Giving Birth, Postpartum, & Now
Giving birth- most moms will tell you giving birth is the easy part and as much as you tell that to someone who is pregnant with their first, they won’t believe you! And boy, they were right. Postpartum was rough for me after an unplanned c section so I had no idea what recovery would look like and it was my first time ever in the OR. I was so sad, SO SAD nothing went the way I wanted. I did my research on giving birth, took birthing classes, watched documentaries on it (don’t advise first time moms to watch them). I convinced myself, I was going to have an easy birth and when the day came, I was doing so good, water broke, no inductions, dilated quick, waited to get my epi, everything too good to be true. By the time I was ready to push, which I did have a few pushes, they told me to wait. The next time they checked in on me, they told me I was going backwards, my 10cm was now 7cm and told me I had to start considering a c-section. I thought to myself, this is it, business in being born!! Questioned my doctors and thought they were scamming me but the reality was my baby was sunny side up and made me swell, making it less likely to have a natural birth.
Postpartum- to me, was a lot of failures and unexpected. Not to mention breastfeeding was even worse. I thought my milk came in but it didn’t since it takes longer after c-section. Recovering while trying to breastfeed was even more stressful. Honestly, the first few months were a blur and when I finally got myself together and my thoughts/hormones, it was probably month 4 or so. By this time, I was hoping my body would come right back, which it kind of did, I lost most my pregnancy weight since surviving as a first time mommy is rough. But what I didn’t realize was once I finally got myself together, I made many unhealthy choices and gained what really was “mom weight”. This is not from getting pregnant, it comes from not taking care of yourself because you’re too busy taking care of another human being. Drive thru, microwavable food, chips, snacks, you name it, all while not sleeping. It’s so hard. I was 2 sizes bigger than pre pregnancy and none of my clothes fit.
By the time my baby was 1 years old. I felt so tired and found myself feeling extra lazy and I was so self conscious. I was unhealthy physically and emotionally. I told myself often, this is how it is being a mom, just embrace it. I did try some trendy diets, signed up for a yoga pass, trying to run more often, I did try but was so unmotivated and easily gave up. Finally when we signed up for WW, with the support of my husband, we were so good at it and it just made sense to us, within 6 months we hit our goal and we are now actually lower in weight than in our 20s. We didn’t sacrifice any time with our kid, wasn’t at the gym all day, didn’t give up carbs, wasn’t hangry. We just learned how to make healthier choices and got more adventurous in the kitchen, cooking healthier meals that are also extremely delicious. We still saved date nights once a week to eat out without feeling like we were on a diet.
Now- It has almost been a year since we joined WW and it has been a life changing experience. It might have started out in vain by just wanting to lose some weight but through the journey, we found ourselves much happier, much more energetic with our toddler, and not gonna lie, I’m more attracted to my husband and I’m more attracted to myself! These little changes made us more positive in life and it truly went from being on a diet to a true self care journey. Self care could start with getting your nails done, pampering yourself, treating yourself to something cute, but true self care that isn’t so temporary, it’s worth it. When you try working on your health, you’re actually trying to be a better mom, better to yourself, and a better person. A diet always sounds so dreading, sounds hangry, but think of it as trying to be better.
The superficial benefits are also pretty fun, I went from xl to a size small, 32 in jeans to 26, but for real, I never wore jeans and was always stuck to a black wardrobe even in the hottest weather.
Postpartum- take your time with this. I don’t want new moms to stress about getting their body back or be swimsuit ready because come on, our boobs and belly will never be the same. But at some point, take care of yourself! Feed yourself what you’ll feed your baby, organic veggies and all that nice stuff you’ll do for your baby, do it for yourself too. Let’s do this mamas!