I zip myself up

To all you climbers out there. You are very strong. No matter if you climb v5 or v15. You are like mutant strong. Working my way back from ground zero has given me a whole new perspective on strength.
I would attach a photo of my grossly overweight and out of shape post baby body but my camera stops working every time I try :) SO you will just have to take my word for it! haha
Every woman's body is different, obviously.
My body does not take to surgery very well. I find it very painful. This C-section is no different. The first week and a half was the worst. Stuck on the couch popping pills to manage my pain. Then, like magic, on day 10, the pain subsided and I didn't need medication. Now wait a second, the pain wasn't totally gone, it was manage-able without meds, thankfully. I still couldn't do anything though. Week three of being on the couch I was able to start moving around and by week 6 I got the ok from my ob to start exercising. Her exact words were, "I'm letting you out of the barn but don't go wild." I may have gone a little wild... I went climbing four times that week and it set me back, way back. I felt this strange internal shooting pain than ran vertically up the midline of my belly. Ouch. It was weird. I learned that when I felt that pain it meant that I had done enough. I still feel it here and there but it is usually when I stretch my abdomen (I'm 12 weeks out now).
We just moved to Sat Lake City so I can attend Physical Therapy School at the University of Utah. I am totally stoked to be here. The school is great, the city is great, the climbing is new and they have a killer climbing gym. I've started getting in the gym and outside to climb on whatever I can hold onto.
Plus, I've started basic abdominal-strengthening exercises.
DESCRIPTION:
1. Lying on my back with bent knees, feet on the floor at hip width apart. Keeping the angle of my knees the same I lift my knees towards my belly. Then lower them back down. It's a simple motion. KEEP LOWER BACK ON THE FLOOR. I started with 2 sets of 15. Increase the sets when it becomes easier.
2. Basic crunches. Knees bent, feet on the floor. Lower back presses down towards the floor. Hands behind head. Lift nose toward the ceiling. Raise up only high enough to have shoulder blades off the floor.
3. Plank Position. Hold a push up position for 30 seconds. Think of pulling the top of your head toward the wall in front of you while your heels are pulling towards the wall behind you. lift belly towards the sky without bringing hips up with it. Think long body. Lifting chest toward the sky. Strong arms. Do 2 times. When this becomes easy, try a push up keeping elbows in. No chicken Winging!!

Flip

photo courtesy of Kyle George

The last week of my pregnancy was a huge surprise. Not that I didn't know I was pregnant but like in the way that you wait and wait for something without any change and then all of a sudden BOOM. I had a perfect pregnancy. So good it was that my doctors were only seeing me every other week. So it was a huge surprise to all of us that at my 39 week appointment (I went climbing that morning by the way)... my baby had turned breach. I actually went into labor at 36 weeks but stopped it because I wasn't term yet. Not three days later I was laying on my side and I felt this huge movement. I felt water slosh in my belly and I thought to myself, "Wow. That was odd." But it didn't hurt. I had heard that when a baby suddenly flips breach it is quite painful but not in my case.

photo courtesy of Kyle George

So the last week of my pregnancy was spent upside down. I tried everything to flip my baby. Pool time handstands, laying on boards at an incline, a natural herb called Pulsatilla, even manual version. My midwife, who has a 75% success rate, attempted to manually turn my baby and after 45 minutes of excruciating pain and about a quarter of an inch of rotation, we stopped and I scheduled my very unanticipated c-section. I explored my options for doing a natural birth even with a breach baby but with the way he was positioned I couldn't find a single midwife or OB who would perform it. So, I continued with my turning tactics and without any luck I gave birth via c-section at 8:05am on Monday February 14th.

Sebastian Cooper George
8 lbs. 8 oz
22.5 inches long
38.5 cm head circumference

FYI That's a HUGE baby. Not necessarily weight wise but height and head are in the 99th percentile.
**There is the proof that climbing while pregnant does NOT deprive the baby of ANYTHING!!!!!