You push, you push harder, you push so hard that you feel like a canon ball is coming out of your butt. Yes, I absolutely mean out of your butt. I’ll talk about that experience at a later date.
A 7 lb. 6.6 oz, 20 inch long beautiful, healthy baby boy comes barreling out and ready to greet the world with open eyes and arms. And, wide open lungs! (Thankfully) The sensation of Jameson’s torso and legs leaving my body is one that I will never forget; it is exactly what you may expect – your entire belly feels like it’s being shifted down (with all of your organs) in one, large, dramatic, swooping motion. It was incredible.
When I met with family and friends at the hospital and when we’ve spoken in the days after, many people have asked me how my body feels and what my body now looks like. At first, my body felt like it was forced to run twenty-five marathons in a row and then was run over by a wagon of clydesdales. Nearing week three, it is feeling a whole lot better and I never thought it would. Friends who want to bear children want to know the eye-gouging details and they also want to know the truth about what my body LOOKS like. Does your stomach just flop around? Did you lose weight right away? Do you have many stretch marks? What about all of that water retention – did it go away? Are your boobs huge? Are your abdominal muscles there?
With all of these questions, I realized that this topic is not openly discussed enough. As a recently pregnant woman, I have grown a human being from the size of a pen tip to a 7 lb pumpkin for ten months, with all that entails, and we wonder if we can look like our previous selves moments or days after birth. Every woman is different and will create their new, post-pregnancy body on their own timeline. I am writing this blog post to encourage others (and myself) to sincerely appreciate the postpartum body in all of its glory and to understand that it takes ten months to grow a baby and you may need that much time to recreate yourself. In the meantime, you also have to feed, care, and nurture baby, adjust to your new life and relationship with your partner, heal from the birth, organize your work, work through your hormones and emotions, acclimate your entire family to this new life, and the list can go on forever. Give your body the time it deserves to catch up and get the rest that you need to be able to function. And above all of that, be proud of yourself and your body for all that it has accomplished. We have a lot to be grateful for.
Without further adieu, I will be sharing photos of my body postpartum. Does my stomach flop around? At first, yes. Did I lose weight right away? Yes, about 12 pounds right after delivery. Do I have many stretch marks? Yes, a lot of tiger stripes. What about the water retention? It went away mostly after a week or so, and I had night sweats that prompted it. Are my boobs huge? Definitely a lot larger that before. Are your abdominal muscles there? Yes, somewhere in there…
This is what one postpartum body looks like. 18 days after birth, I am down 27 lbs and I gained a total of 42 lbs throughout the pregnancy. Let’s start with a picture of me fully pregnant at 10 months first to compare.
Fully Prego
Then, take a look at the after birth pictures:
5 days after birth
14 days after birth
18 days after birth
I am a work in progress but now that I made it through this labor, I feel as if I could conquer the world. Cheers to all of the beautiful mamas out there! When you are feeling self-conscious, just remember what your body did…
Everyday You 
You’re gorgeous! Congratulations!
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