Recovery - It is a journey
So for those keeping track:
I spent 3 weeks faithfully wearing flats and my SI belt every day, every night. Flats at work suck. Actually, they wouldn't if: 1) I was tall (I'm not), 2) I had flats that I like for work (I don't), 3) more than 2 pairs of my pants fit well with flats (they don't).
This past week was week 4. Off with the SI belt that if I wear under my clothes bites into my flesh and if I wear over my clothes provokes odd looks, an unflattering cinching in at the widest part of my hips, and comments like, "your maternity band is showing" (don't ask). On with the heels!
Monday and Tuesday were OK but by Wed, in a pair of low 1.5in nearly-flats I was feeling the pain. I went to PT with my SI belt on over my pants. The PT dolled out the following info about both of my pelvic conditions.
Incontinence:
1) I'm stronger. Not strong enough to hold things in every time I sneeze or blow my nose - but I am stronger.
2) I have new exercises to do and they have to be done throughout the day. If you see me slowly moving from a stand to a sit with a strange look on my face...it's because I'm doing my exercises.
3) Given my current progress we are shooting for a return to pre-pregnancy conditions around New Year's.
SI Joint Injury:
1) I'm still injured, but it's healing.
2) I'm vain and stupid to wear heels AND not wear my SI belt. I can have sexy hips or sexy heels, not both and not for a while. (I'm not entirely certain I will take this advice and perhaps that means I really am vain and stupid)
3) Stretch, Stretch, Stretch. Quads, Hamstrings, Glut, Groin, all around my core, and some tiny sets of muscles no one really knows that they have until they end up injured in the pelvis.
So I'm wearing my belt more - especially on weekends and going out in my 'walking shoes' on the weekends too. There's no estimate for when things with the SI injury will heel up and that's mostly because it's a rare injury (you have to be a stunt man or a mama or in a real bad car accident to get it...and for some reason even though everyone has a mama...birthing injuries are so damn taboo.
Thank goodness I have a supportive hubby. One of the things that sucks is that it is hard to lift up Wade in her carrier without risking a bladder failure. Bending over and then lifting...it's surprisingly tough on one's pelvic floor. That's why the next step is to exercise the floor while going from a stand to a sit. If I can do that, I should be able to handle the bending over...then there will be other exercises to strengthen the floor so that I can perform more lifts with out the risk of leaking.
Oh while it isn't recovery related, it is related to stuff that happened to my body related to giving birth: Milk production is back on track. We'll see what happens after this weekend away from the routine - but all in all it seems that I'm able to put more milk in storage than I take from it. Wade starts solids in a few weeks...I'll probably post more separately about that.
I spent 3 weeks faithfully wearing flats and my SI belt every day, every night. Flats at work suck. Actually, they wouldn't if: 1) I was tall (I'm not), 2) I had flats that I like for work (I don't), 3) more than 2 pairs of my pants fit well with flats (they don't).
This past week was week 4. Off with the SI belt that if I wear under my clothes bites into my flesh and if I wear over my clothes provokes odd looks, an unflattering cinching in at the widest part of my hips, and comments like, "your maternity band is showing" (don't ask). On with the heels!
Monday and Tuesday were OK but by Wed, in a pair of low 1.5in nearly-flats I was feeling the pain. I went to PT with my SI belt on over my pants. The PT dolled out the following info about both of my pelvic conditions.
Incontinence:
1) I'm stronger. Not strong enough to hold things in every time I sneeze or blow my nose - but I am stronger.
2) I have new exercises to do and they have to be done throughout the day. If you see me slowly moving from a stand to a sit with a strange look on my face...it's because I'm doing my exercises.
3) Given my current progress we are shooting for a return to pre-pregnancy conditions around New Year's.
SI Joint Injury:
1) I'm still injured, but it's healing.
2) I'm vain and stupid to wear heels AND not wear my SI belt. I can have sexy hips or sexy heels, not both and not for a while. (I'm not entirely certain I will take this advice and perhaps that means I really am vain and stupid)
3) Stretch, Stretch, Stretch. Quads, Hamstrings, Glut, Groin, all around my core, and some tiny sets of muscles no one really knows that they have until they end up injured in the pelvis.
So I'm wearing my belt more - especially on weekends and going out in my 'walking shoes' on the weekends too. There's no estimate for when things with the SI injury will heel up and that's mostly because it's a rare injury (you have to be a stunt man or a mama or in a real bad car accident to get it...and for some reason even though everyone has a mama...birthing injuries are so damn taboo.
Thank goodness I have a supportive hubby. One of the things that sucks is that it is hard to lift up Wade in her carrier without risking a bladder failure. Bending over and then lifting...it's surprisingly tough on one's pelvic floor. That's why the next step is to exercise the floor while going from a stand to a sit. If I can do that, I should be able to handle the bending over...then there will be other exercises to strengthen the floor so that I can perform more lifts with out the risk of leaking.
Oh while it isn't recovery related, it is related to stuff that happened to my body related to giving birth: Milk production is back on track. We'll see what happens after this weekend away from the routine - but all in all it seems that I'm able to put more milk in storage than I take from it. Wade starts solids in a few weeks...I'll probably post more separately about that.