Thanks to Cathe this story has a happy ending! After a nearly perfect pregnancy, and an all-natural delivery of a beautiful baby girl, I developed an excruciating pain in the left side of my abdomen. I endured this pain for a week thinking it was normal after birth pains, but it kept getting worse and worse, and finally decided I needed to go back to the hospital. After a week of lying in a hospital bed swollen, in pain, and not being able to breastfeed my daughter due to all the antibiotics and pain killers, it was determined that I had contracted “child-bed fever” due to poor hospital care and sanitation. Due to me staying at home with it for a week the infection spread to my abdomen and lungs and I had also developed cellulitis and atelectasis. After another week in the hospital and much rehabilitation the swelling came down, and my left lung got better, but I feared it would never be the same.
After returning home and trying to start over with my new baby, my mother kept encouraging me to start exercising to
get rid of my baby weight. I was reluctant due to being so weak from laying in a hospital bed for 2 weeks and hardly being able to walk due to swelling and pain from the infections. Thank goodness for FitTV at the time! I discovered Cathe’s “Kick, Punch, and Crunch” saved it to my DVR, and tried my best to finish it while my daughter napped. I started out really struggling, my lungs could hardly make it though all the hammer smash knees! With time I got better and better and my baby weight started to fall off.
When FitTV went off the air, I was pretty bummed, but decided I would try to track down Cathe DVD’s online. I was thrilled to see that not only were they available, but she was still making DVD’s and there were so many devoted Cathletes. I can certainly see why! I located her Facebook page, and asked Cathe what new DVD’s I s hould try to get the most bang for my buck in the shortest amount of time since I don’t always get to finish a DVD before my daughter wakes up. She was kind enough to respond to my question and suggest Afterburn. I couldn’t get enough! I am now in the best shape of my life and get compliments all the time on how toned my legs are and how flat my stomach is after having a child.
I owe it to Cathe! I even ran my first 5K two months ago, I could hear her voice in my head “You get what you give, so give a lot!”, and I ran the whole thing, something I never thought I would be able to do after having a partially collapsed lung. I reccommend her DVD’s to all my friends and am so proud to consider myself a Cathlete! I hope to be able to attend a road trip soon! Thank you Cathe for helping me get in shape and helping to inspire me to always do my best and keep pushing!
Thanks for sharing your beautiful story. You are an inspiration to me!!!
Congratulations! You look great! One of the best gifts you can give your daughter is a healthy you 🙂 Keep up your enthusiasm for fitness and model a healthy life style for her; In time she can join you as a Cathelete. My teenage daughter just joined me and it has been a blast.
what a wonderful story. Congratulations on your beautiful baby girl and an excellent recovery. Cathe is simply the best.
Rebekah, What a wonderful inspiring story. It is one thing to start a workout routine with just being out of shape or after having a baby, but to have an injury or illness like you had on top of just having a baby (beautiful little girl :)), is another story. Give yourself a ton of credit for being dedicated and believing in yourself that you could do it and get stronger and more fit than you have ever been. Keep up what you are doing, and hope to see you at a roadtrip sometime… in the mean time, WORK, WORK, WORK!!
Julia
Rebekah, What a wonderful inspiring story. It is one thing to start a workout routine with just being out of shape or after having a baby, but to have an injury or illness like you had on top of just having a baby (beautiful little girl :)), is another story. Give yourself a ton of credit for being dedicated and believing in yourself that you could do it and get stronger and more fit than you have ever been. Keep up what you are doing, and hope to see you at a roadtrip sometime… in the mean time, WORK, WORK, WORK!!
Julia
Amazing and inspiring story. Your mother deserves mention for encouraging you to move and I am a HUGE fan of Cathe’s. She can make you dig deep indeed — the key is to really want that — and you did!!! Good for you!!! You put in the time, the sweat, and all of the tough determination it takes…you should be very proud of yourself for coming back strong after such a rough encounter with your health. Congrats to you!!! 🙂
Thank you all for your kind comments! I am honored that Cathe shared my story and that I was able to inspire some of you! This has made my day! 🙂
Wow…your story really moved me. I’m so sorry for the suffering you had to endure post pregnancy but your recovery and astounding success story is a true picture of how accomplished and strong you are. I’m sure you give alot of women out there the motivation. You sure did for me. Thank you for taking the time to share your story with us.
Rebekah – you look great and your daughter is adorable! Thank your mom for mentioning working out. (Not alot of moms do that – they usually say “be careful honey”.) So glad you turned on a Fit TV channel and got hooked on Cathe! What a comeback story!
Thank you Mandy and Cheryl! Your nice comments mean a lot to me!