Body After Baby...

Body image. I'm pretty bored of this annoying topic but at the same time I think about my jiggly thighs some times. At the bottom of this post I have included some pics of bellies after babies. I did not like my body when I was pregnant.  I have been pregnant a total of five time.  I have miscarried twice, between each of my three boys.  My second miscarriage was at nineteen weeks so I had many body changes during that pregnancy as well.  As a self described feminist, shouldn't I embrace my new post- three baby body? How do I do this? How can we as a society get over this whole perfect body obsession?

My breasts have gotten bigger and smaller.  By "bigger" I mean not my usual negative A cup. My legs have been skinny, jiggly, cellulity (my new word) and swollen with fluid during my pregnancy.  I have stretch marks on my hips and boobs. I have purple spider veins on my legs.  Shall I go on?!  It goes without saying that it is worth it but let's be honest...it's not always fun seeing these changes in our bodies.  Sometimes I miss my flat stomach and slender non-cellulity thighs.  Sometimes I miss my little tiny shorts I used to fit into.  I have grown to love my body even though I do think about those old tiny shorts of mine from time to time. I just can't bring myself to throw them out. Will I ever fit into them again?  What will my boobs look like when they have shrunken down to a negative A cup for the third time and have the added bonus of some extra stretch marks?!

The bottom line is we are supposed to have these changes. We are supposed to have some stretch marks here and there. We are supposed to fluctuate for our pregnancies and breastfeeding.  Did you know that we use more calories to breastfeed then what we use for growing our babies when we are pregnant?! Amazing! This is why I'm starving all the time...now where did I just put that box of crackers?

I asked some other mummy friends of mine for pictures of what their stomachs look like now.  Putting your stomach out into the Internet is pretty brave, even though it's anonymous it is still a pretty scary thing to do.  The important thing to note is that they are all completely different! No matter the age or amount of children, there are variations amongst these women and we need to support each other and our differences. Especially post baby.  I am so sick of seeing pictures on the magazine covers of skinny women claiming, "I lost 20 kilos within three months after having my baby!" Well big deal! Who cares! I didn't! And that's OK...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are all different...and we are all beautiful.