exercise

Before the quads were born, George and I were really into fitness. We worked with a personal trainer for kickboxing and practiced yoga several times a week. When I was pregnant with the babies, I was put on strict bed rest but even prior to that my exercising came to a screeching halt. After the babies made their debut, our priorities obviously changed drastically. We considered ourselves lucky if we clocked a few hours of sleep and took a shower. In addition, the pregnancy took a toll on my body. I had severe diastasis recti, which not only caused me pain, but also restricted my activity levels. As the babies grew older, we started being better able to care for ourselves. I found therapeutic exercises to reduce the size of my diastasis and sought chiropractic care to relieve back pain. I started streaming Yoga Merge from Amazon Prime for exercise a few days per week. Nonetheless, we were no where near our previous fitness level…until this summer!

Life Time opened near our home and although I didn’t think we could afford it, I asked for a membership quote and an amenities tour. The price tag wasn’t small, but I was S-O-L-D when I learned about the kid’s enrichment classes. For less than we paid monthly for any of the kids other extracurricular activities, the six of us could take unlimited classes and enjoy indoor and outdoor pools. Over the summer, I took the kids swimming several times a week then showered them in posh showers before heading home. It was so nice I dubbed it our “country club”. We’ve since developed a habit of going to the gym about three times per week. While I’m enjoying a yoga class or even time in the spa, the kids have been taking dance, yoga, and other classes in the Kid’s Academy. Joining the gym has made our family so much healthier!

Yoga has improved the kids’ balance/ coordination and has helped them learn how to breathe mindfully. Yoga has so many heath benefits, Cook Children’s Hospital is prescribing it!

We don’t go as often as we’d like, but the indoor pool has helped the kids maintain swimming skills in the off season. In the past, they went to lessons then developed swimming amnesia before summer returned.

One of the best perks of the gym is 2.5 hours of childcare per day. Usually I take a yoga or barre class, BUT it’s also been nice for trips to the salon/ spa (hello, facial!) and kid free time at the pool and café.

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On occasion, we’ve taken family Zumba classes with the kids. I think I worked up more sweat in family Zumba than heated yoga!

Now that the new year has arrived, what healthy habits are you starting or maintaining?

hugs,

Amber

P. S. Life Time did not solicit a blog post or compensate me for this writing. I just LOVE Life Time and sharing our fitness story! However, should you decide to join Life Time (there are locations throughout the United States and Canada) and mention me as a referral, I may earn gift certificates to be used at the salon/ spa (this mama always enjoys that precious time!) Life Time – Amber Shawver referral code

I work out

There’s a cute little t-shirt design circulating around my moms of multiples group with vinyl lettering stating, “I work out. Just kidding! I have quadruplets.” I’ve informed hubby this would be an excellent gift for me because it’s quite accurate.

After people discover I have quadruplets, the next question is often “How are you so small?” I don’t have a gym membership, and I don’t work out, but seriously I don’t need to. I HAVE QUADRUPLETS. It’s a workout every. single. day. all. day. I don’t have a FitBit or similar gadget, but if I did, it would most certainly indicate that I walk a gazillion steps each day. I literally do not sit down until I’m going to bed, and when I do I conk out fast. When when we sit down for family meals, I find myself getting up numerous times to take care of various things. If you’d like to know what a typical “easy” day for me is, check out my diary on Fort Worth Child, here. (my entry ends at 9:15, but at that point in the day I’m usually up tackling chores or whatever until at least 11:00 pm, sometimes even midnight.) Before Christmas, we went to ICE! at the Gaylord with my sister and her fiance. Much to our chagrin, each of us ended up toting a child clad in a huge parka through the line and exhibit. It was undoubtedly a challenge for all of us. I got a huge chuckle days later when George, Matt, and Courtney all complained of burning biceps, but I didn’t even notice. I’m apparently used to lugging an extra 25-40 pounds and my biceps are well conditioned.

Sydney at the Gaylord Texan ICE exhibit

Gaylord Texan ICE 2015

A typical day for me is a decent workout, and then I have intense weight training and cardio days, like Monday. Harper and Mason bounded into our room at about 6:30 am, and we immediately noticed Harper’s eyelashes were covered in gunk. Pink Eye. Definitely pink eye. After peeling myself out of bed, I logged onto the computer and requested an 8:00 am appointment with the pediatrician. It was the first one of the day, early, but I wanted to knock it out. Plus, we had a play date planned with our quad buddies, the Bells. There was a miniscule chance this gunk was non-contagious allergies, and if so I wanted to keep our playdate. After requesting the appointment, I started scrambling to get everyone ready for the day. I was feeling pretty accomplished. All kids were dressed and fed by 7:15 am, and I donned my “mom uniform” aka yoga pants and a pullover (perfect for a work out!). At about 7:30 am, George called and in a flustered tone said, “You’re going to kill me!” I couldn’t imagine what sin he’d committed so early. In a rush to get to work, he mistakenly took my car keys instead of his own. This would be fine except there is only ONE key to my Explorer, and even worse, George was too far from home to turn around. Scenarios began rushing through my head.

I could cancel the appointment. It was probably allergies anyways. Right?
I could insist George take a half day, and request a later appointment. I wanted this to be a good solution, but I knew it wasn’t. He’d waste over half the day driving.
I could load the kids into our EasyGo Foldable Wagon and pull them to the pediatrician.

Which would your choose? Being a workout buff, I obviously chose #3! I pulled the wagon from the garage and loaded the four into it and began huffing it. I started strong, the sidewalk was smooth and flat, and I was energized. And then I realized we live in a ~~rather hilly~~ mountainous neighborhood. Heaving a wagon that outweighs oneself uphill most certainly counts as cardio and weight training. Wheesh! We made it to the office in 15 minutes, which wasn’t shabby. I probably smelled awful and looked like I’d run a marathon, but we made it. As we waited for the doctor to check Harper, I started wondering if she’d say it really was allergies or nothing to worry about. I’d be seething if so….I’d loaded four kids into a wagon, walked uphill (both ways), and paid our copay. This was one of those moments when the kid needed a legitimate diagnosis.

This wagon was a Christmas gift from some friends, and it is nifty! We parted ways with our quad stroller because the kids were unwilling to ride it in, but for long walks lost stamina. This wagon folds flat and fits easily into our trunk, but fits all four kiddos!

When the doctor walked in she immediately noted, “I know which child I’m seeing today!” She then examined Harper’s ears, eyes, and throat. It wasn’t long before he had a diagnosis of conjunctivitis and a double ear infection. Poor guy! I felt bad that he was really sick, but it did legitimize our morning jaunt. Since Rylin was beginning to show symptoms, a prescription was also called in for her (A-M-E-N). With diagnoses made and prescriptions written, we were headed back home at last. Pink eye is terrible, people. Just terrible. Sydney was taken victim two days later, and Mason is holding out but is probably doomed to the same fate.

We have two tiny bottles of eye drops to be administered one drop per eye THREE times per day PER kid. Of course, these little drops while miraculous with their healing powers, are not appreciated by the children. When they spy the bottle, they take cover and have to be wrestled like crocodiles. We then drop one droplet onto closed lids because nobody will open their eyes for this fun. Then we pray something gets onto the eyeball banishing the eye goop from our home.

In case you wondered how I stay slim without a gym membership, I have quadruplets. It’s a workout just managing the day to day.

What’s nuts is I’ve walked the kids to the doctor and dentist on my own volition, not just because I didn’t have keys. There was a time when the kids were so difficult to load into car seats that loading the stroller and walking was easier. Plus, it was a workout.

hugs!