Sue Tomasso
Member
Hi everyone!
I haven't posted in a couple of weeks but we welcomed baby Evan into the world on Tuesday, May 2nd. He was 7 pounds 6 ounces and 21 inches long.
He's a cute little fellow and I'm so happy he's finally here! My kids are thrilled with their new brother too!!
I gained a total of 35 pounds during this pregnancy which, except for the tremendous fluid retention in my legs, was a pretty easy pregnancy. I started at a fit 137 pounds and by this morning I weighed 154 pounds. My legs are still quite sollen (especially my feet...I had to leave the hospital in slippers because I couldn't get my shoes on) but the muscle tone is starting to emerge now that the fluids are slowly leaving my body.
I had to go into the hospital on Monday night at 10 PM because my water broke. I was only having mild contractions so they kept giving me more and more pitocin to strengthen the contractions. I would have been more comfy if I stayed home but because of the risk of infection, you have to go to the hospital right away when your water breaks. The contractions were getting stronger by around 10 AM so I agreed to have an epidural (I didn't want one because I was scared of getting that needle in my spine! I had one w/ my second baby because I wanted to be awake during my c-section. The weird thing is I wasn't afraid of being wide awake during abdominal surgery but I WAS afraid of getting an epidural!) The epidural didn't totally eliminate the pain. It just made the contractions more manageable.
The doctor checked my cervix around 1 PM and he said I was fully effaced and that in about an hour, I would probably start pushing. Then he went back to talking about the stock market and watching the Bloomberg Report with my husband. About 5 minutes later, I was trying to interrupt their conversation because I thought I was going to have a bowel movement on the table. Before I could finish my sentence, I realized that the baby's head was on it's way out! Boy were we caught off guard! The table I was lying on had to be converted into a delivery table, the doctor had to scramble to get his protective clothing on, and the nurse had to run down the hall to find one of those bassinette thingies for the baby. In about five minutes and three pushes, the baby was out! I tried to remember Cathe's technique for pushing but the baby was coming out so fast that I just didn't know what to do! I basically had to do a massive Kegel to try to hold him in while the doctor got ready. I did have an episiotomy but even that wasn't so bad.
The day after Evan was born, I really felt great! I'm sure keeping up with an exercise program throughout the pregnancy had alot to do with it. The last few weeks I only did strength training once a week but I tried to walk at a brisk pace as often as I could for a minimum of 30 minutes. I was especially conscientious about doing my ab and back exercises as well as keeping the kegels contracted during most exercises (and even while walking). This is not to say that I'm ready to get rid of the maternity jeans yet...but at least my road back will not be as long as it was with my other two kids.
I wish everyone well and to those of you who are still expecting....hang in there! Exercising throughout pregnancy might not result in an easier labor for everyone but, compared with my two previous non-exercising pregnancies, I can certainly say that I bounced back the fastest from this one.
Thanks to Cathe and Sheila and all the other posters who inspired me to hang in there!
I haven't posted in a couple of weeks but we welcomed baby Evan into the world on Tuesday, May 2nd. He was 7 pounds 6 ounces and 21 inches long.
He's a cute little fellow and I'm so happy he's finally here! My kids are thrilled with their new brother too!!
I gained a total of 35 pounds during this pregnancy which, except for the tremendous fluid retention in my legs, was a pretty easy pregnancy. I started at a fit 137 pounds and by this morning I weighed 154 pounds. My legs are still quite sollen (especially my feet...I had to leave the hospital in slippers because I couldn't get my shoes on) but the muscle tone is starting to emerge now that the fluids are slowly leaving my body.
I had to go into the hospital on Monday night at 10 PM because my water broke. I was only having mild contractions so they kept giving me more and more pitocin to strengthen the contractions. I would have been more comfy if I stayed home but because of the risk of infection, you have to go to the hospital right away when your water breaks. The contractions were getting stronger by around 10 AM so I agreed to have an epidural (I didn't want one because I was scared of getting that needle in my spine! I had one w/ my second baby because I wanted to be awake during my c-section. The weird thing is I wasn't afraid of being wide awake during abdominal surgery but I WAS afraid of getting an epidural!) The epidural didn't totally eliminate the pain. It just made the contractions more manageable.
The doctor checked my cervix around 1 PM and he said I was fully effaced and that in about an hour, I would probably start pushing. Then he went back to talking about the stock market and watching the Bloomberg Report with my husband. About 5 minutes later, I was trying to interrupt their conversation because I thought I was going to have a bowel movement on the table. Before I could finish my sentence, I realized that the baby's head was on it's way out! Boy were we caught off guard! The table I was lying on had to be converted into a delivery table, the doctor had to scramble to get his protective clothing on, and the nurse had to run down the hall to find one of those bassinette thingies for the baby. In about five minutes and three pushes, the baby was out! I tried to remember Cathe's technique for pushing but the baby was coming out so fast that I just didn't know what to do! I basically had to do a massive Kegel to try to hold him in while the doctor got ready. I did have an episiotomy but even that wasn't so bad.
The day after Evan was born, I really felt great! I'm sure keeping up with an exercise program throughout the pregnancy had alot to do with it. The last few weeks I only did strength training once a week but I tried to walk at a brisk pace as often as I could for a minimum of 30 minutes. I was especially conscientious about doing my ab and back exercises as well as keeping the kegels contracted during most exercises (and even while walking). This is not to say that I'm ready to get rid of the maternity jeans yet...but at least my road back will not be as long as it was with my other two kids.
I wish everyone well and to those of you who are still expecting....hang in there! Exercising throughout pregnancy might not result in an easier labor for everyone but, compared with my two previous non-exercising pregnancies, I can certainly say that I bounced back the fastest from this one.
Thanks to Cathe and Sheila and all the other posters who inspired me to hang in there!
