Mom Bod

We've all heard the phrase "Dad Bod". If you haven't, Urban Dictionary defines the Dad Bod as "A guy who has kids and was once in shape and still has guns that can crush beer cans but also with a belly that says I drank those beers and I can eat 6 slices of pizza in one seating."There are a few other hilarious definitions you can find here if you want to read them. The gist of it being that the guy has a beer belly.

But today I want to talk about the "Mom Bod". Urban Dictionary defines the Mom Bod as "A woman who looks like they just had a kid. They have the attributes of saggy boobs, flat butt, hair in a bun at all times and a resting b**** face. Lastly they have at least one kid." Wow. Rude sauce. I have a LOT to say about the pre-pregnancy, pregnancy, and postpartum "Mom Bod" that goes WAY beyond what this definition says, but I just had to put it out there. First of all, my boobs are anything but saggy 2 weeks postpartum and breastfeeding. My butt will NEVER be flat. But yup, you can bet your butt that my hair is in a bun at all times, although that is no different than Amanda the past 10 years.

Pre-Pregnancy Bod

I would hardly say that before I got pregnant that my body was perfect. Muscles could have been more toned. I could have been working out and had not only a flat stomach, but abs. Over all though, I had a great body by the text book standards. I've always been the "skinny friend". Friends as far back as I can remember always would say "I hate you you're so skinny and perfect looking." And while yes, I was super skinny, I hated that it defined me. I hated (and still hate) the stigma behind skinny girls, that "Guys only like thick girls, and that only dogs like bones". I didn't choose to be skinny. I wasn't starving myself. I wasn't working out excessively to maintain my skinny body. I just was skinny. And it was totally okay by me. I loved my body. I loved myself, and isn't that all that maters? We preach that all women are beautiful, but then glare at the "skinny girl" and make assumptions about her.

Pregnancy Bod

When I found out I was pregnant, I was over the moon. It was all I had been dreaming of for my entire life, but even more so for the 2 1/2 years before we got pregnant. So when I finally DID get pregnant, I was so excited and was ready to embrace everything that came with it, especially the bump. Each week I'd get a little bigger than the last, and I couldn't wait for the "oh you're so cute when are you due" comments. And each week would go by, and I wouldn't get those strangers saying odd things or wanting to rub my belly (apparently this actually happens). I was WELL into my third trimester before I was at Cumberland Farms getting a slushy (or frozen drink whatever) and the woman in front of us in line said "Oh did the baby want that??" And I got the most giant smile on my face and proudly said "Yes, yes the baby did!" And I rubbed my belly and basically skipped my way through the rest of the day. Mike probably thought I was weird for being so excited, but I had waited YEARS for this.

As I got closer to my due date, I would look back at pictures of my belly from the beginning of my pregnancy and smile knowing that my body was making this human. My body may have started off small and only looked like I had eaten too many taco's, but it was growing Josiah from those first few weeks of morning sickness, all the way though to being so large (for me at least) that I couldn't do anything comfortably anymore. As excited as I was for my giant belly and being very noticeably pregnant, I was excited to be in the postpartum life, because even if I hurt in new places, at least I could get in and out of bed without looking like a turtle who had fallen over the wrong way.

I weighed myself the day before Josiah was born and I was the biggest I had been my entire pregnancy, heck the biggest I've ever been ever. I was 149.6 lbs. I was so proud of my body for all it had done. I had gained 32 pounds from the lowest point of my pregnancy (117) and 24 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight (125). Even weighing just under 150 pounds, people would be envious of my weight saying they wished that they could only be 150. And then there's me. I was just so excited to be at 150 pounds and to have grown this little nugget that it didn't matter to me after pregnancy how much I weighed or how I looked. I just wanted this little man with us and happy and healthy.

 

 

Postpartum Bod

Everyone (ok, not everyone, but a lot of people) kept saying "Oh you're going to bounce back right after you have the baby. You're going to lose all the weight when he's born. You're all baby." Now, if you told me this, don't feel bad. I've said these things too. But I took these things with a grain of salt. First of all, I didn't want to put pressure on myself to lose the weight. I wanted/want to focus my time and energy on my son, not on what a number on a scale says, or what I look like in the mirror. Josiah doesn't care if I have flat abs or if the scale says 125 lbs. He doesn't care if I have stretchmarks or not. He cares who is holding him, who is loving up on him, who's feeding him, and who is physically there. I'm happy to say I have focused only on those things. I haven't put any pressure on myself, and I have spent the past two weeks just loving on my son, and being the best mom I can be.

I was curious to see how I was doing losing weight, because as each day went by, I noticed my stomach going away. I went from having this beautiful almost 8 pound baby inside of me to carrying him around with me everywhere and pretty much my stomach disappeared before my eyes. The day we came home from the hospital, I stepped on the scale. I wasn't exactly sure what I was expecting or hoping to see, but the number 134.6 flashed on the screen. Two days after having my son and I was down 15 pounds. I certainly didn't look like I was 9 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight, but that drop proved that everyone was right, that I was all baby.

I am proud of all the things my body has done. It took a lot longer than we thought it would take, and wasn't how we expected to become pregnant, but I'm proud that I carried my son for 9 months. As of today, two weeks postpartum, I am at 122.8 lb. I never thought my body would actually bounce back this quickly. I certainly don't look the same as I did 9 months ago when I was 2 weeks pregnant, but I love my body in all the stages it's been in over the course of my life. I wouldn't trade my body for anything else. My son grew inside of this body. So yes, I have a few stretch marks, and my stomach isn't as flat as it was 9 months ago, but I would say that my body looks pretty good for 2 weeks postpartum and not being able to work out. All I do is nurse, change diapers, go to the grocery store, and eat lactation cookies.

So yes, I just birthed that child I'm pushing in the stroller. Yes, he's adorable. Yes, he's tiny (even though I think he's huge). Yes, he's perfect.

Be proud of your bodies mama's. Whether you lose all the baby weight in the first week, or never shed those last few pounds or inches. You grew your miracle(s) in that body. Does anything else really matter? Will they care if you're a size 2 in your prepregnancy jeans or still wearing your maternity jeans? Nope. And I'll tell ya what, my son prefers my prepregnancy jeans because it means Mommy is happier! And when Mommy is happy, Josiah is happy.

XOXO
Amanda and JP