Long Road to Recovery

            The assumption may be that I went out and ran the next day.  No way!  My first test run was on a 60-degree day (one of the last for a while) with my husband three days post-delivery.  It was a very slow (slower than when I was pregnant at the end) and painful run of about 2 miles.  After Baya, I was out running 5 days later (though I felt good enough I could have gone sooner), and my only pain was some lingering pelvic pain.  Each time was better and I was probably nearly pain-free after a week of running.  I quickly regained my speed and I felt great!  This time around was a bit different.  I haven’t experienced pelvic pain, but I have felt quite a bit of pain in the lower abdomen/uterine area as it shrinks down to size.  The pain stretches all the way across, from hip to hip, and greatly inhibits my range of motion.  Andy graciously demonstrated that I was at power-walking pace for him.  So much for my excitement in thinking I would be back running strong right away, or faster, or even comfortably again.  When it comes to running, post-delivery has been tougher than when I was pregnant.  I took a few more days off before trying again, but it still felt just as bad and I cut the run at a half-mile.  Physically and mentally, it was not wise to continue.

            I had a (relatively) fast labor and delivery.  My first contraction was around 6pm on my way home from track practice (couldn’t have timed it any better), and by 7:54 that night, Myles was born.  While I was concerned about his size since he was 5 days overdue, he ended up being just shy of 7 pounds, and again, I was fortunate enough to not tear or need any stitches.  This helps the recovery process immensely, and I felt like this time around my body was recovering faster than what I did the first time.  It was just my darn uterus, which for several days the cramping was about as intense as some of my contractions.  The tortures of motherhood are relentless I tell you.

            After my half-mile attempt at running, I eyed my bike sitting in the garage and decided to test out spinning on it for a few minutes.  With Baya, it took me 2-weeks to feel okay sitting on the bike, but this time around, I did my first hour-long, high-intensity bike ride just 9 days post-delivery!  So while I await the feeling of a good run for a while longer.  I can at least return to biking (so long as the kiddos’ naps time out in my favor).  You take whatever you can get and just feel grateful for it.

            As far as the swim goes, if my body continues healing at this rate, I might test out the pool by the end of the week.  I’m not sure how my core or kick will feel at that point, but if I can time out Myles’ nap so he’s sleeping at the end of my lane while I swim, I might as well try it out (he can’t go to the drop-in childcare at the Y until he is 6 weeks old).  If I wait another week though, I can live with that too. 

            The lack of sleep that accompanies a newborn, especially when breastfeeding, has caught up with me.  Somehow you are able to function for the first several days, but today it has caught up with my body and I feel achy, feverish, and run down.  And today of all days – when I wanted to test out the run again cause I was thinking I was finally feeling good – so much for feeling good!  It was another letdown attempt.  Now Andy returns to work after having a week at home (a HUGE blessing!), and I feel like I lost so many opportunities to get out and be active while having his help at home.  But you can’t rush the return, or else it could cause more harm than good.  I’m also unsure about how to even get a run in during the week now, so there is also a lot of strategy to figure out.  So I hope for patience and opportunities and further healing.  I’m also thankful for all the time I have gotten at home with my family as well during this time!  Our two kiddos fit just right on this lap together!