I’ve posted a few times about how staying fit helped to make my pregnancy much easier. About a month ago I posted on my end of pregnancy thoughts and prior to that I posted on why I am all for women working out during pregnancy (in pregnancies free of complications where it’s possible).
I also posted about the ways that I had to change my workouts during each trimester of pregnancy. Although my workouts got significantly shorter and easier at the end of my third trimester I actually worked out the day of Connor’s birth. I did some kettlebell deadlifts, elevated push ups, TRX rows and went for a walk. Maybe the combination got things moving! I was afraid to jinx my labor and delivery by posting too much about the supposed benefits that exercise has on labor and delivery in women who are fit. Fortunately, now I can post and confirm that my labor and delivery were really wonderful!
After working out and cleaning the whole house on Saturday morning, June 4, I had my first contraction around 1pm (10 minutes after hubby got home from work) and we hung out for awhile to make sure it was the real thing. My contractions went from 10 minutes to 7 minutes to 5 minutes pretty quick so we decided to go to the hospital around 4:30 pm. I was still in no real pain, just feeling minor contractions.
When we got to the hospital I was only 1cm dilated, but the nurse let us stay and hang out for an hour so she could check me again. She said she “had a feeling about me” and didn’t want to send us home.
Sure enough, 1 hour later my contractions were stronger, I was 2cm dilated and I was admitted around 6:30pm. I will admit that I suffered through a little over an hour of pretty painful/strong contractions, but then I got the epidural (God bless the epidural!). I could feel a tad bit of pressure during the contractions, but nothing major at all.
Before I knew it, it was time to push and there were a lot more people in the room. I only ended up pushing for about 15-20 minutes. Unfortunately, CJ stopped breathing for a minute so they whipped out the vacuum to help him along during my last push. Baby Connor James Perry was born at 11:11! (Yes… I made a wish and it came true;-). He started crying the second he was out and was completely alert and well-behaved for a good 3 hours after he was born.
CJ is a very healthy and happy baby. He has an easy going personality already and we feel lucky that he’s so well-behaved! We think he’s going to be strong. He has incredible neck control for a newborn…and he’s so stinking cute to boot!
I am so thrilled that I put the energy and effort into staying fit when I was pregnant. I truly believe it made my labor and delivery so much easier (and faster!) and I’m already feeling like I am going to be able to get back in shape sooner than I would have been able to had I just stopped workout out.
Less than one week post-partum I started taking walks around the neighborhood and just a week after CJ was born I started doing very light/short basic strength workouts. For the next week or two, I am going to fit in what I can…so far consisting of pushups, rows, chest press, assisted chin ups and planks. A few at a time…nothing to push myself too hard!
I’ve been breastfeeding which is helping the baby weight come off as well. I gained a total of about 30 pounds during my pregnancy. I lost 10 at the hospital and 10 in the week that I’ve been home. I still have a long way to go, but I’m looking forward to getting back at the tough workouts over the next few months.
I’ll be posting more about breastfeeding and motherhood in general, as well as some detailed posts about my body after baby. I figure if I show you all pics of my progress, it will hold me accountable to keep making strides! 🙂
Congrats on your beautiful baby boy, Amanda! So glad everything went smoothly for both of you.
I was so glad to hear you talk about the epidural. I hear so many women talking about doing it naturally and, sometimes, that just doesn’t happen. There should be no guilt for having an epidural (I had one with both of my boys) and, in the moment, each of us does whatever we need to get through. No judgements.
Congrats again and healthy recovery!
Thanks so much! I had heard amazing things about epidurals, but didn’t realize what a difference it would truly make until I had it. Giving birth is tough no matter how you do it and what matters is that mom and baby are healthy. 🙂
Wow – if this doesn’t inspire women to continue their workouts (as much as they can) during pregnancy, I don’t know what will. That is amazing – I will definitely be working out throughout pregnancy when that time comes for me. Great post.
Awww..thanks Jess! I’m sure you’ll do great working out when you’re pregnant since you’re already planning for it! 🙂
keep the Connor pictures & updates coming! I’m so happy it went well for you. I love the picture of him smiling! I worked at a daycare with the infants my senior year of college and I miss them so much. They’re the best!
Always love your posts! He’s so handsome … And how on earth did you manage to look so cute in the hospital? I was a hot mess! Look forward to following your post baby workouts. I have 7 or 8 more lbs to drop, but it was all worth it. I can’t wait until Clara can hang out in the jogging stroller and be my running partner. Good luck and look forward to future posts. P.S. I so happy that labor ended up going smoothly. I pushed for three hours and am convinced that my prior workouts helped!
Thanks so much, Mama! I definitely did not look cute in the hospital…the first few days after labor my face was so swollen and I had a ton of popped blood vessels. LOL Awesome fo you that you only have 7 or 8 pounds left and I’m sure Clara is going to love being your running partner. YES – workouts help so much to make labor easier! 🙂
You bet I’ll keep the updates coming. Infants really are amazing, even more so when they are your own. Sometimes I feel like I’ll have to give him back. LOL
Ah- that’s the kind of labor I hope for! All done in one day. Great job mama!! Did you go in knowing you were going to have an epidural?
ps- he’s a beautiful baby!
Yes…it was all done in basically an afternoon/evening. Loved it! 🙂 This guy has great timing. I was pretty sure I’d get an epidural and man am I so glad that I did! Are you planning on it?