My doctor says to wait until my 6 weeks appointment to start back with my exercise routine. I feel the need to exercise now. I exercised nearly everyday during my pregnancy. I did an hour yoga session just a couple of hours before I went into labor. I have a previous back injury and exercise makes me function 100% better than when I dont exercise. My back is now suffering from nursing and carrying the baby around the house. I am desperate to at least walk on the treadmill or do some light yoga. Any advise? BTW, baby is 1 month old. I had a natural childbirth with absolutely no complications, no tears, stitches anything.
Talk to your doctor first. There is a definite reason why they want you to wait. Your body is still healing. Can you wait just another 2 weeks until your 6 week appointment? Some easy stretches might be OK though.
Did you have a c- section? I had a bad experience will healing after mine. @nd baby first c-section. I reopened my wound 4 times in 3 places and it took 4 months to heal completely. I am still trying to get the motivation to start working out again. I wouldnt risk it.
I know I too was anxious to start working out again. One thing I would caution you against is if you are still bleeding you would be wise to keep laying low. My bleeding tapered off within the first two weeks but any time I did any sort of increased activity the bleeding would start again. As a result it stretched on for about 6 weeks postpartum, so I ended up waiting until then to start exercising.
If you aren't bleeding you could always try some light walking or gentle yoga but remember it is really easy to push it and before you know it your doing some ab work or strength yoga. Remember you just had a baby 4 weeks ago and your body deserves a good long rest after 9 months of constant changes. You will be 6 weeks postpartum before you know it.
Congratulations on being a new mom!
I'm certainly not a Dr. so please take this with a grain of salt and use your own good judgement. But, like you, I was very active throughout my whole pregnancy. I walked 3-6 miles every day (and somehow still gained 50 lbs) so really couldn't stand to wait 6 weeks to be active again. I just started walking again probably 3 weeks after I delivered my son in May vaginally. I would walk about 2 miles daily at a pretty good pace too. I figured I would certainly feel it "down there" if I was straining it (if you know what I mean). I had 4 stitches and all healed fine.
I know what you mean about functioning better with excercise. I talked with my doctor about that and she cleared me to take some walks around the block early on. She knew my mental health was more important than adhering to an old standard. I too excercised all the way to the end of my pregnancy and had no complications. You do want to avoid stomach exercise for a while though as there is some risk involved. As far as the back pain goes, ditch the infant seat/carrier as often as you can. That thing killed my back!
***I just realized this post is from Feb!? You should be in full swing by now!
I guess that the question is whether or not you had a C-section? If you had him naturally with no complications walking or light yoga is good. On the other hand if he was born by c-section be very careful. It can take up to six months to heal completely. Light walking will help you heal, just take it slow.
I went back to work 4 weeks after having my son. I did work in an office, but there is quite a bit of walking around with my job. I had a huge tear with my son that required stitches, but I was back to normal after just a couple of weeks. Light walking shouldn't bother you at all, especially if you were on an exercise routine throughout the pregnancy. Six weeks is just a guideline, everyone is going to heal and feel differently. Take it slow and if you start feeling something wrong, stop. I'm sure you'll be fine.
