Leftover Baby Belly

We finally get pregnant, and watch with joy and amazement as our bellies begin to grow with a new small life inside of it. We wait anxiously - and often angrily during the last week or so - for their arrival. And then suddenly, our little bundles of joy are here! We're ecstatic! Elated! And most of all, extremely exhausted. Those first couple of hours with our husband and baby are the best, and one of the greatest bonding experiences we'll ever have.

And then suddenly, during all this joy, you get up to use the bathroom, sit on the toilet and get a good look at your belly. For me, I wanted to scream and cry at the same time! It looked like a wrinkly, stretch mark scarred, deflated balloon. The worst part was that when you stand up, it just hangs there...you can even pick it up and bounce it around. That image still sends shivers down my spine. Everyone tells you that it will go away, your skin will be back to normal soon, and that those stretch marks will simply disappear into thin silvery lines. It has now been nearly three months since I've had Alex...and I still have saggy skin, and lots of ruddy red stretch marks. Apparently, it all doesn't "just go away on their own" and everything goes back to normal - in fact, don't even get me started on my new set of hips! Who knew I would ever have hips. Oh no, the whole process takes almost ANOTHER nine months just to get your body back...and that's usually only if you are working out with it.

Another scare some women may get, is that they finally put their jeans on, maybe a loose fitting top, and think they are looking pretty good. That is, until they come face to face with the mirror...then you take one look and break down crying, saying "OMG! I look like my MOTHER!" No offense to my own mother of course, she said the same thing after her first baby too. And when the tears finally stop, you realize all new mothers are going through the same thing, just on different levels. And then you try to tell yourself that it's okay, this too shall pass. Someday you might get your body back...if you're willing to work out for it of course.

In the end though, when you look at your baby smiling and cooing at you, you know - deep down in that saggy belly of yours - that it really was all worth it, and maybe this is natures way of telling you to get in shape and get healthy. And you bet I'll be writing about my baby belly skin when Alex is about nine months, and letting you know if the belly does go slightly back to normal. ----on a side note, I hardly find the time to work out, so...as sporadic as my work outs are, will also determine how fast I can get my body back. So thanks Mother Nature! Thanks for ruining my pretty belly. ;-)