HAPPY TIMES by Nayra Alonso
I loved my years of windsurfing as a pro. I am very thankful and very proud of all I did. But one day I just felt I was done with it. I didn’t feel motivated anymore and to be honest, I needed a change. To me, becoming a mum has been the best decision I ever made. But this is a very personal opinion, and I know some women who feel they have been done with the deal.
Don’t think motherhood is going to fill you up with joy 24/7, it is tough and sometimes you just want to quit. But to me, it is well worth it and even if it sounds like a cliché, I have never felt this happy and this kind of love ever in my life.
GO WITH IT
In my first pregnancy I windsurfed until I was about 12-13 weeks and in the second one I think until I was about 14-16 weeks, I can’t remember very well. But my main rule was just to go with my feelings. If I felt safe and felt like I really wanted to sail or surf, I would do it, and when I suddenly changed my mind and felt I should step off the boards, I stopped. And it felt great. To be honest I think that having a break from sailing and surfing did me good, it cleared my perspective of it, and I knew windsurfing and surfing would always be there later for me.
RETURNING
I also thought I would be back on the water in no time after giving birth, I thought I would be eager to go sailing and surfing. I was actually counting the weeks I would need to recover to be ready to hit the water. But, when it came to it, first I didn’t feel like I was ready until at least 4 months after, and second, I didn’t really want to either, I was just too in love with my babies to leave them for a second! It sounds weird, but it is how I felt. And I think it was Mother Nature just telling me what to do, what was right for ME. Surfing and sailing would be there when I was ready. And again, my main rule was: do what you feel like and follow your instinct; it is the best way to do the right thing
for YOU. When I finally got on the water, it just felt right. I needed a bit of fitness but to be honest it felt like I had been sailing the day before. And it felt magical. Each woman is different, each pregnancy is different, each birth is different and each baby is different. So take it as it comes and do what you feel at anytime is what I would recommend.