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!!!!!

Climbing pregnant: Week 39

Rock Climbing

Yee-Haw! I'm officially feeling very pregnant. I went climbing in the gym yesterday and it felt great. Each climb is very slow. I have to swing my body side to side to be able to see the foot holds, actually place my foot on it and then shift my weight in order to go up. It's like hula dancing. For the first time I'm not psyched to make it to the top of the route because it means lowering down. I really don't like the lowering part. My harness squeezes my belly and its uncomfortable. Baby is fine, I'm not like cutting myself or anything. It's just uncomfortable. I had to yell down to Doug, my climbing partner, to lower me faster...I'm sure I sounded impatient and demanding. I'm so lucky to have him. He doesn't care. He cares that I'm climbing, and that's it. He doesn't mind that I can barely get up a climb, or that I don't let him fall while I'm belaying. Thank you Doug for being so supportive!

L-Day

The big day is coming soon. I'm both nervous and excited. I'm trying not to count down the days. A watched kettle never boils.
I'm reading a pile of labor books to help myself prepare. But everyday that I climb I'm thinking more and more about transferring those thoughts and methods to my labor. When I get a little pumped I focus on my breath and imagine myself in the middle of a really hard contraction and I think about opening and relaxing. Climbing is still climbing of course and can't really compare to labor but I believe any kind of mental preparation I can have increases my success of having a natural birth.
Tomorrow is my birthday and I've been waiting until that has passed to start doing "Let's get this show on the road" activities. I plan to take a long walk every day (and climbing of course) following my bday until my son is born. I just don't want to share my birthday with my offspring.

To think, I'll get to meet him in the next couple weeks. It's so exciting!

Happy New Year!

Happy 2011 everyone!!!

Last year was great but I have a feeling that this year is going to be fantastic! I've never been one for idols or new years resolutions but I do have goals. My goals for this year are to send labor (at least a 5.22c/d), get into physical therapy school (probably v12), and get back into climbing shape.



photo by Kyle George

On the media front, check out the prAna LOVE!
http://www.prana.com/blog/2010/12/24/20-questions-interview-with-carrie-cooper-video/

I can't wait till after I have my baby so I can actually wear my new Kyra Jacket. I love that companies are moving sideways and using natural fibers again. I love wool. Traveling in New Zealand really sealed it when everything was soaking wet and cold but my wool still kept me warm miraculousy!

Health, wealth, and happiness to all!

Climbing pregnant: Weak 33

Well this one is a short post cause I'm WEAK!
I made the mistake of not climbing for the last two weeks and now I'm all outta pregnancy climbing shape! Suck. I tried to climb a couple days ago and only did four routes (all 5.9). And they felt sooooooo hard. But I wasn't sore at all! Which means that its my endurance that took the dive. That time I took off because of the holiday's eating obligations made me stiff. I've had more hip and back pain than usual. Plus more swelling. YAY!
I went climbing and did those few routes and my body was tired yes but it was like it gave this giant sigh and said thank you. Climbing stretches the old tissues. Phew. I feel better.
I shall now refer to weeks 32 and 33 as WEAKs.
It is 7 degrees outside today with the sun shining. brrrrrrrrr
I really want to go sledding and or skiing. But I generally don't do either of those activities very safely in the first place. This coming week I'm going to work really hard to not hibernate too much and get those juices flowing!!!!
We'll see how it all goes down.

Week 32: Balance: An argument in favor of climbing pregnant

Balance seems to be a popular question from people who discover that I'm still climbing. They ask, "How is your balance?"
"You must fall a lot."
"Does that big belly make you tip over?" That one is my personal favorite. Thanks for the compliment.
My answer is NO!!

Balance is a product of a few key factors. The main ones being muscle tone and balanced proprioception. These sensors in your body tell you whether or not your foot bone is connected to your leg bone and they tell you if you are standing, and if you are standing solidly most importantly. We use our vision for 90% of our balance. Have you ever tried to stand still with your eyes closed? How about on one leg with your eyes closed? It takes practice and what do you think you are training? Your proprioceptors.

Putting all this into context, as a pregnancy progresses, weight is gained in the center of a womans body. The center is the belly, the mid section that connects your top half to your bottom half and because there is little help from this area late in pregnancy, other adjustments must be made.

That myth that pregnant women fall over a lot, in theory, has to do with whether she sits all the time or is able to move and exercise.

So here is my argument for climbing while pregnant.

Climbing allows for a change in weight distribution. A climber must shift weight onto the left foot to lift the right foot, must balance weight in the center in order to match on a hold above the head. If a pregnant woman climbs throughout pregnancy, as a pound is added each week, proprioceptors are able to adjust to this change and therefore balance throughout the body is maintained.

I may not be good at picking things up off the floor or tying my shoes but I can balance on one leg with my eyes closed. I did it yesterday.

Climbing is good for pregnant women.

Climbing pregnant, the first fall: Week 30

It never crossed my mind that I might, at some point, actually fall while climbing. I know, duh, it is a possibility, I just hadn't considered it. I have been very thorough with whomever is belaying me. Checking and double checking that everyone is double backed, locked and loaded. I make sure that my belayer knows to keep me tight so I don't go far if I was to fall. All the precautions were there, and I felt safe.
A few nights ago I was in the gym, same old same old. I was warmed up, it was my last hard climb of the session. I placed my foot on a positive but slick foot hold, and stretched up for a far reaching hand hold. SLIP. My foot skated off and off I went. I was dangling there in space when I realized I had actually fallen. During which time I tightened my abs as much as they would tighten (reflexes), so tight in fact that I had a hard time getting them to relax. I re-situated myself to a more comfortable resting spot and contemplated what had just happened. I sat there, waiting for the contractions to start. But there was nothing. My breath wasn't labored, my body felt fine. I was fine. So I kept climbing, I finished the route and called it a day.
Even though everything seemed well and good, I needed to feel the baby move before I was on a path towards ease of mind. I sat down to take off my climbing shoes and put on my regular shoes and bam bam bam goes the baby. Knocking around in there like nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
I would have been fine had the voices of the hundreds of people who have said to me,
"You aren't still climbing are you?"
"Oh that's so dangerous, what about the baby?"
"You shouldn't be climbing, should you?"
And even though I know how to answer each and every one of their questions and comments. Even though I know that everything is fine and that climbing feels better than walking. Even though the baby was moving, I didn't get a single contraction...
The ghost-like voices in my head filled me with anxiety. It took me two days of talking myself, talking to the baby, talking to my medical practitioner friends for me to let go of the notion that I had damaged the baby by falling a 1/4" on top-rope.
I'm fine,
the babies fine,
if something irregular happens with the baby, it has nothing to do with my climbing. If mama is happy, baby is happy.
How much better can I take care of the growing life in my belly than to eat well, be well, and choose activities that give me peace of mind.
F*** the police.