New Challenges

My wellness journey continues. It’s been 6 full months since really recommitting to my health goals. And it seems like every month brings a new curveball. Last month brought some new challenges that I’ve been navigating privately, but feel comfortable enough sharing now. After stopping nursing and my cycle started again, I began getting really painful periods. The first month, I chalked it up to being my first period in over two years. The second month, same thing, but then when ovulating, the pain increased even more. Then again the third time and I suddenly woke up looking like I was 3 months pregnant from bloating, and definitely not pregnant. I couldn’t chalk it up to just my body adjusting back to having a cycle after kids. 

I made an appointment with my OB and after testing for UTIs and any other infection came back negative, they sent me for an ultrasound of my ovaries. This was after a week of essentially laying on my floor during parts of my day taking virtual meetings without camera on because that was how I could find relief and still function. Thank goodness for a work from home option because it was rough to say the least. The ultrasound came back showing signs of Pelvic Congestion Syndrome, which of course I immediately Googled. Interestingly, there’s not much information out there on this, so in summary, it’s varicose veins in my pelvic region, thanks to carrying my two beautiful children inside me. A few days later I thankfully had my follow up with my OB to get more info. Essentially, there’s no quick fix for this, like I was hoping for.  I was told that I’ll have flare ups, which so far seems accurate, and I can work with a Pelvic Floor Specialist to help rehab the muscles there.  If it gets to the point of persistent, daily pain, I can opt for vein surgery but at this time he didn’t recommend that route.  I can take pseudoephedrine when I have a flare up, which constricts the veins and alleviates the pain.  Thankfully, this month that does seem to have a positive impact on the hard days, but I don’t love taking medicine if I can find a different route.

While chatting with my OB about the Pelvic Floor Specialist, our conversation turned to cross training because he noted that I already worked out consistently already, it might just be that I need to strengthen other muscles. Hmmmm….my brain started wondering!  I recently had taken a Pilates class and the instructor noted how weak my hamstrings were. I had gotten a spin bike and those workouts made me sweat more than anything I’ve tried in months. I started putting pieces together in my head….my hurdles in weight loss, my consistent weak core strength, now this.  I haven’t been challenging my body as a whole! My go to movement practice is running and HIIT workouts. The effective calorie burn has always served me. But those haven’t been giving me results. I even somehow had removed yoga from my regular workout rotation because I have been so focused on what used to work for me, that I forgot the new habits that give me result. Yoga. Pilates. Strength training. WITH running and HIIT mixed in, but not as the only movement I do. My OB pointed out there’s a reason cross-fit is so popular. People see results because they are constantly challenging their whole body. It was just the message I needed it hear!

So, I’m thankful that I had this problem in a way because it led to the lightbulb moment of knowing that I need to challenge my body in new ways for fitness that work for me right now, at this stage of my life. I had lost sight of that somehow. It also gave me a great push to look harder at my nutrition and determine what is giving me bloat vs. what is happening internally with Pelvic Congestion Syndrome. 6 months of progress, not perfection. 6 months of putting puzzle pieces together and continued growth and reconnecting with my body as it is right now. I’m stronger for it all and hope that I can continue to inspire anyone who is on their own wellness journey to keep going. Because I am worth the effort and so are you.