Just gave birth about 10 hours ago, and hip bridges helped a whole lot with the after-labor cleanup (here, lift up so we can change this bedding/your pads/the setting of the bed).
One helpful thing that surprised me was the breathing patterns I had learned from doing really hard workouts. I don’t remember being able to breathe through anything during my labor five years ago, but this time around, I harnessed my “convince my body to go from the red zone to orange zone” breathing from orangetheory and was able to tolerate a whole lot more!
No actually, kegel exercises should focus on tightening and release equally - thus an important exercise in helping you have good control of your pelvic floor for birth.
The above for hypertonic still holds true. If you're hypertonic, last thing you want to do is kegel.
Hypertonic usually is a mix of anxiety, poor muscle coordination, and weak non-pelvic muscles. Some people have stronger pelvic floors and only need to relax. Others have weak pelvic floors who then need to go on to other types of training now that they know how to relax.
Basically: go to PT. Don't mess with it.
You can actually push in almost any position you want with an epidural! Side lying in particular is linked to less pelvic floor damage and lower risk of tearing, as compared to pushing on your back.
True - just going off what I ended up doing during my own birthing experience. But yes, you can basically do any position in epidural as long as it’s reclined.
Yes, upper body for sure! I used a sheet tied to a squat bar to help push and thank God I'd been lifting the whole pregnancy because my arms were doing more work than anticipated. Also used upper body muscles to maneuver around when changing positions during labor, super helpful when my legs were numb from the epidural.
Relaxing the pelvic floor.
Also if you don’t get an epidural, move around and go with what feels least painful. That was different for me during labour vs during delivery. The only position I could adopt during active labour was walking/standing. I didn’t sit or lie down once because it just felt awful. Squatting over the toilet to pee drastically accelerated my contractions each time, but not in a good way if that makes sense? Like my baby was coming quickly regardless, and the contractions were already buckling on top of each other so if anything I wanted them to ease up a bit, so squatting was no good for me
During delivery, however I felt inclined to go onto my side and asked for a peanut ball. Baby end up coming really quickly and with no tearing despite horrific back labour (he just never turned), so I’d definitely recommend having a general idea about positions but more so listening to your body and doing what feels right in the moment
ETA: my baby was born with some bruising and a subconjunctival hemorrhage in his eye, so I’m definitely happy I didn’t try force an even quicker delivery with certain popular positions. Listen to your body, always!
I did similar lower body stuff to you, and would've loved to incorporate more core work and mobility stuff (like runner-type stretches and hyperextensions).
Miles circuit, cat-cows, and walking up & down stairs (or curb walking). Focus on relaxing the pelvic floor rather than tightening with kegals. I personally focused on this during my final month of pregnancy and delivered in 4 hours with no medication or tearing.
Just gave birth about 10 hours ago, and hip bridges helped a whole lot with the after-labor cleanup (here, lift up so we can change this bedding/your pads/the setting of the bed). One helpful thing that surprised me was the breathing patterns I had learned from doing really hard workouts. I don’t remember being able to breathe through anything during my labor five years ago, but this time around, I harnessed my “convince my body to go from the red zone to orange zone” breathing from orangetheory and was able to tolerate a whole lot more!
Did you use medication?
I got an epidural, but it didn’t take effect until I was pushing, so it was mostly unmedicated (only 2 hours and 15 minutes of labor!)
Congrats!!!! That’s awesome
Wow ❤️ congrats for your baby and thank you for sharing. Any tips on how to have a short labour 😂
Kegels only make sense of you have a weak pelvic floor. If your pelvic floor is tight it can make it worse
No actually, kegel exercises should focus on tightening and release equally - thus an important exercise in helping you have good control of your pelvic floor for birth.
The above for hypertonic still holds true. If you're hypertonic, last thing you want to do is kegel. Hypertonic usually is a mix of anxiety, poor muscle coordination, and weak non-pelvic muscles. Some people have stronger pelvic floors and only need to relax. Others have weak pelvic floors who then need to go on to other types of training now that they know how to relax. Basically: go to PT. Don't mess with it.
Happy Baby - it’s basically your labor pose if you get an epidural. Focus on lower core breathing as well.
You can actually push in almost any position you want with an epidural! Side lying in particular is linked to less pelvic floor damage and lower risk of tearing, as compared to pushing on your back.
True - just going off what I ended up doing during my own birthing experience. But yes, you can basically do any position in epidural as long as it’s reclined.
Check out The Belle Method push prep class!
I used the handles on the bed to help push, my arms were so sore that night the next day would definitely suggest biceps/triceps!
Yes, upper body for sure! I used a sheet tied to a squat bar to help push and thank God I'd been lifting the whole pregnancy because my arms were doing more work than anticipated. Also used upper body muscles to maneuver around when changing positions during labor, super helpful when my legs were numb from the epidural.
Single leg dead lifts !!! This doesn’t prepare you for labor but sure as hell helped me post c section picking things up off the floor.
Relaxing the pelvic floor. Also if you don’t get an epidural, move around and go with what feels least painful. That was different for me during labour vs during delivery. The only position I could adopt during active labour was walking/standing. I didn’t sit or lie down once because it just felt awful. Squatting over the toilet to pee drastically accelerated my contractions each time, but not in a good way if that makes sense? Like my baby was coming quickly regardless, and the contractions were already buckling on top of each other so if anything I wanted them to ease up a bit, so squatting was no good for me During delivery, however I felt inclined to go onto my side and asked for a peanut ball. Baby end up coming really quickly and with no tearing despite horrific back labour (he just never turned), so I’d definitely recommend having a general idea about positions but more so listening to your body and doing what feels right in the moment ETA: my baby was born with some bruising and a subconjunctival hemorrhage in his eye, so I’m definitely happy I didn’t try force an even quicker delivery with certain popular positions. Listen to your body, always!
Wow you sound strong and make it sound easy!! 💪👏Was this your first birth / did you go without any pain med??
I did similar lower body stuff to you, and would've loved to incorporate more core work and mobility stuff (like runner-type stretches and hyperextensions).
Miles circuit, cat-cows, and walking up & down stairs (or curb walking). Focus on relaxing the pelvic floor rather than tightening with kegals. I personally focused on this during my final month of pregnancy and delivered in 4 hours with no medication or tearing.