Post-Baby Bump...

As mentioned in my post the other day, I'm a lover of all things Kate and Wills, including little Prince George.  As I was catching up on my celebrity gossip, I saw this article about Kate's "post-baby" body and was just appalled that people were already discussing this, as if this girl doesn't have enough on her mind (oh, I don't know a newborn, millions of people watching her, just a typical day).  I honestly have wanted to write about this for a while but this was the impetus I needed, simply because the front page of that magazine was so appalling.  For those of you who saw Kate after Prince George's birth--and let's face it, unless you've been living under a rock, you've seen the photos--she flaunted her post-baby bump in a gorgeous dress. She looked so beautiful.  Finally, a celebrity who doesn't hide from the public for five months and then suddenly reappear looking flawless with a completely flat tummy.  (hello, Kim Kardashian--does anyone DOUBT this is why she hasn't been in the news lately?!)

Here's my story....I've always struggled with my weight.  In second grade, I had to go on a diet because I was pretty much a human garbage disposal.  Once I started playing soccer, I lost all that weight and maintained until college when I studied for a semester in Europe (and gained 35 pounds...studying gelato and pastries is hard work).  Since then, I've been on a roller coaster: I lost a lot of weight quickly on South Beach before my wedding, but gained that back.  I never really dieted again until 2011 when I was at my heaviest, so my BFF and I did weight watchers and I discovered Jillian Michaels' workout videos.  I was finally in great shape and so happy...then I got pregnant, miscarried, and began all of my surgeries and hormones.  It was hard to keep in shape during that time, and when I got pregnant with D, I was on uber hormones.  I also only wanted fast food tacos for the first trimester, and the thought of a vegetable that wasn't served in between tortillas grossed me out...so by 13 weeks, I had already gained 12+ pounds.  At the end of my pregnancy, I was up 40+ pounds, and only now--five months after D's birth--am I back to my pre-pregnancy weight. This is not to brag, nor is it glorious. Things have shifted around, I don't have the time or the energy to work out and tone back up, and it's a struggle every day to eat well in the minimal amount of time that I have to eat. 

Magazines are quick to flaunt the wonders of celebrities who lose their baby weight immediately and then look gorgeous on the red carpet, so when we "mere mortal women" have our babies, there's this sense of pressure to lose the weight NOW.  God forbid we wear something form-fitting and display our post-baby bump; bravo Duchess, bravo!!  Here's what people don't tell you about losing the post-baby weight.

It's HARD. You have to sleep and consume enough calories to keep up your supply to breastfeed.  When the baby sleeps, you rarely have enough time to nap or put the dishes away, much less pull out a workout video, work out, and then shower before baby wakes up.  Those nice healthy meals you're supposed to eat get harder and harder to make with a baby on your hip or screaming in a swing.  And most women can't even exercise until 6 weeks after baby is born.  This is reality.  Reality is NOT having a personal trainer, a nutritionist, and several nannies to watch the baby while you work out five times a day and have healthy meals delivered to you. 

There's so much pressure on women to look perfect right away, and I think it's so disheartening and demeaning that we focus on that rather than the miracle that just took place.  We put our bodies through the traumatic experience of giving birth to a human (in my case, an 8+ pound human)...let's focus on that for once rather than how big the post-baby bump is or how quickly we (or Kate) can lose the baby weight.  That's such a misplaced priority.