Skip to content

Women's Health∙Pelvic Health∙Wellness

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Welcome!
  • About
  • Services
  • Contact
  • FAQs
  • Blog
  • $0.00 0 items

Cart

Your cart is currently empty.

Return to shop

Search

Follow us!

  • View underthehoodpt’s profile on Facebook
  • View underwomanhood’s profile on Twitter
  • View Underthewomanhood’s profile on Instagram

Instagram

This is me and Ridley on the floor of his nursery in our first photo together. ⠀⠀ — ⠀⠀ Leading up to delivery, I imagined that first picture of us would be me crying uncontrollably out of pure joy. But this is what I got - a forced smile covering the fact that I was just incredibly relieved to have finally pushed his big noggin out of my vagina. ⠀⠀ — ⠀⠀ I pushed for way too long and way too inefficiently. I woulda shoulda coulda used the help of a pelvic health physical therapist. One that wasn’t me thinking that I knew everything 😐 One who wasn’t me that could actually SEE my vagina (because the Lord knows I couldn’t anymore) and teach me how to bear down and breathe appropriately. Then maybe our first photo would’ve looked a bit differently (not important). ⠀⠀ — ⠀⠀ I just followed up with one of my amazing mama clients that I treated during her pregnancy for a few different reasons, one of which was to teach her how to use her pelvic floor and breath in a beautiful way to allow an efficient delivery. She told me she was able to labor down (with the help of a wonderful nurse), push with 3 contractions and out came the babe (with one stitch)! Her words, “I felt amazing after”...🎉 This was an entirely different experience compared to the delivery of her first child (which involved forceps and many more stitches) 😣. ⠀⠀ — ⠀⠀ It only took 3 visits to teach her pelvic floor muscle coordination, eliminate her urinary incontinence and urgency, pelvic pain, and back pain. 🎉 And she just told me she’s had no return of incontinence 🙌🏻. ⠀⠀ — ⠀⠀ It doesn’t matter how far along you are in your pregnancy, how many kids you’ve had, whether your previous deliveries have been cesarean births 👉🏻 GO see a pelvic health physical therapist, girl! It might just take you one visit to get it down, or 3 visits, or a few more than that, but either way you’ll be happy you did it. ⠀⠀ — ⠀⠀ Questions? Comments? Similar experiences? I’d love to hear 😁 • • • 📷: thanks mom 😘 • • • ⠀⠀ #underthewomanhood #underthehoodpt #pelvichealth #womenshealth #physicaltherapy i love sleep. who doesn’t? it’s the best, but it is so freaking hard to come by. ⠀⠀ 🥤in college my lack of sleep was powered by procrastination and mt. dew. ⠀⠀ 🤰🏻in pregnancy my lack of sleep was brought on by hip pain. ⠀⠀ 🤱🏻in motherhood my lack of sleep is a result of this needy peanut (he woke at 5:23am this morning. thank you, dls). ⠀⠀ 📺 on occasion it is due to an accidental a netflix binge. 🙃 ⠀⠀ 💼 i’m sure some of you can relate and add to this list - work/travel/illness/etc. ⠀⠀ — ⠀⠀ getting adequate sleep should be a top priority for our health. the American Academy of Sleep Medicine reports that adults need 7-8 hours of sleep. if you talked to the 0-2 years postpartum me, 7-8 hours would have sounded like a dreeeeam ✨ however, now, and for most of my life, I need about 9 hours to feel my best self. which is all just to say, this 7-8 hour suggestion varies for everyone, but is a good place to start. ⠀⠀ — ⠀⠀ anyway here’s what sleep can do for us: lower our stress levels, which decrease cortisol and will help with... 🙌🏻 fertility ⠀⠀ 🙌🏻 weight management ⠀⠀ 🙌🏻 pain management ⠀⠀ 🙌🏻 speed healing ⠀⠀ 🙌🏻 behavior (#sorryryan) ⠀⠀ 🙌🏻 productivity ⠀⠀ 🙌🏻 memory ⠀⠀ 🙌🏻 regulation of menstrual cycle ⠀⠀ 🙌🏻 improve bladder and bowel health... ⠀⠀ 🎉need I say more?!🎉 ⠀⠀ so let’s go on and get ourselves some SLEEP. 💤 ⠀⠀ — ⠀⠀ but before you do ☝🏻- have any of you ever noticed a significant difference in your physical/mental health after changing your sleep habits? personal experiences are the most motivating, so we’d love to hear! • • • 📷: starts in his bed and ends like this. (and i love it) (for now). • • • #underthewomanhood #underthehoodpt #pelvichealth #sleep #sleepdeprivation #goodnight #womenshealth #physicaltherapist #getpt1st #newmom #healthylifestyle #healthypregnancy #postpartumfitness #firsttimemom #toddlerlife #empoweredpregnancy #pelvichealthy #smartmom #cosleeping #bedsharing #attachmentparenting #crunchymama #pelvichealthy #instagood #love This is my beautiful friend, @eephotography, and her beautiful baby girl - Squatting like a BOSS mom. 💞 ⠀⠀ — ⠀⠀ It’s inevitable 👉🏻 babes on hips while we do werk, which usually involves picking something up off the floor around 847 times a day. If done repetitively with poor body mechanics, our bod will probably start to yell at us - usually in the form of back, hip, pelvic, shoulder pain, leaking pee/poop/gas, prolapse symptoms, etc.. 😬 ⠀⠀ — ⠀⠀ So take a look at this pic when you need a reminder of how to MOM (dad, brother, grandma, good for the whole family) SQUAT 💪🏻. ⠀⠀ 1. Keep that nugget close to your body - “think keep your (their) arms and legs inside at all times.” You don’t want their limbs or head flailing around while you’re trying to stay steady and balanced on your feet while you hold them and pick something else up. So snuggle ‘em up before you start the squat. ⠀⠀ 2. Pull in your belly button to activate those good abdominal muscles. Let your pelvic floor in on the fun too. Even if you don’t feel it tighten, you’re still strengthening the signals from your brain to your pelvic floor. ⠀⠀ 3. BREATHE, babes. Always breathe. Never strain or hold your breathe. ⠀⠀ 4. Keep your hips level / Don’t poke one hip out to the side / Make your butt do the same thing on both sides. Does that make sense? ⠀⠀ 5. Lastly, stick your butt out like you are proud of that junk in the trunk. This will help keep you and babe balanced and place significantly less stress on all body parts. ⠀⠀ — ⠀⠀ This may seem like a lot of rules for something you’ve done your whole life, but once you practice it once or twice (and feel the benefits on your bod), you’ll have it nailed down and you can ✅ leg day off your list errday. • • • 📷: She is usually behind the camera taking amazing pics ❤️😍 • • • #underthewomanhood #underthehoodpt #physicaltherapist #getpt1st #healthylifestyle #newmom #healthypregnancy #postpartumfitness #firsttimemom #toddlerlife #empoweredpregnancy #womenshealth #pelvichealth #pelvichealthy #smartmom #fitness #bodymechanics #lifting #squatting #corestrength #momsohard When we traveled to Vegas a few weeks ago we happened to be staying just a short walk from the park where I ran my last 5k... over 3 years ago 😅. On this night I declined a margarita because I thought I could be pregnant and I found out the next morning I was right about that. ⠀⠀ — Once those little pink lines appeared, an inherent protective mechanism overcame me. I became fearful of engaging in any type of exercise that might compromise this pregnancy. (Yes even as a pelvic health PT 🙈) ⠀⠀ — I still did exercises here and there - nothing like I should have been doing. I was working full-time and used that to check the exercise box. Until the end.☝🏻At the end, I walked my hiney off to try and get my kid out of there. I even had some sweet family pull over to see if I was ok, “you know it’s 90 degrees outside..,” they said. I felt like Maya Rudolph in Bridesmaids when she’s taking a 💩 in the street, but less glamorous - just keep moving folks. 👋🏻 ⠀⠀ — Anyway all that walking didn’t work. I was two weeks “past due” and likely only (FINALLY) went into labor because my midwife did the first vaginal exam of my pregnancy two days before I had him which helped wake up my body. ⠀⠀ — One of the best ways I learn, is to experience something myself. Going through my pregnancy and realizing what my body needed throughout those 173 months (😅), not just at the end, made a huge impact on how I treat my pregnant clients. ⠀⠀ — So if you can relate to my experience at all - before, during, or after pregnancy - you are fearful of exercise and/or don’t know what the heck to do and/or pain or dysfunction is keeping you from exercising, go see a pelvic health physical therapist! We can help design an exercise and treatment program to allow you to have a healthy pregnancy, delivery and postpartum life. 💞🤰🏻🤱🏻💞 • • • 📷: my babe at Terrazza Park. SWIPE if you want to peep how incredibly pregnant I was (I was in early early labor here). • • • #underthewomanhood #underthehoodpt #vegasbaby #physicaltherapist #getpt1st #newmom #healthylifestyle #healthypregnancy #postpartumfitness #firsttimemom #instagood #love #toddlerlife #empoweredpregnancy There’s really no subtle way to break the silence 💨 of not posting when we’re all here for the pelvic health knowledge… ⠀⠀ 💩 ⠀⠀ Sooo pooping. I try to get my peeps to poop at least once a day. Why? Because I like you. And I want your gut, pelvic floor, and it’s contents to be as healthy as can be. When we don’t poop daily, this can potentially lead to stool accumulation in our rectum, placing excessive pressure on our pelvic floor, potentially leading to constipation (it throws off the ability for us to perceive when we need to poop because the sphincter is not optimally positioned due to the weight of compacted stool), likely leading to the need to strain with bowel movements, and leaves us vulnerable to developing a pelvic organ prolapse and/or hemorrhoids. ⠀⠀ 💩 ⠀⠀ So here’s whatcha do. This part is a must: Leave yourself enough (15-20+ mins) dedicated time in your day to allow a BM to happen. Doesn’t matter what time of day. AND drink at least 1/2 your body weight in water a day (more if you’re breastfeeding and/or exercising). ⠀⠀ Then try one or more of the following to see if it helps get those bowels movin’: ⠀⠀ 1. Drink at least 8oz of room temp or warm water upon waking or during that dedicated time. (Can add lemon to it for flava and is great for kidneys/bladder). ⠀⠀ 2. Use a @squattypotty/stool under your feet. ⠀⠀ 3. Perform a bowel massage. (I’ll try to get this up on IGTV) ⠀⠀ 4. Get those greens in your diet. ⠀⠀ 5. Try adding a serving of Flaxseed oil into your diet. ⠀⠀ 6. Take probiotics/eat fermented foods ⠀⠀ 7. Eat a warm breakfast/dinner/snack. Like rolled oats, warm bone broth. Lots of people like coffee to get things going which is fine if it works for you, but it actually dehydrates your stool and can lead to constipation/difficulty evacuating the stool. So if you struggle with constipation, hold the coffee for a minute until things are regular. ⠀⠀ 💩 ⠀⠀ That’s all my pooping tricks for today! 💁🏻‍♀️ If you try these things (consistently) and they still don’t help - go see a pelvic health physical therapist and we can do more to assess what your bod needs to get things going! ⠀⠀ Come at me with questions if you’ve got ‘em! Hi! I’m Lacey. I’m 5’6”, got brown hair, brown eyes and apparently love long walks away from Instagram. 😬🤦🏻‍♀️ For you all who have so sweetly stuck around during my absence - thank you! ⠀⠀ — ⠀⠀ I feel like this might be a good time to I reintroduce myself 😅... ⠀⠀ My name is Lacey Leigh Welch (if I’m talking about our vaginas on 97% of my posts I should at least share my middle name with you 💁🏻‍♀️). I am a wife to my husband, Ryan, mama to my babe, Ridley, Believer, holistic thinker (I do, and will always shave my pits though) AND Physical Therapist for your undercarriages. ⠀⠀ — ⠀⠀ I earned my Bachelor of Science degree from @hardinguniversity and Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from @ucabears in 2010. Before I graduated I was honored to be able to complete a pelvic health clinical rotation which further fueled my pelvic health passion. From there I have taken intense continuing education courses with fellow PTs allowing us to practice every.single.technique numerous times on each other that we also perform on our clients (but in a much less modest, room full of 50 people vaginas/anuses everywhere kind of way 😅). #worthit ⠀⠀ — ⠀⠀ I now own my private practice, Under the Hood Physical Therapy, in Keller, TX and I have never been more excited about my career than I am right now. Having my own practice has truly opened my eyes and allowed me to see what can be done 1000% more efficiently and effectively with a completely different treatment/business model than I’ve experienced in the past. I am incredibly thankful to be able to serve this online community and those I get to see in real life ❤️ You all help me think outside the box and encourage me to keep doing the best I can because pelvic health physical therapy WORKS. ⠀⠀ — ⠀⠀ I can’t promise (because life happens.. like the toddler no longer taking naps), but will do my darnedest to post more often. 😬🙏🏻 ⠀⠀ — ⠀⠀ For fun (because I will always be a nerd) 🎉 introduce yourself in the comments: Where are you from? Favorite holiday? Most embarrassing moment? Favorite place to travel? Biggest pet peeve? Etc..I love long comments, so don’t hold back. 🤓 • • • 📷: @thedallasarboretum

Contact Information

Under the Hood Physical Therapy
773 Bandit Trail
Keller, TX 76248
817.203.3216
laceywelch@underthehoodpt.com
Hours vary based on client needs.
Saturday and Sunday hours available!
(Located inside IMX Pilates Studio)
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
Powered by WordPress.com.