You’ll have to wear pads.
Tampons are off limits for you because a baby has just exited that area, so you can’t stick anything up there. No sea sponges, no reusable tampons, no Diva Cups. You’re still using the pads that felt like diapers that you used in middle school. Fortunately, they have become thinner since then, preventing you from waddling while wearing them, but they are still pads, and you must continue wearing them. Ick.
Your boobs will resemble Dolly Parton’s.
Everyone is aware that having a baby increases the size of your breasts. They are unaware of just how much larger you are, especially if you are breastfeeding. You will balloon whole cup sizes. And they won’t sag. They will perk up so much that you will appear to have implants. Your boobs have never been this hot in your life, which is both a pain (you’ll need all new bras, which you needed anyway if you’re nursing), and a blessing. Enjoy them before they start to fall down.
Don’t stop celebrating your body just because you aren’t pregnant anymore
“During pregnancy, your belly is celebrated, and you yourself may even love its fullness and roundness, but after you have the baby, it is instantly different,” says Renee Evans, a mom of three from California and an Instagram influencer, who uses her social media to share her photography and daily life with other moms. “I felt shocked by and very ashamed of my postpartum belly, especially with my first child. I did not expect to feel this way, and I wanted it to go away.”
Evans raises an important but little-discussed issue: It can seem like overnight, women go from receiving compliments on their growing bellies to being inundated with information and advice that is solely focused on erasing any signs that you were ever pregnant. It’s important to understand that this change in messaging does occur and to ask why because most mothers may not even be aware that they are internalizing it.
Katie Crenshaw, a mom of three from Atlanta, who uses her Instagram presence to encourage other moms to celebrate their postpartum bodies agrees.
“We love our pregnant bellies,” Crenshaw says. “At that time, we embrace bodycon dresses, take selfies, and value our midsection so much.” We even show it off. We are so confident in our bodies for nine months. So, why do we stop?”.