4 Weeks PP - In Transition

Workouts this week: 4
Most Strenuous Workout: 6 trips up and down the stairs in my house in one evening
Weight: 208 lbs
Total pregnancy weight lost: 15 lbs
Pregnancy weight left to lose: 24 lbs

I feel like I'm in the process of turning a corner! I'm definitely not back at 100% yet, but in little ways I am inching closer to normal. I've done less walking in the past week because it has been too hot to go outside, and I'm just not yet motivated enough to hit the treadmill. However, my general activity level has increased a lot. I'm going up and down stairs with ease now, and can even do so without any pain while carrying the baby. Bending over is still very troublesome, but I guess that is to be expected.

The interesting part of pregnancy and then c-section recovery is seeing all the ways your "core" really supports the rest of your body. You tend not to think of all the ways you use your abdominal muscles until they are all stretched out or incredibly sore. And when your abs can't be depended on to do the work they normally do, your lower back works overtime to compensate, and boy do you feel the aches from that!

It's truly amazing the way the body heals and recovers though. When you think of how much pregnancy changes things, it's wild to see how much actually changes back. I think we tend to focus on what doesn't change back, because things like wider hips and a softer stomach might mess with our body image and damage our self-esteem. But as crazy as our bodies get by the end of pregnancy, they do mostly get back to normal eventually!!

Some women even end up in better physical shape than before because they start taking better care of themselves! I hope to fall into that category once I've made more progress on my fitness journey. Having my kids has made me so much more aware of my body -- how all the different parts work together, how each part has a purpose more important than just looking good, and how much better everything feels when the parts are taken care of and in good working order.

As my recovery continues, I notice how I'm gradually getting stronger, and how the pain is starting to subside. I'm aware that a plethora of small movements and tasks have gone from challenging back to routine. Sometimes I get frustrated because I expect progress to come more quickly, but I also suspect that I'm feeling better now than I did at 4 weeks postpartum the previous three times. Part of this feeling comes from my positive mental state as well -- it's easier to approach recovery with optimism when you are not also juggling grief with the pain and hormonal changes.

In the week to come, I hope to do more and longer walks, either around my neighborhood or on the treadmill. If I have any hope at all of starting to run again in just two weeks, then I need to be getting my legs and lungs ready!!