Mom: Sweet dream Mia
Mia: “I need milky, Mommy…please read my 10 stories, Mommy…I need to tell you something, Mommy….I forgot to give you a hug and kiss, Mommy…I need to give Daddy a hug and kiss, Mommy…I need another hug, Mommy…my covers came off…Mommy, Mommy, Mommy…(you fill in the blank).”
But, last night was a different experience all together.  It was more like this….

Mom: Mia, it’s time for bed.
Mia: OK Mommy…let me get my Ladybug.  (hug…kiss) Goodnight.
So, for any Mom or Dad feeling like bedtime is a challenge…try the Twilight Ladybug!
Anyone out there have this same experience with their Twilight friend?
Peace and sweet dreams!

How did you burn off your Thanksgiving day feast?

Happy hiking,
Kim

Getting started…

The first few weeks – For the first 3 days I was still in the hospital with my baby. Nurses were around constantly helping me with all that I needed to do. I found that I was sitting a lot and since I couldn’t leave the hospital quite yet, my husband and I walked the halls doing lap after lap after lap pushing Wyatt in the bassinet to get some movement in our legs. We had a serious case of cabin fever. As someone who is used to moving, walking, biking, running and exercising every day, sitting in a hospital bed for hour upon hour didn’t sit well with me. I needed to move. Walking was the safest and most comfortable exercise that I could do right off the bat with Wyatt. Walking is something that, once cleared by your doctor, you can likely do as much as comfortably possible. As with any exercise program, please get the approval of your doctor before you begin right away. Not all bodies are created equal; some can do far more than others without pain, so caution and common sense should always be used when starting a new exercise program. What I’ll be chronicling in the coming weeks and months is what my body is ready for.

Once we were home we quickly got a taste of what life is like with a newborn and a 2-year old, and the word “WOW” would be an understatement. I’m finding that I’m chasing my 2 year old around while holding my baby all at the same time. This sounds like an ultra simple task, but I’m finding that a lot of balance and coordination are needed to make sure everyone is safe. I quickly experienced a number of pains and issues that I knew I could work through by exercising together.

PROBLEM: Cabin fever.
SOLUTION: Walk, walk, walk. To get out of the house, my husband and I walked a lot. We would load the 2 kids each into their own stroller, leash up the dog and head out. We would walk for about 45 minutes at a time to get the heart rate up and to make sure we weren’t overdoing it. When Wyatt gets a little older and bigger, I plan to walk with him in a Baby Bjorn or sling so that I can swing my arms, thereby loosening up my tight upper back.

PROBLEM: Tight upper back from holding the baby for hours at a time.
SOLUTION: A quick, safe and super effective exercise I do is one that I actually demonstrate in my “fit+giggles Postnatal Exercise DVD” called “tummy toning stretches”. This stretch is simple…with alternating hands; I reach up to the sky as high as possible keeping my spine straight. Alternating my hands for each reach I complete 12 reaches. For the first set I reach straight up as if I’m trying to reach the highest point in the sky. For the second set of 12 reaches, I reach up and slightly out. And for the last set of 12 reaches, I reach up and slightly across my body twisting slightly at the torso. These simple movements loosen my upper back, reducing tension in my upper back and neck.

PROBLEM: Sore lower back from rocking side-to-side over and over to soothe Wyatt.
SOLUTION: Another exercise that I find completely helpful at this point are hip sways. This is another exercise that we demonstrate in the DVD in a section called “rock-a-baby.” This is a twist or an extension on a movement that all Moms, Dads, Grandmas, Grandpas or any caregiver does. The problem with the way most do them is that an over use injury will quickly rear its ugly head. To get a fussy baby to calm down we typically hold them and swing our hips side to side in a gentle rocking motion. As with anything, if it’s down over and over day after day an over use injury will arise. So, to help alleviate this I do it in 3 different directions. First, the traditional side to side fashion that we all do in our sleep. Next I do this by rocking front to back and then lastly I calm the baby by gently twisting at my hips. I find that Wyatt likes the variety in movement and I enjoy that break in monotony by doing all 3 positions to calm and sooth my new bundle of joy.

Week 3-4 post delivery – My body was starting to feel more “normal”, however I was still taking it easy. I did more of the above but added time and distance onto my walks and incorporated some slight hills into the course. To calm my baby in a new and fun way, in addition to the three moves talked about above; I incorporated bouncing on my exercise ball. My son LOVES the up and down motion and it also challenges my sense of balance. This exercise needs a lot of focus because my arms are busy cradling my baby so any slight tipping on the ball needs to be corrected with my feet and core alone since my arms are occupied. After I started to feel confident sitting on the ball with my baby, I incorporated a slight bounce. This rhythmic up and down motion is so fun for me and very calming and soothing for the baby. I find that it works my thighs, gluts, abdominals, back and arms. I also started rolling my hips on the ball while sitting as this helps loosen and relax my now shrinking hips and pelvis.

As I mentioned before, my family and I live in San Diego, California and our county was recently devastated by wildfires forcing us to stay indoors for a few days to escape the horrible air quality. Given these circumstances we had to eliminate our walks and do more and more of the reaching, swaying and slight squats indoors to get a nice exercise program accomplished. The reaches and sways are the same as described above, however I added slight squats to the mix.

The squats again are moves taken straight from the fit+giggles Postnatal Exercise DVD (www.fitandgiggles.com) in the section called “Mommy Squats”. These moves are great not only for slightly working the thighs and engaging balance but they also engage the pelvic floor to work on tightening the muscles stretched out during labor and delivery. These muscles, when worked in a multi-directional fashion, will help improve incontinence symptoms you might be currently experiencing. To do “Mommy Squats” I squat in 2 different directions, to the side and front, with each foot for a count of 5 squats per leg in each direction. I start in a stance that has my feet shoulder width apart. To change up a basic squat, I turn my toes in different directions for each set, once to the front, out slightly and then in slightly. I do all of this again with my feet in a narrow stance, almost touching, and then in a wide stance, that has my feet out past my shoulder width. This exercise works my gluts and inner and outer thighs. To do this exercise with my baby, I sometimes hold him in my arms or I place him in a Baby Bjorn or a sling.

As the weeks go on, I’ll keep adding descriptions of what I’m doing to not only get back to my pre-pregnancy shape and comfort level but to also bond in fun, creative and active ways with my new son.

Do you have fun exercises that you and your baby are doing?

Happy bonding!

In health,
Kim

Has anyone else tried these recipes? If so, did they work for your family?

Yum, yum,
Kim

By way of a quick introduction, my name is Kim Evans, I’m the co-founder of fit+giggles, a mom of 2 (as you now know). I’m married to a wonderfully supportive husband and we have a 6-year old Vizsla/Weimaraner dog with boundless energy. My family and I are California natives and we live in San Diego. Exercise is my passion and with everything I do I try to incorporate fun and creativity into it.

Growing up I always had one sport or another that I was involved in. My love for exercise was formalized just over a year ago when a friend of mine and I officially opened the “doors” to this health and wellness company we call fit+giggle. The mission of fit+giggles is to reduce the aches, pains and injuries of new Moms while increasing their strength, agility and balance through improved function to achieve a healthier mind, body and spirit. Our first product is a postnatal exercise DVD that allows Mom’s to exercise with their babies…and I must add that the idea for the company was born from necessity. This business was developed when, as a brand new Mom, I simply couldn’t find the time to exercise and I was experiencing all sorts of “new Mom” aches and pains. My friend, a physical therapist, helped me exercise my way away from those pains. With that, we set out to educate anyone and everyone we could reach on how they to could rid their body of these same pains.

My hope is that together through moves taken from our DVD and others we can all get back into our pre-baby shape, learn safe and functional ways to do everyday activities like squatting to pick up dropped items, lunging to reach for the binky that’s rolled behind a chair or stretching to alleviate tension in the upper back, etc. all while bonding with our new babies. My goal is to share with you what I’m doing on a regular basis to get my body back to feeling happy. So with the intros out of the way, here we go.

October 1, 2007 – This is the long anticipated day that we welcomed Wyatt into this world. My doctors advised me that exercise was something I shouldn’t be focusing on and that I need to allow my body to heal. Hmmm, sounds like a fine idea but we all know that as soon as you have your new baby, your back to using your muscles in ways that they haven’t been used during the past 9 months or so. You might not be officially exercising (I’m sure I can speak for all of us when I say “who has the energy for that anyway”), but we are all rocking side to side for hours on end soothing our baby, bending over and squatting in funny ways to pick up dropped blankets, burp cloths, and binkys, and doing the oh so awkward and straining reach to get the car seat in and out of the car without waking the baby. These are just a few of the things we do that, without a good night’s sleep, will likely cause you to break a small sweat or start to pant. We quickly find that we’re using our muscles right away just to do everyday activities with the baby safely cradled in one arm. Life doesn’t give us the 6 weeks window that doctors want us to take without “strenuous” exercise.

With that being said, please join me on the journey of getting our bodies ready to tackle everyday activities safely…let’s take it together.

How did you start your journey back to your pre-baby body and comfort level, I’d love to hear about it?

Happy Bonding,
Kim

You can try this trick in any room of the house. If you start getting a lot of scents going, use a labeled popsicle stick to identify the essential oil added for easy refill.

Happy odor eliminating to you all! Have another eco friendly and baby friendly trick, I’d love to hear about it.

All the best,
Kim

Another fun use for plastic Easter Eggs is to put rice in them, tape them up or secure them in the fashion you prefer (very important) and they can be used as a fun rattle. The amount of rice placed in the egg will change the tone made, so make a few and your baby will be the star of the Easter Egg band.

If you have another use for old plastic Easter Eggs, let me know!

Have fun!!
Kim

See the photo album example…

Here’s how it works
Place the files in the directory that contains your images. By default the scripts looks for images ending in -01.jpg and displays those as thumbnails (e.g. Family-01.jpg). When you click on the image it looks for the file it will display the full size image (e.g. Family.jpg). Why the -01.jpg you ask? Because it is easy to batch process a directory full of images in ImageReady or Photoshop to make thumbnails. Batch processing scripts are included in the download, so if you have ImageReady you are set.

For more information on ImageReady batch processing see the included Readme.txt. ImageReady not included (sorry!).

Download Free ASP Photo Album (.zip)

As always, you should check with your personal physician as to whether exercise is appropriate for you. There are absolute contraindications to exercise, so make sure you consult your physician before starting any exercise program.

That being said, studies indicate that certain sensible exercises are recommended for pregnant women. In general, these can be broken down into cardiovascular exercises, strengthening exercises, and stretching or flexibility exercises. There are specific benefits to each of these categories and why they can help your pregnancy.

As for cardiovascular exercise, I know some women who have run until late into their 3^rd trimester. Personally, running didn’t feel good even early in my pregnancy. I stopped after 8 weeks. Besides, due to previous pregnancy complications, my doctor discouraged high impact exercises. Although there are no studies that indicate running can cause a miscarriage, I didn’t want to bother with the guilt or stress of possibly putting my baby at risk for anything. So, when I was pregnant, I did a lot of stairclimbing, stationary bike, and elliptical trainer. Walking and swimming can also be great exercises, however, for me it was harder to get the intensity I wanted, also I liked having a convenient bathroom near by.

In the 1^st trimester, cardiovascular exercise would help with my morning sickness. I would look forward to alleviation of my nausea. During the 2^nd trimester, it would give me energy and an “adrenaline high”. I would workout before a party or beach gathering, to give me more energy. Now, in my 3^rd trimester, I find that it loosens up my body, improves my circulation, managing any bloating, even in the hot weather we are having. I’m still waiting to out grow my wedding ring.

As for duration, it all depended on how I felt each day. My goal was 40-60 minutes/day, for 4 to 6 times a week. I tried to respect my growing belly, constantly adjusting both duration and intensity. I always had cold water with me. I would fill my water bottles ½ way and freeze it. I would than fill the rest with water on my way out the door. A good rule of thumb with intensity is you want to be able to carry on a conversation. If it takes more than a little effort, you may be working too hard.

I found using a heartrate monitor to be beneficial, as it helped me monitor my level of exertion. It was funny, some days I felt great, so I could workout harder while staying in my target heartrate zone. Yet other days I felt tired, and I had to back off. Speaking of target rate, I used the formula of 220-age to get my estimated maximum heartrate, then I exercised at 60-75% of my max HR. Again, check with your doctor for specific recommendations.

Next time, I’ll talk about strengthening exercises that has helped me.

Sandra VanGilder, DPT