Have you ever been told that leaking when you sneeze, pelvic pressure, painful intimacy, or chronic back pain after having a baby is "just part of motherhood"?

In this episode of the We Got You Mama Show, Carly Church sits down with pelvic floor and orthopedic physical therapist Lindsay Bruner, PT, DPT, OCS, to uncover what every woman should know about pelvic floor health, postpartum recovery, and why so many moms are living with symptoms they don't have to accept.

Lindsay explains what the pelvic floor actually is, how pregnancy and childbirth impact these important muscles, and why issues like urinary leakage, prolapse symptoms, constipation, lower back pain, hip pain, abdominal separation (diastasis recti), and pelvic tension are far more connected than most women realize.

Together, Carly and Lindsay discuss:

• What the pelvic floor does and why it matters

• Signs of pelvic floor weakness vs. pelvic floor tension

• Why urinary leakage is common—but not normal

• The connection between pelvic floor dysfunction, back pain, and hip pain

• Postpartum recovery timelines and what to realistically expect

• When to seek help from a pelvic floor physical therapist

• Returning to exercise safely after pregnancy and birth

• Why healing and recovery are essential parts of motherhood

One of the most powerful messages from this conversation is simple:

Common does not equal normal.

Just because many women experience symptoms after pregnancy doesn't mean they should suffer through them. Help is available, healing is possible, and it's never too late to seek support—even years after having your baby.

Whether you're currently pregnant, newly postpartum, years into motherhood, or supporting someone who is, this episode offers practical education, reassurance, and empowering information that every family should hear.

Connect with Lindsay Bruner

Website: lindsaybrunerpt.com

Connect with We Got You Mama

Website: wegotyoumama.com

Get the Book

We Got You Mama: The No-Nonsense, Expert-Packed Guide to Going From Surviving to Thriving by Carly Church is available now and features expert insights from leading professionals, including pelvic floor guidance from Lindsay Bruner.

Because motherhood was never meant to be done alone.

We Got You Mama. 💛

One, two, three, four!

Hello everyone, welcome to the We Got You Mama Show. I am so excited today because I have my friend Lindsay. She is a PTA, DPT, OCS; she'll tell us what all those things mean. But basically, what she does for me, what she does for our beautiful, um, mommas is a pelvic floor and orthopedic physical therapist.

She's the founder of Lindsay Bruner Physical Therapy in LA, and she takes an integrative and holistic approach to physical therapy and fitness. So she does an assessment, and she treats the whole person. How often have we said this on the show, um, and across all of our all of our brand, right? We're taking a holistic approach to self-care,

to motherhood, to healthcare. And, um, I love how Lindsay treats the whole person. And she has a particular passion for helping pregnant and postpartum individuals manage their physical transitions. She brings her knowledge as a physical therapist, and she's also a mama, so she knows the whole experience personally,

um, and so she brings that expertise, uh, to this cause. You can find her—I know this will all be in the show notes—but if you can't wait and you don't want to listen to the whole thing, you can go to lindsaybrunerpt.com. Um, that's L-I-N-D-S-A-Y-B-R-U-N-N-E-R-P-T dot com.

I know there's lots of different ways to spell Lindsay. Uh, so we'll just launch right into it. We have only—I mean, it was like a year ago where, um, we had my friend from Boston Pelvic PT talk, you know, on all this stuff. And so Lindsay's one of our newer partners. You'll find her on our website too for easy access to get to know her and all the things.

And, um, let's talk about the pelvic floor. But one thing I want to mention: Lindsay's, um, she comes to, like, your house to do your pelvic floor stuff. Like, have you heard of that? And I know we're hearing more of this concierge service world. Um, I just talked to, um, uh,

a pediatrician that her whole company is, is doing that. Um, but I think that's really awesome because I think until you get into it, it can be kind of like, uh, I don't—I don't know what it is. I don't know what's involved. I don't—um, and maybe you want to, you know, do it in the comfort of your own home, which I think is really cool.

And Lindsay makes you feel, like, super comfortable. Um, so we'll just start with the basics. What is the pelvic floor? Take it away.

Yeah. So that's, like, question number one because.

Yes.

You hear about it more. I love that we're hearing about the pelvic floor more out there in the world. But then there's this deeper understanding that we want to come to and, like, well, what—what is that even? We may have heard of it, but, like, what's really going on down there? And so kind of basics are it's a sling of muscles. So it's multiple muscles.

They all work together to do a few different jobs. Um, if people are watching on video, I'll just give you a quick little shot of a pelvic floor. So we have.

There she is!

There she is in all her glory. We've got our more superficial layers out here, kind of around the vaginal opening, but also around the anal sphincter too. So it manages both of those areas. You can see some of the deeper layers here, but we get a better view if we look from the inside. So if you were, like, looking down into your own pelvis, we see these kind of big, broad swaths of muscle.

And if you see it from here, it's kind of like, you know, it's like a little hammock. It's like a little sling.

Yeah.

So a little different than other muscles that we may be more familiar with and can see more easily. But muscle's all the same. Some of them we control more than others, but they serve a lot of key functions. So biggest, most familiar is sphincter control, right?

Okay.

These are the muscles that help us not pee when we don't want to, not have a bowel movement when we don't want to. So that's how they—they hold and kind of keep that closure. Um, they also allow those things to happen by relaxing. So it's very much a two-way street. You need the pelvic floor to be able to do that holding and that sphincter control,

but also to be able to let go to allow those functions to happen.

Yeah.

So that's, like, big number one thing it does. Um, but another thing is just overall support in a couple different ways. So one for our pelvic organs. So, right, we have our uterus. We've got our bladder. We've got our rectum, all kind of sitting down in that pelvic bowl. And if you imagine that little sling,

little hammock, it's essentially, like, holding them up a little bit, giving them a little bit of support, right? It's the pelvic floor. It's the bottom, right?

Yeah.

So it gives them support from below. And then if we also think about all these attachments that we've got to our sacrum and our tailbone and our sit bones and our pubic bone, these pelvic floor muscles really do help hold your bones together.

They're part of your support structure for your pelvis. Um, and then kind of the very close neighbors, the hip and the lower back, they are part of your support structure for that as well. So it's not just kind of keeping urinary function going. It's also, like, low back health and hip health and support,

which I know we need as we're running after our kids all the time.

Yeah. And I've heard recently when I went to, um, get some myofascia release help, and we—we had that expert on the show a few weeks ago, and she was like, you know, we can finish our last couple sessions, but she was like, what you really actually need is pelvic floor support,

and you need to go to see a pelvic floor therapist. She's like, I think that's where your hip tightness is coming from. She goes, I think that's where, like, your lower back issues are coming from. And, like, no one, no one would ever—I mean, years and years and years and years, right? Like, my last baby was born,

you know, nine years ago—ever mention that, right? You hear, oh, you need to, you know, and yes, it's all tied together. Oh, yes, you need to strengthen your core. I had a physical therapist tell me how to weak ass. I was like, thank you, sir. Thank you so much. Because he had, like, made me hold a plank. And I'm like, I can hold—yeah. I was like, I can hold a plank all day.

He's like, Hazel, it's not your core. He's like, hmm, let's go to the next thing. That's cute. Let's go to the big muscle group. Your ass is really weak. And I was like, that's so rude. Um, but that would, like, I don't know. I had, like, a lipo moment of, like, because I haven't, um, seen this specific one that she wanted me to see someone specific that,

um, specifically worked in myofascia release as in your pelvic floor. Um, and, uh, tell me a little bit more about that. So, I mean, all that can happen, right? The lower back pain when it's not working properly, um, leakage when it's not working properly. Um, we need to stop normalizing that,

oh, yeah, once you have babies and pregnant and back pain and peeing your pants, like, we need to stop normalizing all those things because it's not. So how do you know if you have a problem? Because I think the majority of us do have a problem, and we don't seek help to make it better. We just live with it.

Yeah. I think, I mean, culturally, we're told to just live with it quite a lot. And I feel like I'm starting to see that changing.

Yeah.

And so I have hope for that, that we won't just forever accept that. But to not accept it also means, like, so what do I do about it? If I don't accept it, like, okay, well, what then? Um, and so, you know, key is, like, what—what would even tell me that I might need help with that or might benefit from help with that?

And usually with the pelvic floor, I feel like put it into a couple different buckets. Um, and fun fact, you can have multiple—you can have contributions from both of these buckets. So it's not really an either/or. But first bucket would be kind of weakness or, you know, pelvic floor not being able to muscularly do what it's intended to do.

And so in that bucket, you'll often see things like stress urinary incontinence, right, where that's the, like, I leak when I cough, sneeze, jump the dreaded trampoline, right?

Right.

Um, that is—those are kind of things we've heard about or maybe are familiar with. That is often coming from the pelvic floor not having enough of that muscular support to help you in those high-pressure situations, right? So things leak out. Um, we can also then experience symptoms of prolapse.

So this is something that can happen, um, after birth sometimes where the pelvic organs are sitting a little bit lower. Um, functionally, it, like, doesn't always cause a lot of problems, but if that—that support from underneath with the pelvic floor isn't there, then you might feel more pressure, kind of heaviness, some of these things that are uncomfortable,

um, and usually, like, increasing pelvic floor support helps with those. So if your pelvic floor is not quite strong enough for the task, you may feel more of those symptoms.

Yeah.

Um, and then we also then can see things like those lower back and hip problems. And I've—I've seen a lot of people where, you know, they've got chronic lower back or hip pain, you know, sometimes tied to childbirth, sometimes not, where it's like they're like, I've checked my back. I've checked my hip. You know,

like, I've—I've done the treatment for those things, but it's—it's still there. And for some of these people, we look at the pelvic floor, and, like, that's kind of this missing link. Um, and when we think of the pelvic floor, it's also—it's kind of part of the core. It's, again, it's like it's that bottom part. And if we have this missing piece,

that's where you can get issues with the low back and the hip kind of not resolving or just never getting all the way better because you've got this missing support system.

Right.

So that's kind of like if the pelvic floor is not muscularly able to do what it needs to do, it's on the weaker side. Then there's the tension side. And this is way more common than people think. Um, lots of people walking around with pelvic tension.

As me.

Right? Like, and—and again, you can have both. Um, and I can talk about that a little bit. But, um, tension, we're often looking at more, like, pelvic pain, right? And so this can come either just pain in general in that region.

A lot of times we will see pain with, like, penetrative intercourse, um, because tight muscles are not allowing things to enter and are causing uncomfortable friction. Um, and then we can also see increased urinary urgency or frequency. Like, if you're the person who's like, I got to pee, like, every 30 minutes or, like, I've got the smallest bladder in the world.

Um, or like, man, when I got to go, like, I got to go now, right?

Yeah.

There's—there's no room between getting the urge and me getting right to the bathroom. And people can have leakage with that sometimes. If that urge comes on super strong and the frequency's super high, you basically can have leakage, not because you're weak, but just because your muscles are holding so tight that they are giving the wrong messages to your bladder.

Okay.

Um, so we can see that. And then constipation is another biggie. That you don't—wouldn't always think, like, pelvic floor, but if we think about the way those muscles hold around those sphincters, if they're not able to let go, they may not let things out very easily.

Okay.

Right? So that's another one that can come with a little bit too much tension. Now, just because you're tense doesn't mean you're strong. So you can also be tense, but with some weakness. And you can have combinations of these things.

And that's where kind of an individual assessment really comes into play because someone who's tight should not be doing a million kegels. That's not going to help you.

Right.

You need to first learn to relax your muscles and then get an efficient contraction. Um, so understanding, like, what's the—what's the root of my problem? Is it one of these buckets or a combination of the two? And then having real individualized tools to address it. Like, that's the how do we help it side of things.

Right. I remember it being described to me, maybe even you described it to me as, like, a bicep muscle just doing this and super tense. It's not strengthening it. Right? You're not doing anything. You're just—like, you're just tight.

Yeah. Like classic example.

Right? But you're not releasing. You're not contracting. You're not, you know, not.

Yeah. You can't—you can't generate a lot of force if you're already kind of held in tension. You're not going to get much out of that muscle because it's already kind of doing too much in a way.

Yeah.

Um, unless that you are someone like me who holds tension, um, which I do, like, um, and I—I try to do all the mindful practices to release, let go, release, let go, because I'll find myself, like, even going to bed at night, I'm like, right. You know what I mean? It's like my body is so used to, um, holding that tension, uh, which is really frustrating.

It's a really common place. It's just like for a lot of us, like, it's our neck or our jaw. And for some people, it's the pelvis. Um, it's just like one of those places that I feel like a stress response can go to. And there's a lot of connection between the jaw and the pelvis and the pelvic floor.

Um, a lot of times people who are pelvic clenchers are also jaw clenchers.

I am. I have TMJ. And, like, your dentist or orthodontist is not saying they're not relating, right? This is when it comes, I don't know. This is when it's like, I feel like practitioners get to be empowered to know more information, right, and to refer out, um, because I don't know.

I mean, we should take a poll. Like, has your dentist that's tried to treat your TMJ with a $10,000 plastic appliance or whatever? That was my last experience, like, 10 days ago. Um, and are they referring you to a pelvic floor therapist because maybe it's related? You know what I mean? Like, I don't—is that happening in the world at all?

Yeah. It's tricky.

Maybe—maybe a female dentist who's super in tune and is going about a holistic approach, like, maybe those conversations are happening. But what are, um.

I mean, the body, it has conversations with it. Like, we are not siloed body parts. And, like, that's the thing, even with pelvic floor, is, like, it's never just the pelvic floor. Like, it's part of a system. Um, and you really can't look at a singular body part in isolation because that's not how the body works.

Right.

And understanding more of those connections, you know, it's a fun thing about doing what I do because I get to look at that in people all day long. But the more you do it, the more you realize these connections within the body, and you start to see them more and more. Um, and yeah, sometimes it's like, sometimes I will have people,

if they're really, you know, they're trying to relax the pelvic floor, it's not so easy to just say relax and have it happen.

Yeah.

Sometimes it takes a while to be able to feel that you could do that in your pelvic floor. But even, like, hey, if—if you can feel your jaw clenching, that's kind of a good proxy for the pelvic floor sometimes. And even if you can just focus on, can I relax my neck and my jaw, can send the right signal down the chain too?

So once you understand those connections, you can start to—to use them a little bit to your advantage. But the understanding is the key part.

Right. And do you walk people through that while you're kind of treating them and assessing them? Like, okay, now do you feel yourself doing this? Because I think a lot of times it is that mind-body connection of, like, what your pelvic floor is doing or what it's not doing.

Yeah. I mean, I ask a lot of questions, right? So I really—I do a lot of digging.

Yeah.

And a lot of times, these are things people have just never thought of together or not been aware of. And I feel like half the battle is just bringing up awareness, especially with areas we can't see. So, like, the pelvic floor feels like this little black box that, like, sits within you. And you know it's there, but you often don't get a lot of feedback from it.

You can't actually visualize it, which is why I like to use models and visuals to kind of give people a sense of what is actually inside them. Um, and then just bringing that awareness up. Because any of these things, anywhere in the body, really, it's hard to change them unless you can actually feel what's going on. So bringing that awareness up,

and then you can start to affect it.

Right.

So yeah, it's—it's always very much like a mind-body process. Um, I think that should be for anything we're dealing with with our bodies, but I would say especially so with the pelvic floor.

And so when we talk about having babies and that postpartum experience, and we're trying to gauge what's normal in a postpartum experience, whether you've had a C-section or vaginal birth, um, what is—what's something that moms should really watch out for that's not quite normal? Like,

I mean, because I recommend pelvic floor therapy before you have babies to help you before birth. I think that it's just, I mean, I didn't even know what a pelvic floor therapist was and that they existed when I was having babies, right? But, um, sending clients and sending moms to them and hearing,

um, how amazing their birth experience was, especially when they've had one without a pelvic floor therapist and one with, and the—and the difference, um, that made in, like, you know, just in tearing or how they're, you know, they just—they're—they felt more prepared down there and all that kind of stuff. Um, so,

but what—when should they—okay, let's say someone's, like, really putting it off. When should it be like, no, girlfriend, like, go see a pelvic floor therapist?

Go see someone. Yeah. I mean, I—I think timeframes are helpful to think about these things because there's—there's a lot of things that we can experience, uh, postpartum that are kind of to be expected in one timeframe, but not in another. Um, so things like,

you know, pelvic pain and discomfort, things like, you know, prolapse-like symptoms, feeling of heaviness, feeling of pressure, um, you know, urinary leakage, uh, abdominal separation, right, where the connective tissue between some of the muscles gets stretched out and there's kind of some bulging there.

Those are all things that in, say, like, the first few weeks, first month of having a baby, they can all be there. And they may not persist. Um, it's—it's a thing that when I get to work with people in pregnancy, I—I'm always—the last time I see them before they give birth, I'm usually trying to set some of this stuff up, right?

So understanding that what you feel in those first few weeks is almost definitely not going to stay. Um, so to try not to get too worried because, like, your body just goes through such a massive, whether you have a vaginal delivery or a C-section, you know, or mostly a vaginal delivery and then pivot to a C-section, your body goes through so much.

It—it needs time. Um, and that it's going to feel a lot of things that may not always be comfortable, but they aren't all pathologic in this beginning phase, right? So, you know, take urinary leakage. Um, you know, if you had a vaginal delivery, those muscles undergo this huge amount of stretch,

even under, like, the best, least complicated, you know, you know, your dream birth, they still are going to have a lot of stretch. So muscles, when they are stretched, they don't work as well. Muscles like to be—we call it a length-tension relationship. When they're too short and tight, they don't work well. But when they're too stretched out, they also don't work well.

Right.

So after that birth, your pelvic floor muscles are still in the stretched-out state. It takes a little while for them to kind of come back in and revert. And so in those first few weeks, like, they are not able to do their job well, but not because they're broken, not because they're damaged, just because they need time. Um,

so I think that's helpful for people to know because I think it freaks people out when they, like, I just had this baby and oh my God, now I'm peeing my pants and is this ever going to stop? And for a lot of people, it does. Um, same thing with abdominal separation. Like, your abs just did this big stretch over a lot of time. They are going to take time to come back in.

It's going to take time for the connective tissue to tighten up again. Two-thirds of women at the end of pregnancy have some abdominal separation. It doesn't always stay. So kind of understanding that some of these things and, like, also with things like prolapse, like, you just pushed a baby out if you did a vaginal delivery and there's going to be pressure.

There's going to be sensation there. Yeah. So all that's to say that early on, you feel a lot, it may not last, focus on recovery. Yeah. When we start or keep experiencing those things a little later on, so typically, like, those first few months, there's a lot of flux.

To me, if someone is, you know, coming to, like, that 12-week mark, say, and they're still having a lot of urinary leakage, it doesn't feel like it's getting better. By that point, your muscles may need some help in retraining. Yeah. Um, and same thing with abdominal separation. If—if things just still feel super mushy,

there's still, like, big bulges in the stomach, again, doesn't feel like it's getting better, that's a time where you'd be warranted in starting to get some help in retraining that, which you absolutely can. Um, also, like, pelvic pressure, heaviness, feels like you're wearing a tampon, but you're not. Again, around 12 weeks or so,

a lot of those things, if they're going to resolve themselves, they tend to do it within, like, a few months. So if things do not feel like they're moving in the right direction at that time, that's a great time to see a pelvic floor PT, get assessed, and then start getting some guidance because a little bit can go a really long way. Um, but by that point,

those things will often benefit from some specific retraining to get them where they need to go. That being said, there's not, like, a window where if you miss it, you can't make change.

Sure.

I hear that from a lot of people. They're like, I just, you know what? It was too crazy. I could not get to take care of myself until, like, a year postpartum, two years postpartum, which, like, I get it. Yeah. Everybody, you find the space for that when you can within your own life. And but people will be worried and say,

like, can—can I still change this? And the answer is absolutely yes, right? Our bodies are adaptive. The longer something has been there, it might take a little longer to get it to change. That's why, like, it's—it's great to get in there and do that work a little sooner postpartum if that's available to you. But you are not,

like, condemned to have that forever if you didn't get to it in the first few months. Yeah. Um, so it's kind of like, I think knowing when it's, like, a time that is valid to start seeking some support, but also knowing that there's not some clock running. And if you wait too long, you're just stuck. It's not peace.

Yeah. And if you just don't know, go see someone that knows.

Yeah.

Right? That's our favorite thing to do, is connect people to experts that just know more, right? Um, because you don't know what you don't know. Especially if you've never had a baby. Um, I think it's just important to go and get checked out and—and to also get second opinions because, you know, we're sent home from our OB like, "Okay, great.

Yeah. Your tissue's good." And you're like, "Yeah, but, you know, all these other things are happening." Um.

Yeah. There's a lot of things that aren't always assessed for.

Yeah. They're not.

And I—I see a lot of variation. Like, some OB-GYNs and midwives are going to check for prolapse. They're going to check for abdominal separation. Um, and some not.

They do not.

And.

So you go back to work out and you're doing more damage than good. Um, you know, I remember having moms come to our fitness classes and I'm like, "You can't be do—like, stop." Because they're like, "I feel this heaviness and whatever." And I'm like, "I am not going to be the one that is, like, telling you to do a bunch of jump squats and then you have, you know,

you're—you're full-on in prolapse right now." Um, and they get the okay from the doctor, go back to exercise. Well, what does that mean, right?

Yeah.

And everyone's situation can be, you know, mildly different. But, um, I think we really need to train our trainers out there and our teachers to know how to train the postpartum mom. And that—that should be on the questionnaire when they sign up for any program. Like, "Have you had a baby?

How about how far postpartum are you?" Right? Because, man, I just remember my sister-in-law, very into fitness, very active, has four boys. She, um, had really bad DR, right, with the separation of the abs and she had major bulging. And a doctor said she needed surgery, stitching back up, right?

And she was like, "That seems really invasive." And because she was a nurse and knows her body well and she tried the alternate route of like, "Let me see if I can, like, work this out and—and bring my abs back together," um, through very specific exercises, through PT. And she did. So you have one person over here be like,

"Surgery's the only thing that's ever going to fix it," right? And if she didn't know what to advocate for herself and figure out maybe there's another way, you know, she might have had, like, pretty invasive, it seems invasive, surgery. Um.

Yeah. It's, I mean, most people don't want to have surgery if they can avoid it. And same thing sometimes with prolapse. They'll be like, "Yep, just got to, you know, go in there and kind of, like, lift it back up and suture it." And so, you know, some people need that, right? Surgery exists for a reason. It's an amazing thing for those that need it.

But it should never be the first thing someone jumps to unless there's some massive reason for it, right?

Right. I think so too.

So a lot of times with prolapse, diastasis, that abdominal separation, you know, it's unless it's so massive that just, like, there's no way we could get it back there, which is extremely rare.

Yeah. It's like when you've had.

Um, you can do so much.

Take tablets.

Yeah. Right. There's different situations. But like, yeah, I had abdominal separation and you can absolutely train it back together and knowing certain things to avoid for a period of time until it's resolved will just help it along. Um, but yeah, understanding, like, what am I coming back into physical activity and exercise with?

Like, what's—what's my landscape? What's my body doing? That's huge. And having practitioners and, you know, trainers and, you know, fitness instructors that can at least understand it and kind of work with it a little bit is super helpful. Um.

And if they don't, take it on yourself to know the just know three core exercises that you can do instead of everyone else doing full-on crunches, right? Maybe you still want to go back to that class, but like, maybe you spend 20 minutes knowing the modifications for you to protect yourself because you know maybe this,

you know, this class, this trainer, this teacher is not going to know. Um.

Yeah. And that's where, like, seeing even because I think sometimes where people are like, "Oh, I—I can't go see PT. I can't go twice a week for eight weeks to PT. There's no way I can do it." And it's just that's not always how it is.

Um, especially in my practice, it's very much like, "What—what do you have the capacity for?"

Right.

And let's tailor something to you. Or like, they're like, "I can come for one visit." It's like, "Okay, let's see what's going on. Let's give you some guide—guidance and kind of a program that you can work with." And things like, "Okay, we'll avoid these exercises.

Do these ones as a substitution." Just so that people feel empowered to still do something for themselves. Like, you can get guidance without having to be locked into a, you know, crazy schedule that you can't maintain.

100%. Yeah.

You know.

And if you've seen a bunch of.

I've worked with a lot of moms.

Right.

It's like.

You know.

Like, what's possible?

What's possible.

Tell me how much time you have. Because if you ask too much of people, nothing happens.

It's true.

And that's not their fault. It's just we only have so much to give in time and energy. And so we keep it manageable. And like, I think thinking about exercise, especially postpartum, it can feel really overwhelming. Um, and this sense of like, "I don't know what to do or not do. And I hardly have any time.

Like, what—how do I do this?" And I feel like, first of all, just people allowing for actually—actual recovery in the first, you know, couple months or so. I think we're so conditioned to be like, "Okay, you had that baby. Like, get your body back. You'll get—pretend like you didn't have it. Just do all the things." And like, that's not how bodies work. Um.

You get to recover and rest and be with that baby. Just be. It's really hard for us in this day and age.

It's really hard to just be. And I get it. Like, I'm a doer.

Same. Yeah.

But I try and tell people, like, the fast way is actually kind of the slow way, right?

You'll damage yourself. Sure.

Because what I tend to see is, like, people, it's like they get the go-ahead, they jump back into some activity that they're frankly just not ready for yet, right? Um, and maybe they get injured. It feels terrible. And then they're kind of like set back, um, or just very discouraged.

Right.

And then.

Like my husband going to play basketball again for the first time in 10 years. I'm like, "Mm, is that a good idea?" And of course, of course, he comes back injured. I'm like, "You're no use to me injured."

Yeah. And you're just like, "What did that get anyone?"

I mean, and he went through a whole, like, Torres ACL business, like, five years ago. And I'm like, "I'm just—like, so I'm a little traumatized, you know, when, um, when that sort of injury takes—takes place." And.

But it's—it's kind of bonkers when you think about it that you—if—if birth were any other injury.

I know.

How differently would we be approaching, like, sending someone back to activity, right? It's like, "Okay, we go—we go get checked at six weeks when, like, basically, like, just basic tissue healing has probably happened by then."

Right.

But like, no actual recovery of any of kind of our muscular sets. And they're just like, "Yeah, go—go exercise. Go do what you want." And most people are like, "Are you sure?"

Yeah. It doesn't feel quite steady yet.

Yeah. Because it almost feels like, "Okay, well, maybe I should now." Because you don't feel ready because you're not, right?

Yeah.

And I think I've seen that too. You had a major abdominal surgery and they're just like, "Yeah, go—go do it. Go do anything you want." And if we were rehabbing, like, from any other surgery or big, massive physical event, like, what would we do? We would start slow. We would work on just, like,

building mobility, getting our muscles active, managing our own body weight before we go back to loading excessively or, like, big jumping activities. Like, we would have a gradual return to those things.

Right. Is that normal?

Yeah. That's like that's the normal way.

Yeah. I say that.

It's like we don't hold.

Yeah.

Like you tear yourself, right?

Standard. Yeah. Um.

You're going to rehab it. You're going to go back. And you're not going to—the doctor's not going to say, "Okay, six weeks out of, you know, reattaching your whatever. Now you go—come go back to CrossFit and do all the things." And right? Like, uh.

And I'm not saying birth is an injury, but it is a big physical event that.

It is a big physical event.

Does warrant recovery. And the other thing is often.

And can often is major surgery. Like, if you have a C-section, right? Like, it can be.

Me. I had that.

I've—I've felt that recovery. And yeah, it's like it's a little different. Um, and then the other thing that I think also people don't think about as they're returning is just like, "When was the last time you did this activity you're wanting to get back to?" Right?

So like, somebody wanted to like, "I used to do these HIIT classes and I loved it, but I didn't do it all through my pregnancy." So now you're looking at, well, like, gosh, it may have been about a year since your body has done that particular thing. And, you know, even if you hadn't gotten pregnant and had a baby in that process, a year off of any activity,

like, your body's going to need to ease in, right?

Right. Whether you've had a baby or not.

Yeah. But we just tend to—we're like, "Oh, well, I'm not pregnant anymore, so I'm going to go do that."

Right. Right.

And like, just that little lead time, that little bit of like, "Let me just ease in. Let me get my muscles active." And like, this is a very good place for PT to, like, help with that. Like, a lot of times postpartum, I'm just helping people with the stepping stones to get them back to doing the thing they want to do, right?

And we just kind of build up to it. But as opposed to trying to, like, make this massive leap to something that is totally appropriate for them to do at a certain point, but maybe just not right away.

Um, and I think people see a lot more success with getting back to the thing they want and feeling good with it when they have some stepping stones and kind of ease their way back in. Um, so that's.

I love that.

It's always what I'm preaching to everybody.

Yeah.

Feel slow. But I promise it's the faster way.

It's the faster way and let's be honest. We all know how time flies. We all know that, like, you know, it's the longest days, but the shortest years. You're right when you think about it, especially if you have kids that are asking to get their driver's license.

That feels crazy. I mean, I don't even know how the past five years of my daughter's life went by.

It's insane. So know that like, "Hey, time will fly. It'll be okay. Take the time to rest and to recover." Like Lindsay said, you know, gather those stepping stones from those people around you that, um, have this beautiful knowledge and expertise and apply them. And,

you know, I think it'll be really cool to see more—more women do that because then they can power the next woman, right? And then the next and then the next and their friends. And it could be, you know, this communal effort towards—towards healing. And that's how we can all honestly progress together is, um, we get to heal first. We get to do that. We get to heal first.

In fact, we need it.

Yeah. It's like that's a sustainable foundation.

It is. Like, let's build a sustainable foundation. Um, anyway, we could go on all day about building a sustainable foundation.

Give me a soapbox and I'm just.

Right?

Down now.

Um, but again, I mean, it's all—all of it is so important. Um, and Lindsay is a huge advocate for building that village, um, to help you be more successful, right? To get back to the mom because we know the mom is the heart of the home and really helps build that foundation for herself and for her kids, right?

That foundation of trust and of health and of wellness. And, um, so I empower all you out there if this resonates with you. If you're like, "Huh, you know, it's been a minute since I had a kid," or, you know, "My sister just had a baby and is telling me she's experiencing, you know,

this, this or that." Please, please, please, please at least send her to Lindsay's site. Send her to get pelvic floor help. Um, because like you said, like, it's becoming a little bit more normal, right?

Like, we actually know what a pelvic floor therapist is and kind of what they do, right? Um, and we're more accessible and not we—I'm not a pelvic floor therapist. They are more accessible, um, than they used to be. And I think we get to really take advantage of the accessibility, whether it's online or in person,

um, or, you know, even online classes to just help you make that mind-body connection. I think the first step is just learning more about it so that you can be empowered and not pee your pants. So Lindsay's in my book. She has some solid quotes in there. I talk about my peeing pants story. Um, I'm actually taking that to stage, that—that story,

um, next month and in May. Uh, so we'll chat more about that, um, as I'm, um, part of the Experiencing Motherhood cast. And that's going to be happening in May, which is really exciting. And, um, just know that we got you, mama. Lindsay's got you. And love your pelvic floor.

Love that beautiful hammock that holds you up. I mean, because it does. It like literally is so important. And just because we don't see it doesn't mean it's not important. All right. I love you so much, Lindsay.

Just because it's common, it's not always normal. Common, but not normal. I—I could—I should put that on a shirt, frankly. Just, you know, just because all your friends talk about it, just because your mom talks about it, doesn't mean that there's not.

100%. It's literally what's all.

There's so much of that in my book.

Your chapter is called. It's like, "Common is not normal." Common—what is it? Common does not equal normal.

Yeah.

So if you don't remember anything from this episode, common does not equal normal. You get to not pee your pants. You get to have a healthy and strong pelvic floor. And there's tools and ways to do that and—and get there with, um, the right support and help and information. And Lindsay has all that stuff for you. So don't forget to check her out.

Um, go ahead, visit her site. And, um, and if you want to book a call with her, if you need to chat, like, she will book a call with you. So we got you, mama. Lindsay's got you. Go ahead for this episode on to anyone and everyone. I don't know. Someone's, you know, partner that thinks that, you know, the wife doesn't need pelvic floor help.

I don't know. Forward it on to them, but just please spread the word. Um, it's really important, I think, for us to normalize getting more support because you deserve it. All right. Until next time. You got this. We'll see you soon.