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If you were to only pay attention to the celebrities who debut slimmed-down postbaby bodies in slinky dresses on the red carpet or to the social media stars whose six-pack abs six days after giving birth [3] go viral across the internet, you'd think you — the new mother struggling with her postpartum body [4] — were the odd mom out.
Revie Jane Schulz, a personal trainer [5], might seem like just another one of those moms who bounce back from her pregnancy in record time, but in a revealing Instagram post, she opens up about the "other sides to becoming a mother."
Six weeks after giving birth to baby girl Lexington, she said she found herself looking down at her belly quite often:
I caught myself feeling sad when clutching the loose skin that was once tight, unmarked and toned. I tried to embrace and remind myself what it was all for but am left feeling so self-conscious. I kept telling myself, "You knew it wouldn't be back to normal straight away, give it time," but it was still a shock and I do get upset about it. And that is perfectly okay.
I was confused because I felt like I was being ungrateful and vein. But how is suppressing feelings of sadness and insecurity going to work out for me? Trying to undermine those feelings can cause big problems in the future. When speaking to other mum friends about it, they agreed that they felt like they were the only ones because its not often talked about. So, yes I have never been happier and yes I have a healthy, beautiful baby but that shouldn't mean I bottle up these feelings.
She still finds herself wondering if her body will ever be the same again. "It probably won't be," she wrote. Regardless, she noted that what's more important is knowing that "we've all made our sacrifices, and each of us are entitled to feel."