Lunging with baby!

 

Here is a new exercise for you mommies!

 

This is simply a lunge and arm raise for a full body workout. 

 

Initial position

Hold your baby under their arms in front of you while straddling your legs, one forward and one back

It is important to find a good balance and keep your core tight while holding your little one.

 

 Ending position

As you sit down into your lunge, bring your baby out in front by extending your arms.

Make sure you keep your knee over your ankle in the front and your hip and knee aligned at your back leg.

 

Perform 8-10 reps and 2-3 sets as tolerated. If you get tired take a break!

 

Alternative methods:

• Put baby in a carrier and skip the arm raises, instead place them on your baby or on your hips for balance.
• Use dumbbells instead of baby and keep palms facing down as you bring your arms up with the weights.
• Switch up the arm raises with bicep curls. This can be done with baby or weights.

In this photo my baby is about 14 lbs. As your baby gets heavier you will get stronger! If your baby is too heavy for you to properly do this exercise then place the baby in a safe place and try it with weights!

 

Do you have Stress Urinary Incontinence post-baby?

What is STI? Well Stress Urinary Incontinence is the inability to hold your urine while doing activities. This is due to weakened pelvic-floor muscles due to the weight of the uterus sitting on it for 9 months.

I personally haven't had this issue because of one of my favorite exercises...kegels! Yes I am bringing kegels up again in this post because it is probably the most important exercise you can do during pregnancy and after delivery. I purposely made sure I did my kegel exercises throughout my pregnancy and most definitely after delivery to prevent this incontinence issue.

Who is more prone to STI?
While anyone experience incontinence after pregnancy, there are five risk factors that could make you more prone to having this issue.

• Multiple pregnancies- a woman who has had more than one child has a weaker pelvic floor due to the multiple stretching and weight put on it.
 
• vaginal delivery- Women who deliver their baby naturally experience stretching and muscle trauma that can take a while to return to normal.
 
• high infant birth weight over 8 lbs- muscles stretch more for bigger babies!
 
• large infant cranial circumference over 35 cm- Just like bigger babies, a larger head circumference can create more muscle stretching and damage to the tissue during delivery.
 
• high maternal weight gain during pregnancy  over 28 lbs- Pressure from weight on already weak and over stretched muscles can create the perfect opportunity for urinary incontinence.
 
• perineal tearing during delivery- Tears are probably the most traumatic part of delivery. If you can get by with no tears or a small inner perineal tear good job but higher degree tears require stitches and lots of TLC!

I am here to tell you that kegels during pregnancy will help prevent STI! I have 4 of these 5 risks factors and I have not peed my pants once since coming home from the hospital. While I haven't had more than one baby I did have a vaginal delivery and I did have a baby who was over 9 lbs and had a head in the 90th percentile! My [regnancy weight gain was about 35 lbs and my perineal tear was minor and only required 2 stitches.

 

Kegels was the best thing I could do for myself during my pregnancy and I'm glad I didn't slack on it!

 

How to do kegels:

 

Lay down or sit in a chair when you first start learning how to do kegels. draw your pelvic floor up like you are "holding your pee"

 

Some people like to do this on the toilet while peeing and stopping the stream of urine to get a feel of what it should feel like (don't make a habit of this as it can cause a UTI)

 

You should do these whenever and wherever the mood strikes but at least several times a day holding for about 10 seconds and then releasing for 10 seconds. Try to do 3-4 sets of 10 reps each day.

 

You can also do quick kegels where you "pulse" your kegel contractions instead of holding them.

 

Happy kegeling!