Many women do not talk about their body after they give birth. Many of us are upset we don't look the same. Many of us think that we need to get back to how we were because society has put such a stigma on women's bodies. We have celebrities who go back to how they were within a few months. So why are we ashamed of our tiger stripes?
The pressure society puts on women is ridiculous. Why do women have to go back to how they were instantaneously? We just grew a human being and it took nine months to gain all of that weight. We had two heartbeats at one point, we supported another life. We changed our diet and our whole lifestyle to make sure the life inside of us survived.
I personally have never like my body. I was bullied as a child by people close to me. I was told I was ugly and fat and it has always stuck to me. So when I became pregnant I became more paranoid about my body. I was 195 lbs when I found out I was pregnant and so many women around me obsessed over the number on the scale I started to also. I knew the number didn't alway mean anything. I knew I had above average muscle size. I knew when I lost weight I gained muscle quicker than the average women. But even when I became pregnant, I struggled with my weight. I didn't want to gain too much but I wanted to gain enough.
The first trimester I lost 16 pounds. I went down to 179 because I could only eat a few things and I wasn't hungry. Everyone around me seemed scared I lost so much, but my doctor assured me I was fine since I was "over weight" when I became pregnant. Then once I gained the weight back people became more worried. Scared because I was over 200 pounds. I became more obsessed with how I looked in return. I might not have looked bad, but in my eyes my son destroyed my body.
Once I had my son I was upset. I saw the tiger stripes I had earned and realized I wasn't what society deemed "beautiful". I had seen women post about their post baby bodies and I saw the ugly comments after. The hatred was unbelievable and I realized that society doesn't care. Society is evil and they don't care if you spent nine months growing a human being, and that human being had to exit your body. I realized that society will always judge you. I have seen celebrities stand up to the body shaming of new moms.
I have realized that my tiger stripes mean more than anything. I grew a human being, and why should society dictate how my body should look. I am still very self conscious about my body but now I realize that my body is amazing. I will never like how I look but knowing my body did something amazing is enough to help me through.
