Being a mommy is one of the toughest jobs in the world, and while it has numerous intangible perks let’s face it; the benefits package sucks. No medical, no paid vacation, and no workers’ compensation if you get injured on the job.

So we’ve been talking the past few days about how to take better care of yourself. It starts during pregnancy of course, but we’ve also looked at ways to make your movements more efficient (that is, healthier!) while you take care of your little one. But there’s more to it than that.

Making sure your bio-mechanics – the way your body does something – is not enough. You need to stay on top of your body’s physical health if it’s going to perform effectively when called upon. This means strengthening, and stretching, and eating right.

Strengthening – back to the abdominal muscle called the transversus. All that work you did during your pregnancy will really pay off now as you call on it to help out. If you didn’t do any work during pregnancy, read Julie Tupler's Lose your Mummy Tummy to learn how to strengthen that deep abdominal muscle. Keeping that and your pelvic floor strong are going to be key in getting you through the next several years.

And again, remember that strengthening that deep abdominal muscle isn’t done with crunches; traditional crunch movements are not helpful, and indeed should be avoided by most new moms since they can increase your diastasis, which is the split in your superficial abdominal muscle that most women get during pregnancy and/or childbirth. Julie’s book is the best I’ve found for explaining this issue.

Upper body strength will grow with your baby (hopefully), but going back to basic strengthening exercises in Julie’s book will keep those muscles reminded that they need to work. You need to stay on top of those biceps (see previous blog for why), but more importantly you want to keep your upper back strong and working correctly to combat the mommy slouch.

And stretching. Yep, gotta do it. I mean it. Oftentimes someone who feels like their back is “out” is actually experiencing extreme muscle tightness. Now, I’m not saying that if your back is out you should start stretching away. But stretching your hamstrings and hiney muscles, as well as your waist muscles, will help keep those areas from getting kinked up. And stretching your chest – your pec muscles – will help fight against the closed chest and give your upper back muscles a fighting chance. Back to Julie’s book for proper demonstrations.

Now, if you do all this and your back still goes out, don’t panic. Conventional wisdom used to be to lie in bed until the back problem goes away. Most medical professionals agree now that this can actually exacerbate the problem, so don’t ask hubby to stay home for two days to watch the baby while you lie in bed and pray the pain gets better. Get in and see someone.

If you’ve never had back problems and don’t have a doctor or physical therapist who knows you and your spine, think about calling your OB for a recommendation. Some states require a prescription to see a physical therapist, and others do not; if yours does your OB may give you one. Chances are, she’ll at least have a doctor to suggest for this sort of thing. Finding a doctor or PT from someone you trust is always better than randomly picking someone in your health plan.

I’m a big believer in physical therapy; I’ve worked in a physical therapy clinic for several years. I think a mommy with back strain would do well to see a trusted physical therapist for her back; the PT can say whether or not it’s something she thinks she can help with. Chances are, she can, and while you’re there she’ll review your biomechanics and see what got you into this jam in the first place. If it’s a more serious back problem, she’ll be able to recommend a specialist for you to see.

I’ve also had great success with acupuncture, massage therapy, and chiropracty. My hesitation in recommending these modalities is this: first, the ability of these professionals can vary wildly, and second, if you’re experiencing an as-yet undiagnosed problem, I’d seek a medical diagnosis first before turning to alternative medicine to help you. If you’ve got a slipped disk, for example, massage can make it worse. It’s best to know what’s going on before treating it.

And finally, nutrition. In the early days with your first child, nutrition’s not too difficult; you’ve got friends and neighbors stopping by with nutritious meals and a solicitous husband bringing healthy snacks (bought before delivery) to your side while nursing. Now, though, you’ve got a mobile baby you’re chasing after all day, you’re trying to get back to work at least part-time, you’re volunteering again at church, your mom’s birthday is coming up . . . and you just run out of time. You eat whatever takes less than 60 seconds in the microwave to heat up, and you look on your baby’s balanced meal of strained carrots, avocado, and mango with envy. You can’t remember the last time you had a fresh vegetable, or a fruit that didn’t come on the bottom of a yogurt cup or, more likely, on top of a drive-through sundae. Because let’s be honest; food’s about quick jolts of sugar to get you through the day.

The more you turn to sugar to carry you from one nap to the next, the more run-down you’re going to get. And the less healthy you eat, the more run-down your body will get, making it more injury-prone. Try cooking in bunches; make two casseroles instead of one and freeze one of them for next week. Make 20 burritos at once and freeze them for lunches. Buy jarred fruit and eat it instead of M&Ms. Any baby steps you can take will help your body out.

As for that pre-natal vitamin – you still need it. We were so good about taking it while pregnant, taking the best care we could of our babies. Now the vitamin’s for you. If you eat one half of one serving of a vegetable each day, I guarantee your baby is going to literally suck the nutrients out of you. Baby’s needs come first while breastfeeding; your body gets the leftovers. So please please please continue with that vitamin; it’ll save your teeth from falling out (lack of calcium) and help prevent muscle spasms in your back (potassium). And if you don’t want to take the vitamin for your sake, take it for your future kids. Breastfeeding will take your nutrient (especially the all-important folic acid!) levels down to zero if you don’t eat right and stay on the vitamins.

Last but not least on the nutrition front, you gotta keep up with the water intake. Drink like you’re still pregnant. It’s nourishment for your cells, and will help keep your milk supply up.

Look, I know taking care of your body is not a priority right now. But when my girlfriend Abby’s back went out, it affected her whole household; she spent a week not being able to hold her son while her husband used vacation days to watch the children. So taking care of yourself now means you can take care of your children later. Prevention is the best path; good body habits, stretching and strengthening the right muscles will all help keep you healthy. But if something goes wrong, don’t ignore it. Deal with it now, before it becomes a more time- and money- consuming issue.

‘Cause your kids need you healthy.

And last time with the didsclaimer:

I’m not a medical professional. I did not go to medical school. I’m just a chick on the internet who had a baby and happens to be in the fitness field and have a penchant for obsessively researching everything she does. So for heaven’s sake, don’t take my word for anything. Talk to your doctor and if anything she says contradicts what I say, whom do you listen to? Your doctor. That’s right.

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