-
joyfalzone
third trimester pregnancy update
No CommentsRead moreI’ll be 35 weeks pregnant in a couple days and I am definitely at the point where almost everything is uncomfortable, moving, sleeping, picking up my kids. I’ve been having muscle separation pain near my pubic bone and it’s painful to turn over in bed. If I sit on the floor for extended periods of time, it ruins my tailbone and it’s painful to walk, thanks to the hormone relaxin. I am continuing to go to the chiropractor bi-weekly to keep everything aligned. Baby is definitely maxing out on space and I have a feeling this baby is very long like his brother because his feet are all up in my ribs. I’m also at the point where even if I have a half ounce of pee in my bladder I feel like I have a full bladder. Braxton Hicks are coming a lot more frequently the past couple weeks as my uterus preps for labor and birth.
00 -
joyfalzone
my prenatal exercise routine
No CommentsRead moreThere is a lot of confusion surrounding exercising while pregnant and postpartum, and understandably so, because there is so much conflicting information out there. I did not have all the information I needed when I was pregnant with my first. I continued to do the same exercises I was doing prior to pregnancy which at the time I thought was fine. I found out later that some of the exercises I was doing put too much strain on my core / abdominals and probably caused more muscle separation pain than was normal and hindered my recovery postpartum. I also had no idea how connected breath is to deep core and pelvic floor muscles! These were things I didn’t find on google or even learn from my prenatal care providers.
-
joyfalzone
my postpartum journey to restore my core
No CommentsRead moreAs promised, an update on my postpartum journey to heal my pelvic floor and diastasis recti. For those of you following along for awhile, you saw my first post on the 10 week program I had started back in January. If you haven’t read that post yet, head over there for a point of reference and for an interview with women’s health personal trainer Ali Frendin. Ok, I know it’s been a lot more than 10 weeks since January but life happened and I actually had to re-start the program after missing two weeks and losing progress. Today I am recapping what my physical status was before the program and the all progress I saw throughout the program!
-
joyfalzone
guest post: personal trainer ali frendin on pelvic floor & abdominal health
4 CommentsRead moreI can barely contain my excitement about today’s post! Why? Because this is a topic women are not talking about enough and which affects our everyday life including our sex life, social life, exercise routines, day to day mothering and just about everything! Today, I have the honor of interviewing Ali Frendin, mum of two littles (yeah she’s an Aussie) and a women’s health personal trainer with over ten years experience. She practices a holistic and full body approach to health and exercise during pregnancy, postpartum and beyond and is backed up by up to date research by leading women’s health physiotherapists. She offers coaching programs in her hometown in Australia as well as online programs for pregnancy, post-natal and pilates.
I came across Ali and Real Fitness for Mums on Instagram just after the birth of my second baby and am so glad I did! I am about half way through her Ultimate Core Restore program and have already had SO MUCH progress (keep reading for details)!
-
joyfalzone
preparing your body for pregnancy
No CommentsRead moreI feel very lucky to have learned how closely related the way we treat our bodies is to our health before I was ready to have children. If I had still been eating bagels and quad venti caramel macchiatos from Starbucks, I know this season of my life would have looked very different. I had been eating a nutrient rich diet for years before my husband and I even started talking about children. I was able to balance my hormones and heal myself of debilitating dysmenorrhea just by cutting out sugar and processed food from my diet. I had done biannual whole food cleanses for a few years to rid my body of any toxins that had accumulated. In the year leading up to “trying” I was very intent on limiting alcohol to very special occasions, exercising regularly and eating as much nutrient rich plant foods as possible. Even when we started trying for a baby, it took us almost a year to get pregnant.
If you are able to plan ahead of time for pregnancy, you are really giving yourself and your baby the best environment to thrive. Most expecting mommas spend hours researching the best carseat, mattress, stroller, etc. but put very little energy into preparing their bodies for the miracle of carrying and forming a baby for 40 weeks! I’m not saying that researching those things are wrong, I’m just saying that if a tiny human is growing from what is stored in our bodies, wouldn’t we want to have the best nutrient store to grow the strongest and healthiest baby possible? I like to think of our bodies as gardens. The more you tend to your garden and feed it with the right compost, clean water and sunshine, the better the vegetables will taste and grow. The same goes for our bodies and growing a baby.