The truth about “bouncing back” after baby

Okay y’all, I have been SO overwhelmed with all of your sweet messages lately!!
I can’t even count how many of you have told me how great I look and
how it doesn’t even look like I just had a baby, and while all of that is SO sweet and so nice to hear.
It’s not the truth.
Now, don’t get me wrong! I’m SO proud of my body right now, and I’m extremely happy with how it looks and how it’s slowly transforming back into my new normal.
However, I totally DO look like I just had a baby, and guess what? THAT’S OKAY.

A ton of you have asked me how I’ve managed to “bounce back” so quickly,
and the truth is, I haven’t, and I always want to keep it real with y’all.

A good outfit can seriously do wonders and a postpartum girdle REALLY does wonders.
But the truth is, it’s really really unlikely that your body is going to immediately “bounce back”
after having a baby, especially when you’ve only had a baby a few weeks ago!! (3 weeks for me)
So please DO NOT look at my photos and compare yourself to me, or to anyone else for that matter!
I may look like I have my pre baby body back under a flattering outfit but I can promise you I’m still rocking a tummy pooch that is ridiculously squishy, back fat, extra skin,
that dark line down my tummy (linea nigra), and I’ve still got stitches in my lady parts that are pretty dang uncomfortable, oh and don’t get me started on the cellulite that’s replaced all of the muscle that I lost…

A lot of people have this pre conceived notion that if someone has just had a baby then they’re going to look “bigger” for a while, and if they don’t look that way then they have some secret super power of “bouncing back” and having abs a week after they popped an 8 lb baby out. While, yes there are some people who manage to have abs after popping out a baby, I can assure you, I am NOT one of those people.

While I may look small and in shape and it may appear that I have my “pre baby body back”,
I totally don’t. I lost every ounce of muscle I’ve ever had during my pregnancy.
I used to be pretty fit, and my legs used to be pretty dang muscular. During my pregnancy, although I didn’t swell or get big everywhere, my body totally did change, and that’s okay – I was busy growing a baby!

A lot of you have asked how I managed to stay fit during my pregnancy and I mainly just walked A LOT.
I’ve spent my entire life working out and wanting my body to look a certain way, and once I became pregnant I wanted to soak up every change. I felt this HUGE weight lifted off my shoulders and I couldn’t wait to have a big belly. Of course I was still going to be healthy, but I was going to stop putting so much pressure on myself to look a certain way and just enjoy the heck out of my growing and changing body,
and I did JUST that the entire 9 months!
(Of course every now and then some changes are hard to accept/deal with & that’s totally normal)

I really think how much weight you gain during your pregnancy plays a huge role in how fast you’ll be able to “bounce back”.
But the truth is, everyones body is SO different, and no matter how healthy you are,
or how much you work out during your pregnancy,
there’s just no telling how your body is going to react after baby.
Honestly, it takes the majority of people quite a while to get their pre baby body back,
and I hate that SO many women feel a ridiculous amount of pressure to “bounce back” immediately.

All throughout my pregnancy I was SO curious to know what my stomach was going to look like right after I had my baby,
I remember right after I had Hayes my nurse helped me up to use the restroom and I was basically naked,
and my body was still shaking really bad from delivery…I remember looking down while I was peeing and thinking, “Holy crap I’m SO skinny!!!”
and also being shocked at how much my tummy was jiggling from my shaking hahaha
As soon as I got a glimpse of myself in the mirror, I realized I wasn’t skinny and actually still looked about 6 months pregnant, but when you’ve been a whale and haven’t been able to see anything below your stomach for months, it’s easy to feel skinny AF even when you really aren’t haha
My stomach pretty much resembled a blob of jello and I honestly didn’t mind it and thought it was kind of funny/cool, I’m pretty sure I had the majority of my visitor poke it, and if you were one of those visitors I’m really sorry I put you through that…must’ve been the lack of sleep. lol

Once we got home I was in no rush to start wearing my postpartum girdle,
I was in mama/recovery/survival mode and I also just really wanted to see how my body was going to heal
and shrink on it’s own. It was so amazing and interesting waking up each morning and seeing small changes in my belly, I let my belly gradually shrink naturally on it’s own and once I stopped seeing changes is when I decided to start wearing my girdle! Now, a postpartum girdle is NOT a miracle worker.
However, I do love how it allows me to wear some of my pre pregnancy jeans!

I don’t plan on this girdle getting me back to me pre pregnancy body,
I’m pretty realistic and know I won’t really have “my body” back until I can start working out again.
I know I’m going to have to put in some work and that’s fine by me!
But I’m happy wearing my girdle until that time comes to help me out.

So, a lot of you are asking about the girdle I have and what exactly it does!

If you decide you want one, make sure you use my discount code “monicak20” for $20 off!
If you want to head straight to their website and read all about it click {HERE}
Here’s a little excerpt from the site:

“Postpartum Abdominal Compression is applied with a garment that a woman wears tightly around the torso following the birth of a baby. To maximize their benefits, postpartum girdles should fit quite snugly around the midsection. It is this tightness that helps improve posture and aid in recovery after baby is born. Bellefit is the maker of the best postpartum girdle for recovery after natural birth or c-section.

Postpartum binders apply steady pressure around a woman’s abdomen and lumbar region meant to reduce swelling, expel fluids, improve posture, provide support for both the abdomen and back and allow women to have more mobility after giving birth.

In addition, postpartum binding has the added bonus of helping women fit into their pre-pregnancy clothes comfortably and sooner than they would if they went through a C-section or natural childbirth recovery without it.”

I really have loved wearing mine lately, I try to wear it for at least a few hours a day.
I think most people wear it all day long!
I love wearing mine when we go on walks in the evenings and especially when I’m going to be out and about or wearing a cuter outfit, it just makes me feel a little extra put together and confident!

With allllllllll that being said, please know that you and your body are INCREDIBLE.
Please please be easy on yourselves and your bodies ladies.
You are so beautiful and no one expects you to have a picture perfect body right after you birth a child!!
So give yourself some grace, be patient, and know that your body will slowly get back to normal.
Get yourself a postpartum girdle for support and recovery but DO NOT get one if you’re expecting it to perform a miracle!
And in the meantime soak up all the newborn snuggles you can!
Because those are moments that you will never ever get back, and I can guarantee you that your little babe loves you JUST the way that you are!