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Postpartum Aches and Pains

written by Parita Leave a Comment

This post is not intended to scare moms to be or women who want to be moms in the future. It’s just an honest reflection of my postpartum experience. Everyone is different. The real key is to find the humor in these things when you can!

At some point over the weekend, I had my hair up in a bun (of course!), and I noticed a million baby hairs pointing in every direction. They were literally popping out from the front, the top, the back, etc. As annoying as this is, it made me laugh because personally I’ve found baby hairs to be the least of my postpartum aches and pains.

This also got me thinking about all the strange things that have happened to me physically after having kids.

The about to be a first time mom version of me had no clue what was coming!

The strangest experience was getting full body hives. Not once but TWICE! The first time, I went to an allergist, got a full work up, and they found nothing. The doctor was convinced I had cold urticaria (allergic to extremely cold weather). That would’ve made sense given we lived in Chicago at the time, except for that fact that this was my third winter in the Windy City. The second time around was before a a big work trip and a big family trip, so I just started taking the same meds right away.

Fingers crossed I haven’t had hives since October 2019!

Speaking of allergies, I’ve noticed that since having kids, my allergic reaction to whatever is floating around outside is more pronounced. If I forget to take Aller-tec first thing in the morning and spend any amount of time outside, it’s game over. My eyes and face and everything…so itchy!

Never had any kind of allergies before kids…just saying!

Ok, moving away from allergies…and on to literally aches and pains…

This could honestly just be a getting older thing, but man, my lower back pain is nuts on some days. I notice it more when I workout, but again, not something I had to think about before kids. I have zero proof, but I have to believe that carrying around two babies for nine months each did something to my alignment. I’m getting better about using our massage gun and stretching whenever I can, but still…it’s a literal pain!

Also, and I realize I’m sound like a frail lady, after having Kaiden I sometimes (it’s more rare now) get this strange tightness in my sternum area into my abdomen whenever I bend over on the floor to play with the kids. And the only thing that helps is to breathe through it. Thankfully, it hasn’t happened since having Mila, but I’m always cautious about moving too quickly now.

And finally, my inability to sleep through the night + night sweats. I definitely attribute this to becoming a mom. My brain is constantly on, and I have yet to think of a way to turn it off for the night. I wake up at least once if not multiple times. Sometimes I think I hear one of the kids crying (sometimes it is one of the kids crying), other times I wake up and freak out when Vishnu’s not next to me, and sometimes I just wake up for no good reason. Working on establishing a better night time routine with at least 30 minutes of down time before bed.

As far as the night sweats go, it must be some sort of hormonal thing. It’s not as bad as it was immediately postpartum, but man, some nights I wake up drenched in sweat. It’s so gross! And while Vishnu will say it was warm that night, he’s never sweating the way I am.

Obviously, all of these things are a small price to pay for my beautiful children! It’s just part of the process, and I’d do it a million times over to be honest. Just a tiny bit unfair that my husband doesn’t get to partake in this fun even though K + M are 50% his!

Written on September 21, 2022 Related:postpartum, pregnancy, Uncategorized

Postpartum Health Journey – Week 2

written by Parita Leave a Comment

Taking a more holistic approach to my health this time around is proving to be helpful…feels more balanced to be honest. This week was good in some ways and definitely showed me areas of improvement in others (another reason why I like the four categories I picked – helps break things down a bit more).

General thoughts

A few things I forgot to share last week…

Measuring overall progress – In light of keeping it real, I am weighing myself about once a week/every two weeks right now, but my main focus from a postpartum body perspective is how my clothes fit. And more importantly, how I feel on a day-to-day basis. Do I feel strong? Am I exhausted? Do I feel depleted? Am I reacting more than responding?

Length of workouts – I shared last week that my plan right now is to do a mix of strength, cardio, and core rehabilitation workouts. In terms of length of each workout, right now I’m able to manage 20-45 minutes on a given day depending on what’s going on, if the baby is napping, if anyone is around to help, etc.

Vitamins/supplements – In terms of vitamins and supplements, I’m currently taking a prenatal vitamin, vitamin D, vitamin B12, iron, and a pre/probiotic.

Week 2 – Physical health journey

So this week was Friday-Thursday, and in that time, I squeezed in four workouts. Everything from Peloton rides (ranging from 30-45 minutes) to Peloton and Bodyfit by Amy* strength workouts. From a physical health perspective, it was a good week.

I will say that I’m taking it much easier on my core than I did with Kaiden. Vishnu really wants me to be careful (rightfully so) because he knows how all in I can be with my workouts, and he doesn’t want me to create permanent damage somehow.

*Bodyfit by Amy is an amazing and free YouTube channel with hundreds of workouts and challenges that an be done at home (and some with no equipment). I’ve been doing Amy’s workouts since I was pregnant with Kaiden, and I can’t recommend them enough. She has everything from prenatal to postnatal, HIIT, strength training, pilates, tabata, etc.

Week 2 – Nutritional health journey

My sweet tooth is a little out of control, so I’m currently working on reigning it in a bit by coming up with alternative ‘treats’ for when the craving hits. Will share more as I experiment and learn.

I’m also focusing on adding more protein to my meals and snacks. For example, I’ve been making a nut mix at home with pecans, almonds, walnuts, and a few chocolate chips. I figure that’s better than eating chocolate chips on their own!

And finally, definitely working on increasing my veggie intake. Step one – eating more salads for lunch!

Week 2 – Mental health journey

Still keeping up with therapy! Love my therapist so so much as well as the relationship we’re building.

I’m reading again and started with ‘The Midnight Library.’ Mainly squeezing in pages while I pump, but that’s better than mindlessly scrolling!

My parents are coming to help me this weekend since Vishnu’s on call and working 7a-4p+ both Saturday and Sunday. Woo hoo for living in Atlanta!

Week 2 – Social health journey

Last week, I talked about how I was going to try new ways to control my social media usage. Turns out I don’t need anything new. I just need to go back to my old rules. So from now on, I’m capping my time on IG to 100 minutes/day. After that, I delete the app from my phone. Hopefully this helps!

In terms of our social life, we have a white elephant get together this weekend with friends. Vishnu’s also going to a Hawk’s game with friends on Friday. And last weekend, we had friends over for dinner andK + V went to a Santa event. Given the fact that we have a newborn at home, I feel like this aspect of our life is on track. We don’t attend everything we’re invited to, but because we personally need friend time and want Kaiden to be out and about with new friends, we’re weighing our choices accordingly.

Well, that’s all I’ve got for this week! Wish me luck for week 3!

Written on December 10, 2021 Related:Health, motherhood, Uncategorized

Postpartum Health Journey – Week 1

written by Parita Leave a Comment

Hello hello! I’m excited to share my postpartum health journey on here because these are the kinds of posts I wish someone had written when I had Kaiden.

So here’s the lowdown…these posts will be very personal to my journey based on my experience(s) and recovery. That doesn’t mean you can’t borrow ideas or follow along, but please do keep this in mind. Also, please remember it took nine months to grow your baby. We just can’t expect things to go back to where they were a few weeks after birth. Everything takes time. Something I’m reminding myself of often.

I’m going to be sharing the physical, nutritional, mental, and social aspects of my journey on here because I don’t think you’re truly healthy unless all of these are taken into account. I also need some accountability in some of these areas, so this will be a great way to do that.

Ok so let’s get into it…

My experience and recovery

So for anyone who doesn’t know, this was a repeat c-section delivery for me. I had an emergency c-section with my firstborn, and my husband I decided another c-section would be the best route given my last delivery.

The delivery itself was fine. By the time I got home three days later, I was going up and down stairs and was also fairly mobile. I honestly thought I was in the clear in terms of the worst being over with.

Then, a week and day later, I found myself back in the hospital for postpartum hemorrhaging. This was way harder on me than my delivery itself for many reasons. I won’t go into the details, but I’m thankful for the way things played out. My recovery after this was a little longer and still ongoing in ways. But I’m getting there. I’m mobile and able to be active and keep up with Kaiden, so I’m thankful for that!

Key takeaway – everyone’s experience is different. Don’t compare and GO SLOW. A few days, weeks, or months of rest and recovery aren’t that big of a deal in the long run. Better safe than sorry.

My health journey plan

I’ve had six whole weeks to think about my health journey plan and what I want to do to get back into the swing of things.

This may be the most anti climatic thing to say, but my plan is to keep things simple and go back to the basics. I don’t believe in diets. I’ve tried a few and they never work for me. I don’t believe in deprivation. I don’t believe in cutting out entire food groups or ingredients. None of these methods work. And now that I have little eyes watching me all the time, I want to make sure I’m a good role model for them.

So that said, I plan to exercise 4-5 times a week – a mix of cardio, strength training, and yoga/stretching. In terms of my diet (what I eat, not a specific plan), I plan to focus on the things I need to add in versus remove. That seems like a more sustainable and fun idea versus removing the things I truly love and enjoy. My mental health plan is to keep going with therapy and continuing with 360 degree self-care, meaning not just the indulgent things but other deeper things like creating boundaries, etc. Socially, I need to be more mindful of my time on IG, but this is also about who and how we’re filling our time. Now that we’re in GA, I want to see my friends and family but need to ensure it’s filling my cup and not taking away from it.

So that’s the plan in a nutshell…

Week 1 – Physical health journey

I AM SO SORE! As I sit here and type this out, my legs are so freaking sore! I haven’t felt this way since I started at my gym in 2019!

This week, I got in three solid workouts (this week is Monday-Thursday for the purposes of this blog post). I did a low impact Peloton ride, a postpartum core workout, a full body strength workout, and another Peloton bike ride. I plan to do a Body Fit by Amy strength workout today.

Vishnu felt like I was pushing it a little bit this week, but I felt pretty good except for the soreness. But I figure that’s expected no matter when I start. In terms of the bike rides, I’m not striving for any particular numbers. I just want to get through the workout at my own pace. And with the strength ones, I thought I’d be able to pick right back up where I left off at 37 weeks, but no dice. I used mostly 8 and 10 pound weights for my strength workout on Tuesday, and it was still really hard for me. Baby steps!

Week 1 – Nutritional health journey

So I did great on Monday and Tuesday – lots of veggies were consumed, and I drank a ton of water. Then on Wednesday, I ate a ton of carbs (more than usual) and was ravenous most of the day.

Here’s the thing though – when you’re breastfeeding and/or pumping (I’m pumping), you burn through a lot of calories. For example, I pump 6 times a day and usually have an output of about 6-8 ounces each time. You burn an average of 20 calories for every ounce produced, so if you do the math, that’s roughly 720 calories a day. That’s a lot! And the way this whole thing works is that you have to eat to keep up your supply.

So while, I want to be more mindful in this area, I recognize I just need to listen to my body and let it do it’s thing on some days while still try to adhere to the let’s add in some good stuff plan.

That said, the one thing I need to be better about is meal/snack prepping. We have all the goods ready to go, but I just need to prep little baggies of nuts and chop up veggies the night before or make a batch of hard boiled eggs on Sunday. I know from experience that these small actions add up…just need to motivate myself to do it.

Week 1 – Mental health journey

I had a therapy appointment yesterday…a must in my mind! I love my therapist and really feel like she’s a good fit for me. She’s so empathetic yet knows the exact questions to ask to get me to see things different. Love our time together.

My mom’s also be over a ton to help out, which does wonders for my mental health. I’m so thankful they live close by, know how to handle Kaiden (a big part of the equation), and are able and free to help us. I honestly don’t think I’d be standing without her or Vishnu.

Speaking of Vishnu, we’re doing so much better communicating this time around. He’s also around more, which is just amazing on so many levels. Mostly because he gets to experience parenting in a more hands on way with both K and M. And he’s able to take a lot of things off my plate, which is always good for my mental health!

Other than that, I’m doing pretty good from this perspective, much better than I was with Kaiden. I think the weather also has something to do with it. Even though it’s starting to get chilly, the sunshine does wonders for your mind. The new variant does have my head spinning as does the most recent school shooting. But I’m trying to focus on the steps I can take versus everything that’s wrong with our country.

Week 1 – Social health journey

Let’s not talk about my IG usage. Just kidding…I said I wanted accountability, and the first step is transparency. I need to be more mindful of my usage. Period. I have no reason to be on as much as I am, and I have a few ideas I need to test out for how to stay off more than I am on that I will share next week after putting in place. More to come…stay tuned!

In terms of social relationships, I think I’m doing pretty good. We’ve obviously had to say no to a lot because of Mila and Covid and all the viruses that are spreading like wildfire right now. But I also realize there are different ways of keeping in touch and hanging out – Kaiden and I went out to lunch with a friend and her son, I talked to another friend on the phone for a bit and just caught up, another friend that I hadn’t seen in a while came over and hung out, and some other friends came over on a weekday morning so we could just talk and hang without kids interrupting every five seconds.

The one thing that does ease my mind is that everyone has been great about wearing masks when they come over. Not that I doubted our family/friends, but that does put my mind at ease a little. Also, our people have a lot of common sense and know to stay home if they’re sick or have been recently.

We have some more fun things coming up over the next few weeks, and yet again, I’m just so thankful to be able to experience the holidays with all of our loved ones this year!

That’s week one in a nutshell. These are all changes I want to keep up in the long term, so slow and steady is my motto!

Written on December 3, 2021 Related:Fitness, Health, Uncategorized, Workout

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