This is something I think a lot of mums can relate to.
Pregnancy changes your body a lot. Even with losing the baby weight I gained during both my pregnancies my body still feels different, because it is and always will be.
One mum summed up these body image feelings perfectly with a post she shared on social media and I definitely identify with it.
The mum submitted this photo to the Facebook page Mom Life, Keeping It Real and it caught my eye the minute it popped up in my home feed. She wrote;
“This is my body 5 months PP.
I have stretch marks that would make a tiger jealous. I’ll never be a size 5 again. My boobs tripled in size. And are typically two different sizes.
But instead of complaining, I unapologetically embrace this mom bod. Without this body I wouldn’t have this little girl.
For every stretch mark we complain about, there’s a woman who wishes she had she them.”
It struck a chord with me because this is exactly how I’ve been feeling since having my daughter less than a year ago.
When I had my son in my early twenties my body bounced back fairly quickly, I had a couple of extra inches on my waist but I was back in my pre-pregnancy clothes within a couple of months.
This time around I know that it isn’t going to be the case. I’m older and so is my body. My skin is less elastic so it’s not bouncing back and even though I stopped breastfeeding my breasts have not gone down in size.
My waist and hips are bigger. Even though I exercise every day I know that I’m not going to be getting into the size small pencil skirts that I used to wear anytime soon.
But do you know what else? I also don’t mind.
I’ve spent the better part of three decades being slim and if now I’m going to be curvier that’s fine.
I’ve had other people project their feelings about my changing body onto me and basically give me their condolences because I now have love handles.
Yes, I have a bit of overhang when I’m in my skinny jeans but I’m not mad at it. I birthed two babies from my body and I had no delusions that I would stay a size six in clothes after I did so.
I’m also not a teenager anymore, even if I didn’t have my children my body still wouldn’t be the same as when I was 18. I saw people recently posting photos of Rihanna when she started singing over ten years ago and a recent photo and commenting on how her figure has changed and how big her bum and boobs had gotten.
Did they miss the memo on women’s bodies changing as they get older?
https://www.instagram.com/p/BhmhWRzjVtf/?taken-by=badgalriri
A lot of mums feel pressured into looking perfect after they give birth but it’s just not reality.
We see so much of smoke and mirrors on social media that we convince ourselves that we’re not good enough.
Photos like this one are a refreshing reminder of what real bodies look like when they been through pregnancy and childbirth.
No photoshop, no Facetune, no filters, just a raw real human body.
Personally, I think as mothers we should all just give ourselves a break. Stop comparing ourselves to everybody else or trying to look like the pictures we see on Instagram and instead feel comfortable in our own skin, stretch marks and all.
