My whole life I have worked out and been active in sports. I played softball in college and after graduating I continued my 5 day a week work outs. Due to a heart condition and severe high blood pressure, I was told I would never be able to have children. Because of the stress the hypertension put on my body, I tried to take care of it as best I could by exercising and eating healthy. In August, 2008… on our one year anniversary.. my husband and I found out I was pregnant. I was shocked – especially after being told it would never happen. Giddy with joy, we went to our first appointment where my OB told me not to get too attached.. as the pregnancy likely wouldn’t last. I tried ignoring the baby growing inside of me… still working out 5 days a week… but after three months and seeing my body change, I knew I could no longer pretend my little baby wasn’t happily growing inside of me. Six months later, on April 19, 2009, we welcomed our little girl – our miracle – into the world after 31 hours of active labor and 4 hours of pushing. What a stubborn child!
Throughout my pregnancy I still exercised 5 days a week with light weights – though not as intense as pre-pregnancy (Dr. said this was fine and wouldn’t jeopardize my baby) – and ate healthy. There were times when I wanted so badly to eat a whole cake… a bag of chips… icecream… fast food… french fries. I knew I needed to stay healthy for myself and my baby and fought so hard to stay away from all the things I craved. It was horrible. I craved all things salty… but because of my blood pressure I couldn’t have salt. Sometimes, amidst all my raging hormones, I would cry because I wanted McDonald’s french fries so bad!!!
In the long run, staying active and healthy helped me. The exercise gave me the energy and stamina to be in active labor for 31 hours and gave me the endurance to push for 4 hours (her head wouldn’t come down!). Eating the right foods helped me to keep my weight gain at a reasonable amount and avoiding the salty foods I really wanted helped keep my blood pressure in check so that I could carry my baby to term. I felt great after delivering and was on my feet walking all over the place just a couple hours later.
The pictures I’ve included are of me at 38 weeks (delivered at 39), one day postpartum and me at one month postpartum. Looking at my belly it looks back to normal with the exception of my lingering linea nigra…. but the belly is definitely not the same which is to be expected. The skin is very loose but will tighten in time. I am very thankful for the miracle that was given to me and for the fact that I was able to carry her against all odds. For any ladies reading this that have health problems and are told they will not be able to have/carry children, I’m proof that you can! Stay healthy and strong and you’ll be in the best place for an event free pregnancy and a speedy recovery. To all the women who have posted on this site, you all gave me courage… made me proud of what my body was doing and the changes that would come. I looked at all of your posts as inspiration and something to hope for when I wasn’t very far along in my pregnancy. Thank you for being strong enough to post on here and for being proud of the journey your bodies took!
Pictures: 38 weeks, one month post partum, and one day postpartum.
Age: 24
Pregnancies: 1
Postpartum: one month
Updated here.
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You look so great! And what a fighter, good for you!
You look absolutely gorgeous! Congrats on that new little one!
You are doing well for 1 month PP. Your belly will snap nback in no time… Cute belly!
ok, Im posting another comment because I am so amazed with how great you look! Im totally jealous of your butt, its still perky! mine dropped after I had my first, one of these days all my time at the gym will pay off!
You look great! You and I sound similar…I was a swimmer at a DI college, and got pregnant my first year of marriage. I’ve always worked out 5 days a week, and still do at 30 weeks pregnant. I’m hoping to have the endurance for labor and a healthy bounce-back into shape afterward. If you don’t mind, I’m wondering how much weight you gained during the pregnancy? I’m up 28 lbs at 30 weeks, which seems like so much to me, but it’s all in my belly (and boobs). Congrats on your new baby and for staying in shape!
You look fabulous. A job well done on self control.
Your story is inspirational, and you look FANTASTIC. (I hope the “Inspirational” section of the website is working soon — you should be a shoe-in!)
Lauren, I gained 25 lbs at 37 weeks and then lost 5 from 37-39 weeks. Don’t worry about the weight gain. My friend, who is an athlete and avid exceriser like me, gained 35 lbs and we were the same distance from our prepregnancy weight at 1 month pp. Your body will bounce back VERY quickly. I need to update this picture on here because now at 2 months pp I look TOTALLY different. It is amazing how quickly everything goes back. It might not seem so at first, but trust me, it is changing! My skin isn’t as tight as it used to be, but even that is slowly going back and my midwife said it will be back to normal at 6 months pp. Slowly but surely! Best of luck!!!!