Vital - distributed monthly within the Detroit Free Press & The Detroit News. Also available free in hundreds of local racks
Advertisement
Advertisement
'How I Ran a Half-Marathon -- Seven Weeks After Giving Birth'
Instead of putting her feet up, Ferndale’s Dori Watters used them to stay in shape during her pregnancy – and bounce back after delivery
First-time mother Dori Watters, 31, of Ferndale, often woke up with the same firsttrimester tummy troubles as many other pregnant women, but instead of sinking back under the covers, she jumped into a sweaty, early-morning workout.
Watters, an orthodontist, jogged, and took outdoor boot camp and boxing classes at least four mornings a week throughout her term. She finished up her nine months of pregnancy last September by taking a 5:30 a.m. Motor City Bootcamp class before an 11 a.m. C-section, which resulted in the birth of her 7 pound, 7 ounce son, Gage Freeland Watters.
The results of her hard work were a speedy C-section recovery, post-pregnancy body confidence, and a husband who can’t stop singing her praises.
“I don’t know of anyone else who I’ve seen be able to keep her business up, her fitness and her love of life like she has,” says her husband, Jeff Watters, a fitness trainer who runs Motor City Bootcamp in Birmingham.
Dori was already in great shape before she became pregnant, but says she had to adjust her regimen.
“I would say listen to your body, but keep moving. I love to mountain bike, but I couldn’t do it, so I swam if I didn’t do boot camp that day.”
Watters says because her doctor, Sherri Graf, D.O., of Southfield, recommended she stay fit but avoid pushing herself too far, she bought a heart rate monitor and made sure to stay below 140 beats per minute. “I modified everything. I walked instead of running, I kept everything low impact,” Watters says.
When it came time for delivery, the baby was breech and the doctor told her to plan on a four-night hospital recovery after a C-section. She was home after two nights.
Watters got back into her workouts slowly two weeks after Gage’s birth. She began by walking around the block, then added short jogging intervals in the third week. Six weeks after giving birth, Watters did a sixhour adventure race with her husband, which involved mountain biking, canoeing, orienteering, and running.
“We had a great time,” she says. “We were slow, but we finished the whole course.”
Then she got even more ambitious. To mark her oneyear wedding anniversary, Watters ran a half-marathon on Mackinac Island last October. This time, two people were waiting for her at the finish line.
“Gage was 7 weeks old,” Watters says. “When I got to the end and saw them, I had tears in my eyes, it was such a great feeling. I didn’t know if I would be able to finish, so it felt so good. It was all worth it.”