FitPregnancy - Get Your Body Back After Baby

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Kim Schworm Acosta, Vanessa Geneva Ahem, Dagny Scott Barrios, Jennifer Barrett, Michele Bender, Sasha Brown-Worsham, Kate Neale Cooper, Julie Weingarden Dubin, Mona Gable, Kim Galeaz, Monica Gullon, Teri Hanson, Sara Jaye, Kathleen Kelleher, Alice Lesch Kelly, Carole Anderson Lucia, Marianne McGinnis, Colleen Moriarty, Christopher Napolitano, Pete Nelson, Kate Nolan, Lori Oliwenstein, Lorie Parch, Amy Paturel, M.S., M.P.H., Leigh Brown Perkins, Stephen Randall, Suz Redfearn, Tamekia Reece, Victoria Abbott Riccardi, Shari Roan, Elizabeth Rusch, Sarah Bowen Shea, Carrie Myers Smith, Mary Ellen Strote, Dana Sullivan, Laurie Tarkan, Robin Vitetta-Miller, M.S., Stacy Whitman

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

Reed Davis, Pascal Demeester, Getty Images, Lisa Hubbard, Jupiter Images, Catherine Ledner, David Martinez, Anthony-Masterson, Pornchai Mittongtare, Kana Okada, Victoria Pearson, Lisa Romerein, David Roth, Ted & Debbie, Elio Tolot, Romulo Yanes

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INTRODUCTION

Now, you want your body back. Easier said than done. At two weeks post-pregnancy you might wonder why you still look five months pregnant, but be patient: By six weeks your uterus should be back to its original size and most of the extra fluids you accumulated while expecting will be gone. The next steps? Losing the baby weight, regaining your prepregnancy shape and starting to feel like yourself again.

Thats where Fit Pregnancys Get Your Body Back After Baby can help. From making it through the first six weeks as a new momon less sleep and with little time to exerciseto eventually beginning (and maintaining!) a regular workout routine, in the pages to follow youll find our best advice for shedding those extra pounds and strengthening the muscles most taxed during pregnancy.

Youll also uncover tips on eating healthy, including deliciousand easy to preparerecipes with the nutrients you need. And, how about that sex life? Discover how to balance your relationship, both physically and emotionally, with your role as new mom.

Finally, youll learn the basics of breastfeeding (a great way to burn calories!) as well as how to bond with your baby and, ultimately, become a confident mom. But remember: It took nine months to grow your baby and it will likely take that long to lose the baby weight. No worries: Fit Pregnancys Get Your Body Back After Baby has plenty of tips, recipes and workouts that will help you get your body backand, possibly, in even better shape than before.

Youve made it through pregnancy, labor and delivery. Youve got a beautiful new baby. What you didnt expect was how sore and tired youd be after giving birth. Whats more, taking care of a newborn is taking its toll on you, both physically and emotionally. As any mother will attest, those first six weeks can be overwhelming, exhausting and, in a word, hard.

To make it through, the most important thing you can do is take care of yourself. The following week-by-week guide to recovering after childbirth will help you gauge whats normaland what warrants a call to your doctor. Plus, easy exercises designed to allay stress and strengthen the muscles most taxed during pregnancy and delivery will help you begin to feel like yourself again.

T he key to recovering from childbirth and taking care of your newborn is to place nonessential activities on hold and take care of yourself, too. Mothers think that because theyre going home from the hospital, theyre good to go, says Nancy Chandley-Adams, R.N., IBCLC, who works in the patient-education department at Women and Infants Hospital in Providence, R.I. But their bodies still have to recover.

The key to recovery during your first six weeks postpartum is narrowing your to-do list down to the essentials. Easier said than done? Get down to basics with this week-by-week guide to taking care of yourself after you have a baby.

Week one

Giving birth impacts almost every part of your body. Many new moms are surprised at how sore and tired they are, says Karen Ruby Brown, a certified nurse-midwife at the University of California, San Diego, Community Womens Health Program. Another surprise is how utterly goopy you feel. The body is releasing so much stuffblood, sweat, tears, milkthat women feel like walking bodily fluid factories, Brown explains. During week one youll experience uterine contractions, bloody vaginal discharge, possible breast engorgement and post-episiotomy pain (if you had one). Youll pass clots that can be as large as a small plum. Youll feel even more uncomfortable and in pain if you had a Cesarean section. (For symptoms that require immediate medical attention, see Red Flags, pg. 18.)

HOW TO CARE FOR YOURSELF

MAKE TIME TO MINIMIZE PAIN Strategies may include taking sitz baths, using hemorrhoid wipes, squirting the vaginal area with warm water (especially after going to the bathroom) and following your doctors recommendations regarding incision sites. (For more information on recovering from a vaginal delivery or Cesarean section, see Baby Your Body, pgs. 11 and 13.)

NURSE FREQUENTLY TO PREVENT BREAST ENGORGEMENT When your milk comes in, usually between days three and five, your breasts may become overfull, swollen and hard. You can relieve engorgement pain by applying ice packs or cold cabbage leaves. (The latter havent been proved effective, but may work for some women.)

Baby your body To ease your recovery from labor and delivery, rest as much as you can, drink plenty of fluids and keep taking your prenatal vitamin. Also follow these self-care tips:

KEEP IT CLEAN Be sure to shower daily if you had a perineal tear or episiotomy.