In this episode I’m joined by my lovely friend and all round superwoman, Carly Rowena. Carly is a personal trainer, YouTuber and mum to Jax who keeps things super honest and candid when it comes to fitness, relationships and mumlife.
“Being pregnant was possibly the most I have ever loved and respected my body”
We start by discussing Carly’s experience of pregnancy and how difficult it was for her as someone who shares so much online to have to hide her pregnancy symptoms during the first trimester – a feeling many of us can relate to.
When she finally shared that she was pregnant, Carly fully embraced her pregnancy and postpartum body. Despite many perceiving her to have quickly regained her pre-pregnancy body, we discuss how things have changed including how Carly healed her diastasis recti. This is a condition that many pregnant women experience where the abdominal muscles separate. It can become much more pronounced in pregnancy and can have lasting effects if not dealt with.
“I’d always been so in tune with my body and then I had a baby”
Carly also shares her tips for getting back into fitness after having a baby (and we have a good moan about the idea of “snapping back”). We also discuss the need to find balance, especially when it comes to work.
Despite being a super positive sparkly person, Carly has had to deal with a fair amount of trolling – especially from parents and we touch on how there is so much judgment from the parenting community online. For Carly much of this ire was the result of her breastfeeding journey and she shares some really helpful thoughts on how to cope with this pressure.
“Intimacy took a deep dive massively, I don’t think I had a sex drive for about 6 months”
Carly speaks really openly on her YouTube channel about sex and relationship and we discuss how her relationship with her husband Leon has changed since they became parents. Carly stresses the importance of finding time for intimacy and communicating with you partner. We also have a proper giggle at some of the things our men have come out with during our pregnancies.
“You’re just watching someone fall in love with the world”
Finally we chat about how Carly navigates sharing photos and videos of her daughter online and how the realities of life with a toddler aren’t always instagrammable.
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Mentioned in this episode:
- Hiking Mount Kilimanjaro – watch Carly’s video of our trip
- Baby carrying
- Diastasis recti
- Breastfeeding
- Emily Skye
- Co-sleeping
- Antenatal classes
- Carly’s sexy series
- Seaspiracy
- Let’s Sweat
You can find Carly @carlyrowena on Instagram, on YouTube and at www.carlyrowena.com
I hope this episode has left you feeling super positive. If you want to connect more with your body why not listen to this episode with Cherrelle Slaney on finding joy in your periods next.
Pin this episode on embracing your postpartum body with Carly Rowena:
