Real Postpartum Body

Hi everyone,

This is a first for me.  It's a bit scary, but very liberating at the same time.  I will begin by saying the idea for doing this formed from following Birth Without Fear and Take Back Postpartum during my pregnancy.  I really believe that seeing women who celebrated their postpartum bodies has really strengthened my self esteem and has made postpartum a lot easier this time.  It changed my perspective and makes me look at other women very differently.  Rather than judging them on muffin top or squishy belly, I find myself wondering if they've had children and how many and how long ago.  It helps me to smile when I see them because I hope they see the beauty in that.  So my hope is that in doing this post I may inspire other women I know to celebrate their bodies (in whatever form) and love them for what they can do!

Alright, here's the scary bit.  Here's where I show you what my real postpartum body looks like.  No filters, no photoshop.  Just raw low-quality images.  Here's a quick "before and after" from my last days of pregnancy until today (6 weeks difference):

I can honestly say that doing this has made me realize just how far I've really come, and that's just from living life.  I've been seeing physio and chiro for the last 4 weeks and haven't been physically able to even walk more than 5 minutes at a time without some pain, so this is just from eating well, losing the swelling, and giving birth.  I lost 23 pounds just from this.  I have 2 pounds left to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight (7 pounds from before Avery).  I got the go ahead from physio today to start working out (I hopefully am done with treatment $400 later, yay!) so I joined a gym and start working out Monday (I have to do orientation and assessment before I start).

I'm excited for this journey and really hope this will help to strengthen my body.  My goal is not focused on losing weight, but in gaining energy, tightening and strengthening my body, and getting into better shape so I can keep up with my kids.  

I feel good.  I'm not self-conscious at all.  For the first time (I think, ever) I walk out the door not worrying if I have muffin top or if I look "fat" because I don't care.  This body has grown and carried two beautiful children and will carry more.  It has stretched to accommodate them and will never be the same again, and I'm ok with that!  When I look at or feel my marshmallowy stomach with my saggy skin and stretch marks, I feel proud.  I feel strong.  I love this body more than the one I had before my babies because it has given me so much to be thankful for.  My hope is that the women (and men) I know can appreciate their own bodies, regardless of how they look, because of all the amazing things they can do.  

All that matters are the people who love and support you.  If there's someone constantly ragging on you about your body, get rid of that negativity.  It's not helping anyone.  I'm glad that I have such a supportive husband who feels proud of me for feeling good about myself and who loves me more now than he did when we got married.  He has been a real strength to me and my cheerleader throughout this whole process.  His support has really helped to change me and see myself in a better light.  Take heart everyone.  Take back postpartum!  Celebrate your body!

One Month Old!

Eli is one month old today!  How the time has flown.  As far as we can tell his collar bone is fully healed.  He is moving both arms really well, though his left is a bit weaker, and he's now turning his head towards his left shoulder too, so that's really good.  He's been doing some tummy time and is already very strong.  He started getting eczema on his face and scalp but it's slowly going away.  I've been off all the BIG 8 allergens for 2 weeks now (dairy and egg for almost 3 weeks) and we're fairly confident that his poops are normal.  No more mucous, no green, and no diarrhea.  So there's progress.  I'm going to start reintroducing foods this week (waiting 4-5 days between just to be sure).  I'm pretty sure if it's anything it's dairy and/or egg.  If it's dairy, then soy may be an irritant too.  We'll just have to wait and see. I'm going to reintroduce dairy near the end. We also started Eli on probiotics to help heal his gut.  All signs point to a positive outcome.  He's still fussy and cries when he needs to poop, but he's not inconsolable, gripe water helps now, and he doesn't cry for very long.  

Length: 22 inches

Weight: 11lb 11oz

Hair Colour: Red

Eye Colour: Blue

Eating and sleeping habits: Went from eating every hour to eating ever 2 hours.  Longest stretch of sleep 3.5 hours (usually 2.5-3 hour stretches at night).  

New skills: holding his head up a lot, grasps hands or fingers of others and pulls to his face, rolls onto his side from his back or tummy.

Favourite things: bath time, staring at Avery, and musical mobile.

He's a great little baby.  We love him to bits.  Avery can't wait until he's big enough to play with.