Bikinis and Mom Butt

Well, a baby who starts off as the size of a poppy seed and ends up as a 9 pound, 14 ounce bundle of chubby-cheeked joy sure changes a woman’s body.

As the hub and I were headed to the pool a couple weeks ago, I finally bit the bullet and pulled out my old bikinis.  I had put off this moment long enough.  As I’ve posted before, thanks to breastfeeding and a lot of hard work on my part, I’m actually below my pre-pregnancy weight; however, that does not mean my body necessarily resembles the taught, tone, svelte figure that peed on a stick on a January morning.

So, I pulled out my bikinis and put each one on – moreso to see which ones would actually fit, and less-so to check myself out.  Because I’m still nursing, my chest size goes up and down throughout the day – sometimes these jugs are out of control, sometimes they need a crane.  And I won’t even go into the sad details of my mom butt.  What used to be a decent derriere is now a sorry excuse for a rear end.

So anywho, luckily the bathing suits all fit – woohoo!  I was most excited because (a) we’re not necessarily rolling in the dough thus purchasing a new bathing suit wardrobe is out of the question and (b) what woman WANTS to go bathing suit shopping?!

We were just about to head out of the door when my hub says, “Um, I think you need to change.  Your nipple is showing.”

Oops.

It was, in fact, just peeking out over the edge of the suit.

I had almost gone to a public pool with my nipple showing.  Thank goodness my hub was checking out my rack before we left the house!

So anyway, this whole experience got me thinking about my body eight months post-partum.  As I said before, while breastfeeding has most certainly helped, I’ve worked my butt off (pun intended) to get back in shape while also working hard not to miss out on any time with my sweet Cameron Kate.  But, no matter what I do, my body has obviously changed… and I’m okay with that.  My stomach is not quite the same, my belly button is a tad bit saggy, I have a sorry excuse for a butt, my hips sit differently than they used to…

But that didn’t stop me from having a blast during CK’s first pool visit, swimming with her and walking around with her and not even thinking about my body.

I have to admit that pre-baby, I was like any other twenty-something woman (or any-something woman) who hesitates to take off her cover-up, sucking in and analyzing her body and comparing herself to every other woman in sight.

Now?  Now I’m squatting down beside the pool to let the water tickle Cameron’s toes, not even worried about my dunlaps disease – you know, where your belly dun-lapped over your bottoms?

Because really, in thirty years, I’m going to remember the way she giggled and sucked in her breath when the cool water hit her feet… not my mom butt.