Wel I was lulled into a false sense of security thinking this thread had slowed down a bit, its just taken an age to read through.
LOL at screen savers and children eating catfood.
Scorpio do you have a local authority leaisure centr by you and does it have a creche? Ours r run at quite reasonable rates so Aeryn goes in whilst Ethan at Nursery and it gives me a couple of hours to do a class and go to the gym. Then means I have evening free to spend with DH/watch TV/whatever else.
? Ladybee - stiff/aching joints in the am generally down to degeneration of the joints, could be wear of the discs or the joints of the spine. Worth looking into a form of general exercise that involves spinal stretching like yoga or doing some of your own. You could get a video or try these 3
- lying on your back knees bent and feet flat on the floor, lift one knee to your chest, hold it there whilst you lift second knee up to chest then pull both in as far as u can and hold for 20 sec. Let your arms straighten, releasing the strecth for few secs and repeat 10 times.
- Same starting position but this time let your knees drop out to the side, hold 10 secs thne over to the other side. Repeat 10 on each side.
- Stand facing a wall, place your forearms up the wall to support your body weight, take your feet about a foot away from the wall. Allow your hips to drop in towards the wall causing your back to arch, hold 10 sec and repeat 10 times.
Do am and evening, they should be stretchy not painful.
Ellie, easier said than done but try not to carry Molly around to much, when picking up and putting down try and make sure you bend your knees and keep your back as straight as possible. When changing nappies try changing on the floor with one knee up infront of you to help support your back and try and keep your back straight.
The pelvic floor and lower abdominal muscles (that help support your back) are very closly related so if one isnt working properly quite often the other isnt either, really try hard at doing your pelvic floor exs and lower abdominals (as prev described) before your obs and gobs app. Otherwise they are likely to send you away for a month and do them anyway. If youve worked really hard on them b4 you go and they still srnt working properly they should be aboe to examine and check how you r doing them, an correct if nec, or organise appropriate testing if needed.
Pain in the upper back more often than not tend to be posture related, as a nation we do tend to be a little lazy in how we hold ourselves. Look at yourself in the mirror sideways on, your should have 3 small curve in the spine, in a bit at the bottom, out a bit in the middle and then in a bit in the neck. You may find that you bottom curve has gone and the middle of your back is v curved. Every time you sit down try and make sure your weight is equal from left to right then think about your lower back, arch it needs to be mid way between arched and rounded so it should be fairly comfortable. Then lift your breast bone so it faces up to the ceiling and finally try and pull your head back over your spine. Now hold it there.......
You could also try some stretches for that part of your spine
- Roll a pillow up then lay on your back over the pillow, it needs to be about bra strap level, lift your arms above your head and deep breathe in and out X 10
- On your hands and knees lift one arm out to the side and round to point to the ceiling, head should follow the movement. X 10 L and R
- Still on your hands and knees arch and hollow your back, really concentrating on the bit between your shoulder blades
Try and repeat 4-5 times a day.
Hope that is of some help, BTW ladies my private rate is £60PH