairs, toddler lifting, grocery hauling, etc). But if the laundry needs doing, it needs doing.
Of course the NY ladies are gonna walk. You have to live life. And that's returning to a daily activity.

In my experience, women who add exercising back at 3-4 weeks because they feel healed, they end up bleeding a lot longer. We know that their uterus' final healing is being delayed (Because they are bleeding).

As far as pelvic floor, the ligaments that hold the uterus back up in place are very long after childbirth. They've been securing a big ol' ute and are long. And then you have a tiny ute again. They shrink up after a couple weeks., but for a while there, everything is quite loosely held. The scaffolding is just not there yet. It's good to avoid lots of lifting and grunting and stairs and VACUUMING (so hard on the abdomen, to plant one leg and move the other and shove a big heavy vacuum around). Just til everything firms up a bit.

As a midwife, I feel like it's my job to be pretty cautious in all things. I like to be the voice of "Take care of yourself. Let it go. Be gentle to your soul and your body right now, you JUST had a baby." There are so many other forces pushing you out into the world, some of them coming from within. If I am a stern voice of caution, perhaps my clients will find the middle ground, where sanity lies.

After all, it's just advice. It's my very best advice, but it's just advice. Take it with all the other advice you get, add your experiences and knowledge and do what makes sense. I don't get offended when people don't follow my advice. It's just advice.

[GMum]

Originally Posted by Jane 

I'm finally able to type without NAKing, so I have both hands.
I am not suggesting anyone not walk, just not walk for exercise. Only walk because you want to get from Point A to Point B. And walking gets you there. I would suggest not doing anything "for exercise" for 6 weeks. Resuming daily activities is good. Taking a week or two weeks off from the heavier stuff is good (ie, slinging wet laundry up 3 flights of stairs, toddler lifting, grocery hauling, etc). But if the laundry needs doing, it needs doing.
Of course the NY ladies are gonna walk. You have to live life. And that's returning to a daily activity.
In my experience, women who add exercising back at 3-4 weeks because they feel healed, they end up bleeding a lot longer. We know that their uterus' final healing is being delayed (Because they are bleeding).
As far as pelvic floor, the ligaments that hold the uterus back up in place are very long after childbirth. They've been securing a big ol' ute and are long. And then you have a tiny ute again. They shrink up after a couple weeks., but for a while there, everything is quite loosely held. The scaffolding is just not there yet. It's good to avoid lots of lifting and grunting and stairs and VACUUMING (so hard on the abdomen, to plant one leg and move the other and shove a big heavy vacuum around). Just til everything firms up a bit.
As a midwife, I feel like it's my job to be pretty cautious in all things. I like to be the voice of "Take care of yourself. Let it go. Be gentle to your soul and your body right now, you JUST had a baby." There are so many other forces pushing you out into the world, some of them coming from within. If I am a stern voice of caution, perhaps my clients will find the middle ground, where sanity lies.
After all, it's just advice. It's my very best advice, but it's just advice. Take it with all the other advice you get, add your experiences and knowledge and do what makes sense. I don't get offended when people don't follow my advice. It's just advice.

Thanks so much Jane - I am the type of person that needs to hear this over and over. I've already done too much and lost a couple of stitches and increased my bleeding. My midwife has insisted on me slowing down because ultimately my healing will go faster and be easier than if I try and do it all now. I tried to take my daughters and two dogs for a short walk 10days pp and my perineum was so sore afterwards, I was pale and lightheaded and had to lie down for hours before I could get up again. I find it so hard to rest and end up crying and feeling like I will never get back to my daily 1hr walks and oh the house looks such a mess!. I keep thinking that my healing after my c-section went faster but if I look back I had my parents here for 2 weeks pp helping with everything, DP was also off work and then had a steady flow of visitors who helped out. This time, DP was back at work 4days pp, no parents and DD1 to look after too plus I have a complicated tear and got pg right after multiple back-to-back losses which I know was hard on my body.

I'm really glad I happened upon this thread because  I have it in my head that should be out and about, walking, losing weight etc and realize in fact that it is going to take some time.

So, I guess I am joining in this thread. I put on 25lbs with this pg  - a lot less than my previous one but it seems to be coming off a lot slower! I have lost 15lbs of my pregnancy weight at 13days pp but have a really big muffin top tummy which looks very odd on my small  frame! I don't fit my mat clothes but nor do I fit my pre-pg clothes. Still that's not stopping me eating anything and everything - I am hungry all the time!

[emmaegbert]

FYI everyone, thanks in part to this thread, at my 39w prenatal appt today I asked my MW what are her recommendations for postpartum rest. Knowing the realities of NYC life and having two older kids. She said, she really insists her clients not try to go back to normal activity for at least 2 weeks. She prefers they not really leave the house much for at least a week (I think in part b/c in NYC you really can't leave the house, as I said, without a fair amount of walking). She said, no subway trips (which involve multiple flights of stairs with my 2yo, baby, and whatever we need to carry with us) no taking the kids to afterschool, no popping out to the grocery store, minimize stairs as much as possible (and if I want or need to go upstairs, try to keep it to minimal amounts of trips and ask someone else to carry the baby up and down). Keep all trips within a couple of blocks at the most. After that, she said, take it easy but you can start to return to normal life if healing is going well. I am certainly not planning any vigorous exercise right away and wanted to get a sense from her of what she thinks is the time period during which I need to get other people to cover my kids activities. My husband can do the food shopping after work for 2 weeks.

I am SO IMPRESSED to hear about the PP weight loss you guys are experiencing. I hope that is how it is for me this time! The past two pregnancies, at 6w PP I seriously had lost 5-10 tops (gained 30lbs with my first, and 17 with my second. I have now gained almost 40!!! AH!!). WTF? I am going to pretty much stick to my strict diet as much as I can manage and hopefully won't see what clearly must be some rapid weight GAIN in the PP period.

[lifeguard]

Thanks Jane. I like the idea in theory but in practicality I'm not as sure. 6 weeks is a loooong time. Besides just daily activities taking that long off of my gym routine would really hit my conditioning & strength hard & it's so incredibly hard to get back into shape. Perhaps I'm being selfish here but I'm not sure I could do it again. It took so many weeks/months of workouts to get to where I am that I must admit I am very hesitant to let that slide.

I will say I feel I am being cautious though. I know that an increase in bleeding means I've done too much so I'm keeping a very close eye on that. Earlier this week I had a lot of abdominal tenderness after spending one morning in the kitchen standing so I backed off for a few days.

I guess overall it is better for each of us to tune into our bodies & make decisions based on our own bodies & their needs than to follow a set rule. After ds 6 weeks would have been WAY too early for me to start back to the gym - I truly felt destroyed after his birth. But this time is much different (& perhaps that is because I worked out right until the end this time).

So many factors to consider I guess.

[lifeguard]

Good to know emmaegbert. I too am floored by some of the weight loss people are seeing! After ds I literally lost NOTHING!!! Nothing - how is that even possible?! So far, at 12 days pp I am down 19lbs this time so I feel pretty content with that.

[DragonflyMom]

Dude...I had a c-section and drove myself 2 hours two days later...and Im not supossed to be walking!??

[emmaegbert]

DragonflyMom I really wish they could set you up with a free/cheap place to stay nearby. I keep thinking about you and all that driving! (at least its not 2 hours of walking a day...)

[~pi]

Originally Posted by DragonflyMom 

Running back and forth to the NICU has not left much time for eating.

After DS1 was born, DH did what he called, 'The Labour and Postpartum Support Diet.' Same deal, back and forth between my ward and the NICU, very little time to eat, and the food was not that appetizing anyway. We were in the hospital for a week, and during that time he lost 10 lbs. (And he's a healthy, fit guy and did not have 10 lbs to lose!)

And yes, the skin does firm up, though IME it's never quite what it was before.

Originally Posted by Jane 

I'm finally able to type without NAKing, so I have both hands.
I am not suggesting anyone not walk, just not walk for exercise. Only walk because you want to get from Point A to Point B. And walking gets you there. I would suggest not doing anything "for exercise" for 6 weeks. Resuming daily activities is good. Taking a week or two weeks off from the heavier stuff is good (ie, slinging wet laundry up 3 flights of stairs, toddler lifting, grocery hauling, etc). But if the laundry needs doing, it needs doing.
Of course the NY ladies are gonna walk. You have to live life. And that's returning to a daily activity.
In my experience, women who add exercising back at 3-4 weeks because they feel healed, they end up bleeding a lot longer. We know that their uterus' final healing is being delayed (Because they are bleeding).
As far as pelvic floor, the ligaments that hold the uterus back up in place are very long after childbirth. They've been securing a big ol' ute and are long. And then you have a tiny ute again. They shrink up after a couple weeks., but for a while there, everything is quite loosely held. The scaffolding is just not there yet. It's good to avoid lots of lifting and grunting and stairs and VACUUMING (so hard on the abdomen, to plant one leg and move the other and shove a big heavy vacuum around). Just til everything firms up a bit.
As a midwife, I feel like it's my job to be pretty cautious in all things. I like to be the voice of "Take care of yourself. Let it go. Be gentle to your soul and your body right now, you JUST had a baby." There are so many other forces pushing you out into the world, some of them coming from within. If I am a stern voice of caution, perhaps my clients will find the middle ground, where sanity lies.
After all, it's just advice. It's my very best advice, but it's just advice. Take it with all the other advice you get, add your experiences and knowledge and do what makes sense. I don't get offended when people don't follow my advice. It's just advice.

Thanks for explaining, Jane.

For me, walking is definitely part of daily activity and life. Especially with an older kid who needs escorting to and from school in an urban area, it's unavoidable. Plus it's such a huge part of well-being and mental health for me. In other words, when it comes to living life and returning to a daily activity, I would totally choose walking outside over doing laundry.

ETA: It sounds to me like the advice is the same across care providers, overall: Take it as easy as you possibly can for the first week, preferably two, and then ease back into it and pay attention to how your body responds. My MWs know that I will follow their advice exactly (rather than finding a middle ground between their advice and what I want to do) so I am guessing they give me the middle ground right off the bat. I found it emotionally tough to stay in bed for most of the first week and take it very easy the second, but I did it anyway. (And I have to say, I am slightly peeved that despite following recommendations, my tear re-opened anyway. Getting into the car to go to a medical appointment, of all things.)

Edited by ~pi - 10/20/11 at 1:37am

[emmaegbert]

 I found it emotionally tough to stay in bed for most of the first week and take it very easy the second, but I did it anyway. (And I have to say, I am slightly peeved that despite following recommendations, my tear re-opened anyway. Getting into the car to go to a medical appointment, of all things.)

yes, I get kind of crazy after a few days of lying around. I'd rather go straight to the "easing back into regular life" part. It was nice to have some good books with my second... I should try and get some reading material collected. And funny, but my MW just said at our appointment that in her experience, tears can be irritated or even worsened by things that don't seem like a big deal- she was talking in my case about a short but steep flight of stairs from my front door to street level. She says "runner moms are the worst" b/c they run up until the last moment that they can, and want to start right away after they give birth. I said don't worry I have not done any running for any reason other than emergencies in many months!

I can definitely forgo vacuuming for a few weeks though :)

[DragonflyMom]

I was going absolutely NUTS in the hospital bed, I dont do well with being trapped...

If Jasper was at home I would probably be back on the elipitcal already, I feel fine physically, Im just tired from driving...

I think I only ended up taking 5 or 6 of the ibprofen and maybe one of my percocet the first day I drove...

I seriously feel fine...no way Im waiting 8 weeks to get it on/exercise 

[AlexisT]

Please do wait.

You've just had major abdominal surgery. You feel fine well before you ARE fine. Your body will punish you for pushing it too quickly. Exercise, heavy lifting, etc can put pressure on the incision which is still healing. You could cause permanent issues by exercising too early. When I had my first they even said no driving for 6 weeks (apparently, this is because using a clutch places pressure on the incision--in the US they say 2 weeks). It's not just OB paranoia, and it's not just the issue of driving on opioids (I got a very stern lecture that I should not drive until I quit the Percs). If you need to do an emergency stop, it will pull on your incision and the muscles underneath.

Your body is still healing, even if you can't feel it. I'm on my second C section, and I know the drill. I've healed well this time, but when I overdid it (had to carry the baby in his bucket around DD's school), I paid. It hurt, and I bled more. The day I came home from the hospital I felt great and I was walking around everywhere. The next day I was in agony. Do not take C-section recovery lightly.

[GMum]

Originally Posted by emmaegbert 

yes, I get kind of crazy after a few days of lying around. I'd rather go straight to the "easing back into regular life" part. It was nice to have some good books with my second... I should try and get some reading material collected. And funny, but my MW just said at our appointment that in her experience, tears can be irritated or even worsened by things that don't seem like a big deal- she was talking in my case about a short but steep flight of stairs from my front door to street level. She says "runner moms are the worst" b/c they run up until the last moment that they can, and want to start right away after they give birth. I said don't worry I have not done any running for any reason other than emergencies in many months!

I can definitely forgo vacuuming for a few weeks though :)

Oh I hear ya Mamas! I am prone to depression and daily, hour-long walks and long hikes at the weekends with my family keep me sane. I used to be a semi-pro endurance athlete before motherhood so being inactive hits me hard. It's been really tough these 2 weeks pp to take it easy but I am glad I am because for me personally, I can see that I am actually healing faster with rest. I was in so much pain early on from overdoing it but weirdly enough I am actually going to be able to do more sooner if I rest now.  I need to be reminded daily to take it easy! It's hard though and I am itching to get back outside being active in nature and lose this tummy...patience is not my virtue! Speedy healing to everyone!

[DragonflyMom]

I had no choice but to drive :/ My husband had to go back to work and my son was (and still is but tomorrow will be two weeks) in the NICU two hours away.

Originally Posted by AlexisT 

Please do wait.

You've just had major abdominal surgery. You feel fine well before you ARE fine. Your body will punish you for pushing it too quickly. Exercise, heavy lifting, etc can put pressure on the incision which is still healing. You could cause permanent issues by exercising too early. When I had my first they even said no driving for 6 weeks (apparently, this is because using a clutch places pressure on the incision--in the US they say 2 weeks). It's not just OB paranoia, and it's not just the issue of driving on opioids (I got a very stern lecture that I should not drive until I quit the Percs). If you need to do an emergency stop, it will pull on your incision and the muscles underneath.

Your body is still healing, even if you can't feel it. I'm on my second C section, and I know the drill. I've healed well this time, but when I overdid it (had to carry the baby in his bucket around DD's school), I paid. It hurt, and I bled more. The day I came home from the hospital I felt great and I was walking around everywhere. The next day I was in agony. Do not take C-section recovery lightly.