You are about to learn exactly how to love your body changes after pregnancy even if it looks and feels different.
There are so many body changes during pregnancy plus more body changes after pregnancy. But I am a big fan of loving yourself through it all. I’m not saying it is always easy but there is a lot to love at every stage.
In this post you will learn about the body changes during pregnancy many women experience, body changes after pregnancy and how to love your baby after baby.
This post is all about body changes after pregnancy.
Body Changes During Pregnancy
Pregnancy comes with a lot of body changes, and not just growing a big belly. The list ranges from nausea to exhaustion to heartburn and stuffy nose. Let’s take a look. Some might even surprise you!
- Nausea
- Exhaustion
- Headaches
- Mood swings
- Bloating/Cramping
- Breast soreness / leaky breasts
- Frequent urination / lack of bladder control
- Food aversions
- Heartburn
- Stuffy nose
- Vivid dreams
- Constipation
- Leg cramps
- Weight gain (this is a necessary part of pregnancy)
- Round ligament pain/cramping
- Backache
- Sensitive gums
- Varicose veins and/or hemorrhoids
- Dizziness
- Braxton Hicks contractions
- Stretch marks
Body Changes After Pregnancy
Unlike popular belief, our bodies do not just magically bounce back to what they were pre-pregnancy. There may not be a round belly anymore, but there are plenty of physical changes after pregnancy you will experience. And plenty of emotional changes too.
What types of body changes after pregnancy can you expect? Here is a list of the most common.
- Mood shifts and hormonal changes that can lead to postpartum anxiety or postpartum depression
- Uterine contractions
- Urinary incontinence
- Constipation
- Breast soreness and engorgement
- Vaginal soreness or c section incision pain
- Hair and skin changes
- Weight loss
- Lack of sleep
- Postpartum night sweats
- Stretch marks
- C section scar
How To Love Your Body After Baby
1. Appreciate & accept yourself
Appreciating and accepting yourself for all that you did is a very important first step. You literally grew and birthed that baby. Regardless of if you had a vaginal birth or c section, you will have an insane appreciation for what your body did.
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2. Recognize there is no such thing as “bouncing back”
Knowing and understanding that your body will not necessarily “bounce back” after birth is important. Social media can put unnecessary pressure on new moms, especially first time moms who do not know what to expect.
Everyone’s postpartum journey is different and that is totally okay. It took nine months to grow your baby so it will take some time to lose the weight and get back to feeling more normal.
Once you recognize this, it makes the postpartum period so much more enjoyable and really takes the pressure off.
3. Care much less about how you look
It is easier said than done but caring less about how you look and more about the memories you are creating with your family is a game changer. And if you are consumed by wanted to bounce back to your pre-pregnancy body, refer to #2 above.
If I could give you any advice about motherhood, but especially in the first year after having a baby it would be:
Get in the pictures.
Go swimming with your kids.
Get ice cream just because.
You only get each day with your kids once so soak it all in and stop caring about how you look. Because I can guarantee that your kids will not remember what you looked like in a bathing suit, but they will remember you getting in the pool with them.
In other words: memories over looking skinny.
I could go on and on about this topic because I think it is so easy for moms to get sucked into thinking they need to look a certain way before they can get in the picture or do xyz. When in reality, that is just not the case.
4. View Your Goals Differently
It is ok for your goals to look different post-baby than they did pre-baby. Because, well, life looks different.
I am not saying you can’t have a goals to lose fat and gain weight (in a healthy way of course). But it is important to realize there are so many unrealistic social and cultural goals that just do not matter as much anymore.
Instead of losing weight to look good in a picture, exercise so you can keep up with your kids.
Instead of building muscle for the aesthetics, build muscle so you can carry your toddler around or throw him up in the air to make him laugh.
Workout and eat well to be strong and healthy for your kids. You can and should have goals but when you think about them in a different way they are way more achievable.
6. Compassion Over Comparison
This goes for your postpartum journey and for your baby’s development. It is sooo easy to sit behind a screen and compare. It literally steals the joy from your day when you do it.
Instead of comparing yourself to someone else on the internet (or in real life), take a deep breath and give yourself grace and compassion. Go for a walk, snuggle your baby or do something relaxing.
It can be so easy to get sucked into comparing yourself to others. But in reality, our chapter 1 cannot be compared to someone else’s chapter 10.
Your recovery may be slower.
You may get up more times at night.
You might have had a postpartum complication.
You may be dealing with postpartum anxiety.
There are so many factors impacting your body changes after pregnancy, mentally and physically. Your postpartum journey and journey through motherhood is yours and yours alone.
7. The Fourth Trimester Won’t Last Forever
This is incredibly hard to accept in the moment because it feels like all you do is feed your baby and change diapers.
But you will sleep. Your baby will eventually develop a routine. You will start feeling like yourself again. But it takes time.
My best piece of advice is to take it day by day. Your postpartum journey will feel slow at times and other times you will be crying packing up the newborn clothes, but you will come out on the other side.
And if you need help along the way – ask for it. Talk to your spouse, call your doctor and do everything and anything you can to make time for you. It might feel selfish in the moment but your baby needs you.
Related Posts: The Shocking Truth About Postpartum Emotions
7. You’ll Discover A Love Like Nothing Else
Above everything else, you will discover a love like never before between you and your baby. You will literally wear your heart on your sleeve after giving birth.
And because of this, no matter what body changes after pregnancy you experience, it all does not matter at the end of the day. Because you are a mom to the most precious and sweet little baby. And for that you are the luckiest person on earth.