body politics: pregnancy weight gain and postpartum recovery

Hi friends,

Tomorrow Ivy will be 7 months old! Yeah Ivy!

Ivy modelling this psychedelic romper this morning

Ivy modelling this corduroy romper

It was a slow journey, but my body is starting to feel like it's back to normal...  I'm about the same weight, all my pre-pregnancy clothes fit and I no longer feel like my internal organs are floating randomly around in my torso. They are back to their original locations. 

However, I am surprised at how little I basked in the glory of being able to do up my jeans again after months of pure leggings wearing, at how quickly my internal dialogue reverted right back to my pre-pregnancy mindset of wanting to just lose 5 pounds.  Arghh!  I spent what felt like 5 minutes feeling relieved and excited that my body was returning to normal before I went right back to being dissatisfied. 

Despite gaining more than the recommended weight during my pregnancy, I was able to resist the pressure from others to obsess over my weight gain. I felt great and I loved my pregnant body. During my pregnancy and after Ivy was born I would look at photos of my pre-pregnancy self and curse myself for not appreciating my body. I swore to myself that I would not let my self-image get so distorted again. 

I thought maybe I had turned a corner in my life and was over the whole body hate thing. 

me at 35 weeks

38 weeks preggo

38 weeks preggo

And of course, I have no photos of myself. I have no time, or interest, in taking photos of myself when Ivy's around. 

bye for now...