This is a postpartum stomach a few days after birth.
There’s no "baby weight."
There’s no diet needed to "fix it."
There’s nothing to feel ashamed about.
It took months for it shrink, and I remember being so grateful because it meant people would stop making comments about my "baby belly."
What a piece of crap reason that is.
Society’s adamant we flaunt our bodies once we’ve redeemed our self-worth through their "ideal body image." The quicker the better, so make sure you mention how many months postpartum you are to establish your status because you want to be #goals.
I’d like to call bullshit on society.
Women who give birth seems to be thrown into the spotlight with the focus on their bodies returning to their prepregnancy state, and it’s just not realistic.
We’re left feeling anxious and frustrated because we wish our uterus would shrink faster so someone would praise us.
Stroke our ego when we’re feeling down. We’re programmed to want it so bad that we ignore the facts our organs are still readjusting and our hormones refuse to think rationally.
Our bodies created life.
Our organs shifted.
Our stomachs expanded.
We birthed a damn baby.
A postpartum stomach is a prize and we should wear them with pride.
Not be made to feel like we need to make them disappear as soon as possible.
So please, give yourself some grace and delete the weight loss tips from your search history.
Return the weight loss shakes to their sender.
Eat the damn carbs if you want the damn carbs.
See a physio who can help without harmful advice.
Put your recovery shorts on and just love that little baby.
You can’t rush healing, but you can rush anyone who makes a comment about your stomach out the door.
Tip their tea down the drain and congratulate your belly for doing such a great job at growing life because #postpartumbelliesrock
This essay was republished with permission and was written by Katie Bowman. You can follow her writing on her Facebook page Living My Family Life or on her Instagram page.
