Post Baby Body & Mind

You give birth and you still look six months pregnant! That was how I looked at least. Not sure what I expected but my reality was skewed greatly. I have heard of women who were back into their pre-baby clothes as they were leaving the hospital! Umm no I was in maternity clothes still and let me tell ya how that was not cool. Que the poor me music here!

I have always had “body issues” you could say. Being heavy runs in my family and I completely freaked out when the scale hit 173 while pregnant! I am 5’5” and to me 120 is perfect. That puts me in a 0-2 and it is where I feel comfortable. So you can imagine when the weight didn’t peel off immediately I was in full crisis mode. The kicker is you can’t exercise and you have to take in at least 500 extra calories a day (if you are bf) in order to keep up. When I got home I would stare incessantly in the mirror and wonder how in the heck I was going to remove the weight. I researched and found the things I could do and this is what I did:

Tons of water. You are going to shed water weight, which is the majority, like mad the first few weeks. I kept hydrated to not only help with breastfeeding but to help lose weight.
Breastfeeding! Who knew you burned calories while doing something so simple. (For me it was)
Healthy snacking. I tried to eat fruit or granola for snacks. I have never had a huge sweet tooth so that was easy.
Slow very slow walking. You cannot squat or do any heavy lifting for six weeks but slow walking was ok.
Oil pulling. Look up coconut oil pulling. I don’t know if it works but it makes your teeth pretty.
Don’t step on a scale! I used clothes as my guide. It took me four weeks to get into a pair of my pre-baby jeans and three and a half months to lose all the weight entirely. I now weight less than before I was pregnant.

I know this list doesn’t sound like much but it helped me. I am back into a 2 and can almost wear my 0’s.

I can also say I have zero stretch marks! I swear by coconut oil for everything and I would put it everywhere twice a day while pregnant and continued after. Your skin takes a beating and keeping it moisturized is incredibly important.

Other things that I was not expecting are blurry vision, constant peeing and hemorrhoids! You retain so much water during pregnancy that your eyesight is affected. I spent two months trying to focus on the TV and books I worried it would never clear. My doctor confirmed this is normal and don’t get an eye exam within the first six months after delivery. Not gonna lie, freaked me out a bit since I had never heard of this! Because you are losing water weight that means you will feel you live in the bathroom. I wore pads to help since you have zero bladder control and will leak when you walk, sneeze, cough, pick anything up including your baby etc. Good times! As for hemorrhoids, well it comes with delivery. I am fortunate to only have one small one which my doctor laughed and said I should name. I passed on the naming but have found several things to help keep it at bay. Tucks medicated pads are a lifesaver! You can of course make your own but these are convenient. Sitz baths are also helpful especially while you still have stitches. Sitz bath soak is a great product!

Mentally I was a wreck through all of this but fortunately my hubby is great and continued to reassure me that I looked great. While I was adjusting to being a mommy I also tried to get back to doing things for me. I cannot stress this enough! If you aren’t taking care of you, you can’t take care of anyone else. You must take the time! Get a massage, pedicure, read a book, go to Target! Heck Target is about the best therapy there is right! Do what makes you feel good and at peace. Oh and leave the baby with a bottle with daddy or a sitter. You Will Survive I promise!

We have also been on a couple of dates and that has done wonders for us. If you can leave baby with a family member/sitter do. While it is all a juggle you have to remember your marriage too. It is easy to put it on the back burner while adjusting to your new lil one. It took a few months but now we are in a routine of sorts and life is so much calmer for it.

Up Next: Your body after baby