So You Want To Have A Baby?

So you want to get pregnant and have a baby – or you’re pregnant – or you just had your baby, now what?

I love taking care of mamas at my clinic and being involved in the training because yes, you can absolutely train to have a baby.  Physical training and micronutrients are such an important part of your journey and here’s why. If you’re deficient in say, folate or vitamin D, that could potentially put your baby at risk for developmental issues in the womb. I have a great recommendation for a prenatal supplement with methylated B multivitamins, which is a broken-down form of your B vitamins that are better absorbed in your body.  Some people (about ½ the population) have what’s called a MTHFR genetic mutation which allows them to better absorb b vitamins. For the rest of the population, we need these vitamins. Taking them also allows better absorption of folate which your growing baby will need in the womb to develop exactly as he should. I’m not saying you need to get tested for anything but be on the lookout for a good multivitamin or prenatal with Omega 3 and vitamin D.  Message me if you want my recommendation. 

After you have a baby, adjustments are just as important. When I was 26 weeks pregnant, I thought it would be a great idea to try and do sprints and ultimately ended up injuring myself. I struggled with the injury (SPD Dysfunction) for the rest of my pregnancy and wasn’t prepared for it. I relied on adjustments to help me through and had to train the rest of my pregnancy to know what my capacity was. I had to learn what was appropriate for that particular phase of my pregnancy and worked hard at making sure my glutes and hamstrings were as strong as they could be since I had that major shift in my center of gravity (you essentially lose your core strength). I had to learn proper breathing to prehab also – if you know how to breathe while pregnant then things like diastasis recti will be much more apt to close quickly after you’ve had your baby (since you’ve done the work beforehand). 

The fun part for me begins after baby because that’s when you’re getting back into the swing of things. It’s not that you want to look better, it’s that you want to feel the way you did before, get that center of gravity back, rid yourself of diastasis recti and frankly, not pee your pants every time you sneeze (can I get an amen?). We’re starting to train for the game again and get back into working out. Remember though, you just birthed a human, you created life, you too, are new. Give yourself lots of grace and lots of time to enjoy that baby. You just competed in the most athletic event you will ever do in your lifetime and your organs are still trying to reposition – be kind to yourself. 

We are told that we’re “healed” after 6 weeks, but it’s upwards of 18 months and that’s just for your adrenals to start working properly. In 3 years, your micronutrients are back in full swing. In other countries they recommend micronutrient testing right after you have your babies – if we did that, we’d see women go through less postpartum anxiety and depression but that’s a subject for another day. My second pregnancy went so much better because I knew my body better. We’re pretty loosey-goosey after we have our babies so getting those muscles stabilized around the joints and getting those muscles firing on all cylinders again to prevent pain is so necessary.

What do you think? Did you practice any of this when you were pregnant? What about postpartum? I love helping mamas get back on track after baby, taking care of mamas while pregnant, and helping those who are trying to get pregnant – I’ve said it once and I’ll probably say it a million more times, women are capable of anything and the female body constantly amazes me. Come see me soon!