My husband insisted I run every morning to « lose the baby weight. » The morning his mother found out what he’d been doing, she made one phone call that changed our marriage forever.

Six weeks after giving birth to our son, Noah, I still couldn’t stand up without feeling pain.

My labor had lasted twenty-three exhausting hours before ending in an emergency C-section.

My obstetrician didn’t sugarcoat anything.

« You’ve had major abdominal surgery, » she said. « No running. No strenuous exercise. Give your body at least eight weeks to heal, preferably longer if you’re still in pain. »