Thoughts on My Post Baby Body

It's hard for me to believe that Henry is already three months old. Where did the time go? I find myself scrolling back through my phone every once in a while looking at his itty bitty self thinking man, he was small!

I thought it would be interesting to write about my thoughts on my body post pregnancy. I know I enjoy reading and talking about body image, so you might too.

From the beginning of my pregnancy, I made a point to tell myself that the journey back to my pre-baby body would be gradual as I was going to be gentle with myself both physically and mentally.
I have a tendency to want to do all the things and have everything a certain way as soon as possible in most realms of my life. But we know that's not very realistic.

As a result, I made a pact with myself to wait the full six weeks until I started any kind of exercise beyond walking. By six weeks, the bleeding had finally stopped (yep, there's a lot of post birth bleeding for most women), and the midwife gave me the go ahead to start exercising. But as I mentioned before, my body wasn't quite ready to get back into running and weight lifting that soon.

Luckily, I wasn't even interested in exercising for those first six weeks and I didn't feel guilty at all about still wearing my maternity shorts and tops all summer long.

A week or so after having Henry, I was down about 10 lbs from my final pregnancy weight (I gained 30 lbs in total). Every month or so, it seems I had lost another 5 lbs likely from breastfeeding, plenty of walking, and carrying a baby around all day.

While the weight has gradually been coming off, I'm still about 5-7 lbs above my pre pregnancy weight and who knows if the extra lbs will stick around or continue to come off. Either way, I'm not too concerned. I can fit into at least one pair of my regular jeans, so I'll be just fine for fall.

Around eight weeks postpartum, I decided to try on some of my old shirts to find a non maternity shirt I could wear to switch things up a bit. Unfortunately, thanks to breastfeeding, nothing fit like I had hoped. But instead of feeling depressed about it, I simply headed to Target and sized up on my favorite vintage tees.

While I might be lacking a toned, flat stomach, honestly, it's refreshing to feel less body conscious in my new role as mama. Sure, I could do without the stretch marks or extra skin hanging out around my mid section, but I'm not giving it near the amount of worry my old self would have.

Seven weeks pregnant

I look back on the girl who thought she still needed to lose an extra 5-10 lbs to look good running in just a sports bra and think "Geez, really? I'd love to have those abs now." 

But rather than wish for the body I had, I'm embracing the fact that my post pregnancy body is different as a result of growing a human for 41 weeks. And not only that, I'm now breastfeeding and caring for a baby, which is my #1 priority and requires a lot of energy.

So, I'm eating well, indulging in treats regularly, and staying hydrated.

And yeah, I'm still wearing my maternity tops and shorts because they're comfy and fit (gotta love the stretchy midsection).

Have you ever had a shift in your body image and if so, what brought it on? And tell me something you're looking forward to this fall.