After the Baby: Where Did Your Get Up Go?

After the Baby: Where Did Your Get Up Go? Noof your feet. And if you leave them to heal on their
sooner have you birthed your new little bundle, butown, you could be left with permanently flat feet, and
there's someone hollering in your ear to get off youra painful back out of alignment. One thing is for sure,
duff and walk, walk, walk. Those are the same peoplethe longer it takes you to heal, the longer it will take
who proffered advice during your pregnancy aboutyou to lose those extra pounds and get back to being
eating right, not eating too much, and the need tothe strong, active woman you want to be. So besides
continue exercising until the day you check yourselfrest (when you can get it), what can you do to help
into the hospital. As far as I can tell, those people haveyour body heal faster and offset some the of the
never had morning sickness around the clock forstrange and unexpected side effects of pregnancy
four--yes, four--months! When the only things thatand birth? Three Ways to Heal Faster and Get the
would push the nausea back down to a bare-ableSpring back in your In-Step If you want to speed the
queasiness for a little while were heaps of mashedhealing process, feel stronger and stand on your own
potatoes (the dehydrated version work the best, bytwo feet sooner, try these three things. 1. Sleep on a
the way) and the saltiest saltines you could wrap yourfirm mattress and use a pillow that is just thick and
chubby, little, toxemic fingers around. Nor have they feltpliable enough to support the natural ark in your neck -
the back pressure and overall discomfort that comesanything softer (in a mattress) of thicker (in a pillow) will
at about 6.5 months. Lots of people, especially thoseput added pressure on your back and neck, and will
who have not had a baby themselves, will tell you thatslow healing of your ligaments and joints. 2. Where
you need to get back to your regular exercise routinesupportive footwear - until you lose the extra weight
immediately after you've delivered. Speaking on behalffrom pregnancy, the combination of extra weight and
of my wife and many of my female patients, I will tellligamentous laxity will continue to put pressure on the
you that you need to give your body a chance to restligaments in your feet and may make flat feet a
and recover from the most exhausting and traumaticpermanent state. Flat feet can lead to ongoing pain in
ordeal it has ever (and probably will ever) go through.knees, heels and balls of feet, and so on. So don't let it
You also need to give your mind and body a chancego. 3. Visit a Structural Integration Rolf Practitioner -
to get used to around-the-clock feedings and caringDuring the healing process for any musculoskeletal
for a brand new baby. When you do begin exercising,change (from displaced disc to post partum healing), it
be sure to check with your Obgyn to find out if youis important to make sure the body heals in a way that
are physically ready. Any Obgyn worth her salt will tellbrings you back to the strong, upright person you were
you to take it slowly because your ligaments are stillprior to the trauma. As your SI body-worker, I use
loose due to the hormones that flooded your body tobody alignment techniques established by Ida Rolf
enable your hips, pubic bone, and associated ligaments(Ph.D.) in the 1950s and practiced for more than 50
and muscles to expand enough to allow the birth toyears. I free restrictions in the pelvis caused by the
happen. Those loose ligaments are everywhere intrauma of birth. I slowly, ever-so-gently tip the back and
your body (not just in your hip and pubic areas). Youspine into alignment. And I balance the arches of the
probably felt them when your knees sometimesfeet and ease feet into alignment with knees and
hyper-extended while walking or when you stepped upankles. All this together will lessen the burden on your
onto a curb and felt a rubberiness from ankle to kneeweakened, lax ligaments and allow your body to heal
to hip that reminded you of the last time you steppeditself. Before you know it you will be able exercise in
off of a fast-moving teacup ride. Loose ligaments (orease and comfort. And those pregnancy pounds will
"ligamentous laxity", as it is called) can also causebegin to fall away.
instability in your back and (believe it or not) flattening