Postpartum

  • Holistic Wellbeing

    From Bump to Baby: The Importance of Prenatal and Postpartum Fitness

    A blog post dedicated to the importance of prenatal and postpartum fitness. Shownotes from podcast episode 42 with Megan from Vibrant Mama Wellness.

    Pregnancy and childbirth are beautiful, transformative experiences that can have a profound impact on a woman’s body. As miraculous as it is, pregnancy can also be a physically challenging time, often resulting in weight gain, muscle weakness, and other physical changes. For many women, the postpartum period can be just as challenging, as they adjust to life with a new baby while dealing with physical recovery and healing. However, with the help of prenatal and postpartum fitness, women can improve their physical health and well-being, make the transition into motherhood easier, and even reduce their risk of certain health problems. In this post, we will explore the many benefits of prenatal and postpartum fitness and provide tips for staying active during and after pregnancy. We will also look at some safe and effective exercises that can be incorporated into a fitness routine during these stages of motherhood.

    Podcast Episode 42 – Staying fit in pregnancy, postpartum and beyond with Megan from Vibrant Mama Wellness with Megan from Vibrant Mama Wellness. Megan is a Pre & Postnatal fitness coach & we discuss the benefits of prenatal and postpartum exercise, and how it can help our bodies prepare for labour and recover from birth. Search for The Slow Living Collective wherever you get your podcasts.

    Listen on Apple Podcasts | Listen on Spotify Podcasts

    Benefits of Prenatal Fitness:

    Maintaining a regular fitness routine during pregnancy can have numerous benefits for both mother and baby. Some of these benefits include:

    1. Improved Cardiovascular Health: Exercise can help improve circulation, lower blood pressure, and increase oxygen levels, which can benefit both mother and baby.

    2. Reduced Risk of Gestational Diabetes: Women who exercise regularly during pregnancy are less likely to develop gestational diabetes, a condition that can increase the risk of complications for both mother and baby.

    3. Easier Labour and Delivery: Regular exercise can help strengthen the muscles needed for labor and delivery, making the process smoother and less painful.

    4. Improved Mental Health: Exercise has been shown to reduce stress and anxiety, as well as improve mood and overall mental health.

    Safe and Effective Prenatal Exercises:

    When it comes to prenatal fitness, it’s important to prioritize safety and listen to your body. Some safe and effective exercises to consider during pregnancy include:

    1. Walking: Walking is a low-impact exercise that can be done throughout pregnancy. It helps improve circulation and can be a great way to stay active without putting too much stress on the body.

    2. Swimming: Swimming is another low-impact exercise that is great for pregnant women. It can help alleviate joint pain, reduce swelling, and improve cardiovascular health.

    3. Prenatal Yoga: Yoga is a great way to stay active and reduce stress during pregnancy. Prenatal yoga classes are specifically designed to accommodate the needs of pregnant women and can help improve flexibility, strength, and balance.

    Benefits of Postpartum Fitness

    After giving birth, it’s important to ease back into a fitness routine gradually and safely. Some benefits of postpartum fitness include:

    1. Faster Recovery: Regular exercise can help speed up recovery after childbirth, as well as help restore muscle tone and strength.

    2. Improved Mental Health: Exercise has been shown to reduce symptoms of postpartum depression and improve overall mood and mental health.

    3. Increased Energy: Exercise can help boost energy levels and reduce fatigue, which can be especially beneficial for new mothers.

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    Safe and Effective Postpartum Exercises:

    When it comes to postpartum fitness, it’s important to listen to your body and consult with a healthcare provider before starting any new exercise routine. Some safe and effective postpartum exercises to consider include:

    1. Pelvic Floor Exercises: Pelvic floor exercises, also known as Kegels, can help improve bladder control and restore muscle tone after childbirth.

    2. Walking: Walking is a great way to ease back into exercise after giving birth. Start with short walks and gradually increase the duration and intensity over time.

    3. Postpartum Yoga: Postpartum yoga classes are designed to accommodate the needs of new mothers and can help improve strength, flexibility, and overall well-being.

    Prenatal and postpartum fitness can have numerous benefits for both mother and baby, including improved cardiovascular health, easier labour and delivery, improved mental health, faster recovery, and increased energy. It’s important to prioritise safety and listen to your body when it comes to prenatal and postpartum fitness. Consult with a healthcare provider before starting any new exercise routine, and consider incorporating low-impact exercises such as walking, swimming, and yoga.

    Where you can find Megan online?

    Follow @vibrantmamawellness on Instagram

    Check out Megan’s website Vibrant Mama Wellness

    Don’t forget to check out the latest episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify Podcasts – or search The Slow Living Collective wherever you get your podcasts.

  • Motherhood

    We’re Pregnant + First Trimester round up!

    Throughout my first pregnancy with my daughter I always promised myself I would do an update either weekly or through each trimester but that never really happened (apart from I think the second trimester) so I have decided that it is something I would like to try and do this time and with that in mind today is going to be the first of my updates and a little recap of my first trimester of pregnancy. So first thing’s first! I’m pregnant with my second child and I am due in the late spring of 2021. 

    I guess that some of you might be thinking “ok I thought this girl was very vocal about the fact that she only wanted one child?” and you would definitely be correct in that because up until this year one child was always our plan.

    But then 2020 happened and it changed my perspective on a lot of things one of which being that I wanted to give my daughter a sibling.

    I felt this way for a little while but I thought that maybe it would go away. When I realised that it wasn’t disappearing I knew I had to do somthing about it. I discussed it with my husband, because he had been on the same page about only wanting one child as well, but when I mentioned how I was feeling here absolutely agreed that we should try for another, something which I know I will be eternally grateful to him for. I expected it to be a while before I fell pregnant as it took over 2 years to conceive Hadley and I was expecting a similar wait this time, so you can imagine my surprise when I fell pregnant in our first month of trying. Having waited so long for Hadley and being so disappointed at so many times throughout our journey it was a massive surprise for it to happen so quickly. It was a surprise but it was also so welcomed because one thing we really wanted was a small age gap between our children. Our children will be 2 years and 3 months apart in age and although I know it’s going to be crazy and busy for many years we’re so excited to have two little ones with a small age gap. 

    When we found out…

    I found out I was pregnant in September and it really was the funniest story. My period was late and I was curious as to why. My period does go through these little blips from time to time throughout the years (and usually when I am actively trying to get pregnant) and I thought this was just like one of those. I was only a few days late but I wasn’t really having any symptoms that I usually get before I get my period so I started to think maybe I needed to take a pregnancy test really just to rule it out. My dad has just come out of hospital after having heart bypass surgery and so we were shielding to keep him safe from covid so it wasn’t as easy as just popping out to grab a pregnancy test. Remembering that I had a spare pregnancy test left over from when I found out I was pregnant with Hadley I decided to try and find it and when I did the expiry date was the same day as the day I found it. It was clear that I might as well take it because this was the last day that it was going to be in date and if I took it after this day then I wouldn’t be able to trust the result anyway. I actually didn’t expect anything, as like I say it took me 27 months to conceive Hadley, you can imagine my surprise when I turned the pregnancy test over and it read the word Pregnant. I don’t think I’ve ever been so shocked or more shaking in my life. My husband was downstairs with my dad and Hadley and I called him up and showed him the pregnancy test. I hadn’t actually mentioned to him at this point that I was going to take a pregnancy test because when I found it ended up taking it on quite a whim. He was obviously over the moon and I think I spend a few days in shock at how quickly it had happened. After waiting for Hadley for so long to fall pregnant on our first try was more than I could have ever expected.

    Time to tell?

    When we fell pregnant with Hadley were very excited and we told a lot of our close family straight away, but this time we felt a little more apprehensive, maybe it was to do with the ongoing Covid situation or maybe it was just a second pregnancy thing and really knowing that things can go wrong at any moment. Either way, we decided that we would keep a pregnancy pretty much to ourselves and we just told my mum because there was no way I could hide my morning sickness from her even through we were staying apart during Covid. 

    We knew it was a precarious time to think about getting pregnant, when there is a global pandemic raging outside your door, but we decided that with everything in mind and knowing the risks and realities of the situation that we didn’t want to wait. We were keen for a smaller age gap as well as being aware that I am 35 and wouldn’t really want to leave it too much longer. These things, alongside knowing it took a while to conceive Hadley, helped us make our decision. This was all taking place later summer when the Covid situation looked a little less scary than it does right now, but we were also very aware of the realities of maternity services throughout the pandemic. I wasn’t too worried about having to attend my appointments alone and my husband was also relaxed about maybe not being as involved in the physical sense as he was last time. I plan to do a more in depth post about being pregnant in a pandemic as a second time mum at some point soon too. Realistically we came into this with our eyes wide open, as much as you can with an ever changing situation, and knew what we were doing.

    Symptoms?

    The first trimester of my pregnancy was very similar to Hadley’s with all the same symptoms, in fact it was quite a reassuring start to my pregnancy in the fact that everything was exactly how I remembered it from the first trimester of her pregnancy. I feel nauseous a lot due to morning sickness but just like the first time round I wasn’t physically sick which I am so grateful for. I had one absolutely killer migraine which sent me to bed for a good few days but other than that and some tiredness on the whole I felt just a little bit icky. 

    The 12 week scan

    End of the first trimester and the 12-week scan ended up being a little bit chaotic. Due to the current restrictions I went to my 12-week scan alone which I was totally ok with because like I said above I planned to get pregnant in a pandemic and I knew what to expect. I really think it also helped being a second time Mum and already knowing what the process was like like which meant I didn’t feel as apprehensive going into my 12 week scan by myself as maybe I would have done as a first time Mum. At the 12-week scan, while I was by myself, the radiographer said that they thought they saw something on the baby’s umbilical cord or nearby and they suspected it might be something called Gastroschisis. Gastroschisis is an abdominal wall defect where there is a hole in the abdominal wall and the baby’s bowel can escape through and grows outside of the body. This is a serious condition but is 100% fixable by surgery upon birth. After having this 12-week scan they referred me to the fetal medicine unit so I could have a more in-depth scan. The fetal medicine scan was the next day at my local hospital and for this appointment because they had found a birth defect they allowed my husband to come in as well. The scan appointment confirmed Gastroschisis and we were referred to UCLH in London for further evaluation.

    Fetal Medicine & London

    Just after I turned 13 weeks and then to the second trimester we went to a fetal medicine scan at UCLH which to our huge surprise confirmed that they saw no abdominal wall defect at all. They suggested that maybe what had been seen was a hernia that had resolved itself. I was scanned and those images looked at by two fetal medicine consultants and a midwife, as well as the baby apparently being in a perfect position, and all were fairly confident that they could not see any abdominal wall defects at all. Gastroschisis rarely picked up so early anyway and is usually picked up at the 20-week scan. We will know for definite at the 20-week scan but as far as UCLH are concerned they see no abdominal wall defect and my consultant and community midwife are confident that what has been seen (or not seen as the case may be) is correct. As you can imagine going back and forth like this was incredibly stressful and draining and we’re keeping everything crossed for a clear 20-week scan. At the time of posting I will have just turned 19 weeks, so not long to wait now and I will be sure to keep you updated (but you can follow me on Instagram where I usually update a bit more in real-time).

    Almost half way there

    Now we’re almost at the half way point, once we’ve got the confirmation either way on the Gastroschisis diagnosis I might start to think about what I need to get for the new baby. We’re ready to deal with whatever comes our way of course but are hopeful for a clear scan so the baby doesn’t have to have a rocky start in life.

    We decided, with the back and forth’s that have happened so far, that this time we will find out our babies birth gender. We never did with Hadley and also never had the desire to but this time we’re quite excited to know. We’ve had a lot of surprises so far so aren’t really up for any more, but also think it will be nice to have experienced pregnancy and labour both ways.

    Anything else?

    I know this is a super long update but honestly, it was such a busy and chaotic first trimester of pregnancy. Other than that I have had a consultant appointment to evaluate my previous pregnancy issues. In my first pregnancy I developed Pre-eclampsia at 39+6 so they are on the lookout for that and being pro-active in ways we can hopefully avoid it. I have been put on Asprin daily and know that there will be a lot of monitoring post 24 weeks, both with my community midwife and also in the form of growth scans and consultant appointments. I also suffered a postpartum hemorrhage with my daughter but it is believed to have been situational (Pre-eclampsia, induction, episiotomy, and a forceps delivery) and they aren’t particularly concerned. If you want to read about everything that happened the first time round I have my birth story on here too.

    I’ll leave it there for today, because this is more than enough information to digest in one sitting. So far since the scan at UCLH everything has been a little more relaxing and I am thoroughly enjoying my second trimester, I think I feel better this trimester than I did in my second trimester in my first pregnancy. I will of course update somethings in the meantime such as how we get on with our 20-week scan, the Gastroschisis diagnosis and also maybe a little gender reveal too. Other than that I will be back in a couple of months to do my second trimester update and hopefully it will be far less busy than this one was.

    Thanks for reading!

  • Motherhood

    Breastfeeding Heartbreak

    A post about the breastfeeding heartbreak I experienced when feeding my first child.

    The hardest thing about writing this post is definitely in the relieving it, because although I know I made the best decision, although I know that my breastfeeding journey played out exactly how it was supposed to, sometimes going over it still brings up the old emotions that I felt when I was in the midst of it. That being said, if I can help one mama feel less alone then that is all that matters.

    Breastfeeding started out great, in fact so good that I felt absolutely elated and grateful that I wasn’t having any struggles. Fast forward a few days and things look remarkably different. We’d had a few issues mostly with pain and latch which I know can be common but Hadley then stopped feeding from my right side entirely and no matter what I tried I could not get her to latch. With help from my community midwife and a lactation specialist and we finally managed to get her back and things seemed as though they were moving in the right direction.

    Only things weren’t moving in the right direction as H was loosing weight (we’re talking way beyond the usual drop from birth weight that most babies experience) and medical professionals were showing up to weigh her daily, all looking more concerned than the one before that she wasn’t gaining any weight.

    And then there was me. I was struggling but I really didn’t know how to verbalise it, especially as all this hit around the same time as the hormonal drop known as the baby blues (not to be confused with postnatal depression which is something very different). I was struggling both physically and emotionally with breastfeeding; I was in so much pain from being so sore from a bad latch, I was bleeding, I felt so lonely when I was up alone feeding. I shared my feelings of loneliness with my husband who from that moment on made it a priority to wake up with me for every night feed and let me tell you I felt so grateful. And if all of that wasn’t enough I then got double mastitis, twice. 

    Let me tell you this; I have never felt more of a failure than I did in those moments. Never have I ever felt so alone and hormones definitely didn’t help when it came to rationalising what I wanted or needed to do. Hadley was still losing weight and on the cusp of being readmitted to hospital (there was also worry surrounding her jaundice from birth as it was assumed that maybe I wasn’t producing enough milk, so she wasn’t getting enough which meant she wasn’t excreting enough to clear her jaundice). 

    Breastfeeding mum

    I knew that I had to make a choice, was it the right one? For me, in that moment, yes. Do I wish it had been different? Also yes. All I knew was that I needed to feed her, I needed her to thrive and our decision was to supplement her with formula. Watching her drink down her first bottle of formula gave me so much joy while simultaneously breaking my heart. One week on from her birth and for the first time she became a contented baby we hadn’t yet seen. I think it was correct that I probably hadn’t been able to produce enough breast milk for her, as from that moment onwards she was happy, content and has thrived ever since. Some from then on we combo fed her until I felt like my journey with breastfeeding was done.

    Stopping breastfeeding was one of the hardest decisions I have had to make. People told me to just stop but nobody tells you how difficult the emotions attached to it are (so much so that I pumped one extra week longer than I gave her breast milk because I wasn’t ready to stop).

    My breastfeeding journey wasn’t easy and for so long it has hurt my mama heart so much and I am sure every time I look back on it will always be a little tinged with sadness. BUT that being said, I know I absolutely made the best decision for my baby, however hard that was for me, as she very quickly became the thriving baby we all see today. 

  • Motherhood

    Embracing my postpartum body!

    It’s been 6.5 months since our little Hadley joined us and I know everyone says it, but I honestly cannot fathom where the time has gone. In the last month she’s changed so much too, she’s eating solids, she’s saying mama, she’s waving and so much more! It’s so incredible to watch out little baby grow in front of our eyes.

    Where I am 6 months on…

    Today I want to talk about where I am 6 months on from giving birth, and while I am very aware I never sat down here to do my birth story, you can catch it in brief on my IGTV. I touched on my feelings about my body post-baby on my Instagram this week and I was overwhelmed by the number of women that reached out to me with their stories of how they feel about their bodies since becoming a mum.

    When I was pregnant with Hadley I was honestly so nervous about getting stretch marks; I would ask my own mum constantly whether she got stretch marks throughout her pregnancy with me (hoping to sidestep them simply through genetics), I would keep my bump moisturised constantly with a super hydrating moisturiser and I would on occasion have a look at the parts of me that I could still see and see if any had popped up. I never found anything, except maybe a few at the top of my legs in very late pregnancy, but honestly, by that point, I’d even lost the will to care.

    After fussing about stretch marks for the longest time and never getting any of note, they all appeared after as my body shrunk back down (or what I affectionally call “the deflate”). At first they were red and purple although now they have already faded massively and are barely visible, except to me of course 😉 (I am still human after all). As well as the stretch marks on my stomach, the thigh ones remained and I also gained a fair few on my boobs too, although that might very well be from breastfeeding.

    How do I feel about my body now?

    I have always felt fairly lucky because I have never really had any hang-ups about my body, I have always been confident in how I look and equally grateful that I have this mindset because I know so many don’t. Like I said, before Hadley was born I was nervous about what my body would look like post-pregnancy; Would I still love it? How would I feel about the changes it had gone through that were still visible? Would I still feel confident in my own skin? Would I still be able to maintain that strong mindset when everything looked and felt different? Would I still be able to look at myself in the mirror in the same way I had done before?

    postpartum body

    I do see a different body staring back, but it’s a body that is strong and a body that, no matter what, I should be proud of. This body has stretch marks where they never used to be, I still see my Linea Negra and maybe I always will, I have looser skin and my body shape has changed. But I don’t hate what I see.

    When I look in the mirror now I definitely see a different body staring back, not bad different, just different. I see a body that carried a nourished a baby for 40 weeks and 2 days. I see a body that endured spd, heart palpitations and pre-eclampsia to bring my baby into the world. I see a body that endured induced labour, an epidural, a forceps delivery and an episiotomy. I see a body that took so many weeks to recover from the physical aspects of birth. I see a body that helped nourish my baby on the inside for over 40 weeks and on the outside for 6 weeks. I can’t hate that. 

    Postpartum bodies all look different; different to the way they used to and different to each other but they are all unique in their own special way. Loving yourself in a world that doesn’t want you to is not easy, but please be kind to yourself mama’s, your body has performed miracles.