| After the Baby: Where Did Your Get Up Go? No | | | | of your feet. And if you leave them to heal |
| sooner have you birthed your new little | | | | on their own, you could be left with |
| bundle, but there's someone hollering in your | | | | permanently flat feet, and a painful back out |
| ear to get off your duff and walk, walk, | | | | of alignment. One thing is for sure, the |
| walk. Those are the same people who proffered | | | | longer it takes you to heal, the longer it |
| advice during your pregnancy about eating | | | | will take you to lose those extra pounds and |
| right, not eating too much, and the need to | | | | get back to being the strong, active woman |
| continue exercising until the day you check | | | | you want to be. So besides rest (when you |
| yourself into the hospital. As far as I can | | | | can get it), what can you do to help your |
| tell, those people have never had morning | | | | body heal faster and offset some the of the |
| sickness around the clock for four--yes, | | | | strange and unexpected side effects of |
| four--months! When the only things that would | | | | pregnancy and birth? Three Ways to Heal |
| push the nausea back down to a bare-able | | | | Faster and Get the Spring back in your |
| queasiness for a little while were heaps of | | | | In-Step If you want to speed the healing |
| mashed potatoes (the dehydrated version work | | | | process, feel stronger and stand on your own |
| the best, by the way) and the saltiest | | | | two feet sooner, try these three things. |
| saltines you could wrap your chubby, little, | | | | 1. Sleep on a firm mattress and use a pillow |
| toxemic fingers around. Nor have they felt | | | | that is just thick and pliable enough to |
| the back pressure and overall discomfort that | | | | support the natural ark in your neck - |
| comes at about 6.5 months. Lots of people, | | | | anything softer (in a mattress) of thicker |
| especially those who have not had a baby | | | | (in a pillow) will put added pressure on your |
| themselves, will tell you that you need to | | | | back and neck, and will slow healing of your |
| get back to your regular exercise routine | | | | ligaments and joints. 2. Where supportive |
| immediately after you've delivered. Speaking | | | | footwear - until you lose the extra weight |
| on behalf of my wife and many of my female | | | | from pregnancy, the combination of extra |
| patients, I will tell you that you need to | | | | weight and ligamentous laxity will continue |
| give your body a chance to rest and recover | | | | to put pressure on the ligaments in your feet |
| from the most exhausting and traumatic ordeal | | | | and may make flat feet a permanent state. |
| it has ever (and probably will ever) go | | | | Flat feet can lead to ongoing pain in knees, |
| through. You also need to give your mind and | | | | heels and balls of feet, and so on. So don't |
| body a chance to get used to around-the-clock | | | | let it go. 3. Visit a Structural Integration |
| feedings and caring for a brand new baby. | | | | Rolf Practitioner - During the healing |
| When you do begin exercising, be sure to | | | | process for any musculoskeletal change (from |
| check with your Obgyn to find out if you are | | | | displaced disc to post partum healing), it is |
| physically ready. Any Obgyn worth her salt | | | | important to make sure the body heals in a |
| will tell you to take it slowly because your | | | | way that brings you back to the strong, |
| ligaments are still loose due to the hormones | | | | upright person you were prior to the trauma. |
| that flooded your body to enable your hips, | | | | As your SI body-worker, I use body alignment |
| pubic bone, and associated ligaments and | | | | techniques established by Ida Rolf (Ph.D.) in |
| muscles to expand enough to allow the birth | | | | the 1950s and practiced for more than 50 |
| to happen. Those loose ligaments are | | | | years. I free restrictions in the pelvis |
| everywhere in your body (not just in your hip | | | | caused by the trauma of birth. I slowly, |
| and pubic areas). You probably felt them when | | | | ever-so-gently tip the back and spine into |
| your knees sometimes hyper-extended while | | | | alignment. And I balance the arches of the |
| walking or when you stepped up onto a curb | | | | feet and ease feet into alignment with knees |
| and felt a rubberiness from ankle to knee to | | | | and ankles. All this together will lessen |
| hip that reminded you of the last time you | | | | the burden on your weakened, lax ligaments |
| stepped off of a fast-moving teacup ride. | | | | and allow your body to heal itself. Before |
| Loose ligaments (or "ligamentous laxity", as | | | | you know it you will be able exercise in ease |
| it is called) can also cause instability in | | | | and comfort. And those pregnancy pounds will |
| your back and (believe it or not) flattening | | | | begin to fall away. |