Learning to Love My Post-Baby Body

Hugo- Leggings & T-shirt : Sweet Lukamo | Beany : My Mila 

I’m sat here writing this at 22.44 my hubby has gone out with a couple of friends so it’s just Hugo who’s fast asleep and me. I’ve devoured everything sweet in the house and have a film playing in the background which keeps getting my attention… August: Osage County I don’t know if you’ve seen it or not but it’s pretty good, intense but good. I’ve been looking at some other blogs this week getting totally jealous of how much I love them, their style, how often they blog & how they’ve found their niche. I have no idea what my niche is; yes I love fashion but I wouldn’t say I’m a fashion guru, I love writing about being a mum and that whole lifestyle but sometimes there are so many ideas I want to write about I end up writing nothing. Maybe I need to plan some sort of tick list…

So today what keeps coming to mind is the post-baby body struggle and where I’m at with it. As you know Hugo was just under 10lbs. When I was delivering him the doctor looked at him, then me and had this shocked look on her face as she just mouthed the words ‘biiiigggg baabbbyyy’! With that in mind, I’m pretty sure my hips had to grow extra wide apart to create space for this biiig baabbbyyyy… well this is my excuse anyway!

So post-baby, I now had all these ‘deadlines’ in my mind from what other mums had told me, like, ‘I was back in my normal jeans after ‘two weeks’, ‘six weeks’, ‘three months’… all these timeframes approached and went by and I still wasn’t in my normal jeans, for me I squeezed into ‘my big jeans’ after around three and a half months and I mean squeeeeeeze! I just thank those who said it generally takes the same amount of time that you were pregnant for, for your body to go back to its normal size again, so that will be me in two weeks which means on the scales I still have about 5lbs to lose. In some ways I feel that this is a risky subject to talk about as I know for some mums it can take years and I don’t want to set any deadlines in other peoples minds like I had in mind. Comparison is the thief of joy! My best advice is, if you can, get up and get going, as long as you’re doing something you will feel better for it!

How did I get back in shape?

I had half an episiotomy and a forceps delivery which meant a longer healing process that prevented me from doing as much as I wanted at the start. As soon as I could though, I remember just getting out in the buggy and walking and walking….and walking, Hugo slept so much then so it fitted in perfectly. At about six weeks’ish’ I started slow jogging on my sister’s treadmill and would often stop for loo breaks before any accidents happened. Yes please do your ‘pelvic floors’ ladies, I did them religiously for about four weeks during all the night feeds and it soooo helped! 10 weeks I started Buggyfit and I would say this was when I really started getting back into my exercise again. Buggyfit was so great for me as, first of all, you need your baby and buggy with you… secondly you’re getting out in the fresh air which always helps that feel good factor… thirdly you get to work your butt off with other mums who know exactly how you feel and finally going for a coffee to feed your babes after with some of the mums is soooo lovely. I recently signed up to a three month contract at the gym too and I’m going to gauge how much I use it to see if I take the plunge again and sign up for the year. It means I’m going to have to be really dedicated and either go first thing in the morning or last thing at night… both are not ideal times as I’ll be so tired but needs must. As I’ve been a gym goer for years, I’ve picked up some mean exercises that I make myself do and these consist of a mix of cardio and toning exercises using weights or just the weight of my own body (feel free to message me if you’re interested in learning more about my fitness regime).

The point I was trying to make in this post was it’s so hard to truly love your body inside and out. You can only do so much and even that doesn’t feel like enough sometimes. I know because I’m my own worst critic, I’m constantly comparing myself to others and it bugs me when I do because we are all uniquely and beautifully made by our awesome creator. It would break my heart if  Hugo was to ever think he was anything less than 100% perfect obviously not in an arrogant way. So this post is just as much for me as it is for you, I’m going to say this out loud – I need to stop wishing my inner thighs and bingo wings would go away and embrace me for who I am! Stop comparing my legs and arms and stomach and all the rest to others and love myself. My body grew in ways I never thought possible and gave birth to something so beautiful I never thought possible and I really need to love and cherish this wonderful body of mine and for all the hard work it’s been though! Whatever shape or size we are, I know we always find something that we’re not happy with but can you imagine what it’d be like to not feel like that and be completely free and confident in who you are? That’s my aim, which I know is possible through God’s love!

So remember no comparing yourself to others!

Lots of love
Sally & 8.5 month Hugo
xxx

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