When my husband and I began thinking about starting our family, I knew of all the emotional and physical commitments that I was making. And honestly, I looked forward to them. Everyone kept telling me that my body would never be the same once I got pregnant. I tuned them out and just thought that if I ate right, kept active, and put all the creams on my skin that promised to help with stretching, everything would go right back to normal. Then, at the start of my pregnancy, I noticed small changes here and there, but it wasn’t until I started to show that I realized that not only was my belly growing, but I was stretching in other places as well. Then, when my son was born, my body went through another drastic change. I would wake up some morning and realize that I was never going to get back to my pre-pregnancy body, and it would make me somewhat sad. But after a few weeks, I came to accept my postpartum body/
SHOP THE POST:
Pregnancy changes you in so many ways. Physically, there are changes that only you can see but those looking at you don’t always notice. During pregnancy, you feel different and then postpartum, you feel like a completely different person.
I can’t even remember what I felt like in my body pre-pregnancy, but now I feel like this is my new normal.
After pregnancy, you have stretch marks, you may have a new shoe size, your breasts get bigger than get smaller and then get bigger again, and your ankles and thighs may have a completely different look than they ever did before.
For me, personally, my stomach is a completely different skin tone than the rest of my body which makes my stretch marks look crazy. My abs, well, they are pretty much non-existent. I can tell that my thighs got a little bit plumper just from the struggle it is to put on my jeans – even though I can fit back into them now. And my breasts, are always lopsided from breastfeeding. But I’m loving my new body.
This body created a life, nurtured it, and then was strong enough to bring that life into this world. And now, this body is nursing a little life, carrying it around day-to-day whether in a carrier, a carseat or just simply in my arms. This body has become a little bed for a baby that loves to listen to his mommy’s heartbeat. This body is strong and did work and that is why I not only accept my postpartum body, but adore it.
This is my new normal, and I wouldn’t have anything different.
