Walking …. by Karen Cotton, copyright April 2012

On Dec. 19, 2011 I had an emergency c-section when doctors at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center delivered my baby girl, a preemie weighing 3 pounds and one ounce. Due to the fact that it was an emergency c-section the recovery time took longer than a normal c-section recovery time.

I was wheelchair bound off an on for two weeks. I recovered in Cheyenne Regional Medical Center for a day and a half. On the night she was born, my daughter went by ambulance, with her father by her side, to Denver Children’s Hospital. I joined them as soon as I was discharged from Cheyenne Regional Medical Center.

My doctors encouraged me to walk as much as I could right away. My only problem was that the hospital in Denver was huge and walking a long distance proved to be difficult. I also spent a lot of time in my daughter’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit room, which was a lot of sitting, waiting, and occasionally holding my daughter as she became more stable.

As time went on and my baby was stable enough to take an hour-long break, I would go to Super Target to buy groceries and necessities. At first I could only make it to the produce section on the grocery side of the store. Yet, each time that I went to that Target I made bigger and bigger strides. Close to the end of my daughter’s hospitalization in Denver I could walk from one end of the Super Target to the other.

My family was also a big help to me throughout her stay in Denver and also Cheyenne, where she was transported back to. She was discharged on May second of this year.

I wanted my pre-pregnancy body back so badly. I was a dancer, tap and lyrical, and I was exercising with my trainer during my pregnancy and prior to my pregnancy. After my daughter was born, I wound up wearing two pant sizes larger, than I did before I became pregnant.

It was from the swelling of my c-section incision and from the muscles that were pulled apart for the birth of my daughter.

I had gestational diabetes during my pregnancy and luckily it went away after I delivered my daughter. Soon after I ate a lot of things that I had been restricted to eat. I also primarily ate cafeteria food with my husband and family because it was convenient. Most cafeteria food isn’t healthy, but I tried my best to eat as healthy as possible. One reason was for my health and another was for my baby’s health, I was pumping milk at the time because preemies, especially, need that immune support that they get from breast milk and nutrients. Plus, there are a dozen other reasons to try to do that, but I won’t get into those. This post is about walking.

Once my daughter was in Cheyenne Regional Medical Center, after being at The Children’s Hospital Colorado,  I was able to walk for 30 minutes on a treadmill with my personal trainer, Tyler Hanson at Fitness One.

I’m training for the March of Dimes 5/K walk here in Cheyenne. Working on building my stamina  back with my trainer. I also walk every day either outside on nice days, or at the gym on a treadmill.

My trainer and a Public Health nurse have helped me with my nutrition and healthy eating.

Over the past four months I’ve dropped two pant sizes and fourteen pounds just from walking and eating healthy.

I’m now at my pre=pregnancy weight and I’m incredibly happy. My doctors recently gave me the go ahead to pursue low-impact aerobic workouts. I will start that next week, while continuing walking with my daughter in her stroller or Infantino carrier

I just hope this story encourages people to walk as much as they can,  if they are able, no matter if you are a man or woman, boy or girl, weigh a lot or a little, or in between, just walk 🙂 It will make you feel better. Even if it’s around your block. So get walking !!!! What are you waiting for  ?

*******(Tomorrow I will be posting some cool pictures from two walks that I’ve taken recently. One was around the blocks near my house. Another was near a park).

This is a link to First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move initiative, which is about getting people to move and do some sort of physical activity: http://www.letsmove.gov/

March of Dimes March for Babies: http://www.marchforbabies.org/

My family and I and some of our friends also are  StepUp Cheyenne participants. Here is that link : http://www.stepupcheyenne.com/  The organizers and founders of the event hope that it will become state-wide, and nation-wide.

Hey, after reading about this movement to stay fit by walking and eating right, maybe my overseas readers might want to incorporate this idea into their cities, towns and countries.

Some more helpful websites to follow  ….

You’ll find websites below about walking as exercise, how to get started, equipment you may need, and advice to see a doctor first before starting any physical exercise. Also remember to drink plenty of water.

If you are pregnant,  or have given birth to your child, be sure to check with your doctor first before attempting exercise.

Pedometer reviews on About.com:

http://walking.about.com/od/prpedometer/Pedometer_Reviews.htm

From a partner of the Lance Armstrong foundation, LiveStrong.com:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/361514-how-to-walk-for-fitness-weight-loss-exercises/

Some information about calories burned and weight-loss during walking and other physical activities: Mayo Clinic

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/exercise/SM00109

Good Housekeeping article about an “Easy walking workout”

http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/fitness/lose-weight-walking-0603

Healthy pregnancy fitness information from the March of Dimes: http://www.marchofdimes.com/pregnancy/getready_10steps.html

Fitness advice from my personal trainer, Tyler Hanson, at Fitness One  in Cheyenne, WY: http://thtidbits.blogspot.com