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How to *try* and cope with your changing body during pregnancy.


a pregnant woman cartoon image

Being pregnant is a blessing and in my opinion, it is truly one of the most amazing experiences life has to offer – but that doesn’t mean I have to love watching my body change.


Watching your body transform so rapidly is jarring, and I’m here to try and give you and myself some tips on how to cope with the changes throughout pregnancy.





It can be a difficult topic to discuss as there are women out there who would sell a vital organ to be in the position that you are in, it leaves me feeling ungrateful especially when I consider how much I longed to be pregnant.


But I think I forgot about how it felt to actually be pregnant, I was only looking at it through the lens of nostalgia, I forgot about all the crappy parts.


If your body is feeling a little alien then stress not, you are not alone.

If you feel uncomfortable in your growing body know that you are not alone, and that research shows that over half of pregnant women feel dissatisfied with their body imagine during pregnancy.


It doesn’t matter how often someone says you look good; body image isn’t discussing what you actually look like but rather what you feel you look like.


Its hard because you’re dealing with people telling you ‘Omg your bump is getting so big’, you know just because someone is pregnant its still not considered a compliment to mention someone’s belly getting big – there’s nicer ways to word it people.


Also lets just discuss the weigh ins at the doctors/ midwife? I’m sorry you want me to weigh myself with all my clothes on and mid-day?? I only weigh myself butt naked and first thing in the morning before an ounce of water has even passed my lips. I want to say can you take about 4 pounds off from that total please??... But I don’t want to look weight obsessed… even though I am.



And don’t even get me started on the constant thoughts creeping in on postpartum body image and the diet I will need to go on. My oldest is 9 so I don’t even remember if that was something I thought about as much with him but with my second pregnancy I remember thinking about it a lot, I feel this time it’s even worse?!


Ok, but how can we actually help lessen these thoughts and try to enjoy our growing bodies?


Shut out unrealistic expectations.


Right first things first- ignore peoples unsolicited advice, for some reason people feel it appropriate to comment on your changing body, let these comments wash over you like a wave. Disregard them.


Stretch Marks and Skin Changes. The media tends to airbrush stretch marks and uneven skin tones from pregnancy photos. When stretch marks are a natural part of the process as the skin stretches to accommodate your growing baby. Accepting these changes can be challenging when we’re bombarded with flawless images but know that you are beautiful and that any stretch marks you do get will fade.


You don’t need to weigh yourself every day: look the number is going to go up on the scale, there’s no point torturing yourself by watching it unfold. You need to gain weight; you’re literally creating life girl so do not stress.


Body Comparisons: Something I always find surprising is that even throughout pregnancy you are still holding your body up and comparing it to any other women you see. In non-pregnant life this is something we are all guilty of, but I just feel it’s even more damaging to do so while you’re pregnant as every pregnancy journey is unique, and there’s no one-size-fits-all experience.


And remember comparison is the thief of joy- all it does is leave you feeling inadequate, and especially so when your body doesn’t align with these unrealistic standards.


Self Care.

Self-care is as important while pregnant as when you’re not- if not more so because we all need a little confidence boost. I’m going to tag another blog of mine here, because these tips are definitely applicable to pregnancy.


Try and focus on body acceptance. 

Look I know I'm like a broken record whose always harping on about positive affirmations but look just trust me - they really do help!


Here are some of the ones I try to tell myself, and look I know they sound a little lame but just trust the process, and remember nobody hears you saying them to yourself.



positive body affirmations



Unrealistic social and cultural beauty ideals

Look pregnant or not society has an expectation on what the female body should look like, and this is amplified by social media. So, if scrolling your socials is dragging you down how about deleting the apps or try limiting your time on them at least.


How you look is genuinely the least interesting thing about you so don’t deep it, if you're hungry give yourself an extra snack. And be kind to yourself and remind yourself you can’t look like what you did pre pregnancy because you have a whole human growing inside of you mama.


But most importantly every time you're looking at your body and feeling it looks crap, think of that little human growing inside you and in ____ months/ weeks they will be in your arms, and trust me on this it will all be worth it.

 



 


1 Comment


luisammonteiro
Mar 03, 2024

Yeah it is complicated, on my first pregnancy I was very skinny it was so difficult to accept my body changes, I was size 6/8 then after my big boy born 4.200kg and 58cm I never back to my normal size but I managed to go to size 10. After the second I gained a lot of weight, another big boy 3.800kg and 56cm. But then I managed to back on my size 10 🙏. With the third one was a completely different story. I gained a lot weight from size 10 I went to size 14. Another big boy 3.500kg and 54cm. But this time I was very depressed, and it took me 10 years to back to norm…

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