Postpartum Realness

“I wish more people talked about postpartum bodies. 1 week PP v. 14 weeks PP⠀
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My whole life I thought that women gave birth and the next day they went home looking and feeling like their pre-pregnancy selves again…⠀
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NOPE. Not me. I looked 6 months pregnant the day I left the hospital. I could barely walk from my c-section. I couldn’t go up stairs for 2 weeks. I couldn’t walk more than a few minutes or exercise for another 4 weeks after that. ⠀
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When I was able to exercise again, I felt like I was getting to know my body all over again. I didn’t know my limits physically anymore. I couldn’t bend, stretch, or move the way I used to. How could I? I was on bed rest for several months, had pre-eclampsia with severe features including high blood pressure, had a baby via abdominal surgery, and then battled a stubborn gastro infection for over a month after that. ⠀
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I have stretch marks, I have a pooch from my c-section, and I’ve only lost 40 of the 70 lbs I gained during pregnancy. And that’s ok! It will take a while to see results! ⠀
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I have to “unlearn” the unrealistic societal standards that I saw in the media growing up, with women who birthed babies and were ready to hit the runway the next day. Women who only gained weight in their tummies and had no added water retention in their faces, thighs, or arms. Women with a perfect circular bump that was suddenly, poof! Gone! I had no idea *most* of the women who were pregnant on TV were not in real life. How could I live up to a standard I had learned that was based on an impossible goal? ⠀
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I had to let go of these expectations. That I would look like ‘the old me’ so quickly after birth. What’s more important than a super dramatic before & and after picture, is the actual progress I’m making. I’m working out daily, eating well, getting as much sleep as I can… while caring for a newborn bubba during a pandemic! And that’s a win. A big freakin win. ⠀
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Consistency is key and just like anything else, as I keep working at looking and feeling like myself postpartum the results will come and they’ll come with hard work, patience, and most importantly- time & self-acceptance and love that is more than skin deep.”

Instagram: @officialcarrielane