When I was a baby, my Dad owned a running store on Bloor Street. It was called 'Born to Run'. My Dad was an avid runner in the late 70s and through the 80s. He named the store after the Bruce Springsteen song and to this day my parents and I are passionate Springsteen fans. Another wonderful passion my Dad passed on to me was his love for physical activity and pushing his body to its limits.
He ran marathons. I have never run a marathon before however I swam competitively, participated in triathlons, gone on difficult canoe trips and I still teach Body Attack. (I understand that I am a maniac to keep teaching throughout my pregnancy but if my body can do it, it will).
Although it may not seem like a long list of hard-core accomplishments, I would like challenge anyone to try them if they can. All of the above activities have made me strong both mentally and physically. Even if no one else shares this view (except my Mother), I believe that I am a fighter.
True I have fought through physical and emotional discomfort in my athletics, but I have also fought through my celiac disease as well. For anyone out there who is suffering from celiac disease, you know what its like to fight for your body and health.
Being pregnant is a different type of fight. For the first time in my life, I'm fighting for my health to benefit both me and someone else. Trust me, this is the most challenging fight of all. I'm used to embracing my physical pain and strict gluten free diet in hopes to make myself stronger and healthier. Also, gluten free diet aside, I love the feeling of accomplishment when I've pushed myself to a point I didn't even know I could reach. I get it, I'm nuts!
In pregnancy I have to fight my conditioned mentality to hold back and think of the little person now sitting in my tummy. I can't push through my limits and my diet is more important now more than ever. Cravings are hard because all I want to eat is cheese and I'm just going to have to fight it in moderation. Moderation? What's that?
The good news is that after my 9 month pregnancy marathon, I get the opportunity to strut my stuff and literally "push" myself to my limits again. Labour.
As an athlete, I would mentally prepare myself for a specific athletic event. Truth is that I don't know how to prepare myself for labour. I know they teach us how to do that in prenatal classes. I'm of the school where I have complete control over my body and I tell it what to do. Thanks to my pituitary glands releasinng hormones to signal labour, my body is going to help coach me though what I am genetically designed to do. This is a feeling I have never experienced in my life. How are you supposed to visualize and prepare yourself for a completely new experience?
Here's are three ideas that I would use before any athletic event. For me, the key is to remember them when the time comes. I hope they're useful and transfer over to labour.
My first idea would be to remain positive. Labour is painful. Pain is no fun. The good news is that although it may seem like it goes on forever, labour does end...WITH A BABY no less! BONUS!
My second thought would be to try and stay as calm as possible. Yes my body is about to turn itself into a birthing machine and who knows what scary symptoms that will bring but again, millions of women do this everyday and they are strong and beautiful like me! Relax, what happens happens and again, at the end...BABY!
Lastly, eye on the prize. Visualizing beating Alex repeatedly with a 2x4 is not productive to the cause. Funny though! He didn't do this to me (technically yes but) it was a mutual decision and this show is all about me and the baby. Right, BABY!
At the half-way point one would think it would be premature to think about labour but any good athlete knows that its never too early to visualize the biggest event in their athletic career. For me, this is the biggest even of my womanly career and I don't anticipate anything but truly world-class results!
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