I’ve gone back and forth about how/if I wanted to share my postpartum journey. I loved being able to share so many moments of my pregnancy with you all, but I wasn’t sure if there was any interest or if I even wanted to open up about my journey postpartum.
I reached out to a lot of you all on my Instagram to see if there was an interest, and I was pretty surprised how many wanted me to continue to document my journey. I was excited but also not quite sure how I wanted to do it. You see, my postpartum journey is more than just what my body looks like after baby. I have a goal of running the Boston Marathon in April and that requires a lot more focus on this body of mine if I want to make it to that start line happy and healthy.
I like being open and honest (as I hope I was during pregnancy) so I plan to do that as well during my postpartum journey.
I know I am a little late on the 2 week recap, but instead of doing these weekly I will likely do them bi-weekly or once a month. We will wait and see how things progress. Anyways, let’s get to this shall we?
Weight
I didn’t focus must on weight in my pregnancy recaps because I really tried to stay away from the scale. My final weigh in at the doctor was 164 which was a 35 lb weight gain (I started at 129). I didn’t gain much in the first trimester, slow and steady in the second, but then in third everything changed and I gained it much quicker. Pregnancy is going to come with weight gain, and I just tried to focus on the fact that my body is going to gain what it needs to.
After I had Easton I didn’t hop on the scale right away, I wanted to take the time to spend with my sweet boy and knew my body would regulate itself eventually. The first time I did step on the scale was 3-4 days postpartum to be able to get a starting point. My body dropped some of the weight pretty quickly simply because it began to regulate the fluid, my uterus began shrinking, and of course the baby was out!
After 2 weeks, my weight is 138. I have lost 26 lbs. I was honestly pretty surprised because even though I’d lost a lot of it my body still feels strange to me. I feel weak in a lot of areas and will really need to work on that to be able to come back to running without injury. I also feel “mushy” in a lot of areas and it’s no secret that my belly hasn’t gone down completely, but that’s okay. That comes with it!
Running
As you can probably guess, there was no running during the first two weeks. I really just focused on letting my body recover from delivery and just tried to eat as healthy as I could not only for my body for my baby boy as well!
The first week was pretty easy to take off because I was still in pain and needed the time to recover from surgery; however, during the second week when I wasn’t in pain anymore I really missed being active. I did go out and take a few walks with my husband and Easton, but nothing crazy. The furthest I walked during the first two weeks was 1 mile and that was in the 2nd week.
I’m completely letting my body dictate when it will be ready to run again. In week 3, I will be starting my ReCORE Program to help work on strengthening my core and pelvic floor which is going to be so important for getting back into running shape.
How I’m Feeling
I can’t tell you how many times since I gave birth I have gotten “how are you doing?” Of course, most of the time I just say “doing good” and move on but is that really how I am feeling? There are so many emotions that go through me each and every day during postpartum and I think it is so important to talk about them.
The first week was really hard for me. I will be going into full detail in an upcoming post but I dealt with the baby blues for the first 7-10 days or so. I had a great support system around me and without them it would have been so much harder. My moods would go from extreme happiness to extreme anxiety and crying. Breastfeeding also hasn’t been as smooth of a transition as I would have liked which also caused some crazy emotions to show up in the first 2 weeks.
The important thing I’ve found is to talk about it. I let it out, cry if I need to, and then move on. Keeping myself busy is also very important because from someone who is used to working full time and always being active the first two weeks were a big adjustment for me when it came to staying home. I thought it would be this amazing time, but it wasn’t always that for me.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had some amazing days these first 2 weeks and I have absolutely loved being home and learning more about my sweet baby boy! Week 2 has been so much better for me and I can feel my body getting back to normal which is great.
These little looks mean everything to me. I can’t wait to see his first smile!
There you have it. My road to postpartum recovery isn’t going to be quick one, but each step towards my goal is a step in the right direction!
Take your time! I probably did my first short run like 6 or 7 weeks after. I started pelvic floor PT maybe around 10 weeks in, and have built up to lifting, a TONNN of yoga (gentle and restorative especially), and I’m lifting a few times a week. But I definitely could tell it would be a while before I was back, and I’m fine with that. I’m loving being active in some ways at least, and I know I’ll get back there eventually. Take care of yourself, I’ve struggled with some pp anxiety, so I’m working through that now!
So proud of you, momma! It’s a lot of work to keep these little babies alive, but boy are the rewards worth it! <3
I’m really looking forward to following your postpartum journey, especially as you are planning on running a marathon in April. I had my little boy on 27th September. I managed to run up until 3 days before having him and although I had returned to my pre-pregnancy weight by 2 weeks I ended up having to take 7 weeks off following his birth as there were complications and I ended up in theatre. I’m hoping to run a marathon in April also and when I found out I was pregnant I decided to downgrade from running my first 100mile to a 50mile race that month too. I still don’t know if it’s going to work out the way I want but I’m going to give it a damn good go!
One of my biggest concerns in the early days was the fact that I wanted to continue breastfeeding alongside my long runs but it does get easier. After about 6 weeks things start to settle down a bit more and I don’t think it will be an issue when I get to that point now.
There is nothing better than when they smile for the first time! I know everyone says it, but make sure to enjoy every moment!
I can definitely relate to all that you are going through. I was a serious runner prior to getting pregnant and made it to about 28 weeks before an injury forced me to slow down. I was still walking a ton up until I delivered. I think I waited 4 weeks before trying to run and it felt SO different. Not only was I out of shape cardio-wise, but I still wasn’t completely healed (and I had an uncomplicated delivery) so there were other issues too. I also had a hard time slowing down and tried to spend all of the early days doing something ( a lot of stroller walking, cleaning the house,cooking, just keeping busy) I kind of regret it in a way.. I am sure you have heard this a million times, but they grow so fast and you can never get those early days back. My son is 8 months old now and I wish time would slow down and I could go back and enjoy maternity leave again. Looking back, it was silly that I wanted to resume my normal routine so quickly, because nothing about my life now is or will ever be the same as before I was a mother, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I am back to running regularly now, but it isnt my main priority anymore.