You made it. You got the two pink lines, and you're over the moon. This thing you wanted is happening. You get to be someone’s Mom! But wait, suddenly you’re in and out of doctor’s offices, getting weighed, your body is changing. What feels like overnight at times. Maybe you can reckon with what this will look like while you’re actually pregnant, but the feeling of what your body will look like AFTER is what terrifies you. Yes, it’s great to remind yourself that your body is doing/has done an incredible thing. It’s creating life, so wHo CaRes what it looks like? Umm well, we are told from a very early age in this society that it’s one of the most important things. I am here to tell you that it is okay to not be okay in this moment. It’s okay to grieve the way your body looked, and with the right support you can get to a space where you feel at home in your body again. Yes, it might take a minute, but it can be done. 

Sometimes the hardest part is that your brain still expects your body to move, look, and feel the same way it did before. You catch your reflection and it’s a real life jump scare moment. Your clothes fit differently. Your body may feel softer, fuller, unfamiliar, or even disconnected from you. And while everyone around you is focused on the baby, you may quietly be mourning the version of yourself you used to recognize so easily.

Then comes the pressure. The comments about ‘getting your body back.’ The social media posts showing flat stomachs two weeks postpartum. The expectation that you should feel grateful enough to never struggle. But two things can exist at once: you can deeply love your child and still struggle with the changes pregnancy brought to your body.

For many people, pregnancy and postpartum don’t just change the body physically. They change your relationship with your body emotionally. Old insecurities can get louder. Past eating disorder behaviors or body image struggles can resurface. Control can suddenly feel very far away.

Healing in this season often looks less like loving your body every second and more like learning to live alongside it with a little more compassion. Maybe it starts with buying clothes that actually fit your current body (GASP! Wild idea, I know) instead of punishing yourself with the old ones. Maybe it looks like unfollowing accounts that make you feel like sh*t. Maybe it’s letting yourself be supported instead of pretending you’re fine.

Your body is not failing you because it changed. It changed because it carried you and your baby through something enormous. And while it may take time for your brain to catch up, you deserve support while it does.

If this season has left you feeling disconnected from your body, you are not alone. Support exists, and you do not have to navigate these feelings in silence.