By Jeana Lee Tahnk
No one has any idea how their body is going to change during a
pregnancy. I've known super lean friends who have ballooned and retained
water, and others who started off with a little more meat on their
bones and gain only 15 pounds. Of course, what you eat and how you move
in those nine months has a huge bearing, but there's most definitely a
genetic element that dictates how your body will adapt to the pregnancy.
With my first baby, when everything was still tight, I didn't start
showing until about six months. And that's the pregnancy when I was the
most eager for that belly to pop. But being five months pregnant and
hearing people make comments such as, "Your baby is going to be tiny!"
or, "There's no way you're pregnant," was no fun.
As soon as I "popped" the first time around, I paraded that belly
around with such pride. It was like my badge of honor. I was lucky to
have avoided the dreaded water retention and swollen appendages, but
everything was a little plumper and I loved every second of it.
After the baby was born, my body returned to its normal state pretty
quickly. While I credit daily exercise for some of that, it had been my
first baby so things weren't as stretched out.
With each progressive pregnancy, though, I noticed things happening a
little faster, such as the belly growth and the weight gain, and a
little slower after the baby was born, such as losing the softness -
let's face it - everywhere.
Even though I won't be wearing a bikini anytime soon (or ever), I do
credit my body for doing something pretty amazing. The taut body I had
in my 20s may be a distant memory, but it has been replaced with a
less-defined and softer body that has created three healthy babies. And
while it's doubtful my body will ever fully return to its pre-kid state,
I'm proud to say that whatever state my body is in now, it has been
worth it to get to this point.
It would be nice to lose a little of the softness, though.
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