First of all, let’s all acknowledge that pregnancy changes bodies, often in ways that are permanent. This is a beautiful part of the process and completely normal.
However, if you’re a little self-conscious about some of the changes, you might want to look at some of the steps you can take to reverse them or at least mitigate them.
Get moving
After having been pregnant for some time, you might not be as mobile as you used to be. Carrying around that extra weight, you may not be as flexible or as able to get up and about as quickly as you could. To that end, you might want to look at post-partum yoga courses to help you restore your range of motion as best as possible. You can also incorporate some exercise with the baby — going for walks, or even runs with the right stroller. You don’t need to spend hours at the gym or any intense approach to gain the benefits of movement.
Dealing with all of the extra
When we’re pregnant, we tend to store a lot more energy and nutrients for the baby. Aside from the fat that we easily gain, our skin has to stretch to accommodate milk in our breasts as well as the baby growing in our bellies. To that end, a lot of women can feel self-conscious about the little “extras” that they are left with. There are options like a mommy makeover that address all of these changes at once. This involves work on the breasts, stomach, and sometimes the arms and legs to help restore a pre-pregnancy body to some degree.
Those stretch marks
One of the complaints that a lot of women have is about the prevalence of stretch marks after pregnancy. Everyone gets these, but if you’re feeling truly self-conscious about them, then it’s worth noting that there are options to take care of them. Aside from surgery, there are plenty of great creams that help the skin of the affected areas regenerate as best as possible. It won’t make the marks entirely invisible, but it can reduce their appearance so you can feel a little more confident about getting into a swimsuit at the beach again.
Taking care of business
Giving birth can weaken your pelvic floor muscles which can, in turn, lead to some incontinence. You will start to see improvements to this naturally after a while, all going well, but you might want to get in touch with a pelvic health therapist to learn some exercises that get you back in control or help you address any underlying issues that might have popped up.
In a perfect world, every woman would be able to accept and be happy with their body post-pregnancy. However, there’s nothing inherently wrong with wanting achievable changes, either. The tips above can help you put together your game plan so you can feel more like yourself again.
Category: PregnancyTags: morning four podcast
