Ignorance Is Bliss

There's a weird thing that happens in a women's mind when she has a baby. I guess there are a LOT of weird things that happen to her mind, but I am thinking of one in particular. After weeks, or even months of discomfort & feeling like the Goodyear blimp, a few days after the baby is born.......suddenly you feel blessedly SKINNY! Skinny is a strong word, but being able to bend in the middle again and see your feet for the first time in who knows how long has this effect. Never mind the bulging belly that still looks 5 months pregnant, or the skin that went from being taut, tight and stretched to the max filled up with baby to something dimpled and similar in appearance to rotten citrus. Just being able to bend and tie a shoe is so liberating!



It happened to me the first two times I had a baby, so this time I was prepared. I told myself to remember...just because you feel skinny does not mean that you are. The birth of the baby obviously brings some sort of amnesia, because the same thing happened last time. Pouring myself into pre-pregnancy draw string sweats and a hoody the day after I came home from the hospital I felt like a million bucks! I actually remember turning in front of the mirror and being pleased that I was able to fit into these clothes.

My my poor husband stood by silent & smiling when I commented how great it was that they fit. Of course being a very smart man, he was not going to say a word or allow a muscle in his face to move or twitch for that matter. In reality, the clothes were far from "fitting" but happened to have enough elasticity to stretch to wide proportions. Where one item of clothing ended and the next began there were large rolls, but rolls be damned! My clothes fit again!

With a little help from a belly wrap that all the celebrity mom's are touting I'd be almost good as new. The problem with the belly wrap; it was barely long enough to wrap around my still swollen belly, and velcroing it together was almost impossible. Laying on the bed, stretching it as far as I could was the only way to get it closed. Standing up I resembled a stuffed sausage, and everything was rearranged so that the big roll popped out over the top of the wrap. No matter though, because all the little rolls in between were no where to be found! Never mind that I couldn't sit down with it on, I felt almost back to normal.

I was so happy those early days there was nothing that would have gotten me down. I lived on adrenaline, getting up every 2-3 hours around the clock having to nurse, and then pump because of my babies prematurity. The days and nights were all a blur, but I felt unstoppable! I got what I had dreamed of and prayed for for so long, a healthy and perfect little girl!

I have long since ditched the belly wrap, and though I hit the gym almost every day, sometimes for hours, things are still not what they used to be. Maybe someday I will feel like my old self again, but I'm not so worried about it anymore. As time passes I realize I am working out because I enjoy it, not because I am trying to fit back into a smaller size. My body may not be perfect, but it never was, and against all odds it did more then I ever imagined it could, simply by growing my babies.