Postpartum Healing Journey
Being 2 years postpartum with my second baby.
I had a VBAC with her, a vaginal birth after a C-section. It was a nightmare labor, the kind pregnant moms don’t want to read about or know exist. In the end though I am alive and my baby is alive and it could have been worse.
I have noticed as a fitness professional that everyone’s bodies and mind are organized different. The way people manage pain, stress, and fitness ranges from person to person. I’ve noticed the ability of the body to adapt to the amount of stress placed on it both negatively and positively.
As someone with hyper mobile joints I am hyper aware of bodies who have one or more hyper mobile joints. There is an art to stabilizing these joints and to building strength in lax muscles.
Add in the hyper mobility that comes with being pregnant and it can really take your body on an unwanted ride.
My feet and ankles spread out and overstretched. It’s 2 years later and I am still rebuilding stability and strength in them. I was so focused on keeping my neck, shoulders, and pelvic floor healthy and happy holding a baby’s and breastfeeding for two years that I’ve had a hard time recovering my feet.
I am a functional Movement coach and part of me feels shame admitting I’m not perfect, my body hurts some days more than others, and if I let my mind turn on me it will come up with all the reasons I am unqualified to do what I do.
I know the truth though
I have been learning and sharing massage therapy, yoga, personal training, foundation training, and now postpartum pelvic floor recovery for the past 15 years.
I am an expert at seeing the whole person and working with the whole body, mind, and spirit.
Working with the whole body takes more time and patience, but in the end it is most effective.
Bodies go through immense changes while pregnant and giving birth. Some women still have symptoms 20 years after they have their babies.
My feet won’t always feel this crappy, I will find remedies for them and share them with other postpartum women.
The same way I figured out how to heal my head and neck pain.
Sure it took:
10 years of not giving up
Years of seeing various chiropractors, massage therapists, and physical therapists
Learning how to safely strength train
Stopping over stretching hyper mobile joints
Not sleeping on my stomach
And more
The point is, I figured it out.
I have this body and it is complicated. It’s also strong, resilient, and a hell of a lot better off with movement then it would be if I gave up on myself a long time ago.
Love always,
Danielle Mallett
