Ep 152: Birth Stories and Postpartum Support with Caitlin (prenatal and postpartum fitness specialist)

In this episode, Dr. Shannon interviews Caitlin Wimberly, a certified nutrition coach and personal trainer, about her experiences with prenatal and postpartum fitness. Caitlin shares: 

• her birth histories and her support systems
• emphasizes the importance of finding a supportive community and seeking help for postpartum depression. 
• the role of the nervous system in postpartum recovery and the benefits of pelvic floor physical therapy and chiropractic care. 
• about the challenges she faced during the postpartum period and the impact it had on her identity. 
• the importance of diaphragmatic breathing and core strength in both prenatal and postpartum fitness
• the need for pelvic floor PT and the role it plays in postpartum recovery. 
• that exercise should reflect the phase of life one is in and encourages finding movement that brings joy and improves quality of life. 

Resources mentioned:
Website
Instagram 
Facebook
The Magic of mamahood Podcast
Dad support podcast episode 
Dr. Shannon on the podcast 

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• 23:23 (Cont.) Ep 152: Birth Stories and Postpartum Support with Caitlin (prenatal and postpartum fitness specialist)

Transcript

Dr. Shannon (00:02.011)
Hi there, you are listening to the Aligned Birth podcast. I am Dr. Shannon, I'm one of the hosts of the show and we have a guest on today and her name is Caitlin Wimberly. And she is, we're gonna start off with all of her qualifications and then we're gonna go into like what we're gonna talk about today. But she is an NASM certified nutrition coach, personal trainer, group fitness instructor, RRCA certified run coach level one, stand up paddle board instructor.

and a certified behavior change specialist, women's health specialist, corrective core specialist. So we're gonna talk about all of that today because all of that pertains to women's health, women's prenatal postpartum fitness. So that's obviously where we're gonna go, but she's also a mom. So she has three kiddos, three sweet girls, and.

Caitlin (00:35.239)
Hehehehe

Dr. Shannon (00:48.231)
I like to say that her first two were maybe like at one point in her life and then this last one was to the most recent. And so there's a bit of an age gap and I think it's a beautiful thing because it set her up her knowledge and what she has now set it up differently for how she supported herself in this last pregnancy. So I really want to go through all of that with her, how her knowledge and that change in prenatal postpartum fitness impacted her support teams that she has. And then we're going to go over.

Caitlin (00:52.43)
Thanks for watching!

Dr. Shannon (01:16.483)
what we want to talk about with prenatal and postpartum fitness and why it's important and how to move and all of those fun things because she also had lots of stuff in her pregnancies. I like to say she went through them very gracefully. I only know her from this most recent one, but we want to dive into cesarean births, endometriosis, scar tissue, scar tissue issues, hyperemesis, gravidarum, like all of the things because she experienced it all. So I'm so, so excited to chat today, Caitlin.

Caitlin (01:28.146)
Yeah.

Caitlin (01:38.994)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (01:44.718)
Thank you for having me. I'm so honored to be here with you. My goodness

Dr. Shannon (01:45.415)
Hehehe

Dr. Shannon (01:49.631)
And fun note, so I know Caitlin in real life, which is fun with these interviews because a lot of times I do them And I'm like, I don't even know this person, but our I haven't seen them in real life But I get to see and I get to see Caitlin pretty regularly because she does a rockstar job of her self-care So she comes in and gets adjusted so I know she's okay with me sharing that information because we're gonna talk about it today

Caitlin (01:58.267)
Yeah.

Caitlin (02:08.514)
Yes. Yeah, it's what keeps me literally moving.

Dr. Shannon (02:15.699)
There's been plenty of times where we've messaged back and forth and she's like, this is why I keep, I'm able to keep moving. And she does such a good job at the movement. So there's a little bit of what I want to go in today because I want to, so the highlight of, I want to go through the birth histories and then the postpartum histories and like, what are the differences in how you cared for yourself in each of those? Because like I said, the pregnancies were at different time periods in your life because that can make a huge impact. And then going into, you know,

Caitlin (02:21.116)
Yes, yes.

Caitlin (02:37.693)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (02:44.567)
Well, sometimes it kind of it all weaves together as far as like the prenatal postpartum fitness and how you got into that so let's Let's go into some of your birth histories and start there

Caitlin (02:50.108)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (02:54.49)
Okay, yeah, so with my first, well, backstory, let's go all the way back to like 20s. I was diagnosed with endometriosis. So I had basically how you are diagnosed is you have to go under an exploratory surgery, which is really great when you're 20 and you have like no understanding of what you're even signing up for. You're like, sure, just put me under, figure it out. So anyway,

Dr. Shannon (03:02.447)
Take it back.

Dr. Shannon (03:22.241)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (03:23.402)
In that surgery, we basically found out that I had stage three endometriosis then, and there were a lot of things going on with my organs and the way that my body is that it was my surgeon, my OB at the time, OB-GYN, his recommendation that should I get pregnant, I should probably look more into the cesarean route. I could maybe do a natural birth.

but it would involve breaking my tailbone in order to get baby out, based on his advice at that time. So, I was 22 and I took that for what it was and wound up getting pregnant at 27 with my first. And it feels like a different life. I was a high school English teacher at the time. My first experience with hyperemesis was with her.

Dr. Shannon (03:59.856)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (04:21.986)
pregnancy because it was rough and it was my only you know pregnancy so I had no idea no concept of what was going on and people would say like oh the morning sickness will go away after 12 weeks you'll be fine then 12 weeks came and I was like it's still very explosive like

Dr. Shannon (04:40.799)
Mm-hmm. You're like, this is extreme. Yeah.

Caitlin (04:42.734)
Yeah, I'm like, is 12 to 18 times a day normal? And I didn't know enough to be more proactive about my care at the time. I wound up in the hospital several times in that pregnancy. I got the flu in that pregnancy. It was just rough. And I really didn't know a whole lot. I just went based on what I was being told. And I was very much of the ignorance is bliss kind of mindset where I wasn't.

Dr. Shannon (04:46.447)
Mmm.

Dr. Shannon (04:53.242)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (05:11.786)
educating myself either. So I just showed up to my appointments and I was on three different medications which were not holding the nausea at bay. So I was in a constant state of dehydration and just feeling awful. I scarred every single ninth grader I taught that year. They didn't have to do abstinence education because I handled that for everyone.

Dr. Shannon (05:14.713)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (05:31.809)
Oh god, they were like, no.

Caitlin (05:39.042)
That was my first, I had a C-section with her, planned C-section. I actually, well, we had planned a C-section, but I went into labor early with her. Now that I look back, I know it was likely due to the dehydration and my body was just like, couldn't,

Dr. Shannon (05:39.133)
Oh gosh.

Dr. Shannon (05:55.631)
Mm-hmm Because it causes those contractions more like it yeah that dehydration is huge. Yeah

Caitlin (06:01.894)
Yeah, and I went in for my pre-op and they were like, you're in labor, did you not know you had contractions? Well, fun fact, if you have endometriosis, the cramping is so severe that the contractions didn't even feel like anything to me. Like I was just, you know, so they rushed me over, um, wound up having a c-section with her and then postpartum with her was

because I went from seeing 300 kids a day to then it was just me and this baby. And you know, newborns don't do a whole lot. So I went into my postpartum care appointment, did the postpartum survey and had a lot of red flags. I was never like, self-harm wasn't a thing that I felt. I didn't feel like harming my baby, but it was just this deep sense of loneliness and sadness.

Dr. Shannon (06:34.783)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (06:51.715)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (06:58.114)
that my life was never gonna be the same. Like I didn't think I'd ever be happy again. And I loved my baby, I loved her so much, but I just completely lost myself. And so, if you are feeling that it's okay to admit it, it's actually, please admit it because it's gonna get rid of that stigma because so many experience that. And so.

Dr. Shannon (06:58.139)
Hmm.

Dr. Shannon (07:04.49)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (07:07.797)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (07:15.023)
Please admit it. Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (07:20.079)
Mm-hmm. And I think so side note and I think a lot of that is what you just said with the whole I love my baby Like when you admit those things it makes it sound like you don't Want to be a mother or you're not appreciative of you know, you don't love being a mother and it's like no No, you can it's two things. So that's sidebar, but I'm so glad you said that. Mm-hmm

Caitlin (07:27.49)
Yeah.

Caitlin (07:34.921)
Yeah.

Yeah, two things can coexist. Yeah, and I think, again, being young and kind of not understanding where I was, I mean, 27's not that young, but still, I thought with, with postpartum depression, I thought it was all about the baby in the bathtub type thing. And that wasn't what I was experiencing at all. I was just very, very lonely. So.

Dr. Shannon (07:47.004)
Mm-hmm.

I think it's very young.

Dr. Shannon (07:56.591)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (08:00.029)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (08:06.814)
wound up getting help with that. For me, exercise is always an outlet. And so I was able to manage the postpartum depression with movement. And I found a stroller fitness class and joined in. And before she even turned one, found out I was pregnant with my second, which was a huge shock to me. Yeah. So I had only planned on having one child. Like I was, I was good. That was it. Like...

Dr. Shannon (08:25.036)
Cute. Uh huh.

Dr. Shannon (08:33.468)
You're like, I'm done. Oh wow.

Caitlin (08:35.002)
Yeah, we are good. So found out about my second. And again, hyperemesis, if you have it one time, you're more than likely to have it with the next pregnancy too. But her pregnancy was not as bad. So I had it up until like, 24 weeks, something like that. But with her, I had different issues where my uterus was sitting on the inferior vena cava. So I would just pass out a lot.

Dr. Shannon (08:42.331)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (08:49.563)
Hmm.

Dr. Shannon (09:01.611)
Mm-hmm. No, no big deal. While pregnant.

Caitlin (09:03.754)
which is great with a one-year-old. Yeah, you're like, oh, good. Yes, yes. But I had found my stroller group. I was still going to work out. That was a great outlet for me. And then we knew we were going to move right before she was born. And so before she was even born, I joined another stroller group. I didn't attend until I...

Dr. Shannon (09:12.304)
Uh-huh.

Caitlin (09:29.018)
I paid for like two months without even going because I knew I needed the accountability and had I not gone ahead and done it, I wouldn't have. And truly that stroller group, I don't wanna say save my life because that sounds very dramatic, but it was their trajectory that changed my life completely. Yeah, and because of that stroller group, that's when I got into wanting to be certified. I wanted to be a stroller instructor because

Dr. Shannon (09:33.756)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (09:47.267)
It was life-giving.

Caitlin (09:56.99)
It gave me so much. I wanted to be able to be the host of that for other moms and be a safe place. Like, you know, when they just show up, they haven't slept all night, they don't even really wanna work out. They just need to be seen that day. You know, some days you just need somebody else to lay eyes on you and say, you're here, you're doing a good job. You made it, you know? And so that became my passion and it has been amazing. I went on to become a run coach and...

Dr. Shannon (10:03.516)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (10:10.908)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (10:16.096)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (10:26.122)
I've been doing it since 2018 now. And I got out of stroller fitness. I was done with strollers. Like my youngest was in kindergarten. So I went over to WellStar, became, you know, a personal trainer there, worked with older people. Yeah, yes.

Dr. Shannon (10:36.239)
Yeah.

Dr. Shannon (10:44.003)
That's right. I do remember all that now. Yeah. Side note about Caitlin too. If she if something comes to her mind and she's like, oh, I want to add this to what I know and this is going to help people, but she's going to do it like every time she comes in for an adjustment. She's like, okay, so I'm doing this now. Okay, so I'm doing this now, but it's all like it's not a sort of burden to you. It's more of like I'm this is life-giving for me and life-giving for others. So any sidebar? I forgot the older people. Yeah.

Caitlin (10:56.257)
Yeah.

Caitlin (10:59.55)
Yeah!

Caitlin (11:04.418)
There's so much to learn. Yeah. And I'm a type three enneagram. If anybody else knows like that's just like rest. Rest is not a thing. You're just like, okay, how can I be resting but learning something new to be good at it? So anyway, that was a side note. In this time, I became really close with Dr. Shannon and she helped me with my first marathon.

Dr. Shannon (11:14.787)
Rah rah rah, you're the cheerleader.

Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (11:21.935)
Yes, yes.

Okay.

Dr. Shannon (11:29.616)
Hehehe

Caitlin (11:32.234)
And also we started talking a lot about my endometriosis in ways that I can handle it naturally because I'd been on hormonal birth control, wasn't doing anything. It was just essentially I was taking it, I was not noticing any difference in symptoms, nothing. And so she gave me a book to read, read the book. I was like, I'm coming off of it. And this is the miraculous thing. And this is something that I think is really cool. I went into my...

Dr. Shannon (11:33.367)
Right, yeah.

Dr. Shannon (11:41.615)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (11:46.527)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (11:59.934)
doctor, my OBGYN, and I said, I really want to come off hormonal birth control. I'm not noticing any difference and I want to see if I can manage it in other ways. He was very supportive and like such a good partner to me said, that's great. He said, you know, as far as fertility goes based on the picture of your reproductive system.

I think you'd have like one in, I don't wanna say one in a million, but one in 999,000 chance of getting pregnant. And I'm like, fine, like that's not even on my mind because hysterectomy had been kind of something we talked about and I didn't feel ready. Well, I run my marathon and found out three weeks later that I was pregnant. So that was...

Dr. Shannon (12:32.295)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (12:47.44)
I'm going to go to bed.

Caitlin (12:50.294)
That small chance made its way. Now I know why I wasn't ready to have the hysterectomy. But yes, I had a very interesting pregnancy. It was probably my hardest pregnancy in terms of the hyperemesis. And I went into premature labor and I got IV fluids every single week. But I was a lot more proactive. I knew a lot more.

Dr. Shannon (12:56.289)
Uh huh.

Dr. Shannon (13:06.046)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (13:15.902)
I had partners who were willing to help me, like Dr. Shannon, my doctor was very good about going ahead. She set up all of the IV fluids to come to my home whenever I needed it. Like it was hard, but I felt very supported through all of it. So had C-sections with all of them. And I wound up having endometriosis excision surgery with a second and the third as well.

Dr. Shannon (13:33.993)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (13:45.52)
Mm-hmm and that just adds to the recovery. I mean I know too with you It was just there's a lot more, you know invasiveness to it with that Mm-hmm

Caitlin (13:45.89)
which, yeah.

Caitlin (13:53.45)
And there's a lot of scar tissue. Like it's not recommended to have all of these C-sections. You know, your body can only withstand so much and it's just the constant cutting. And with this last one, I hemorrhaged as well, which was a really hard recovery for me because with my second, I like bounced back. I was running after six weeks, which I don't recommend. So don't, don't do that. Yeah, yeah.

Dr. Shannon (13:59.178)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (14:10.474)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (14:17.713)
Yeah, I say that all the time in these things. I'm like, don't do what I did. No, no, no. I know better. Mm-hmm. Yeah, same. Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (14:22.414)
I didn't know what I know now. But I was feeling so much more like myself after my second versus this third was just, it took a long time. And you know, you were kind of there with me in that. But that's my history in a nutshell. Yeah.

Dr. Shannon (14:30.971)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (14:36.394)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (14:41.479)
I know, right? Yeah, not too much there. Not too much there. But that's why I wanted you to share it because it's so diverse and it's nice to talk about some, I don't want to say like the ugly parts of pregnancy, but like yes, pregnancy can be amazing and beautiful when you're growing this baby, but you can also have hyperemesis, gravitarium. You can also have, you know, these flinting spells and meeting IV fluids and stuff and it's like...

Caitlin (14:50.433)
Mm.

Caitlin (15:05.377)
Yeah, yeah.

Dr. Shannon (15:10.775)
you can support yourself, you don't have to be left to just what the OB says, you know? And if, and what, not, I don't mean that in a bad way either, but as far as like, you can have other people on that care team, you know, and you can pull them in. So, because I know you were, you were adjusted in that, this last pregnancy, and then you were also pretty diligent with your pelvic floor physical therapy as well too.

Caitlin (15:17.644)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (15:23.027)
Yeah.

Caitlin (15:34.482)
Yeah, I've seen a pelvic floor PT through pregnancy, which was really helpful with running. Like I ran a 10 mile race at 20 weeks pregnant and didn't have to stop and pee, which is huge. But that massages just like taking care of myself in ways that I know I needed. Like, yeah, maybe somebody might say it's not medically necessary, but for me, it was. It really was.

Dr. Shannon (15:38.208)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (15:44.726)
Mm-hmm. Right.

Dr. Shannon (15:49.589)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (15:55.208)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (16:01.871)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (16:03.218)
And we talk a lot, you and I, about the nervous system. And we talked so much about different ways to maybe help with the vomiting or whatever. And you just never really know what it is doing. Sometimes you can, if had I not had this care, would I have been even sicker? I don't know. But for me, it was huge. It was huge to be able to come in, again, have somebody else just like see me. And...

Dr. Shannon (16:06.477)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (16:13.82)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (16:32.562)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (16:33.398)
be there. So that was huge.

Dr. Shannon (16:36.471)
Yeah, definitely. And the, um, your miracle baby came about, um, the book that I had to borrow. It's from Dr. Aviva Ram. It's called Hormone Intelligence. It's an amazing, I love, I love her. I love her. Um, and the knowledge that she shares in the women empowerment and the just learning your body. I mean,

Caitlin (16:44.686)
Okay.

Caitlin (16:49.769)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (16:58.731)
Yeah.

Dr. Shannon (16:59.251)
here we go. I'm well into my 40s now. I'm like, I want to learn about my body now. I want women younger to do that. And so I do want to shout out to the book that...

Caitlin (17:05.946)
Yes, yes.

Caitlin (17:11.758)
Yeah, that changed my life. Oh, no, no. And with that pregnancy, there's so much I've kind of left out that I'm remembering now. Like she, we went into the specialist appointment and she had fluid that was compressing her lung and her heart. So we had to go to the specialist almost weekly for months and we'd go in and I'd be like, okay, I'm not gonna see the fluid today. And then we'd see the fluid. And I just was like,

Dr. Shannon (17:14.327)
That, yeah, sorry about that.

Dr. Shannon (17:27.067)
That's right.

Dr. Shannon (17:32.207)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (17:38.849)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (17:40.094)
it would absolutely devastate me every time, but we wound up having to do an amnio, which was scary in itself and not a decision I ever had to be at. We had to talk with counselors, genetic counselors, on what to do if this baby wasn't viable for life. And so a lot of trauma that I'm still processing and I'm gonna process for a long time, and same with like...

Dr. Shannon (17:48.492)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (18:02.249)
Yes.

Caitlin (18:08.374)
having a pelvic floor PT, going to the chiropractor, I also started back with regular therapy because I knew I wasn't ready to process what I was going through, but I needed to go ahead and start the process, if that made sense. Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (18:22.623)
you needed tools to manage now. It's not like you needed to dig deep and you know, unpack all this that's leading to, it's like, no, I have to manage the day today. Well, that's what I looked at with care with you a bunch too. And I guess with all of, most of my mom's anyways, it's yes, there's the aches and pains. You know, you would have specific things coming in, history, a little bit of like the tailbone pain and things that we were working on. But then I was also looking at, I really want this mom's nervous system.

Caitlin (18:32.117)
Yeah.

Caitlin (18:45.949)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (18:50.983)
to calm down because she's got a lot on her plate. She's got a lot on her plate. And so can we respond? And so that's where I would always think of you with that was the, can I help this mom in this aspect? And that's those little touch points. It's gonna be the same thing with pelvic floor PT, giving that rest and relax because you're holding tension in that pelvic floor and everything. So I know you've got a lot going on.

Caitlin (18:51.272)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (19:05.78)
Yeah.

Caitlin (19:10.23)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, honestly, I think even if you are feeling amazing during your pregnancy, just getting aligned not only helps you physically, but the mental emotional aspect too because of the nervous system. And we don't, we only know just a fraction of how much it affects us, you know, as common people as I like to say, like as chiropractors, you know, like, yeah, but.

Dr. Shannon (19:24.726)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (19:32.515)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (19:37.241)
That's common folk. Yeah.

Caitlin (19:40.598)
If you really dive into it, you can see it affects everything. And, you know, I don't like to be toxic. I don't like to have toxic positivity because I am a, an encourager in a positive person, but I think it's also so important to say, like, this sucks, you know, like I need to feel this, I need to process it. And then I need tools to help me deal with it. Um, so.

Dr. Shannon (19:50.288)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (19:57.964)
Yes.

Dr. Shannon (20:05.22)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (20:07.51)
That was helpful with therapy and then found we did go to the specialist one week and she was totally fine. So just another thing, another weird thing about our bodies, but.

Dr. Shannon (20:11.993)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Dr. Shannon (20:20.403)
Yeah, I was always very proud of your support system with this pregnancy and knowing too that it was so different than the first ones that you had. Not that it was bad with the first ones, but just where you were in that prenatal postpartum knowledge and what you were able to do at this point in life too.

Caitlin (20:29.132)
Yeah.

Caitlin (20:37.45)
Yeah.

I think understanding you don't have to be an island, like you don't have to do this alone. You know, there's so many different ways to support yourself and doulas are a great way. Even, I'm sure you guys have talked about it on the podcast, but even if you have a Caesarian, you can have a doula. And that's huge for a lot of people to have that extra support. And this is somebody who understands birth in ways that you don't, you know, and they can guide you a little better, so.

Dr. Shannon (20:43.745)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (20:51.387)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (20:56.554)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (21:09.743)
Mm-hmm most definitely and even that, you know postpartum dual support as well too. So Okay, so that's a little bit of the birth Histories and some other things woven in there. You're getting me all off track now I only have an outline just to keep just to keep me focused because if you're not careful people Okay, we're gonna sit here and talk for several hours We she and I have so many ideas to where I'm like we have to go get coffee

Caitlin (21:13.994)
Yeah.

Caitlin (21:21.082)
Yeah, just a little, yeah. I know, I'm sorry.

Yeah, no.

Caitlin (21:32.627)
I know, I know.

Caitlin (21:36.858)
Yeah.

Dr. Shannon (21:38.743)
So we don't need to go down that rabbit hole with this. Now, let's go into your postpartum. You talked a little bit of postpartum with your first and the loneliness, but then let's go into how did you do with it in the three different postpartums that you had? Because especially with that second one, it was so close to your first. So yeah.

Caitlin (21:40.781)
I know.

Caitlin (21:51.112)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (22:01.518)
Okay. Yeah. Um, so talks about the first, that depression and then finding movement again and starting, um, with the second, like I said, I was back running sooner than I should have. I didn't see a pelvic floor PC and, um, very luckily I didn't have issues, but that's not always the case. And so now what I know I wouldn't do that. But anyway, I joined the stroller group, showed up to the stroller group.

Dr. Shannon (22:09.18)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (22:23.47)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (22:32.018)
it literally my entire day was built around getting us ready to get out the door because at that point I had a 19 month old and a six week old like they're a year and a half apart and so I would like prep breakfast the night before everything and you know until you what I've learned in all of my postpartum experiences is like everything feels hard until you do it and so that first time is going to feel

Dr. Shannon (22:49.671)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (22:58.612)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (23:01.202)
excruciating. And so that was what it was for me. Like I stressed until that first time getting out the door. Maybe screamed the whole way home. Of course, we were like in traffic for 30 minutes and she was screaming and I was like, yeah, we get home. It's like 10am. You know, I have a whole day still and I'm like, we did it. You know, we did it. So with that finding a group of

Dr. Shannon (23:16.199)
You're like, this is amazing, this is amazing, I love my life. Yeah. And you're like, I'm done.

Caitlin (23:29.442)
people who were in a similar phase of life was huge for me. And like I said, that is what got me into teaching stroller fitness and getting into movement because my master's degree is in education. So to be able to channel that in a different way was really cool. I still dealt with postpartum depression with her, but I had more tools in my tool belt. So the first I had

Dr. Shannon (23:36.859)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (23:53.659)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (23:56.114)
No tools. I didn't even know I had postpartum depression. You know, I didn't know the signs. My husband is very, very supportive, but he didn't know either. Like neither one of us had children or had this experience. And sometimes he was the only adult I would see. Like I didn't have, I had one mom friend who I taught with really, and that was it. And so I went from being very social to being very isolated. Second,

Dr. Shannon (23:58.74)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (24:06.444)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (24:13.069)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (24:24.146)
I was like, nope, I need social interaction. We're gonna do this. And so still dealt with postpartum depression. And then with this third, I knew since I had already had it with the first two, my therapist was like, you know, there's a chance you might not have postpartum depression, but it's more likely you will. So let's go ahead and create tools now just in case, you know, and so that's what we worked on the pregnancy, like.

Dr. Shannon (24:46.908)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (24:50.754)
finding my safe people who I could say, I'm having a really hard day, or, you know, I don't feel okay today. Even just being able to say that to someone. And then letting them know ahead of time, like, hey, I have given you this responsibility, thank you. And also, I knew I chose the right people because when I said, hey, I need you to be a safe person for me, here's what I'm gonna do. Every single one of them said,

Dr. Shannon (24:58.111)
Mm-hmm. Being able to voice that, yes, yes.

Caitlin (25:19.998)
Okay, what do you want me to do on those days? Do you just want me to listen? Do you want me to plan weekly walks with you? Like, what do you need? And it's okay if you don't know now, but know like I'm up for whatever you need. And so that was really, really big for me. I think my hardest thing postpartum mentally, because the physical is, you know, it's hard for everyone, but mentally this time.

Dr. Shannon (25:24.849)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (25:49.462)
having the hemorrhage, which really just wrecked any energy that I had. And I'm 36 now. I was 27 and 28 when I had the other two. And that's a big difference. My body's been through a lot more. I was in probably the best shape out of the three, but age affects a lot. So that was very...

Dr. Shannon (26:00.551)
Mm-hmm.

Uh-huh.

Dr. Shannon (26:11.04)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (26:15.042)
hard for me mentally because I was still running up till 28 weeks. No, 36 weeks. 28 was Callie's pregnancy. 36 weeks is when I like everything had to ha and so I was like at 36 weeks pregnant, I was doing more than I can do right now. And that's hard when you're so active and that's basically as an Enneagram three, somebody might be able to relate to this, but what you do becomes your identity. And for me,

Dr. Shannon (26:20.711)
I'm going to go ahead and turn it off.

Dr. Shannon (26:24.152)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Dr. Shannon (26:35.579)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (26:45.318)
not being able to do anything that I consider my identity was hard. And like, that's what we talked a lot about in therapy. Like, no, that's not necessarily who you are. I'm like, but it is, it feels like who I am. Yes. So I think this postpartum period was a lot harder than my second. And maybe not as hard as my first in the sense that I had built in allies with the therapist, with my safe people.

Dr. Shannon (26:55.859)
Mm-hmm. You don't understand. Yeah.

Dr. Shannon (27:12.743)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (27:14.922)
with Joe who now knows, like, I can say, you know, I don't feel like me, this doesn't feel okay. And you know, so, but mentally it was hard with all of that. So now we're seven months postpartum, I'm back to running finally, because among all of that postpartum stuff, I had a heart issue that came out. So that kind of stopped me. Yeah.

Dr. Shannon (27:17.723)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (27:41.519)
I'm just sorry. It just keeps adding. You're just gonna keep adding some things to Caitlin's plate. I know, I know.

Caitlin (27:49.129)
Yeah, but that was really I couldn't move in the way that I like to move. I'm a runner and so like not being able to run had been really hard. Back to the identity thing, like how you see yourself and how you're able to present yourself to the world, it being different is hard. So but now, you know, we're back. I'm teaching stroller classes again.

Dr. Shannon (28:11.402)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (28:12.318)
Um, now is like the old mom. This is yes, the veteran mom. Yeah. Yes. Hey, yes. But it's fun because I can be like, Oh, I hear you. That is something to worry about. But, you know, I think she's going to be okay. You know, like, so.

Dr. Shannon (28:16.456)
I love it. The seasoned mom. Level, what is it? Level 36. That's what we're saying now. Instead of, you know, I'm 41 years old, I'm level 41.

Dr. Shannon (28:34.439)
Uh-huh. Exactly. Well, I will say too, you did a really good job this postpartum. You were, you're very open about it as well. And so we're going to share all your social media stuff too, because I love how open you are with it, but you shared the journey and it was, it was intentional progress. And I don't want to say slow because it, it was what was needed. I think a lot of times we tried to...

Caitlin (28:55.923)
Mm.

Caitlin (29:01.211)
Right.

Dr. Shannon (29:04.299)
I don't even like the word come back anymore because I like to use like come into because we're a different person, you know, with pregnancy. So it was like, it wasn't slow. I don't want to say that, but it was very intentional. And so it was, it was planned out. It was intentional. It was methodical. And it was, it was a fun little transition to watch and see, and see you get back to like your jump splits and your stroller runs.

Caitlin (29:08.126)
Yeah, 100%.

Caitlin (29:13.083)
No.

Caitlin (29:24.93)
Yeah, yes, yes. Well, and honestly, like the cardiology stuff probably was a blessing in disguise because mentally, I know all of the things I probably shouldn't do postpartum now. But would I have followed that? I don't know. It's hard because we tend as practitioners sometimes tend to take like a do as I say, not as I do approach because you're like, I've done it before, you know. And so yeah.

Dr. Shannon (29:42.331)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (29:51.243)
Yeah, you need to wait eight weeks. Me, I'm gonna go over here and do this in six weeks. Uh-huh.

Caitlin (29:55.394)
fine, like I'm good, but it helped me rebuild my core. I was able to get back into chiropractic care, which was a little scary for me having the C-sections and the hemorrhage. So like being able to come into your office, like a mess and just feel like totally accepted. However, I came in was great. Like that was huge for me. And it again goes back to like letting someone see you, even if it's just.

Dr. Shannon (29:59.201)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (30:14.352)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (30:21.678)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (30:22.506)
you know, you are still in yesterday's pajamas and you haven't slept and whatever, having someone else put eyes on you is a really big thing postpartum. And so Dr. Shannon was that for me. But getting back into chiropractic care because I was having so much back pain from the core weakness again, and being able to rebuild my core from the inside out has made a difference. Like now I'm back to running and I'm not quite back to my pace.

Dr. Shannon (30:33.646)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (30:39.003)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (30:50.358)
But like with a stroller, I'm only a minute or so off of my pace before I got pregnant, which is pretty decent. Yeah, so, and doing a lot of strength training, which I do love. So it's been good. It's been nice to have, again, having my partners. So.

Dr. Shannon (30:57.443)
That's crazy. That's yeah, I love it.

Dr. Shannon (31:09.023)
Yeah, to have that back. So let's segue into what your, I guess, like what your focus is with moms, the groups that you do, because you have runner mom groups. I know you had the stroller fitness and coming back into that. And so what is it that you look at with prenatal and what like, what, you know, if you're working with prenatal clients, what do you do there? If you're working with postpartum clients, what do you do there?

Caitlin (31:22.958)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (31:36.646)
Yeah, so with all of it, I'll say the overarching thing is diaphragmatic breathing. And I actually have a podcast with another exercise specialist. We're like slowly bringing it back because we both got pregnant and it did put everything on a hold. But anyway, we talk a lot, we'll talk about diaphragmatic breathing. We could talk about it for hours. But it's basically a type of breathing that really.

Dr. Shannon (31:46.075)
Yes, I meant to mention that, I know. Mm-hmm. Yay.

Uh huh. Yeah.

Dr. Shannon (32:00.151)
Uh huh.

Caitlin (32:02.818)
brings your TVA, tightens it, and helps with the ab separation. And it's natural, everybody's gonna have ab separation just based on your body accommodating a baby. But really engaging those muscles helps prenatal and postpartum. And it helps with things like back pain, which a lot of people suffer from. In fact, I think that's what I hear most commonly is like, oh, I can't get any movement in because my back hurts so bad, whatever.

Dr. Shannon (32:11.964)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (32:32.674)
So being able to strengthen from the inside out is huge. Honestly, I do a lot of partnership with public floor PT's in working with breath work. This is prenatal and postpartum. Like breath work is huge in any stage of life, but connecting your breath to movement so that you can tap into that relaxation and tension and understanding the two because a lot of times in pregnancy,

will hold that tension all of the time. And so it actually starts to weaken that muscle or the muscles of your pelvic floor. And so we need to learn how to relax as well and provide the tension because another thing that I will be blue in the face saying is like incontinence, like leaking is common, but not normal. So.

Dr. Shannon (33:03.38)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (33:24.639)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (33:25.438)
If you're experiencing that, I know we love to make jokes. Like I've had, you know, these kids, that's why I can't jump on a trampoline anymore. Yeah. Yeah, but you can jump on a trampoline. That's what I'm here to tell you. Like you absolutely can. See your pelvic floor PT, they will hook you up. And it's really cool with all my pregnancies to see that movement change because I didn't know anything about pelvic floor PT with my first. And

Dr. Shannon (33:31.103)
I know. I do love to make those jokes, but you're like, yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (33:42.939)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (33:53.774)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (33:53.814)
I don't think I did with my second really either, other than like some people got meshed to hold everything together, like surgeries. But with my third, I'm like, oh, I don't, if I have runners, I don't let them start with me until they've had a pelvic floor screening. That's just an ethical thing for me because running is so high impact. I don't wanna exacerbate something that's gonna affect you for the rest of your life. So I work with them.

Dr. Shannon (33:59.882)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (34:03.498)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (34:13.858)
Mm-hmm. Mm.

Dr. Shannon (34:19.771)
Mm-hmm most definitely and who did you work with here in Atlanta? So it's Hannah, right? Mm-hmm Yeah, cuz I'm gonna link her here. Yeah

Caitlin (34:25.318)
Yeah, exhale pelvic health. She is amazing. Yeah, she's incredible. She's a mom. She's a runner. I like to work with people with professionals who have similar things that I do as a patient because they understand it. Like Dr. Shannon, I went on to a mom's group and said, hey, I need a chiropractor who's a runner and who can help me in the ways because she knows what a runner needs. And like...

Dr. Shannon (34:33.275)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (34:39.695)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (34:52.555)
Mm-hmm. Ha! Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (34:53.742)
20 people recommended Dr. Shannon. So I was like, let's go. But same like with pelvic floor PT, I want somebody to understand what I wanna do and help me to do those things because they've also experienced it. So prenatal, that's a big thing. We work on breath work. We work on diaphragmatic breathing, which is considered breath work. And then we also just strength train and do some cardio just like you would if you're not pregnant.

Dr. Shannon (34:59.375)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (35:07.247)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (35:18.922)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (35:22.486)
The trimesters kind of signify different things on what you can do. Like first trimester, pretty much you can keep going how you've been going if you have an exercise regimen. If you don't, it's okay to start, but you just know like high impact is not gonna be your friend. You're not going to jump into a high impact workout. And this differs to like a lot of people who have gone to fertility specialists. A hard thing is that they've...

Dr. Shannon (35:31.901)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (35:42.171)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (35:51.022)
not exercise so long based on the specialist recommendation. And so then when they wanna get movement in pregnancy, it's hard to get back into it. So knowing what you can do and how you can kind of increase in a safe way. Second trimester, we're still gonna do core strength cardio, but core is gonna change a little bit. We're not going to lay on our back as much because for some people that affects them.

Dr. Shannon (36:03.849)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (36:20.176)
Right.

Caitlin (36:21.074)
And we don't want to do that. No planks. If you're going to be on a plank, you want to be on knees. So you're not exacerbating that stretching and making that diastasis, which is this ab separation worse. And then third trimester, again, we're doing all of the same things, but we're going to slow it down because we want to start more on like birth prep and labor prep. So...

Dr. Shannon (36:29.134)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (36:44.993)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (36:46.306)
we're gonna increase maybe the number of squats that we do. We're gonna do a lot more work with a ball, a big birthing ball. And that's huge for core. We're gonna start working on things that you can do postpartum, so that when you are cleared, you can get back into it. So I think a lot of people think with pregnancy, there's a lot you can't do, but really you can do a lot of things. There's more you can do than...

Dr. Shannon (36:52.657)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (37:12.731)
Mm-hmm.

Most definitely, yeah. And a lot of it's just the modification. And so that sometimes I really like knowing, having an expert like yourself to be like, okay, this is the best way to modify these certain exercises, but getting that movement is still key.

Caitlin (37:16.786)
you know, you think. So, and it's... Yeah.

Caitlin (37:27.016)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (37:31.602)
Yeah, it is. It's huge. It affects you. I mean, I like to say I'm a dope chaser, a dopamine chaser. And, you know, with your hormones going crazy, it's nice to have that release. And that helps the baby too, because they get that dopamine rush too. So anyway, that's all prenatal. And then moving into postpartum, the hardest thing for people who are super active in their pregnancy and even before.

Dr. Shannon (37:39.08)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Dr. Shannon (37:46.384)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (37:52.887)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (37:59.51)
are those first six weeks, right? Because you're not necessarily cleared to do much, but there are things you can do. As soon as you're able, you can walk, which is gonna be huge, vitamin D, all of the wonderful things. And most of the time with a natural birth, like you can be right back to it, you know, which is so great. And then diaphragmatic breathing is gonna be that first in those first six weeks, really being able to connect to your core.

Dr. Shannon (38:01.324)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (38:17.104)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (38:25.979)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (38:28.178)
almost immediately is huge. And with the C-section, I think I was like five days out and was like back starting in. Mainly, I probably could have started sooner, but it's a little scary. So being able to do that and really work on that, the TVAs that wrap around and starting to close that gap and really rib work too. So a lot of times we have rib flaring after pregnancy, like being able to

Dr. Shannon (38:37.598)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (38:41.033)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (38:53.723)
Hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (38:57.558)
Bring that in as you breathe, it's huge. And then the six week mark, the doctor most of the time will say, you're good, do anything. That's not what we recommend based on what we know now. So I'm sorry if that's discouraging, but I really don't want you to start back running at six weeks because your pelvic floor has been through a lot. It's been supporting this weight, whether you have had a C-section or natural birth.

Dr. Shannon (39:08.423)
Mm-hmm. I love it, yeah.

Dr. Shannon (39:24.187)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (39:27.338)
doesn't matter because it's been stretched all the way down to support that weight. And we really need to get it back to where it was before, before you do that high impact work. So strength training is great to get back into low impact work like this spin bike is really great. Walking is, you know, one of the best things.

Dr. Shannon (39:32.647)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (39:40.891)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (39:47.651)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (39:52.894)
And you can slowly move into it. I mean, if you're working with a pelvic floor PT, you might be ready three months, four months to get back into that high impact work. I believe Dr. Hannah says like four months is the minimum she would recommend for runners. And which is hard if you're a runner because you see all these elite runners who've had these babies and like one week later, you know, they're out on the track.

Dr. Shannon (40:12.507)
Yeah.

Caitlin (40:22.198)
But that's their job. So just remember, they have a team of professionals too, who are ensuring every single step of what they do is what they need. And you can have a team too, but you probably won't be back on the track, within a week of having a baby.

Dr. Shannon (40:24.855)
That's different. Yeah, everybody's different.

Dr. Shannon (40:33.755)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (40:38.815)
Yeah, yeah. I think it's some realistic expectations of postpartum and I hope too that when we talk about it more it becomes the norm of like, okay yeah I wasn't getting back into full-blown movement until I was completely healed, you know?

Caitlin (40:45.375)
Yeah.

Caitlin (40:54.302)
It takes two years for your hormones to be back regulated after having a baby, two years. When you're pregnant, you're dealing with relaxin, which makes your joints super flexible. You still have relaxin postpartum, especially if you're nursing. So I get this way sometimes where I get frustrated, where I'm like.

Dr. Shannon (40:57.512)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (41:08.954)
Okay.

Caitlin (41:18.122)
Obviously my body is not going to get back to where it was because it's different now. It's created another life, which is incredible. But I also have to say, it's not been two years. My body is not even on a regular cycle yet of hormone balancing. So if my hormones, it takes two years to get back together. I have to expect that it's going to take the rest of me to get back to that too. So

Dr. Shannon (41:28.929)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (41:34.878)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (41:45.703)
Mm-hmm. I know not jumping in. Mm-hmm

Caitlin (41:46.89)
And that's meant to be encouragement, not discouragement. Like, you know, we get so consumed by aesthetics when it comes to movement. And my big thing is like, let's not like, aesthetics, that's fine, whatever. But like, let's not make that our purpose for movement. Like let's love movement for movement, you know?

Dr. Shannon (41:58.179)
Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (42:08.491)
Yeah. That's one of my favorite things that you always talk about because it's not necessarily about like the scale or anything, but it's like a feeling that you get with the movement and it's feeling your body moving well. Not so much looking at movement as like that means to an end when it comes to aesthetics, which you were saying.

Caitlin (42:17.064)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (42:22.155)
Yeah.

Caitlin (42:26.199)
Yeah.

Yeah, and it can be something I say a lot of times because a lot of people take up running because they're like, I wanna be a runner. And it's like, okay, why? Because you tell me you hate running and I don't want you to do a movement that you dislike every single time. Right, there are so many different ways that you can move your body. My friend Devin and I do adult gymnastics, which I'm cleared I can get back into Monday we start. I'm so happy.

Dr. Shannon (42:42.732)
Yeah, it's going to be harder for you to continue this.

Dr. Shannon (42:54.106)
That's right.

Ah.

Caitlin (42:58.678)
But like, I don't think most people would be like, ah, you know what? I think I'm gonna do adult gymnastics. No, like find what you wanna do and do that Zumba, dance, whatever, there's like a hopping workout with these bungee shoes. Like, you know, whatever you're going to fall in love with and increase your quality of life with, that's what you should do, so.

Dr. Shannon (43:09.711)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (43:13.135)
No.

Dr. Shannon (43:23.531)
Yeah, don't base it on what everybody else is doing. But I feel like too that there seems to be in society, we get this like badge of honor of like, oh, I just had my baby and I'm already out here running. You know, like I think we need to, I don't know, I think we need to change that or accept that it's different, you know? Like, yeah, I don't know.

Caitlin (43:26.474)
Yeah.

Caitlin (43:36.866)
suffering.

Oh yeah. Yeah.

Caitlin (43:49.35)
Yeah, yeah, the baby is the badge of honor y'all like anything that comes after is going to be Yeah, Stephanie says who I do the podcast with she says a lot like exercise should reflect the phase of life that you're in and I really love that because a Lot of times we think it should always look the same no matter what phase you're in and that's not true like

Dr. Shannon (43:53.371)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. The changes that your body went through. That's like, yeah, that's the badge of honor. Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (44:08.397)
Hmm... Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (44:15.36)
Mm-mm.

Caitlin (44:17.302)
Postpartum, it's gonna look different, not only because your body is different, but because now you're dealing with lack of sleep. And I would always say, prioritize sleep over movement. Just longevity wise, that's gonna be what's more important in that movement.

Dr. Shannon (44:32.123)
Mm-hmm quality sleep. Mm-hmm. I mean my watch will tell me I did 15 miles the other day and my Watch that night was like the next morning was like you suck. You should not have done that I was like first of all screw you but secondly I was like But it that was that's a little bit and that we should do a whole other episode with like the cycle training of like When you do the hard workouts with your cycle and stuff like that I'm getting ready to write a blog about that because uh-huh and I'm like, oh, I probably ran that in the wrong face but okay, so you I wrote down a couple of I've been writing down some quotes from the

Caitlin (44:41.542)
Yeah, yes, yeah, yeah.

Caitlin (44:51.229)
Oh yes, your loony old face. Uh huh, I love that.

Dr. Shannon (45:01.659)
from this episode. So exercise should reflect the phase of life you're in. I think if I could, I need to put a poster up in the office with that because I've been working with so many moms. I think they sometimes look at me and I'm 41 and I have like almost two teenagers, you know? Like I got a 14 year old and 11 year old. Like I can go, I don't have to do stroller runs anymore. I posted recently about the stroller and I'm like, oh wow, those days. I was like.

Caitlin (45:15.007)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (45:22.701)
Yeah.

Caitlin (45:25.966)
Mm-hmm. I saw there was so little.

Dr. Shannon (45:30.839)
Holy moly. And I was like, that really was, that was a whole other phase. Like the exercise, the running, it changes. So you, first of all, comparison can be the thief of joy, but you've got to look at the different phases that people are in and where you're at. So it's never like, oh, well, I wish I could, run it this time and do this instead. And it's like, no, it's, I don't know. I think that's a perfect, perfect.

Caitlin (45:35.211)
Oh my gosh.

Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (45:42.177)
Yep.

Caitlin (45:46.357)
Yeah.

Caitlin (45:53.879)
Yeah.

Dr. Shannon (45:56.167)
quote to remember and to remind yourself is that this actually it's going to change and it's going to keep changing. It's going to keep changing. I know mine is. Yeah.

Caitlin (46:02.97)
Yeah. Well, and it's interesting too, because one thing I noticed with this postpartum period is like, with each of mine, I gained the same amount, like exact same. It's like my body was like, this is what you need. Which is another really cool thing about how our bodies are. But in this postpartum period, because I had so much more muscle during that pregnancy and before, because that was my job, you know, I was exercising.

Dr. Shannon (46:17.753)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (46:21.52)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (46:31.514)
a lot of hours a day because it was my job. The way I looked after was different than what the other two. I would get lots of comments like, you look great, which is not a bad thing. It's not to say it's a bad thing, but I felt awful. It was one of those things where it's like, okay, I'm glad you think that's the end all be all, but I would rather feel good and look not.

Dr. Shannon (46:45.447)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah

Yeah.

Dr. Shannon (46:59.831)
Oh crap. Yeah. Like, yeah.

Caitlin (47:00.226)
how I look right now, you know, like, yeah, I'd rather look like Jabba the Hutt if I could still like have energy and move. So just another perspective on kind of the phase you're in and how you feel. Yeah.

Dr. Shannon (47:10.895)
Yeah, societal and expectations and phases. Oh yeah, no, I'm glad you, yeah, exercise should reflect the phase of life that you're in. That's so perfect. Okay, where can people connect with you? Because I, and I want you to mention the podcast, all the social media stuff, website, like all things.

Caitlin (47:22.663)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (47:36.478)
Yeah, so I'm most active on Instagram. So you can follow me at cwfitness underscore nutrition. And so that's where I post a lot of things. And then also I'm on Facebook. Those are my most active things because I'm old. I have a TikTok, but I like forget about it. I'm like, oh yeah, I guess I should post a video on TikTok.

Dr. Shannon (47:58.639)
My podcast co-host Rachel the other day said something about like, oh, I think we'd get some viewer traction on TikTok. And in my head, I'm like, I don't know if I can handle, I don't know if I can handle anything else. I feel old.

Caitlin (48:07.738)
I know something else. When I get on there, it's like flashy and things are moving and there's these things. I'm just, I know, I know what I know and I'll upload a few videos and then I'm like, okay, I'll forget about it for a few months again. Yeah, so.

Dr. Shannon (48:18.248)
Yeah, no.

Dr. Shannon (48:22.247)
I'll just... No, Instagram and Facebook, yes. Huh.

Caitlin (48:27.906)
And then my website is Caitlin Wimberley, which Caitlin is C-A-I-T-L-I-N, and then Wimberley, W-I-M-B-E-R-L-E-Y, the E always gets left out,.com. And so that's where you can find signing up for run groups, prenatal or postpartum personal training. I also do a lot of postmenopausal personal training from my...

Dr. Shannon (48:39.839)
Uh-huh.

Caitlin (48:55.59)
days at WellStar. I learned a lot about that and just so women's health in general is my passion, but anyway that's where you can find me. I love connecting with people so please connect tell me what you think um things types of movement that you love. I love to explore new things so.

Dr. Shannon (49:15.566)
Mm-hmm. Do you have... so do you do virtual work with people as well?

Caitlin (49:22.214)
Yeah, I do right now, that's all I'm doing with training. So personal training, I do virtual when my husband's working from home because I'm home with a baby too. So yeah, we just make it work. It's a partnership. The phase of life, yes. I'm like, just ignore that sound, it's fine. But yeah, so I do virtual training right now. When she gets a little older, I'll go back to in-person.

Dr. Shannon (49:25.435)
Okay.

Dr. Shannon (49:35.567)
See? This is the phase of life that you're in.

Caitlin (49:50.294)
She's not taking a bottle, so that's really, there we go. And then also I do the stroller fitness. If you're local to Marietta, please come join us. It's so fun. It's just, sometimes it's just fun to see another mom and be like, anybody sleeping? And everybody's like, no. You know where that one is? And we're all like, yes.

Dr. Shannon (49:52.42)
There we go.

Dr. Shannon (49:59.312)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (50:03.303)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (50:08.959)
Yeah.

Caitlin (50:14.73)
And then also the podcast, we're reworking it. We're trying to stockpile a lot of episodes because we have seven kids between us. So, yeah, seven kids. So it's the magic of mamahood. And you can find us on Spotify. We have a lot of old episodes, I think like 17, where we interviewed experts. We interviewed Dr. Shannon.

Dr. Shannon (50:19.993)
Uh huh.

Dr. Shannon (50:24.955)
Two moms, seven kids, I know, right?

Dr. Shannon (50:32.239)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (50:35.451)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (50:39.295)
Yay, I was on it. So good. Yeah, I love there.

Caitlin (50:41.874)
Shout out to one of my favorite episodes too was with a male Counselor who talks about postpartum and dads and that there's a lot of research on that right now So if you are pregnant right now, it's really a good thing to check out because then you can also help your partner in those days postpartum, so

Dr. Shannon (50:51.503)
Mmmm

Dr. Shannon (51:02.951)
I love it. That's why I wanted you to go through all the things that you have because there's so many little avenues that people can connect with you. And you got to follow Caitlin because there's going to be something new that she does. It's going to be like a new class or new skill that she's learned or, hey, I'm going to do this now. What are we doing? I know. That's fine. Just you just keep working. That's okay. Oh goodness.

Caitlin (51:10.42)
Mm-hmm.

Caitlin (51:15.214)
Yeah, I'm sure I'll be like, I can't stop. I know, my husband's like, what now? Do you, I'm like, it's fine, it's done. Yeah.

Dr. Shannon (51:33.487)
This was so good. I hope your story, well, I know, I know your story, your knowledge, who someone needed to hear it, you know, and can say, okay, this is what I can do in this pregnancy or knowing how different their pregnancies can be and hearing the ways that you supported yourself. So I'm so, so thankful to have you on the show today, friend. It was nice to see you online. I'll get to see you soon in person. I love it.

Caitlin (51:34.26)
Yes!

Caitlin (51:43.125)
Yeah.

Caitlin (51:50.926)
Okay.

Caitlin (51:56.154)
Yes, thank you for having me. I know, yes, you'll see all of us.

Dr. Shannon (52:03.549)
But again, thank you so, so much. I appreciate all of the information that you shared. And then stay tuned listeners every Wednesday where we'll have a new episode go live.

Caitlin (52:13.866)
Yay, thank you!