09/23/2019
Every Birth is different, and we respect your choice and awareness of what your goals are for birth.
Here is a post from a colleague which beautifully shows that the body is incredible, and there an amazing wisdom in the body than we often see or give credit to.
And yes, you CAN do what you put your mind to!
LONG VULNERABLE POST. ⚠️ WILD PREGNANCY & RAW POSTPARTUM.
🔼Top Row/Hair down— Pre-pregnancy body.
🔽Bottom Row/Hair up—One year later, 3.5 months postpartum.
6 months prior to conceiving I started fueling my body with whole nutrients and (shockingly) stopped lifting & exercising rigorously to allow my body to accumulate enough body fat to support and sustain life! 🛑 🏋🏼♀️ This included whole foods, raw vegetables, complex carbohydrates, grass-fed meats, no processed junk, and over 100oz of water per day. In addition, I have been gluten free for 10+ years, so there were no toxic chemicals or Monsanto up in my gut 👅 🤣. Throughout this process I watched my body gain healthy fat and shift from cut up and super lean to being a more “rough around the edges” and soft. This is exactly what I knew, intuitively, my body needed.
Following conception, I continued more of the same— my only “exercise” was walking and getting as much horizontal time as possible (AKA sleep, 😴 haha ). My body told me it needed rest, lots of it, rather than exertion and rigorous exercise. So I listened.
Throughout my wild pregnancy I did zero monitoring or calculating of my body’s physical changes. ⚖️🤰🏻 I allowed my body to stretch & grow without shame or judgement from anyone. No one measured my weight or told me I needed to “gain more” or “gain less”. I simply ate healthy foods, sometimes in very large quantities, and consumed what my body was telling me it needed.
My only cravings during pregnancy were tomatoes 🍅 cabbage 🥬 and pineapple 🍍, which I’m pretty sure I ate a thousand pounds of!
Then, out of pure curiosity, I stepped on the scale at 39 weeks pregnant:
Pre-pregnancy weight: 135 lbs.
39 weeks pregnant: 183 lbs.
I gained 48 lbs. during pregnancy, which was shocking, because I didn’t feel, at all, like I gained almost 50 lbs... and surprisingly, it did not bother me one bit. Instead, I was just so fascinated with how powerful and intelligent my body was— to store all that fat and prepare my body with the proper nutrients to continue nourishing my nursling, once he was on the outside.
After giving birth, I stepped on the scale once more. I lost 16 lbs. overnight (talk about the worlds fastest weight loss plan 😂😂)!
But you see, there’s this stigma about weight gain during pregnancy and many “providers” fail to educate women about their body’s SHEER POWER to create ABUNDANCE during pregnancy and sustain it after birth for continued nourishment of the nursling.
The average pregnant woman will gain an estimated 24lbs of abundance PLUS the weight of the baby. This abundance includes an estimated 4lbs of increased blood supply, 2.5 lbs. of increased breast tissue, 1.5 lbs. placenta, 8lbs. stored fat for breastfeeding, 2 lbs. of amniotic fluid, a uterus that weighs about 2lbs and up to 4 lbs of other fluids— just to create LIFE! Then add in the weight of the baby and you easily can increase your weight up to 35lbs! And, of course, this number varies depending on body fat percentage, lifestyle, environment prior to and during pregnancy, and all these factors can even differ for the same individual during subsequent pregnancies.
Our bodies are so intelligent and know exactly what they need to thrive..
So instead of looking for reasons to shame yourself for gaining weight, (and also allowing others to place their opinions and judgement on you) we need to support one another as powerfully abundant birthing women and mothers.
I continued fueling my body postpartum in the exact same way that it created life, with a few extra changes due to mine & little man’s food sensitivities.
No dairy ❌ 🧀
No chicken ❌ 🐓
No apples ❌ 🍎
No corn ❌ 🌽
No carrots ❌ 🥕
No sugar or processed foods❌ 🍭
& of course, no gluten ❌🌾
The point of this entire rant is this: when the body is honored as the vessel that it was created to be, is properly nourished and allowed to stretch and grow as it pleases, without stress, without intervention, and without the negative energy of self and others, it heals.
It heals from the inside out.
So here I am! 💁🏻♀️✨
My body is new, my body is healing, my body is powerful —it created & birthed life.
Am I still 7lbs from my “pre-pregnancy weight”? YES.
Am I stretchy, less-toned, jiggly and super soft all over? YES.
Do I still have my linea nigra? YES.
Do I have rolls when I sit? YOU BET!
Am I back to lifting/exercising? NOPE. ..And probably won’t get back to it for a while.
Am I still freshly postpartum, fragile, and learning to navigate my newfound physical, mental, & emotional body as a reborn wild Mama? ABSOLUTELY.
This is postpartum—open, honest, and raw.
So please, be gentle, be kind, honor yourself, your body, honor other mothers, other women, take time to heal, don’t listen to what others say or what others are doing. Your intuition knows best and once you learn to honor the Divine mother within, your life will change forever. 🌞🌿🌸
Reposted from Kay Abeid
