Have you ever looked in the mirror and don’t recognise the person in it?
That’s how I felt when I first saw my post partum body, after they removed the waterproof bandage over my Cesarean section. This was in 2015, and I’d just had my first child.
It took me many months to get used to the scar, and the numbness in that area from the procedure. Many months of me asking my husband, do I look ok? Do I look normal to you?
I was still trying to get used to this new body when I got pregnant the second time. And this time around, the body remembers what it’s like to be pregnant and I started showing at 3 months.
The recovery was more painful the second time around, but it could also just be that I’m older too.
The post-partum massage and binding sessions did help in bringing my waist and tummy almost to pre-pregnancy size, but the body was still different and unrecognisable.
Breastfeeding had changed my chest. I had more stretchmarks on my tummy, the hips are wider, and the droopy, pudgy belly that I can’t seem to be rid off, is more droopy and pudgy.
Most of the time I don’t notice it because I’m almost always in a camisole. It wasn’t until a few weeks ago that when I tried on a bralette that was not a nursing one, that I finally saw a glimmer of the body that I haven’t seen since I got pregnant in 2015, under the pudge, the lightening scars, and the rounder hips.
For the first time since then, I actually felt attractive, and somewhat sexy. It helped that my husband got a little handsy too.
I might not be as toned as I once was, but I’m healthy, and physically stronger from carrying the kids, and I had carried 2 babies to term and birthed them successfully (albeit with some assistance). I know that I’m lucky that I didn’t put on too much weight while I was pregnant, so losing the weight was not overly difficult.
I’m still coming to terms with how different my body is now but I think I’m getting to a point where I’m proud of each scar and jiggle or excess skin.
Do you love your body they way it is? Let me know what your ideal.body is like and if you’re on the way of getting it.
Minty Mint Tea 