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Physical Therapy Assistant, Yoga & Pilates Instructor

GEORGIA

I honestly didn’t know if I wanted to have children. My husband and I had been together since high school and it was always – ‘Yeah, after a few years of being married we will start a family’ – but we didn’t really think much of it. After getting married we started to talk and consider what our real version of a family looked like. We agreed we would begin trying after I finished my Physical Therapy Assistant program. I was excited by the idea of growing our family, but I hadn’t fully grasped the idea of becoming a mother. Exercise had always been a major component of my life; I played competitive sports which is what drew me to my profession. In PTA school I became interested in pelvic health. I was drawn to working with women post- menopause, with urinary incontinence and pelvic pain. I was especially interested in both pre and post-natal therapy though did not yet have opportunity to explore it further. Meanwhile, I was never the girl who dreamt of becoming a mom. I never saw it as being a big part of my life, but after a year of trying to conceive we finally became pregnant.

We were surprised, excited and nervous. Everything was perfect until about 8 weeks when I started spotting. At the first ultrasound we saw a faint heartbeat of our little one on the screen. I continued to have bleeding on and off, so we monitored my blood work. HcG levels improved briefly, but ultimately we lost our sweet baby at 10 5/7 weeks. I think the hardest part for us was that it was back and forth, back and forth. Things were improving, then things were worsening. It was waves of emotion fighting for our little one. I will never forget the overwhelming feeling of love and heartache. This is when I truly began to understand what love and motherhood really meant. I truly believe that the purpose for our loss was learning the feelings of love and protection that I found. Afterwards, I realized that I wanted more than anything to support and love a child.

Later that year I became pregnant with our son. Fear was my initial reaction, but that same overwhelming joy that I was searching for was back and stronger than ever. I prayed for a healthy baby every day, as well as peace to continue moving forward. I meditated and connected with him as much as possible. I also was able to stay active throughout my pregnancy which was very important to me. With each passing day, I felt more confident and stronger with my pregnancy. When it came time to deliver our son, I did not have a doubt in my mind. My body was capable of exactly what was needed for us to work together to bring him into the world safely. Our son was born on the same day we lost our first baby. This brought my husband and I, peace and a sense of closure.

I was ready to return to exercise after the birth of our son, but I could tell that something wasn’t right. I had the awareness of weakening that wasn’t there before. I could feel it in my hips, SI pain, and leakage when I took a longer run. I sought out a pelvic floor therapist following my delivery. Her, along with a Pilates instructor that specialized in pre- and post-natal care completely rocked my world. We worked together to meet my goals of returning to exercise without pain or issue. My passion for pelvic floor therapy grew exponentially. The empowerment that came with learning about my body after a baby and appreciating the stages of life I was going through was amazing to me. My goals have led me to the trifecta for pelvic floor therapy, which is physical therapy, Pilates & yoga. Posture, breathing, awareness and control are the major foundations of these. Women can use this in preparation for delivery and ultimately reconnecting after having their baby.
My goal is to show other women the same empowerment and appreciation for themselves and their bodies regardless of what has taken place in their life. I have seen so much good come from this environment where clients are thriving.

Lastly, you should always be able to jump on a trampoline or sneeze without peeing, ‘nuff said.