How Stephanie Rocked Her Pregnancy and Blazed Back into Running Postpartum (Episode #15)

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

Notable Quotes from Stephanie

“I felt lost. You don't have control over your body when you're pregnant. And I’m always about controlling what I can at least control. Not in a crazy way. But it's my body. I want to be able to do the things that I want to do. You already can't eat the foods you want to eat. You already can't have an alcoholic beverage here and there. I never thought that someone could tell me that I can't use my legs to carry myself down the road. I just never knew that this would be an option when I was pregnant. And so I was literally heartbroken.”

“Nobody talks about post birth. They always talk about being pregnant, and then the delivery. And so in my mind at the delivery – I'm a program manager – that was my end date. That's when things were over. And what I failed to realize was that's when things began. Truly, pregnancy was the easier part. Postpartum was like a whole different beast.”

“The one thing I will never forget during pregnancy and post-pregnancy is to never stop doing something that makes you you. You can't have mom guilt. There's a difference between prioritizing your husband, your family, and you. You can quickly lose sight of everything else. You can't lose sight of you. You still have to make time for you, and you can still do anything for you, and it's not selfish.”

Resources & Links

Looking for support to stay active during your pregnancy or start your postpartum recovery? Here are some options to get you started on a great path forward:

1) Take the Pelvic Floor & Core Strength Quiz. After taking the quiz, you'll get a score and based on your results, guidance on what steps to take to move you forward in your recovery.

2) Check out our podcast listening guides: Download the Pregnancy Listening Guide or Postpartum Listening Guide.

3) If you're pregnant, want to be way more active than you have been, AND want connection with other mothers, but don't know where to start…join the Expecting to Flourish™ Membership - a mom-driven and expert-guided virtual space empowering moms with a new approach to prenatal fitness and birth prep that actually prepares you for the physical and emotional hurdles of motherhood.

If you’re postpartum and ready to get moving, need to heal your body but you don’t know where to start…join us for Postpartum Repair & Restore LIVE, a science-backed and fun-stacked, Diastasis and Pelvic Floor Strength program. Start healing your diastasis and eliminating leaking in 8 weeks or less with our guidance.

4) Do you prefer working one-on-one, or have a high risk pregnancy, a severe diastasis or leaking that won’t quit? You might be a candidate to work with us privately. To find out, take this quick self assessment! If you qualify, you'll be invited to schedule a complementary Postpartum Strategy Session with us where we'll take a good look at what's not working in your repair process, and come up with a great plan just for you.