I don't think you have to go overboard with staying active non stop. The issue is more that you shouldn't be sedentary, which is to me laying around all the time, not getting up, not doing ANYTHING for long periods of time.

The most activity I get on a regular bases is walking around my house and up and down the stairs so it's really not a lot. I tried the gym but at the stage my little one is at she's feeding almost every 3 hours and has horrid separation anxiety that It's limiting me from doing anything alone right now. I just pull out the wii fit hoping it will help get at least some scattered step walking going

Maybe rent or buy some work out DVDs that you can do when your kids are sleeping or if you have someone who can manage the kids for a 15 minutes while you just go out for a quick walk. I don't believe exercise needs to all be done in one time slot nor does it need to be life consuming. What it needs to do is count, which means get your heart rate up a bit so there's a cardio component. 15 minutes here, 10 minutes there a day can add up to a total of 30 minutes a day pretty quickly.

If there's snow, maybe take your 4 year old sledding. Just pulling a kids around on a sled will wear you out. Just gotta get creative.

I wouldn't say I'm particularly active, I try to walk a mile or so a couple times a week, but am still getting very tired very quickly, and if I overdo I definately suffer for a couple days... STILL!! I really just make sure I'm never sitting for more than about 30 mintues without standing up and walking around a little. I am trying to get over feeling like I need to wake up during the night and walk around, but since I still wake up pretty regularly, I usually take a trip to the bathroom or a little walk around the house.

Jenner that's what I do too but those mini jaunts from one room to the next never feels enough when a couple minutes later I'm back sitting or laying again.

Once the girls are over their cold and the winds aren't very strong I'll hook them into the sled and take them out again. Only downside to living outside of a city - very limited indoor places to even just go for walks without a drive needed to get to

This is kind of a hard one. I mean, I tend to agree with RMB that what's most important isn't having a heavy-duty exercise routine, but rather to not be too sedentary. Even though it's not like you're necessarily walking for long periods of time, but I bet if you think about how long a period you actually sit at a time, it'd be less that you think it is. And I think that's the main thing, that you're not just sitting for hours and hours at a computer or watching TV or something. I felt like about the most worthless person in the world after my PE because it's the most inactive I've been in my life, but I also knew that like it or not, I was getting up and doing something for my kids almost constantly - I mean sometimes it felt like about every 30 seconds they needed something new. So you may not be quite as inactive as you feel. When you do have times you're sitting for awhile, like when nursing the baby (and kudos for you for being able to go back to that after PE - I tried and it was a gigantic failure much to my disappointment), anyway as I was saying, when you are sitting, try to keep your legs elevated especially if you had the DVT originate in your leg, and even move your foot around in a circular motion to help keep the calf muscles active. Also, be aware of keeping up proper hydration, because it can be easy while taking care of little ones to forget that for yourself, and while nursing that's all the more important.

Oh, you know I'm such a dope sometimes.....I just read back your initial post and realized you said about "feeding" the baby not "nursing" her.....I guess I'll just say it's that post-PE brain fog I've got going on - only minimally retaining what I read...... :)

Ok just watching parents care for their little ones for any length of time wears me out. I agree that you are likely more active than you think.

Thanks ladies :) haha rmb they are a handful thats for sure especially now with the little one tgat just mastered crawling and attempting climbing now
Yes feeding ment nursing - so thank you for the kudos :) it sometimes feels like that's the only thing that went right since delivery so I'm hoping it keeps going smoothly. Only "downside" to nursing is all the sitting or laying every 2-3hrs. Yes my baby is a boob beast lol

I think that's what's really made me worry about my activity level as it takes a good 20 or so minutes to nurse her then many times it's an extra 30-45 minutes for snuggles before I'm actually fully moving again then lot long after its repeat with sitting nursing and cuddles.

I'm hoping I can squeeze in more time for cardio just to get my heart stronger and back to where it ought to be as many times I feel winded and have an elevated heart rate just walking up and down the stairs in my house and it's barely 14steps

Pre-PE I was working out 5-6x a week and running half marathons.

Post-PE (7 weeks) I haven't done anything besides walking a bit.

Do I think I'm going to get back to my normal fitness routine at some point? Absolutely, but it's going to take some time. I think we all have to find what works for us.

Yeah, once they're mobile, moms suddenly become more active too! Be glad she's just crawling now. Mine was actually walking already at 7 months, and he'd been climbing already before walking (he could escape any and everything I tried to contain him in - crib, playpen, walker, all of it!) and there I was still feeling half dead trying to keep an eye on him, not to mention my three year old was completely precocious as well and liked to escape out the door. Ugh, I do not miss that moment of my life......

Seriously, I'm so happy you were able to nurse her. I nursed my first for a year, it was all I knew how to do, then there I was not only stuck in the hospital for several days, I had to be on heavy pain meds for awhile after that. I faithfully pumped the whole time, even when I was flat on my back post-surgery, so I could keep nursing, went off pain meds way too early so that I could start giving him the milk rather than just pumping. Well, he was a lazier eater anyway from the beginning, and ended up he just found the bottle more convenient. Plus it was awkward for us because I was in too much pain to hold and cuddle him like normal. I tried a couple of weeks but he was so confused it never took. It's one of the things that was actually really sad for me about the whole situation because I didn't feel that I had the same connection to him as I did my first son, and it took him and me a long time before I felt like our relationship was more affectionate and normal. My husband did most of the feeding and definitely the cuddling, so that's who my younger son looked to for those things. Anyway, that's why I'm so happy that at least that part of things worked out better for you. It's true, though, that your life feels ruled by that while you're doing it, but it should be getting better soon I imagine, since she's getting close to the age for eating more solids, you shouldn't have a heavy nursing load on you too much longer.