Molly's Bloom Story

Bloom Motherhood Stories: Molly and Delia

My name is Molly and I am 29 years old (28 when I gave birth back in March). I live in a town on Lake Michigan in Indiana, just a quick drive from Chicago. I am an athletic trainer at the high school that I graduated from. My main job is to help prevent, diagnose, and treat injuries that our athletes sustain during athletic events. I met my husband during grad school in our Master of Science program, so he is an athletic trainer too! We got married on NYE in 2016 and we just gave birth to our first child on March 10, 2020. Her name is Delia Peach.

I first heard of Studio Bloom from one of the physical therapists that I work with through my job. I was about 15 weeks pregnant and had a lot of hip pain that was affecting my low back. I am very familiar with human anatomy and how to treat pain, but a pregnant body was new territory for me. I finally purchased access to the program when I was roughly 20 weeks pregnant. 

I was hesitant to jump all in with the program at first because it felt too slow for me. I am used to hard-hitting, heart-pumping, fat shredding, muscle-building workouts. I am obsessed with fitness and I hated to give that up. It wasn't until my co-worker who had completed the program told me "You have to think about baby now. Your body needs the slow tempo" before it finally clicked in my head. Once I fully committed, I never looked back! And I later realized that Studio Bloom does have heart-pumping/muscle-building workouts!

I established my Core Foundations and I worked my way through all of the safe for prenatal mama workouts. It became such a routine for me. I quit going to the gym altogether and just focused on Studio Bloom.

I had the easiest pregnancy I could ever imagine.

I had heard horror stories of morning sickness, back pain, swollen feet, massive weight gain, etc. I didn't experience any of it. Even my hip and low back pain quickly resolved using the bloom method. My pregnancy was seriously smooth sailing. When I gave birth at 37 weeks 6 days, I had only gained 20 pounds. And 7 lbs of that was baby! I was more toned and fit when I gave birth than I was before I started, ALL thanks to The Bloom Method! I was obsessed with doing belly pumps and showing my husband and my mom how cool it looked to "hug baby". I experienced mild groin pain, but it was nothing I couldn't handle and adjust to during my workouts. I overall just felt healthy — thanks to Studio Bloom!

When delivery day arrived (a week early) I was so sad to finally be giving birth. I had so much fun growing her and I never wanted it to end. I never felt big, out of breath, overwhelmed, or any of these other complaints I hear from mama's. Never once did I say "Ugh I can't wait to get her out". I was the most proud I have ever been of my body when I was pregnant! 

On delivery day, I woke up around 6 am with what I instinctively knew were contractions. I waited it out about an hour to see how I felt and finally had to wake up my husband tell him it was go time. By the time we got to the hospital around 8, I was already 5 cm dilated. The contractions ramped up pretty quickly and it was clear I wanted an epidural. I was checked into the hospital at 9 am. I personally could not physically handle the pain of contractions and that's just because of my low pain tolerance. I had epidural around 11 am and they broke my water around 12 pm. Around 2, I was given the okay to start practice pushing. It was unlike anything I could have ever imagined. I thought it would be hard and grueling and truly like a marathon, but it was nothing like that. Obviously it took a lot of muscle strength to push, but I had built such a strong core using the bloom method that it wasn't nearly as hard as I anticipated. My practice pushes were so successful that my OBGYN had to cancel the rest of his patients for the day to come deliver. The entire time I pushed the nurses and doctor kept encouraging me and saying they couldn't believe how good I was able to push for my 1st child. It felt so good to hear those words after working so hard to train for labor for so many weeks. Just an hour after I started "practice" pushes, Delia had arrived! A beautiful baby girl, 7 lbs 6 oz.

I only stayed in the hospital a little over 25 hours. I was home the next night after delivering. I didn't experience any diastasis. I really didn't experience any issues postpartum (outside of hormones, obviously). The very next day after I was home I started rehabbing. I started with core foundations and worked my way through the Core Rehab program. I honestly found it too simple, but I didn't want to push myself. I knew my body was still healing and I still needed that slow tempo. I completed REHAB and did another couple weeks of Studio Bloom workouts before I felt comfortable to return to my usual workout regimen, so just a short 8 weeks after giving birth. Looking back now, it seems too soon. But that's just how much The Bloom Method helped me. 

I have completed 2 full weeks of my new workout program and I feel stronger than ever. I incorporate my Core Foundations into the new program and it feels incredible! Sometimes the coach leading the workouts says to inhale/exhale at times that I'm doing the opposite. I stick with The Bloom Method, which I have learned is what works! I even catch myself implementing my core Foundations during every day tasks. Like I said, it feels incredible to use the Foundations I built long after I "completed" Studio Bloom. I know Studio Bloom is ongoing and you're never really done, but I made the decision to leave because I feel I have gotten out of it what I needed and I am ready to move on. I have spoken so highly of it since the day I started and I will forever recommend it to every pregnant friend/co-worker/family member that I know. 

Delia is 12 weeks old now and I go back to work next week. Life is starting to finally feel like a new "normal". I owe you a million thank you’s, Brooke. Thank you for developing this method, thank you for making the decision to share it with the world, and thank you for working so hard to make Studio Bloom a fun and friendly place for mama's to feel comfortable working out. I hope you, your family, and all of your staff are staying safe and healthy during these crazy times. I don't know if another pregnancy is in my future, but if it is I will MOST DEFINITELY be back to Studio Bloom!

Thanks a million,

Molly (and Delia) Perales