My Post Partum Body

I knew that my eating disorder demons were silenced when I first looked at my body in a mirror after Sophia's birth and...accepted it. I was exhausted from labor, I knew I wouldn't be able to exercise for several weeks and I was hungry from breastfeeding. There was nothing I could do about the six-months-pregnant-looking belly that hung loosely around my middle. Nothing. And I was OK with that. Rewind nine months, had I seen the same sight I would have launched a full fledge "attack" on my own body. Loathing what it looked like, I'd begin to map out a strict diet, double up on workout sessions and inevitably spiral into a cycle of bingeing and purging because the extremes I was going to weren't yielding results.

My attitude towards my body after this birth has been the same as it was after Sophia's: I'm embracing my post partum body. I'm OK with the extra weight and am in no hurry to loose it. When I look in the mirror I see a woman who's body has delivered two amazing children naturally, feeling every moment of discomfort and pain. I see strong. I see beautiful. I see confident. I see someone who is free.

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The tank top is from For Two Fitness. My favorite active top during pregnancy.

It can be hard to face your body after having a baby. It still feels like it's not your own even though you can sleep on your back, drink a beer and watch TV laying on your stomach, your body is not the same. Childbirth changes you and your body. And frankly I like the changes. Having children has somehow made me more confident and selfless at the same time: I'm more certain of who I am, but more willing to lay that down for the ones that I love. It's a beautiful, transformational thing.

How has becoming a parent changed you?

--Sarah