Lets talk about body changes

Hi friends,

Prior to having kids, I was easily a size 6/8. I took this for granted as I would eat anything and everything and would never gain weight. It was amazing. A good diet and intentional exercise was non existent at this point in my life as I never felt I actually needed it as work kept me on my toes. (more fool me).

When I first fell pregnant in 2017, I was 26 years old. By this point, I underestimated how quickly I would grow in my pregnancy. Whilst I was pregnant, a large number of my colleagues had also fell pregnant so it was easy for me to fall into the 'comparison' trap. I would constantly compare symptoms, size, highs and lows. I noticed that those that were carrying boys (like me) were on the larger side by the end of the pregnancy and grew quicker in the pregnancy as opposed to those colleagues carrying girls (I know its an old wives tale but maybe there is some truth in there about larger bumps being boys?)

By 3 months there was no hiding the fact I was pregnant. I began shopping for a new maternity wardrobe and lived in maternity leggings from this point on. (Anyone else relate?)

Just so we are clear, I adored my bump. Knowing that you are keeping your baby cub safe in that ball of love and feeling him kicking at 3am was an experience that I am still very grateful for.

However, moving on to after the pregnancy, my expectation was that I would bounce back to pre pregnancy size fairly quickly (this was partly due to the false advertising you see on tv with celebrities). Yes, it was naive of me but it never occurred to me that everyone's journey bouncing back would be unique.

I suffered from diastisis recti quite badly. This is where the muscles aligning your stomach separate. At the time I never knew what this was and so I felt conscious that I still looked a few months pregnant months later as there was always a large bulge at the top of my stomach. Combine this with the c section pooch and honestly I just felt miserable.

Everyone would say give it more time to heal but 2 years later, although it had gone down, the bulge was still very much present. By the time I researched diastisis recti and started to outline an exercise routine into my daily practices I fell pregnant with the twins. In this pregnancy I grew rapidly and by the end of it I was absolutely huge and exhausted. I already knew by this point that what I faced after my first pregnancy was going to be alot tougher this time around.

7 months post partum and I still feel really big. Somedays I love my post partum body because it reminds me of all the wonderful things it has done, and other days I feel defeated and miserable. I have now started the 'Mutu' exercise regime which tailors to post partum mothers and targets the diastisis recti issue. My DR is alot worse than after the first pregnancy with a 4 finger gap. However, I am working hard on trying to close this.

I know my body will never be the same again without doing any surgical procedures which is fine, in fact I love my stretch marks. The loose skin is also not so much of a problem for me too. I also am aware that age and genetics do play a factor in this. As you age, your metabolism does slow down so this is something out of my control. For me it is dealing with the DR that I am struggling with. Now I know that what I can control is my exercise and diet, and I am trying to make a conscious effort to implement a good routine with these into my day to day life. It is hard and an ongoing journey, but I do believe with persistence I could hopefully begin to find a new found love for my post partum body overall. 

Thanks for reading. Follow me on instagram @mumslifeinwords for more!

All the best,

Momma