This whole labor and contraction thing has me wondering: As runners/athletes, are we more well-equipped for labor? Do our athletic backgrounds, which maybe include pushing ourselves through pain and managing how our bodies respond to challenge, help prepare us for the intensity that comes with giving birth? And physically, does staying active and healthy and doing things like lifting weights and doing yoga—beyond running and whatever cardiovascular training we’ve been doing—actually help us go through the physical rigors of labor? I wonder.
I had a pretty rough labor experience with almost 4 hours of pushing. In fact, I have run 26.2 miles quicker than it took me to birth my son! I really think being an athlete helped me get through that as I had the endurance and mental toughness to keep going. I believe if I would have been out of shape or less determined I would have ended up with a c-section after an hour or so of pushing. That said, I'm hoping that this time around the delivery part takes about the time of a 5K and not a marathon!
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