Well here is a topic I feel can be soooooo difficult at times, more so now than ever before. Woman are expected to look perfect immediately after birth, as if they waved a wand and the baby came out, never mind the months of preparation, hours of laboring pains, and weeks of post delivery recovery. Between the media and celebrities, the woman’s expectation of child bearing and post child bearing is close to a fairy tale if you ask me. No woman looks a size zero with abs merely hours after delivery, its impossible, and even if you are that rare unicorn, that is not the norm, and it should not be the norm. Woman should be able to feel comfortable in their own skin and even more so after bringing life into this world, and it can be very difficult with how expectations are today.
I will say this, leaving the hospital, merely 24 hours after delivery, I still looked about three to four months pregnant. Was I overjoyed with the look of my body, hell no! really who is after birth?! But I was and am completely OK with how my body is recovering, I am slowly but surely getting my body back, but I have realistic expectations of what it will take and I am not overly fixating on “how fat I look.” Yes I had several family members tell me “Omg but whats the issue, you still look pregnant” or my favorite one, “did they leave the twin in there?” Trust me I have heard them all, but I guess I have grown some tough skin from the time I had my five year old and I have learned to mute them out. I just had a baby and I am ok with not rushing to look like some super model. The process is far from easy and every woman goes through their own hormonal changes and recovery, therefore being a little extra chunky is completely ok in my book. I will wear my spandex as pants until they start to slide off :), and thank god for belly bands!!
I remember with my first born, I struggled so much with my body image that it almost made me insane. I was depressed and struggled so much with my weight that it seemed impossible to ever be the pre-baby woman I was, and to have that size two waist again was a figment of my imagination. However, this time around, I realized that size two is never happening again, and what I need is a size healthy and that’s all that matters. I have managed to loss all the “baby weight” which is approximately 25 pounds in less than two months, however my body is very much still recovering. I have a few very pinkish stretch marks, and a baby pouch I could live without, and skin so dry, I feel like I’m in competition with the Sahara desert at this point. But, That is ok! because with time I know that I will be “back to normal” and I don’t really know how long that time will be exactly but I am not fixating on it. I have struggled so much with my weight and unfortunately other medical issues contribute to this battle, that I allow it to consume me, and I miss out on just being happy and healthy and most importantly enjoying my baby. So I promised myself that this time around, I would give myself the time I needed to recoup and not feel the need to be this picture perfect woman within weeks or months of having a baby. I am picture perfect in my own way and I am happy with it.
This, is a message to all mommies, new and old!!! Love yourself because those bodies created life and remind us of the strength and love we as mothers have for our children.
I hope that any mommy struggling with their after baby body can find this blog post and feel just a tad bit better about herself because you deserve it!!
Share your stories…..I’d love to read them!