What IS the fourth trimester?

In this podcast episode, we are beyond thrilled to be in conversation with the two magnificent women who created Fourth Trimester Foundations. Carly and Meg are registered nurses who work on the frontlines - they are present with moms in labor and delivery every day. They’re also moms themselves, and have experienced firsthand the many gaps in the healthcare system that doesn’t prepare people for the fourth trimester experience.

In this episode you’ll learn about:

• The pediatrician who brought forth the science behind fourth trimester
• The concept of still being a “unit” with your baby after birth
• How taking POSTPARTUM CLASSES is equally as important as taking  CHILDBIRTH CLASSES
• The question Carly and Meg get most after EVERY patient gives birth - no matter if it was vaginal or surgical
• The importance of setting FIRM boundaries to start, knowing that postpartum is YOUR experience and you get to change your mind if you feel like it
• Stories from nurses who have seen it all and are tired of society telling women they have to keep their postpartum struggles under wraps

Notable Quotes from Carly & Meg:
“There's a couple of reasons that people don’t prepare for postpartum. Frankly, you don't have to, nobody's gonna make you do it. You can still show up in labor and you'll get to the other side, and you'll still have your fourth trimester, whether it's good or bad, or somewhere in between, and you'll survive and life will go on - you don't have to do it. I think the other reason that people don't [prepare] is because the society portrays to us that you're done after you give birth - the event is over. You know, it's not like any other experience in the hospital. You go into the hospital sick, you get treated, you get better, you go home, and it's over. You go in for surgery, your surgery’s done, you recover from your surgery, and it's over. Your birth, whether it was surgical or vaginal, it's not a finished experience. Once your birth is over, people forget that there's this whole life left to live. The collateral damage of what happened to your body in the process doesn't have to just fall apart.”

“There's so much focus on creating a registry for baby and having all the right baby products and making sure you have every kind of bottle or every kind of product you could possibly need for all of your motherhood journey. [But] there's a better [use of] time, finances or the support you’re being gifted with to prepare for postpartum before it's there.”

Resources & Links
Learn more about Carly and Meg and Fourth Trimester Foundations on their website where you’ll find the free postpartum planner and post-birth warning signs guide mentioned in the episode. Use code DEVOTEDMAMAS20 for $20 off any workshop or 1:1 call!. Carly and Meg also keep it real on Instagram + TikTok:

If you’re postpartum and ready to start your core and pelvic floor recovery, check out our Postpartum Repair & Restore 8-week program with LIVE coaching. In this program, we guide you through the exact workouts you need to feel your muscles strengthening + the education and LIVE supervision you need to know you’re doing it right.  For more information, go to devotedmamas.com/repair

If you’re currently pregnant, check out our Expecting to Flourish membership, a mom-driven and expert-guided virtual community that we created to help you stay your strongest during pregnancy, physically practice for birth and move easily into early postpartum. Find out more at devotedmamas.com/flourish

In the previous episode, we talked about seven things Kendra wishes she knew sooner in motherhood. Today, it’s Nicole’s turn to share the secrets in her motherhood toolkit. (A teaser: childbirth can actually feel SATISFYING!)

In those first few years, when we’re holding our newborns and are extremely fatigued, it can be hard to see the big picture. But what we want you to know is that this experience is helping you in ways you can’t see yet.

We hope that you embrace parenthood as the hero’s journey that it is, from the refusal (THIS isn’t what I thought it would be!) to all the people you meet along the way, including mentors, teachers, and other parents.

Eventually, after crossing into the dark forest, you’ll return home and share what you’ve learned with other mothers who are finding their way. This is what we are doing today, and this is what the community of motherhood is all about.

In this episode you’ll hear about:

• How sensations in childbirth can actually feel SATISFYING – and how high adrenaline levels and tension will only create more pain and suffering
• The anxiety, depression, and overwhelm Nicole could have avoided if someone had told her this one thing about breastfeeding
• The impact the right foods and physical body care have on postpartum recovery – and in particular, the impact of prioritizing core and pelvic strength
• The value of removing ourselves from the house, which can help us reset and avoid setting up patterns of dependency
• How parenthood is the greatest personal development journey – and how part of that is sharing what you’ve learned with other parents finding their paths
• How finding a third “helper” can help us feel more equipped and ward off postpartum depression

Resources & Links

Learn more about Nicole and Kendra on their website, or follow @devotedmamas on Instagram for pregnancy and postpartum coaching and inspiration.

Too many moms spend years feeling frustrated at the speed of their postpartum recovery. The real program: these moms haven’t yet figured out which phase of postpartum recovery they’re in. Take our postpartum pelvic floor and core strength quiz to find out where you are on your path to full recovery.

If you’re postpartum and ready to start your core and pelvic floor recovery, check out our Postpartum Repair & Restore 8-week program with LIVE coaching. In this program, we guide you through the exact workouts you need to feel your muscles strengthening + the education and LIVE supervision you need to know you’re doing it right.  For more information, go to devotedmamas.com/repair

If you’re currently pregnant, check out our Expecting to Flourish membership, a mom-driven and expert-guided virtual community that we created to help you stay your strongest during pregnancy, physically practice for birth and move easily into early postpartum. Find out more at devotedmamas.com/flourish

Will I ever feel like myself again?

It’s something you might contemplate in those early months (or years) postpartum. Today we’re here to tell you that you will.

It will take less time if you get help (wink, wink) but it WILL take some time. Just like it takes time to grow a baby, it takes time to grow into your new identity as a mother.

In the next two episodes, we’re talking about the 14 things we wish we knew earlier on in motherhood. In this one, Kendra tackles seven, and in the next, Nicole will share seven more. 

Hindsight is 20/20, and between us – Kendra (whose kids are ages 9 and 5) and Nicole (whose kids are 14 and 10) – we have a lot of wisdom to share. Our hope? To help other moms in those difficult, early stages of motherhood.

In this episode you’ll hear about:

• How pushing things too fast or too hard postpartum might only drag your recovery out – plus, what Kendra learned after the birth of her second child
• Paying better attention to what we’re doing, why we’re doing it, how it’s feeling, and why the paradigm of “no pain, no gain” doesn’t apply
• Giving ourselves more grace in the early throes of parenthood and strengthening the “asking for help” muscle
• Building our safety nets/rescue boats BEFORE the boat starts sinking – i.e., before we need them (and how these “nets” change as kids get older)
• Awareness about our emotional maturity regarding sadness/happiness/anger  – and how it can help when our kids experience those emotions
• The impact our well-beings have on how we show up for our kids

Resources & Links

Learn more about Nicole and Kendra on their website, or follow @devotedmamas on Instagram for pregnancy and postpartum coaching and inspiration.

Too many moms spend years feeling frustrated at the speed of their postpartum recovery. The real program: these moms haven’t yet figured out which phase of postpartum recovery they’re in. Take our postpartum pelvic floor and core strength quiz to find out where you are on your path to full recovery.

If you’re postpartum and ready to start your core and pelvic floor recovery, check out our Postpartum Repair & Restore 8-week program with LIVE coaching. In this program, we guide you through the exact workouts you need to feel your muscles strengthening + the education and LIVE supervision you need to know you’re doing it right.  For more information, go to devotedmamas.com/repair

If you’re currently pregnant, check out our Expecting to Flourish membership, a mom-driven and expert-guided virtual community that we created to help you stay your strongest during pregnancy, physically practice for birth and move easily into early postpartum. Find out more at devotedmamas.com/flourish

What actually IS diastasis recti?

We talk about it a lot in our industry, but many pregnant or postpartum moms might be new to the idea of diastasis recti – abdominal separation that happens in pregnancy and postpartum.

Did you know? One hundred percent of pregnant women get diastasis recti.

So it’s not like something went wrong with your body! It’s a totally normal byproduct of pregnancy. The difference is how your body recovers from it and the degree of diastasis that you have.

In today’s episode, we want to clear up a few questions – including how to measure your own diastasis, and most importantly, how to DEAL with it, so you can feel strong and connected in your recovery.

In this episode you’ll hear about:

• What diastasis recti actually IS, how to know if you have it, plus the 15 most asked questions about it
• Testing yourself for diastasis recti, when to do it, and how to measure its severity
• How to minimize your chances of getting diastasis recti, including practicing positions that minimize outward pressure and the RIGHT kind of core work
• What makes diastasis WORSE, and distinguishing between belly fat and the mom pooch as it relates to diastasis
• Focusing on RECONNECTION and reintegration, and how this can help you create NEW energy – plus, the truth about belly bands
• How to know if your diastasis is healing and how long it might take

Resources & Links

Learn more about Nicole and Kendra on their website, or follow @devotedmamas on Instagram for pregnancy and postpartum coaching and inspiration.

Questions for us? You can ask voice questions about our podcast on our website.

Too many moms spend years feeling frustrated at the speed of their postpartum recovery. The real program: these moms haven’t yet figured out which phase of postpartum recovery they’re in. Take our postpartum pelvic floor and core strength quiz to find out where you are on your path to full recovery.

If you’re postpartum and ready to start your core and pelvic floor recovery, check out our Postpartum Repair & Restore 8-week program with LIVE coaching. In this program, we guide you through the exact workouts you need to feel your muscles strengthening + the education and LIVE supervision you need to know you’re doing it right.  For more information, go to devotedmamas.com/repair

If you’re currently pregnant, check out our Expecting to Flourish membership, a mom-driven and expert-guided virtual community that we created to help you stay your strongest during pregnancy, physically practice for birth and move easily into early postpartum. Find out more at devotedmamas.com/flourish

We often hear from postpartum moms that their yoga practice just doesn’t feel the same.

Maybe they’re not feeling confident. Maybe the yoga practice they’re doing feels too fast, too long, or too exhausting. Maybe it’s that their own bodies feel foreign to them. Or maybe it’s that yoga just isn’t feeling as enjoyable.

In today’s episode we’re digging into all of that and more, focusing on the 6 most-asked questions about getting back into yoga after having a baby, and how to adjust your practice so that it works for where you are right now.

Here, we also talk about the unexpected benefits of yoga, from instilling confidence to unlocking ENERGY stored up in our bodies – energy you might not have even known you had as a new mom!

In this episode you’ll hear about:

• The 6 most-asked questions about getting back to yoga after having a baby
• How yoga can allow us to unlock NEW ENERGY stored in our bodies and actually help regulate the body’s natural sleep patterns
• What postures to NOT do in postpartum, plus the best (and worst) yoga poses if you’re breastfeeding
• The importance of breath and gentle movement in restarting your practice, and using yoga to manage diastasis recti or the postpartum pooch
• The power of yoga against self-sabotage and negative thoughts and its ability to enhance mental fitness
• Making yoga DOABLE by cultivating a home practice so there are fewer barriers (childcare, studio timetables) to getting on your mat

Resources & Links

Learn more about Nicole and Kendra on their website, or follow @devotedmamas on Instagram for pregnancy and postpartum coaching and inspiration.

Questions for us? You can ask voice questions about our podcast on our website.

Too many moms spend years feeling frustrated at the speed of their postpartum recovery. The real program: these moms haven’t yet figured out which phase of postpartum recovery they’re in. Take our postpartum pelvic floor and core strength quiz to find out where you are on your path to full recovery.

If you’re postpartum and ready to start your core and pelvic floor recovery, check out our Postpartum Repair & Restore 8-week program with LIVE coaching. In this program, we guide you through the exact workouts you need to feel your muscles strengthening + the education and LIVE supervision you need to know you’re doing it right.  For more information, go to devotedmamas.com/repair

If you’re currently pregnant, check out our Expecting to Flourish membership, a mom-driven and expert-guided virtual community that we created to help you stay your strongest during pregnancy, physically practice for birth and move easily into early postpartum. Find out more at devotedmamas.com/flourish

Some people feel like they’re done with postpartum when they hit certain dates. Others feel postpartum drags on forever and is never done.

It can be hard to know, since there’s a TON of conflicting information out there!

In this episode, we’ll talk about the four distinct phases of recovery (which we developed after working with hundreds of moms in various stages of postpartum!) – and how to know when you don’t need postpartum-specific workouts anymore.

Contrary to popular belief, healing your body has NOTHING to do with time passed and EVERYTHING to do with how it feels and functions.

We’ve developed a scoring system to help moms quantify where they are in their recovery (accessible via our quiz!) and advice on moving from one stage to the next so that in the next phase of motherhood, moms are as strong as they’ve ever been.

In this episode you’ll hear about:

• The four phases of postpartum recovery and how to know which one you’re in via our postpartum core and pelvic floor quiz
• How quickly moms can progress between phases when they honor the phase they’re IN (not where they WANT to be) and let that be their guiding force
• The “mom pooch” issue (which has more to do with pelvic floor than core)
• The difference between pushing your endurance and “pushing through” 
• The importance of reentering fitness regimes with a postpartum-specific program, such as our postpartum repair and restore eight-week program
•  The questions that hold moms back, and how to get stronger (maybe even stronger than before pregnancy!) WITHOUT more hours at the gym

Resources & Links

Learn more about Nicole and Kendra on their website, or follow @devotedmamas on Instagram for pregnancy and postpartum coaching and inspiration.

If you haven’t yet, be sure to take our postpartum core and pelvic floor quiz, and join our Postpartum Repair & Restore LIVE series, where you’ll be guided by us through our proven step-by-step method for restoring your core and pelvic strength, all while KNOWING the work you’re doing is the RIGHT work for your body. 

If you’re postpartum and ready to start your core and pelvic floor recovery, check out our Postpartum Repair & Restore 8-week program with LIVE coaching. In this program, we guide you through the exact workouts you need to feel your muscles strengthening + the education and LIVE supervision you need to know you’re doing it right.  For more information, go to devotedmamas.com/repair

If you’re currently pregnant, check out our Expecting to Flourish membership, a mom-driven and expert-guided virtual community that we created to help you stay your strongest during pregnancy, physically practice for birth and move easily into early postpartum. Find out more at devotedmamas.com/flourish

Today’s episode features one of our clients, Stephanie Kramer, a self-proclaimed fitness fanatic whose resume includes work for Peloton and Equinox.

At week 25, Stephanie’s doctor told her she needed to stop running. As a running addict, the news was devastating, to say the least.

Instead of becoming totally inactive, Stephanie was able to maintain incredible strength and get back to running faster and longer postpartum. (In fact, she even just ran her first half marathon!)

Her story is a great reminder that you CAN still be strong and powerful during pregnancy and postpartum if you stay focused on your goals. She laid a really strong foundation during pregnancy so that later, her body would know what to do.

In this episode you’ll hear about:

• The mistakes Stephanie made regarding getting too many opinions about running and exercise in pregnancy
• How Stephanie stayed strong and maintained her fitness, even after her doctor told her she needed to stop running at 25 weeks pregnant
• The magical thing that happened to Stephanie at 35 weeks pregnant
• Navigating getting back into running post birth (and how it’s a little more complicated than you might think!) 
• One key to postpartum fitness and recovery: being kind to yourself and honest with yourself
• Stephanie’s advice for pregnant women who want to stay super fit and get back into running after kids

Resources & Links

Learn more about Nicole and Kendra on their website, or follow @devotedmamas on Instagram for pregnancy and postpartum coaching and inspiration.

Too many moms spend years feeling frustrated at the speed of their postpartum recovery. The real program: these moms haven’t yet figured out which phase of postpartum recovery they’re in. Take our postpartum pelvic floor and core strength quiz to find out where you are on your path to full recovery.

If you’re postpartum and ready to start your core and pelvic floor recovery, check out our Postpartum Repair & Restore 8-week program with LIVE coaching. In this program, we guide you through the exact workouts you need to feel your muscles strengthening + the education and LIVE supervision you need to know you’re doing it right.  For more information, go to devotedmamas.com/repair

If you’re currently pregnant, check out our Expecting to Flourish membership, a mom-driven and expert-guided virtual community that we created to help you stay your strongest during pregnancy, physically practice for birth and move easily into early postpartum. Find out more at devotedmamas.com/flourish

Not all pain is created equal – especially in pregnancy and postpartum.

We’ve worked with thousands of moms over the years, and this is something we know to be true. In today’s episode, we want to help you have more discernment and criteria to evaluate your pain.

There are so many different kinds of pain you might feel during this time: muscle pain, spasms, joint pain, ligament pain, digestive pain, headaches, abdominal pain.

One thing they all have in common? They can naturally lead to a lot of fear – fear that might cause expecting and postpartum moms to avoid exercise altogether, which ultimately might not serve them well.

But we have found that once moms are able to describe their pain with more accuracy, the more confident they feel about proceeding forward.

In this episode you’ll hear about:

• How to know if pain is beneficial (i.e., in terms of muscle growth, a little inflammation is actually good) or harmful
• Warning signs associated with pain (headache, nausea, vomiting, intense abdominal pain, bleeding, pops, sharp poker pain)
• Our two-part approach to decide whether to push forward, back off, or stop 
• The nuances of the pain (does it get better or worse when you move?)
• Why, generally, the typical Rest/Ice/Compression/Elevation is okay advice, but really, the recommendation is to keep that joint in motion
• All about our starter session – a big picture view to start understanding what’s happening in your body, with a full assessment plus immediate action steps

Resources & Links

Learn more about Nicole and Kendra on their website, or follow @devotedmamas on Instagram for pregnancy and postpartum coaching and inspiration.

Interested in participating in one of our starter sessions? Email us with the subject “Starter Session,” and we’ll invite you to chat and learn about your pain and your goals.

Are you tired of being told your pregnancy and postpartum aches and pains are normal and will go away on their own? Yes, our bodies are amazing, but sometimes just waiting and trusting without any action can make imbalances and weaknesses worse. We work privately with moms who want to take an active role in creating strength, healing, confidence and independence.

If you’re postpartum and ready to start your core and pelvic floor recovery, check out our Postpartum Repair & Restore 8-week program with LIVE coaching. In this program, we guide you through the exact workouts you need to feel your muscles strengthening + the education and LIVE supervision you need to know you’re doing it right.  For more information, go to devotedmamas.com/repair

If you’re currently pregnant, check out our Expecting to Flourish membership, a mom-driven and expert-guided virtual community that we created to help you stay your strongest during pregnancy, physically practice for birth and move easily into early postpartum. Find out more at devotedmamas.com/flourish

When you learned you were pregnant, did you worry about losing your fitness?

This was true for one of our clients, Greta, who is an active duty Judge Advocate General (JAG). For her, fitness is not only an important aspect of her job – it's also something that makes her happy.

When she had her daughter about a year ago, she faced a tough recovery and a strenuous job to return to. She’d put on 60 pounds during her pregnancy and afterward struggled with pelvic floor pain and connecting to her core. She began our postpartum recovery program six weeks postpartum.

In this episode, Greta shares her journey back to fitness – the mistakes she made, what she learned, and what she recommends more mothers do in order to feel STRONGER postpartum than before kids.

In this episode you’ll hear about:

• The mistakes Greta made in postpartum – and how she overcame them
• The importance of showing up, no matter what intensity you ultimately decide to work out at
• Greta’s advice for new moms regarding consistency
• The tools Greta developed to combat pelvic floor pain
• The importance of CONTINUING foundational work – even if you think you’ve been making progress
• How feeling stronger affects Greta’s energy and quality of life

Resources & Links

Learn more about Nicole and Kendra on their website, or follow @devotedmamas on Instagram for pregnancy and postpartum coaching and inspiration.

Too many moms spend years feeling frustrated at the speed of their postpartum recovery. The real program: these moms haven’t yet figured out which phase of postpartum recovery they’re in. Take our postpartum pelvic floor and core strength quiz to find out where you are on your path to full recovery.

If you’re postpartum and ready to start your core and pelvic floor recovery, check out our Postpartum Repair & Restore 8-week program with LIVE coaching. In this program, we guide you through the exact workouts you need to feel your muscles strengthening + the education and LIVE supervision you need to know you’re doing it right.  For more information, go to devotedmamas.com/repair

Today we’re tackling a question we get a lot:

How soon can I get back to exercise after birth?

Our short answer? You can begin as soon as day one postpartum – so long as you do it the right way. We’re conditioned to think of postpartum exercise as all-or-nothing - like I can’t do my usual core weightlifting or yoga routine, so I’m just going to relax and wait.

But often we see moms lose several weeks or even months of fitness. When they start back up, they feel behind – or, they jump into things way too fast.

We’re going to give you the EXACT recipe for weeks 0 to 6 of what you can do before that 6-week check-up. So, if you want to get moving BEFORE your clearance, you can – so long as you move gradually, mindfully, and in the right order.

Resources & Links

Learn more about Nicole and Kendra on their website, or follow @devotedmamas on Instagram for pregnancy and postpartum coaching and inspiration.

If you’d like our guidance for the first six weeks of your postpartum recovery, you can join our Weeks 0 to 6 Sacred Window Training course, which will guide you step-by-step through gentle movement practices and self-care routines.

Too many moms spend years feeling frustrated at the speed of their postpartum recovery. The real program: these moms haven’t yet figured out which phase of postpartum recovery they’re in. Take our postpartum pelvic floor and core strength quiz to find out where you are on your path to full recovery.

If you’re postpartum and ready to start your core and pelvic floor recovery, check out our Postpartum Repair & Restore 8-week program with LIVE coaching. In this program, we guide you through the exact workouts you need to feel your muscles strengthening + the education and LIVE supervision you need to know you’re doing it right.  For more information, go to devotedmamas.com/repair

If you’re currently pregnant, check out our Expecting to Flourish membership, a mom-driven and expert-guided virtual community that we created to help you stay your strongest during pregnancy, physically practice for birth and move easily into early postpartum. Find out more at devotedmamas.com/flourish