The months leading up to summer the reminders were all over the place to get your body “summer ready”….now summer is here in full swing and a lot of Moms find themselves wishing they could get their pre-babies body back. Today’s Wellness post is all about getting your pre-baby body but interestingly enough – it’s not about having washboard abs or toned legs. Have you considered that living without aches and pains was also a part of your pre-baby body? Most pregnancies and labor bring about lasting changes to your body that don’t just go away miraculously – which is something nobody really talks to Moms about. I think we can all agree that nobody prepares us for the changes that happen to our new Mama bodies way after our adorable babies are born. Today we are featuring Dr. Molly, a local Mom and the face behind Your Goals Physical Therapy. Dr. Molly always has so much helpful insight to share with women and Moms. Anytime I wake up with a sore back or an ache I think to myself – “Wow, Dr, Molly would say – ‘You don’t have to live with that, there’s a solution for that!”. Check out what Dr. Molly has to say about getting your pre-baby body back….Spoiler alert – it’s not just to look good for summer! Although overall health involves being fit, it also involves feeling physically good!
Hi, I’m Dr. Molly with Your Goal Physical therapy. I help moms, whether you’re a new mom or you’re a seasoned mom, get their pre-baby bodies back and it’s such a privilege to be able to do that. Let me define a few things just to make sure that we’re all talking about the same thing. There are certain things that change when you have babies that are probably here to stay. But what doesn’t have to be there are aches and pains and the general fatigue that we can feel throughout our day.
We can definitely help any kind of shoulder pain. For instance, if you’re a new mom you know that pregnancy pulled everything forward. Pregnancy pulled your shoulder and head forward while it overly rounded your lower back. Therefore it’s super common at the end of pregnancy for you to have neck problems or for you to have shoulder pain or for you to have a low back pain.
And of course, (I was there with you) you assume that once you have the baby all of these things go away. All of these aches and pains, they just naturally evaporate. Um, well, just like the fact that I was not aware that I was going to be more swollen for two weeks after the baby, these aches and pains do not go away either. So having babies and recovering from having babies can be a very shocking thing for everybody. If you had the experience with your OB that I did, nobody prepared me for these changes.
I had no idea that the neck and shoulder and lower back pain didn’t just go away. I didn’t realize that the one hip that is kind of wobbly and doing its own thing; wouldn’t just naturally just go away, right? I mean, I’m no longer pregnant, which is why all these pains are here. My stomach gets stretched out. I have this little alien popping out of my stomach every time I pull myself forward. I just assumed all of these things would just naturally disappear. This is a little bit embarrassing to admit considering I am a physical therapist, but this is what you think, right?
Well, here I am on the other side, after lots of research and having to go through it myself and I want to help educate other moms on how to recover from these aches and pains. They’re not really injuries. They’re just what naturally happens during pregnancy, but they don’t naturally just revert back. AND There are things that we can do to help you so you don’t have to live with shoulder pain for the rest of your life. You don’t have to have neck problems for months on end. You don’t need to have low back pain. If you’re suffering from having your stomach being separated and you’re just not stable in your abdomen anymore… There are so many things that you can do!
This is what I love to help moms do. I really want to get the word out to all the moms out there whether you are a new mom or your kids are 20 you don’t have to live with these aches and pains. You can do to get rid of that shoulder pain, neck pain, low back pain and get rid of that separation in your stomach muscles.
But if it has been years or months and these changes have not naturally gone away you probably need somebody to help you navigate the healing process. And that’s what I help moms do. I help moms figure out what it is in their joint or in their muscles that is not pulling its weight anymore. When we got pregnant, everything stretched out, all our ligaments got loose and lax, to make room for the baby. Naturally, our posture changed rounding our shoulders and our lower back became more arched. Our hips got wider. All of these things change. And then when the baby’s born, everybody’s super excited. Now you spend your time trying everything to shrink back to “normal”. And some things do go back… your ligaments actually do shrink. Your hips will shrink back mostly back to normal. Through all these transitions your muscles had to adapt as well. Unfortunately, sometimes it takes a little bit of a jumpstart, so to speak, to help those muscles remember what their job is in the new positions (or alignment). Our muscles and ligaments were constantly having to adapt to change over the nine months of pregnancy and then again after pregnancy. Then add multiple pregnancies to this cycle.
So I help moms figure out what normal discomfort is, what is not normal. I provide encouragement and insight into the healing process so you know how to keep moving forward toward your goals. By the end you’re gonna feel more stable. You’re gonna have more energy. Your shoulders aren’t going to be talking to you all the time. You’re going to be able to sleep on your side again without having to have 25 pillows between your knees.
All of these things and more are possible. So if you are a mom, whether you’re a new mom or somebody with a 15 year old and you are trying to get your pre-baby body back reach out to me!
If you are looking for a little more information about what is normal or not after pregnancy check out Dr. Molly’s Free Ebook: “10 Things Every Mom Needs To Know To Get Her Body Back!”
Curious about cost and availability with Dr. Molly ?