The third in the “Keep It Real” series and this time we hear from the lovely Sam. She talks about preparing for birth a second time and the two kid juggle…….
How did your second postnatal recovery compare to your first?
I felt way more confident second time around. With my first birth I had an episiotomy and an infection in the stitches which didn’t help my recovery. After my second birth, I didn’t feel embarrassed to ask any question, to ask for help and to talk about anything wanted.
Did you prepare differently second time around?
The first child/birth is hard, you have no idea what to expect, you do antenatal class, read instagram posts and hear from friends (and random people on the streets who share their birth stories with you!!). But the truth is that nothing prepares you for it. The second time around I knew what to expect and I wanted to do things differently. So I prepared myself physically and mentally by reading books, doing hypnobirthing classes, keeping active, doing my pelvic floor exercises and ate plenty of dates!
What have been your biggest challenges in getting back to exercise?
Time! I know people say if you really want you find time but it is hard! When you have one newborn and a toddler by the end of the day all you want to do is sit down. My second son was born just before the first lockdown so I had both boys with me every day while hubby was working. My exercise was walking, I walk kms and kms every day. It was the perfect solution, would make the newborn fall asleep, burn some of the toddler energy and also keep our Labrador fit. Pushing the pram with 2 kids on it on an unsealed road is a great exercise. Once daycare was back I joined the Project mum classes for 2 terms and gave me a few more ideas of different exercises to try at home.
What has been your biggest exercise highlight as a mum?
I have done The Womens Triathlon a few times, the first time when my oldest was 6 months old and last time when my youngest was almost a year old. I am not a ‘fitness’ kind of mum so doing all 3 exercises on the same day was a big achievement for me. Seeing the boys on the sideline cheering me was a great motivation. For me entering an event is a great motivation, I keep thinking about the money I spent (that could have been spent on coffee and cake), so it motivates me to go out and exercise!
Is there something you wish you had known more about?
How hard it is to control your wee after giving birth, I had no idea about it or that it can take a long time to get back.
What advice would you give to your new mum self?
Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Do what you can for today. We all will be alright.
Any advice for other new mums?
Get involved with mum groups. New mum life can be quite lonely so try Space, Project Mum, other groups until you find your tribe 🙂
Thanks Sam for sharing this. Always great to hear how people implement positive things second time around. And so inspiring to hear stories of mums using events to motivate them, especially around the two kid juggle!
Thanks Sam x