4. Tread Marks, Puffy Faces, and Extra Fat
Some women lose weight so fast after birth they can walk out of the hospital afterwards with their old jeans on. I want to punch these women out. Others, like myself, take some time to lose the 35 pounds we gained during pregnancy.
Case in point: At the Chick-fil-A near my house, the manager offers a free ice cream cone to pregnant women. With my newborn son in his car seat in the back of the restaurant, I walked up to the register to get a refill. An employee took one look at my postpartum pooch and, without blinking, handed me an ice cream cone. I couldn’t bear to face the humiliation (and embarrass her) by telling her I had just given birth, so I took the cone, gritted my teeth, and handed it to another son (who was delighted.).
I had to work very hard after each child to lose the weight I had gained. For many women it doesn’t disappear until after she’s done nursing—her body will hold the fat on purpose. As someone who was generally between a size 6 to 8, this felt tremendously difficult physically and mentally. Add to that the stretch marks that lie across my stomach like tire tread, and I have no problem admitting that I looked in the mirror and cried like a baby at least a few times postpartum.
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