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The Birth Story of Tyler Howard Tress: Part ONE — Preparing for Labor and Delivery
The birth of Tyler Howard Tress was one of the most beautiful, empowering, healing and positive experiences of my life.
I am blown away by the privilege and miracle of birth … and I am honored to be the mother of this precious baby boy.
My desire is to share the birth story openly and in detail to encourage and provide inspiration to women in my community and beyond.
As women, we are in this together. And I know for me, hearing fellow moms share the details of what worked for them during labor and delivery helped me understand the choices and wonderful possibilities available for my family and myself. Us women are incredibly strong. Our bodies are created to do amazing things and giving birth is the most beautiful miracle of them all.
I have broken Baby Tyler’s birth story up into two parts.
- Preparing for labor and delivery
- Welcoming Tyler Howard into the world
Part ONE: Preparing for Labor and Delivery:
A few short days ago, I was physically exhausted, emotionally spent, and certain I would be pregnant “forever.” The final weeks of pregnancy are a challenging place of in-between. As my body and mind prepared for labor and delivery, I enjoyed less and less sleep due to strong Braxton Hicks (practice contractions), baby boy pressing on my lungs, stomach, bladder and cervix simultaneously (I’m only 5’2”), and the stress, anxiety, and insomnia that comes at the end of any pregnancy.
One of my biggest fears when pregnant is that I will get sick shortly before labor and delivery … be ill for labor, and then pass off the germs to my baby. To my absolute dismay, my fear became a reality, and I ended up getting sick on a Monday, the very end of May and the first week of June. The flu and Covid were circulating around the school like wildfire at the end of May, and sure enough, I caught a bug. I did my very best to quickly rest and recover from the bug, so I would have health and energy for labor and the first few days postpartum. By Wednesday of this week I was feeling pretty terrible, but also experiencing consistent headaches. I have a history of high blood pressure (in fact, I was even on blood pressure medication years ago), so I decided to use my blood pressure cuff at-home. As I expected, the headaches were in part due to being sick, but also in part due to my higher-than-normal blood pressure. I was running 145/110 a few checks in a row, which certainly concerned me. I was also feeling puffy and starting to worry that I was dealing with the early signs of preeclampsia. By Thursday morning I was running pre-e panels and other blood work, resting as much as possible, and preparing for a potential early eviction of baby boy.
Thankfully – as I started to feel relief from my sickness, my blood pressure and body swelling simultaneously began to come down. I continued to monitor my BP until delivery day, and while it was not stellar (more general end-of-pregnancy hypertension), it never got up quite as high as that first week of June. By Friday of that week, I lost my mucus plug, and it definitely seemed that my body was preparing to go into labor sooner rather than later.
The second week of June, I started to experience many more early signs of labor. In addition to having already lost my mucus plug, I began some prodromal labor. This means I was having some “real contractions” but they would start, stop and not progress. For me, this is one of my least favorite aspects of the final days of pregnancy. I actually felt strongly that I may deliver on Tuesday June 7 due to my symptoms. However, the day came and went, and still no baby. My midwife checked me that day and I was about 3 cm dilated, but baby boy was still very cozy.
In spite of being sick the week before, and sleep deprived from prodromal labor, I went into the office a few days to get my mind off of being pregnant and wrap up a few things before maternity leave. On Wednesday of this week, my team threw me the sweetest baby shower to honor Tyler. It was just what I needed to get through the week with a smile.
By Friday June 10, my contractions were picking up and I was starting to feel *very* tired of being pregnant. Not only was I ready for my pre-labor symptoms to transition into active labor, I was also ready to meet my precious baby. I went to acupuncture on Friday and had a chiropractic adjustment, and this certainly caused my practice contractions to pick up. If you follow me on Instagram, you saw that Brandon and I were going on a few-to-several walks per day to keep baby in position and encourage labor to begin. Throughout the night on Friday I was feeling some strong contractions and started to time them. I nearly called my birth team, but decided to rest and see if contractions would pick up. Unfortunately … they fizzled. I was up until about 3 am with strong contractions that amounted to nothing besides more sleep deprivation. So frustrating.
On Saturday, I was still experiencing strong Braxton Hicks and went out for dinner to enjoy some eggplant parmesan. Tradition has it that eggplant parm will help to start labor. In my case … it didn’t. :)
By Sunday I was feeling even more impatient and ready for labor to begin. However I had not slept well the night before so took most of the day to relax.
Monday rolled around and I had decided to go into the office one final time before officially starting maternity leave. I brought the kids with me to film some kids’ workouts, and we had a blast. We left around lunch time, and I felt a weight lifted off my shoulders. Baby or no baby, maternity leave had begun. I empowered my four vice presidents to run the show without me, and this gave me the mental and emotional space to truly focus on welcoming baby boy into the world.
On Monday afternoon, almost immediately after we got home, I started feeling some decent contractions. Brandon and I went on a walk and I send out a “code orange” to my birth team to alert them that today may be the day. I asked my mom to come over and take care of the little kids while Brandon and I continued walking, getting oxytocin flowing, and preparing for what could be our final day as a family of 6. By the evening I had thoroughly cleaned the bathroom where I planned to labor, taken several walks, and mentally prepared to meet baby boy … but by around 2 am … contractions stalled. UGHHHHH.
Tuesday was not a good day for me emotionally. The thing about the end of pregnancy is – you just truly do not know when the baby will decide to make his appearance. My body was READY to deliver, but baby boy was not quite on the same page. At this point, I could have had a few days to a few weeks more of waiting. Brandon and I went out on the boat in the morning to get my mind off of being 100 weeks pregnant. We were lucky enough to catch some dolphins in our wake for several minutes and enjoy a wonderful run on the Gulf of Mexico.
I went to bed later that evening with no hope that I would go into true labor overnight. But by the next morning around 3 am, I was experiencing what felt to be stronger contractions. I rested until 5 am and then got a shower just in case things would progress quickly. But who am I kidding - nothing about these final days of pregnancy had been “quick.”
By 9 am my contractions had stalled out a bit and I decided to rest for most of the day since I had been up since 3 am. I had a chiropractic and acupuncture appointment scheduled for 12:15. I drove over to the office and when I got out of the car, I felt it … a super strong, long contraction!
Stay tuned for Part TWO of Baby Tyler’s Birth Story.
A note about prenatal fitness and nutrition:
Throughout pregnancy, I continued to follow our FASter Way Workouts and FASTer Way Meal Plans. Download a FREE video below with helpful prenatal exercise alternatives.
Here are some FAQs I received:
- Did you still fast during pregnancy?
- Yes! I continued to do the 16:8 intermittent fasting protocol with my FASTer Way clients! I have enjoyed 3 FASTer Way pregnancies and fasted through each of them. I personally feel amazing when fasting, but it’s not for everyone during pregnancy.
- How often did you workout?
- I worked out at least 4 or 5 times per week doing exclusively at-home FASTer Way workouts and the occasional spin workout. However in the final weeks, I primarily walked, and walked, and walked some more!
- How much weight did you gain?
- I did not weigh myself at all throughout my pregnancy. But I would estimate 25-30 lbs. As long as I’m eating healthy and exercising I trust my body to take care of the rest.
- What foods did you focus on or avoid?
- I focused on eating carbs and protein to fuel my pregnancy. I did not stay under 50g net carbs on low carb macro days — I was closer to 75-100g.
- What core moves did you complete?
- I loved doing side planks and some standing core moves. Download the free guide to see what moves I completed.
- What modifications did you make in third trimester?
- I primarily modified by using lighter weights. However, as I mentioned above, I did more waking than weight training at the end of my pregnancy. Download the free guide to see some alternative moves I completed.
Subscribe to our blog
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique.
The Birth Story of Tyler Howard Tress: Part ONE — Preparing for Labor and Delivery
The birth of Tyler Howard Tress was one of the most beautiful, empowering, healing and positive experiences of my life.
I am blown away by the privilege and miracle of birth … and I am honored to be the mother of this precious baby boy.
My desire is to share the birth story openly and in detail to encourage and provide inspiration to women in my community and beyond.
As women, we are in this together. And I know for me, hearing fellow moms share the details of what worked for them during labor and delivery helped me understand the choices and wonderful possibilities available for my family and myself. Us women are incredibly strong. Our bodies are created to do amazing things and giving birth is the most beautiful miracle of them all.
I have broken Baby Tyler’s birth story up into two parts.
- Preparing for labor and delivery
- Welcoming Tyler Howard into the world
Part ONE: Preparing for Labor and Delivery:
A few short days ago, I was physically exhausted, emotionally spent, and certain I would be pregnant “forever.” The final weeks of pregnancy are a challenging place of in-between. As my body and mind prepared for labor and delivery, I enjoyed less and less sleep due to strong Braxton Hicks (practice contractions), baby boy pressing on my lungs, stomach, bladder and cervix simultaneously (I’m only 5’2”), and the stress, anxiety, and insomnia that comes at the end of any pregnancy.
One of my biggest fears when pregnant is that I will get sick shortly before labor and delivery … be ill for labor, and then pass off the germs to my baby. To my absolute dismay, my fear became a reality, and I ended up getting sick on a Monday, the very end of May and the first week of June. The flu and Covid were circulating around the school like wildfire at the end of May, and sure enough, I caught a bug. I did my very best to quickly rest and recover from the bug, so I would have health and energy for labor and the first few days postpartum. By Wednesday of this week I was feeling pretty terrible, but also experiencing consistent headaches. I have a history of high blood pressure (in fact, I was even on blood pressure medication years ago), so I decided to use my blood pressure cuff at-home. As I expected, the headaches were in part due to being sick, but also in part due to my higher-than-normal blood pressure. I was running 145/110 a few checks in a row, which certainly concerned me. I was also feeling puffy and starting to worry that I was dealing with the early signs of preeclampsia. By Thursday morning I was running pre-e panels and other blood work, resting as much as possible, and preparing for a potential early eviction of baby boy.
Thankfully – as I started to feel relief from my sickness, my blood pressure and body swelling simultaneously began to come down. I continued to monitor my BP until delivery day, and while it was not stellar (more general end-of-pregnancy hypertension), it never got up quite as high as that first week of June. By Friday of that week, I lost my mucus plug, and it definitely seemed that my body was preparing to go into labor sooner rather than later.
The second week of June, I started to experience many more early signs of labor. In addition to having already lost my mucus plug, I began some prodromal labor. This means I was having some “real contractions” but they would start, stop and not progress. For me, this is one of my least favorite aspects of the final days of pregnancy. I actually felt strongly that I may deliver on Tuesday June 7 due to my symptoms. However, the day came and went, and still no baby. My midwife checked me that day and I was about 3 cm dilated, but baby boy was still very cozy.
In spite of being sick the week before, and sleep deprived from prodromal labor, I went into the office a few days to get my mind off of being pregnant and wrap up a few things before maternity leave. On Wednesday of this week, my team threw me the sweetest baby shower to honor Tyler. It was just what I needed to get through the week with a smile.
By Friday June 10, my contractions were picking up and I was starting to feel *very* tired of being pregnant. Not only was I ready for my pre-labor symptoms to transition into active labor, I was also ready to meet my precious baby. I went to acupuncture on Friday and had a chiropractic adjustment, and this certainly caused my practice contractions to pick up. If you follow me on Instagram, you saw that Brandon and I were going on a few-to-several walks per day to keep baby in position and encourage labor to begin. Throughout the night on Friday I was feeling some strong contractions and started to time them. I nearly called my birth team, but decided to rest and see if contractions would pick up. Unfortunately … they fizzled. I was up until about 3 am with strong contractions that amounted to nothing besides more sleep deprivation. So frustrating.
On Saturday, I was still experiencing strong Braxton Hicks and went out for dinner to enjoy some eggplant parmesan. Tradition has it that eggplant parm will help to start labor. In my case … it didn’t. :)
By Sunday I was feeling even more impatient and ready for labor to begin. However I had not slept well the night before so took most of the day to relax.
Monday rolled around and I had decided to go into the office one final time before officially starting maternity leave. I brought the kids with me to film some kids’ workouts, and we had a blast. We left around lunch time, and I felt a weight lifted off my shoulders. Baby or no baby, maternity leave had begun. I empowered my four vice presidents to run the show without me, and this gave me the mental and emotional space to truly focus on welcoming baby boy into the world.
On Monday afternoon, almost immediately after we got home, I started feeling some decent contractions. Brandon and I went on a walk and I send out a “code orange” to my birth team to alert them that today may be the day. I asked my mom to come over and take care of the little kids while Brandon and I continued walking, getting oxytocin flowing, and preparing for what could be our final day as a family of 6. By the evening I had thoroughly cleaned the bathroom where I planned to labor, taken several walks, and mentally prepared to meet baby boy … but by around 2 am … contractions stalled. UGHHHHH.
Tuesday was not a good day for me emotionally. The thing about the end of pregnancy is – you just truly do not know when the baby will decide to make his appearance. My body was READY to deliver, but baby boy was not quite on the same page. At this point, I could have had a few days to a few weeks more of waiting. Brandon and I went out on the boat in the morning to get my mind off of being 100 weeks pregnant. We were lucky enough to catch some dolphins in our wake for several minutes and enjoy a wonderful run on the Gulf of Mexico.
I went to bed later that evening with no hope that I would go into true labor overnight. But by the next morning around 3 am, I was experiencing what felt to be stronger contractions. I rested until 5 am and then got a shower just in case things would progress quickly. But who am I kidding - nothing about these final days of pregnancy had been “quick.”
By 9 am my contractions had stalled out a bit and I decided to rest for most of the day since I had been up since 3 am. I had a chiropractic and acupuncture appointment scheduled for 12:15. I drove over to the office and when I got out of the car, I felt it … a super strong, long contraction!
Stay tuned for Part TWO of Baby Tyler’s Birth Story.
A note about prenatal fitness and nutrition:
Throughout pregnancy, I continued to follow our FASter Way Workouts and FASTer Way Meal Plans. Download a FREE video below with helpful prenatal exercise alternatives.
Here are some FAQs I received:
- Did you still fast during pregnancy?
- Yes! I continued to do the 16:8 intermittent fasting protocol with my FASTer Way clients! I have enjoyed 3 FASTer Way pregnancies and fasted through each of them. I personally feel amazing when fasting, but it’s not for everyone during pregnancy.
- How often did you workout?
- I worked out at least 4 or 5 times per week doing exclusively at-home FASTer Way workouts and the occasional spin workout. However in the final weeks, I primarily walked, and walked, and walked some more!
- How much weight did you gain?
- I did not weigh myself at all throughout my pregnancy. But I would estimate 25-30 lbs. As long as I’m eating healthy and exercising I trust my body to take care of the rest.
- What foods did you focus on or avoid?
- I focused on eating carbs and protein to fuel my pregnancy. I did not stay under 50g net carbs on low carb macro days — I was closer to 75-100g.
- What core moves did you complete?
- I loved doing side planks and some standing core moves. Download the free guide to see what moves I completed.
- What modifications did you make in third trimester?
- I primarily modified by using lighter weights. However, as I mentioned above, I did more waking than weight training at the end of my pregnancy. Download the free guide to see some alternative moves I completed.
Subscribe to our blog
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique.
The Birth Story of Tyler Howard Tress: Part One
The Birth Story of Tyler Howard Tress: Part ONE — Preparing for Labor and Delivery
The birth of Tyler Howard Tress was one of the most beautiful, empowering, healing and positive experiences of my life.
I am blown away by the privilege and miracle of birth … and I am honored to be the mother of this precious baby boy.
My desire is to share the birth story openly and in detail to encourage and provide inspiration to women in my community and beyond.
As women, we are in this together. And I know for me, hearing fellow moms share the details of what worked for them during labor and delivery helped me understand the choices and wonderful possibilities available for my family and myself. Us women are incredibly strong. Our bodies are created to do amazing things and giving birth is the most beautiful miracle of them all.
I have broken Baby Tyler’s birth story up into two parts.
- Preparing for labor and delivery
- Welcoming Tyler Howard into the world
Part ONE: Preparing for Labor and Delivery:
A few short days ago, I was physically exhausted, emotionally spent, and certain I would be pregnant “forever.” The final weeks of pregnancy are a challenging place of in-between. As my body and mind prepared for labor and delivery, I enjoyed less and less sleep due to strong Braxton Hicks (practice contractions), baby boy pressing on my lungs, stomach, bladder and cervix simultaneously (I’m only 5’2”), and the stress, anxiety, and insomnia that comes at the end of any pregnancy.
One of my biggest fears when pregnant is that I will get sick shortly before labor and delivery … be ill for labor, and then pass off the germs to my baby. To my absolute dismay, my fear became a reality, and I ended up getting sick on a Monday, the very end of May and the first week of June. The flu and Covid were circulating around the school like wildfire at the end of May, and sure enough, I caught a bug. I did my very best to quickly rest and recover from the bug, so I would have health and energy for labor and the first few days postpartum. By Wednesday of this week I was feeling pretty terrible, but also experiencing consistent headaches. I have a history of high blood pressure (in fact, I was even on blood pressure medication years ago), so I decided to use my blood pressure cuff at-home. As I expected, the headaches were in part due to being sick, but also in part due to my higher-than-normal blood pressure. I was running 145/110 a few checks in a row, which certainly concerned me. I was also feeling puffy and starting to worry that I was dealing with the early signs of preeclampsia. By Thursday morning I was running pre-e panels and other blood work, resting as much as possible, and preparing for a potential early eviction of baby boy.
Thankfully – as I started to feel relief from my sickness, my blood pressure and body swelling simultaneously began to come down. I continued to monitor my BP until delivery day, and while it was not stellar (more general end-of-pregnancy hypertension), it never got up quite as high as that first week of June. By Friday of that week, I lost my mucus plug, and it definitely seemed that my body was preparing to go into labor sooner rather than later.
The second week of June, I started to experience many more early signs of labor. In addition to having already lost my mucus plug, I began some prodromal labor. This means I was having some “real contractions” but they would start, stop and not progress. For me, this is one of my least favorite aspects of the final days of pregnancy. I actually felt strongly that I may deliver on Tuesday June 7 due to my symptoms. However, the day came and went, and still no baby. My midwife checked me that day and I was about 3 cm dilated, but baby boy was still very cozy.
In spite of being sick the week before, and sleep deprived from prodromal labor, I went into the office a few days to get my mind off of being pregnant and wrap up a few things before maternity leave. On Wednesday of this week, my team threw me the sweetest baby shower to honor Tyler. It was just what I needed to get through the week with a smile.
By Friday June 10, my contractions were picking up and I was starting to feel *very* tired of being pregnant. Not only was I ready for my pre-labor symptoms to transition into active labor, I was also ready to meet my precious baby. I went to acupuncture on Friday and had a chiropractic adjustment, and this certainly caused my practice contractions to pick up. If you follow me on Instagram, you saw that Brandon and I were going on a few-to-several walks per day to keep baby in position and encourage labor to begin. Throughout the night on Friday I was feeling some strong contractions and started to time them. I nearly called my birth team, but decided to rest and see if contractions would pick up. Unfortunately … they fizzled. I was up until about 3 am with strong contractions that amounted to nothing besides more sleep deprivation. So frustrating.
On Saturday, I was still experiencing strong Braxton Hicks and went out for dinner to enjoy some eggplant parmesan. Tradition has it that eggplant parm will help to start labor. In my case … it didn’t. :)
By Sunday I was feeling even more impatient and ready for labor to begin. However I had not slept well the night before so took most of the day to relax.
Monday rolled around and I had decided to go into the office one final time before officially starting maternity leave. I brought the kids with me to film some kids’ workouts, and we had a blast. We left around lunch time, and I felt a weight lifted off my shoulders. Baby or no baby, maternity leave had begun. I empowered my four vice presidents to run the show without me, and this gave me the mental and emotional space to truly focus on welcoming baby boy into the world.
On Monday afternoon, almost immediately after we got home, I started feeling some decent contractions. Brandon and I went on a walk and I send out a “code orange” to my birth team to alert them that today may be the day. I asked my mom to come over and take care of the little kids while Brandon and I continued walking, getting oxytocin flowing, and preparing for what could be our final day as a family of 6. By the evening I had thoroughly cleaned the bathroom where I planned to labor, taken several walks, and mentally prepared to meet baby boy … but by around 2 am … contractions stalled. UGHHHHH.
Tuesday was not a good day for me emotionally. The thing about the end of pregnancy is – you just truly do not know when the baby will decide to make his appearance. My body was READY to deliver, but baby boy was not quite on the same page. At this point, I could have had a few days to a few weeks more of waiting. Brandon and I went out on the boat in the morning to get my mind off of being 100 weeks pregnant. We were lucky enough to catch some dolphins in our wake for several minutes and enjoy a wonderful run on the Gulf of Mexico.
I went to bed later that evening with no hope that I would go into true labor overnight. But by the next morning around 3 am, I was experiencing what felt to be stronger contractions. I rested until 5 am and then got a shower just in case things would progress quickly. But who am I kidding - nothing about these final days of pregnancy had been “quick.”
By 9 am my contractions had stalled out a bit and I decided to rest for most of the day since I had been up since 3 am. I had a chiropractic and acupuncture appointment scheduled for 12:15. I drove over to the office and when I got out of the car, I felt it … a super strong, long contraction!
Stay tuned for Part TWO of Baby Tyler’s Birth Story.
A note about prenatal fitness and nutrition:
Throughout pregnancy, I continued to follow our FASter Way Workouts and FASTer Way Meal Plans. Download a FREE video below with helpful prenatal exercise alternatives.
Here are some FAQs I received:
- Did you still fast during pregnancy?
- Yes! I continued to do the 16:8 intermittent fasting protocol with my FASTer Way clients! I have enjoyed 3 FASTer Way pregnancies and fasted through each of them. I personally feel amazing when fasting, but it’s not for everyone during pregnancy.
- How often did you workout?
- I worked out at least 4 or 5 times per week doing exclusively at-home FASTer Way workouts and the occasional spin workout. However in the final weeks, I primarily walked, and walked, and walked some more!
- How much weight did you gain?
- I did not weigh myself at all throughout my pregnancy. But I would estimate 25-30 lbs. As long as I’m eating healthy and exercising I trust my body to take care of the rest.
- What foods did you focus on or avoid?
- I focused on eating carbs and protein to fuel my pregnancy. I did not stay under 50g net carbs on low carb macro days — I was closer to 75-100g.
- What core moves did you complete?
- I loved doing side planks and some standing core moves. Download the free guide to see what moves I completed.
- What modifications did you make in third trimester?
- I primarily modified by using lighter weights. However, as I mentioned above, I did more waking than weight training at the end of my pregnancy. Download the free guide to see some alternative moves I completed.
