Body After Baby

Seven months after having a baby, and how is my body doing?

The Good: I gained about 40+ pounds during my pregnancy (and you can tell from the photos of my pudgy face!). After our trip to the US, I now weigh 137, which is about the same that I did before (135). I wear the same size and most of my old clothes fit. I didn't get any stretch marks (thanks Mom for your genes!) or scars (no C section), so my body looks basically the same.

The Bad: My stomach sticks out more even though I'm not fatter, I think because the muscles aren't back to full strength. It's not as tight as it used to be: I really need to do situps/pilates. I still have some vaginal sensitivity where I tore (even though it was a very slight tear), although it doesn't hurt anymore. Also, I'm not as tight down there.

The Equivocal: I am still breastfeeding, so it's hard to make a final judgment about my breasts. Right now they are definitely bigger (C cup to DD/E cup) (why not all of my clothes fit, my chest is too big!), which does not please me as I thought they were too big to start with. They aren't very much droopier, but I will have to wait until after breastfeeding is over to really tell (and the chances aren't looking good); of course, breasts naturally droop over time anyway and I'm aging as I type, so there is that. The nipples and areola are also much bigger. Also, my body can't sleep more than 4 hours or so in a row: I wake up, even if little R is sleeping soundly.

On the whole, my body came through pregnancy/birth pretty well this time. It probably helped that I was pretty active and (relatively) young: I bet if I had children when I was 25, I would have done even better though.