Postpartum Body

Before anyone close to me had a baby, I never realized that you still look pregnant after having a baby. AND, it has nothing to do with how much weight you did or didn't gain, but has to do with your uterus going back down to size. That bit of postpartum information was about all the information I knew before having Connor. I'm not going to share the nitty-gritty of life after vaginal birth that people didn't share with me. If I was talking in person with you, yes I would share. But over the world wide web, nope. What you will get though, is my take on my body after baby.

Sure, I've been through this before, so I knew what to expect. But that doesn't necessarily make it any easier. You see, it takes a while to get back to normal after having a baby. And trying to dress in this transition phase is all too challenging. First off, I breastfeed. Thus my boobs need to always be easily accessible. And with breastfeeding comes ginormious boobs. I don't like the ladies being on constant display and do try my best to cover them. However, as I have said before, I would have cleavage even in a turtleneck. Seriously. It's out of control.

Then there is the post baby pooch, or jelly belly as some like to call it. Really it only bothers me when I sit down and have it hanging over my pants. Gross! So, I normally pull my pants up and "tuck it in". This in fact is a problem I can fix...with exercise. I will actually need to put in some effort to fix it. And I have started exercising. Just the exercise itself helps my body image, even if it has yet to help my body.

Lastly are the childbearing hips. When giving birth vaginally, those suckers have to open wide. And as I recall, it took a few months for those bad boys to cinch back in after I had Connor. Thus, they have yet to go back in. And thus, I can get all my pants on, but buttoning them is a whole other issue!

And here I am today. I've lost almost all the weight I gained while pregnant, but can only fit in one pair of my jeans. And my maternity jeans aren't really an option anymore as they have become too big. And my shirts, while I can fit back in all of them, I have to think about access and how easy it would be to feed a child while wearing shirts. Thus, my selection of clothes is rather limited. But, I find when I actually put an outfit together, I feel much better about myself. I think the key for me is planning ahead. Making sure I have good decent fitting clothes, that match, always clean. And here is the reality of how my postpartum dressing played out today:

 Sweater: MadeWell

Tank: C&C California

Skirt: Hollister

Leggings: Hollister

Shoes: Toms