How many weeks pregnant am I in this picture?

The answer is 3 days...⁣
3 days postpartum.⁣
3 days into the final, fourth trimester of one of the most, if not the single most, profoundly transformative experiences a person’s body can go through. ⁣
Isn’t it beautiful?⁣
I think so. ⁣
But I’m not in the majority am I? ⁣
and I’ve done a lot of hard, internal work on body image and mindset to stand in this belief. ⁣
My partner thinks this body is beautiful too and for that I’m lucky...⁣
but no, fuck that.
That is as it should be,
and the fact that the partner I’ve chosen is someone who thinks this way is no accident and is part of doing that work.

But the question remains...⁣
Why does our society celebrate the birthing body in its pregnant phase and shame the same shape and image in its postpartum stage?

My children keep asking me when my belly will go away. My answer is always, when it’s ready.

The transition from pregnancy to postpartum isn’t a sudden drop off a cliff (although it can feel that way at times)...


It’s a combination of fast and slow changes that can leave a birthing person feeling unsteady even while they find their “new normal”.

It’s a rapid shifting of hormones, ⁣
a slow recalibration of center of gravity, ⁣
a simultaneously new and familiar connection to baby, ⁣
a loss of self, ⁣
a reinvention. ⁣
It’s a grieving and a celebration ⁣
and a journey into self awareness. ⁣
It’s falling in love.⁣

⁣

#thisispostpartum