The Amazing Mom Bod(y)

Ok, I think we need to just sit and talk for a minute about how marvelous the female body is!!! We are literally built to grow another human being! AMAZING!!

Scientifically I get it, but I will never fully understand how someone’s body can go through all that stretching and growing… then the bloating and the sickness, not to mention the actual labor! Sooner or later, our bodies are fully given back to us and now being shared with a little human.

What isn’t there to love? One of the greatest loves of your life, you are housing and able to feel them kick, roll, and hiccup inside your own body! The self pride one feels in this amazing yet grueling task!!!

Now don’t get me wrong, it truly is amazing and miraculous but it doesn’t mean you love everything about it at all. As I mentioned earlier, it is GRUELING. As much as there is to love about being pregnant there is just as much to not like about it.

The nausea starts up. I’m not saying everyone gets physically sick but you definitely don’t always feel great. Your stomach is all woozy for some of the time, if not the whole time. Then you start to bloat. You are so excited but it’s still your first trimester so you can’t tell everyone. Instead, you just look like you’re putting on your built in winter coat layer. None of your clothes fit the same anymore, but you’re still so freshly pregnant you are ok with that because this means you get to take yourself shopping!!

When I was pregnant with Owen, I was still working 40 hours a week up until the day I went into labor. As my body grew, so did all my aches and pains. My hips were widening and they were killing me. I would beg my husband to use a back massager on my hips just to relieve a bit of the pain. I took a bazillion warm epsom salt baths. There was even one day while at work, if I had to bend down onto my hands and knees it physically hurt my knees and legs to get back up. Haha I was a mess. Another day I was so sore after work and my feet were hurting so badly that I took my shoes off to drive home. Of course by the time I had gotten home, I could no longer get my feet into my shoes. That was ok. I changed and made a huge bucket of warm epsom salt water. The water was never staying as warm as I wanted it, to take the pain away. So naturally I kept warming it up. Well, the next day I woke up and my feet had a pain I had never felt before. I had actually scalded the skin on my feet during my “relaxing foot soak”! Trust me, feeling like I was getting it all wrong started at that moment!

My legs and my rear had gotten so large by the time I had Owen (the same happened again when I was pregnant with Evan) I couldn’t even stand to look at myself in the mirror. As much as I loved that sweet baby who was growing inside my body, I was starting to hate the way it was changing me. I kept asking myself, how am I ever going to be ME again”?

Now I am a twice over C-section mama. I didn’t want a C-section. I knew all postpartum was hard but I was horrified of a C-section. Not only in recovery but what it meant to my body. My body, at this point, was recovering and I was so torn up about how a little 6 lb baby got cut out of me and there I was still looking pregnant.

My reward was here! I had done it! Everyone was safe. I was so happy about this little bug!! But the emotional toll of the “image” I had put in my head about what I was supposed to look like was setting me on a roller coaster inside.

A while back, I was bombarded with the question basically implying that I should have some plastic surgery done. I was shocked! I felt the temperature in my face and ears turn to fire! I was so offended. Owen was 3 years old at this time. I had gotten my body to where I was happy with it, but for someone to try to talk to me about that just did it for me. I quickly replied with how I was extremely happy with my body the exact way it was.

Now is my body perfect? No, not at all. It will never be exactly where it was before I was pregnant, let alone after having my second child.

BUT…. you know what?… YES IT IS PERFECT!!! It is perfect in the eyes of my husband who watched the amazing body I have grow his two perfect children. Yes it is perfect to my children who know how much I love them and love me whether I need to unbutton my pants after dinner or if I need to go up a size. EVERYONE who loves me for who I am thinks my body is perfect the way it is!

Do I have a 6 pack? NO WAY!

Do I work out everyday or every week even? NOT EVEN CLOSE (I wish I exercised more).

But I love me and I love this body. NO, it is not exactly where I would want it to be. I also am not going to kill myself or pay thousands of dollars for a body that someone else thinks I should have.

In a world full of people having an opinion about what or who you should be…. DON’T

be led by them.

Be you and love you for everything you and your body have done. They tell your story.

After I had Owen, I got a couple stretch marks on each of my sides. Not horrible but they are there. Those marks and my C-section scars are my badges of honor. I have worked hard to earn those and I will wear them proudly! There are many women out there who would do anything to have these badges of honor, don’t take yours for granted!

Since having Evan (9 months ago) I haven’t been able to do much gym time. That is one thing I did hard after I had Owen. As soon as I was cleared, I found a gym with a daycare. I found a personal trainer whom I met up with twice and she explained the work outs I should do to get to my goal. Then I hit it hard. Monday, Wednesday, Friday I was at the gym. Rain or shine. 30-40 min of HARD cardio. Running, elliptical or row machine. I pushed myself as hard as I could. Following that, I did a rotation of either arm and back day or legs and abs day. I was sore all the time. I would carry Owen to the car after a work out and think I was going to either collapse because my legs were so dead or I would drop him because my arms would give out. Haha

I was only able to get a few good gym days in after Evan before this new crazy lifestyle and planning for it took over. I may not go to the gym anymore but I do walk about 6 miles a day and extremely fast. I try to throw in an at home workout here or there when I can but frankly my sweet family is a higher priority than my body image these days.

In honor of Evan’s 9 month birthday, I thought I would be completely transparent to all of you and show you a 9 months in vs. a 9 months out picture.

9 months in vs. 9 months out (P.S. I don't think my belly button will ever be normal again)

I am very proud of myself, as I feel I should be. All of you other mothers out there should be as well. Your bodies are amazing. They can do things that half the population can’t. I know giving yourself grace is so much easier said than done. I promise instead of looking in the mirror and pointing out everything you don’t like you need to point out everything you should be proud of!

Go be proud of yourself

Until the next mess,

Dana