Made to Move, Built to Birth: How Fitness Prepared My Mind For Childbirth – Part I
By Diana Tyler, Co-Owner of 925
The dramatic moment when the water breaks, followed promptly by the mother’s shocked expression and the father’s quick dash for the hospital bags.
The mother’s urgent demand that her partner drive faster, accompanied by groans of primal, insuppressible anguish as labor starts with an alarming bang.
The mother being rushed down a hospital hallway on a gurney, anxious-looking medial staff assuring her, not so convincingly, that all is well.
The too-bright lights of the hospital room beaming down on the mother’s sweat-slick hair and contorted face as she alternates between moaning, screaming, desperately squeezing the hands of her nurses and husband, and occasionally spewing obscenities and hurling ice chips across the room.
The deafening sound of “PUSH!” being exclaimed again and again and again, as if the mother’s instincts haven’t already told her that pushing will ease her baby’s journey into the world.
And then at last, the climactic moment everyone’s been waiting for: the arrival of a beautiful, plump, fresh-out-the-oven bundle of joy who beams at his or her mother with clear twinkly eyes before quietly nodding off on her chest.
That’s what I thought birth was like, thanks to dozens of TV shows and movies that, for sake of suspense and excitement, portray it in the same high-octane way they would a bank heist or a car chase.
While I don’t believe writers, directors, or actors intend to paint childbirth as a scary, traumatic, not to mention excruciating event, that’s the message audiences receive, and, as in my case, are often using to inform their own decisions regarding childbirth.
For the first eighteen weeks of my pregnancy, there was no question in my mind that I would have an epidural, just like my OBGYN had had and highly recommended. I didn’t want to be like the women I’d seen on TV or the big screen who made childbirth look like a scene from The Exorcist. The less I could feel, I thought, the better. After all, I didn’t want to make a fool out of myself by spontaneously morphing into Linda Blair in the delivery room.
So what happened at week eighteen? At the recommendation of one of Ben’s close friends, we watched a documentary called The Business of Being Born, and it shed much-needed light on the process of childbirth and the various options women have as they prepare to bring new life into the world. Personally, it opened my eyes to the awe-inspiring power and resilience of the female body, as it’s not only designed to nurture and protect life within the womb, but also to usher it earth-side with miraculous strength, which floods both body and soul. Despite what Hollywood may show us, birth is beautiful, and should be celebrated and eagerly anticipated. Not dreaded or feared.
When prospective CrossFit athletes walk into our gym for the first time, we often explain to them that the reason they won’t see many machines is because, according to our fitness philosophy, we are the machines. Our bodies – built to run, leap, lift, throw, squat, push, press, and pull – feel and perform their best when permitted to engage in the activities they were made for. Functional movements, as they’re called, prepare us to face life’s everyday, and even unexpected, activities with strength, agility, coordination, balance, and power. Our goal is to be just as fit in emergency situations, say, lifting and carrying an injured love one, as we are in recreational ones, like hiking in the sunshine with our families or keeping up with rambunctious toddlers.
After watching the documentary, the thought occurred to me: Isn’t birth a functional movement? What could be more functional than birthing a human being? What form of exercise, other than laboring and delivering a baby, could hold more significance? What better reason could a woman have to get fit and eat healthily than preparing for a natural birth?
As you might have guessed, I canceled my plans to have an epidural. At twenty weeks pregnant, I visited a local birth center here in San Antonio and Ben and I completely committed ourselves to embracing natural childbirth. From that point on, until the very day I went into labor at week 41, I designed all of my workouts with labor and delivery in mind. Each breath. Each rep. Every single squat, push-up, deadlift and plank was preparing my body and brain for my most challenging athletic event yet. During every workout, whether it was a weightlifting session designed to strengthen my muscles, or a cardio routine designed to increase my stamina and endurance, I would remind myself: My body is a machine. It was build to do this. And it was built to give birth.
This post may sound like it’s all about childbirth, but it’s really not. It’s about mindset. Because up until week eighteen, I had it in my head that birth could only be one way. I was convinced that I wasn’t strong enough, physically or otherwise, to make it out of the delivery room alive, at least not without lots of drugs. I’d limited myself before taking the always well-spent time of exploring my options and making a final decision that I could honestly say was informed, based on facts rather than fear.
Whatever challenges you might face this year, be it a marathon, a birth, or a major career change, I challenge you to consider the way you think about them. If you feel intimidated, anxious, inadequate, or afraid, ask yourself why that might be. Then ask if the reasons are valid, or if they might be the result of something others have said to or about you, or something you’ve wrongfully believed due to past failures and mistakes, or even the media’s influence. If they are, it’s time to free yourself from fear’s shackles by focusing on your various strengths and talents and remembering the lessons past mistakes have taught you.
Remember that you, my friend, are a machine, equipped with unique skills and abilities that, while perhaps a little rusty, are fully functional, fully capable of helping you achieve feats never thought possible.
If you are facing a new challenge or being asked to do something that you have never done before don’t be afraid to step out. You have more capability than you think you do but you will never see it unless you place a demand on yourself for more. – Joyce Meyer
