Give yourself some grace…
Body image issues are real, especially after having a baby. I remember looking at myself in the hospital bathroom mirror thinking “WOW, what happened here”. I didn’t recognise myself at all. I once had tight skin around my naval and smooth stretchmark less skin around my stomach. Fast forward to that moment, my thighs were huge and my snatched waist line was nowhere to be seen. Needless to say, I was in shock. But when I came out from the bathroom to my big healthy baby girl, who was full of life, she made all of it so much more worth it. However, I lived in my body and from the moment I stood there looking at my body it felt like I was going to permanently look like that.
I know a lot of women feel like this after giving birth. Especially when It’s your first baby. But be patient with yourself. Focus on getting back to full health after such a physically challenging experience. YOU JUST GAVE BIRTH! Take those 6 weeks as a much-needed break from any physical staining activity and REST. Think of it as a vacation with your new little best friend, it’s a time for you to get to know each other and create unforgettable memories.
After your 6-week vacation you'll have an appointment with your doctor and they will review how your body has recovered from child birth and check the health of your baby. At that appointment your doctor will also let you know if it's safe for you to start working out and participate in another activities *wink wink*. But that shouldn’t pressure you to start. Take your time and if you would like to start working out do so at your own pace. I spent the last three months of pregnancy talking about how much I couldn’t wait to get back into the gym but not doing so up until my daughter was 6 months old. One reason being I had stitches from having a second-degree tear and didn’t feel like I was physically capable of doing the workouts I desired. But the main reason was that I wasn’t 100% motivated to go and was seeing that my body was slowly getting back to some sort of normalcy without me actually being in the gym. I know that some women don’t prioritise getting back the figure they once had and that’s also completely okay.
We live in a society where we’re constantly looking at celebrities and influencers “snapback” shortly after having their baby. This isn't the reality of what its actually like for the majority of women around the world. It's taken you 9 months to grow a human being inside your body and it may take less or more time for you to get to a space where you're completely happy with your body. All I want to get across to you is to be patient, understand your body and listen to yourself above all. Don’t let the opinions and comments of others get to you. Practice gratitude for the vessel of life that you possess and embrace your body each step of the way. Take pictures, learn to love on every part of your body because that is what will help you become and transform yourself into the women you desire to be.
The reality of the postpartum body. 2 hours after giving birth