Can I ask about how virtual Pilates works? Can the instructor see sufficiently your alignment and talk through corrections?
I’ve been trying to get into pilates primarily through an app, but there are subtle things I feel like I’m not understanding.
Yes and no.
I do the session in our gest room which have mirrored closet doors so he can see me from both sides at once. Based one what he says, I know he can see pretty well (“rotate the outside of your right thigh towards your left ankle…a little more…that’s it, good!”). But I have a tendency to do wonky things with my hips and I know he can’t always tell if I’m perfectly lined up. We talk through what it should feel like and I do the best I can.
For modification due to DR specifically, the resolution and angle isn’t good enough for him to see if there’s any protrusion during the exercises so we’ve been keeping things very simple and he asks before/after if I feel up to a specific exercise and how it felt if there’s any ‘crunch’ or ‘twist’ component.
Overally I definitely feel it’s been more helpful than trying to do things on my own, even though it’s not perfect.
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Today I was able to take my longest walk yet. We took the girls to the park and Mr E stated at the playground with toddler E while I took Baby E for a walk in the stroller. It felt so nice to walk faster than toddler pace!
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Pregnancy fitness, technically… I’m fit enough to do Fun Stuff again! 35 weeks along, and I took my boy outside to splash in puddles for our first rain of the year, thanks to the tropical storm that came all the way south along the west coast of the continent. That was heaps of fun.
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Ferngully, I love the ranking you put there! At 16 months after birth I feel like I am in phase 3. It took about 10 months to go from some intense recovery issues (ginormous level 2 tear, bladder issues, achiness in various spots especially hips) to be able to resume general life in most areas. I feel like I have been in phase 3 most of my life and had only started to build up capacity for fun adventures when I got pregnant. But the all day hikes aren’t going to happen easily with a kiddo, probably would have to be a date with childcare. So that is my goal: regular exercise habit with lots of fun active adventures.
I would love to hear how others are incorporating their kiddos into exercise/adventures.
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Glad it helps you @genevievegreene and that you were able to tackle recovery so well! I hope the numbers don’t come across as a ranking of superiority, but as a gentle reminder [mostly to myself] that each phase has its own needs and deserves its own routines.
Adventures with baby, cut for length
- Mine can’t crawl yet so I sprinkle in stretchy things like cobra pose, up dog, and core things like planks while he’s in happy wiggle mode. I try to get up at least once an hour from the couch to keep my hip flexors from seizing up like they did in newborn days.
- On weekends we often drive to a big park or forest as a family. Sometimes we all hike together, but often we also split up. One parent does something slower-paced with the baby, and the other goes on a faster/longer solo adventure (often a trail ride with dog, which is delightful and makes him more mellow for weekday walks). So we can spend some of the adventure day together, and some independently.
- During the week we take turns wrangling the baby solo so the other person can get out or stretch… like 2x a week for each of us. Might be a lot more than average with such a young baby but we like it.
- This one’s a little more involved: I got a cargo bike and added a car seat! It’s great for cruising along, but I have also done a pretty legit interval workout. Since my foot still aches after 20-30 mins of walking, this helps my mental and physical health so much – I feel way less trapped.
- Spouse is awesome. He never makes me feel like he’s doing me a favor.
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That is how it came off to me!
We will have to explore your baby hiking ideas as a family. 
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We’re skipping our baby hike adventure this week during wind-chill and last week due to illness.
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I think we need to get out for a hike! We haven’t been in so long, and have been worried about crowds but there are definitely some trails we can find that are less popular… maybe next weekend…
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I find when it feels.like -15 trails aren’t as crowded!!!
I bought a bike trailer as I was very optimistic that we’d take our older kiddo out in it, but then Stuff Happened and we also realised we need to get my husband a sturdier bike to pull it, so I think once we get him one he’ll have fun taking Duckling out for rides. At the moment he runs while Duckling rides his balance bike.
We have a book called “ABC Yoga” with cute pictures and Duckling loves doing them with us, and will also join in with my physio exercises and wall pushups etc.
Haha that’s part of the problem…it was 70F here today.
I’ve been walking with baby strapped to my back in a baby carrier. I find it so much better for my body compared to wearing him in front.
I got a hiking baby carrier this weekend off of fb marketplace, and am excited to use it soon. I need to find a trail near me that’s reasonably flat though, because I’m a little nervous that I’ll slip with the pack.
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I find back carrying so much more stable than front. Also, you can practice fall if it helps.
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Today I did my first yoga workout and it was HARD. I’m so out of shape. I am proud of myself for doing it though, and I felt really good afterwards.
Body Thoughts
Even though I felt good after doing the workout, I had some sad body thoughts while doing it. Every time I did a forward fold the top of my leggings would roll down and a roll of fat/extra skin would “ploop” out over the top, and then the rolled up leggings would dig into my stomach in an uncomfortable way unless I broke the pose and rolled them back up. I know with time the extra skin will go away and that won’t happen anymore, but it was still very unpleasant.
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(Also posted in my journal) I got to lift today! BE ate right before TE went down for her nap so I took the opportunity to get in a workout. I’m super weak but so happy that I got it done. I decided to start with chest and back for today.
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Awesome!! 
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My foot still can only handle 1 walk a week. It’s been plateaued there for a while and bumming me out, so I made a virtual PT appointment for this Friday.
On the up side, I’m finding time to ride regularly and also do some core work. As of last week Baby Spore is mesmerized by watching me do yoga or core, but can’t crawl and fall off the bed yet. Very convenient.
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I am now actually postpartum!
Solidly in Stage 1: holy crap what did I just do, lie down and recover.
I am going to review myself in 2 week blocks before deciding to change anything. So, first 2 weeks are do nothing at all (just feed baby and keep myself somewhat rested and clean). Ponder is doing all housework and Toddler care and any Baby care what isn’t “feed baby”.
Then I check if I need another 2 weeks of that, or if it’s time to add a new small thing.
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Congratulations, mama^2! You were so kind and supportive to me during my first bewildering postpartum and I hope I/we can be the same to you. The 2 week idea sounds very smart. Rest up and enjoy the cuddles!
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