The Bounce Back

When I first went back to work after maternity leave, I was proud of how different I looked from when I left work. When I told new coworkers I just had my baby a few months ago, they would look at me in disbelief. When one told me “girl, you have great snapback”! I beamed with pride and I still think about their kind words sometimes.

Look, I’m vain and I don’t mind admitting it. I was strong before I had my baby. I climbed 20′ boulders on Mt. San Jacinto, competed in swing dance competitions where I was thrown in the air, and I did hikes and an 18-mile backpacking trip while pregnant.

I may not be as strong as I was then, but this body grew and carried a baby for 40 weeks (plus four days, but who’s counting), and labored for twenty hours (BUT WHO’S COUNTING), and then underwent a major surgery to birth the aforementioned baby. That may just be my birth story, but I know every single birth story is just as badass.

You’re a strong bad-ass, too. Do you remember when you first brought your baby home, and how heavy they felt in your arms? The sole responsibility of caring for a new life weighs heavily, both physically and metaphorically. Well, that baby has gotten bigger since then, and you are still carrying them. Remember the first time you thought “I can’t do this?” or that you were in way over your head? You got through it, or maybe you still are. That kind of mental fortitude and strength is what we should be applauding new mothers for, not how well their pre-pregnancy jeans fit. Although, it doesn’t hurt to mention when they look good (we take what we can get).

Maybe you have more stretch marks than you did before. Maybe you have 5, 15, 30 or more pounds than when your entire world changed and you found out you were pregnant. Or maybe you’re at the beginning of the process and feel like you’re battling your own body on the road to conceiving. Whatever the case may be, you are stronger than you were before, and that’s to be applauded.