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This Mom Made A Great Point About Her “Unrealistic Standard” For Her Postpartum Body

In an ideal universe, we would all have great relationships with our bodies, always. But for now, we live in a world where it's not always possible to love our bodies all the time — and that's okay. In a candid Instagram post last month, mom Kristelle Morgan admitted that she had to come to terms with a difficult reality after giving birth to her daughter. "I used to be pretty fit, I had my ups and downs with body image but overall I know I looked pretty good," she wrote alongside a photo of her stomach with her newborn baby resting next to her. "Then came pregnancy and I was huge. I got HUGE towards the end extremely quickly. "

Long post ahead, be warned. Let's just be superficial for a minute alright? We all know having a baby changes so much more than your body, but it's been extremely hard for me to come to terms with just what pregnancy did to my body. I used to be pretty fit, I had my ups and downs with body image but overall I know I looked pretty good. Then came pregnancy and I was huge. I got HUGE towards the end extremely quickly. A mixture of extra amniotic fluid and Amelia being breech accounted for the extra large stomach. My stretch marks appeared overnight basically at around 32 weeks. I had a c section which has left my with a nice scar too. My stomach is soft and squishy from my super stretched skin and is covered in stretch marks. Linea nigra still clearly visible. Let's not even start on what's going on with my bellybutton (and yes it used to be pierced which is what the line above is from). I had such unrealistic standards of what my body was going to look like after birth (yes probably because I'm way too into following all those super hot Instagram mums like Tammy Hembrow ?). But this is the reality for so many of us. And I'm okay with that. My body temporarily looking like this is a good price to pay for the sweet little angel I have sleeping next to me. 2017 I'll work to get back into shape, but it takes time. I have to remind myself to be nice to my body, I spent 9 months creating a life and yes it may never look like it used to but that's okay. But it's also okay to be sad about it. We made life, this is what that looks like ?? #emotionalmum #postpartum #postpartumbody #11weekspp #takebackpostpartum #postpartumbelly #pregnancy #csection #csectionmama #mumbod

A photo posted by Kristelle Morgan (@krristelley) on

Morgan explained that a mixture of having extra amniotic fluid and having her daughter be breach (when the baby hasn't moved into the position to be birthed) caused her to have an "extra large stomach" and stretch marks that "appeared overnight basically at around 32 weeks." "I had such unrealistic standards of what my body was going to look like after birth (yes probably because I'm way too into following all those super hot Instagram mums)," she wrote. "But this is the reality for so many of us." However, Morgan wrote, she's okay with "my body temporarily looking like this is a good price to pay for the sweet little angel I have sleeping next to me." "I have to remind myself to be nice to my body, I spent 9 months creating a life and yes it may never look like it used to but that's okay," she wrote, adding, "but it's also okay to be sad about it." She's right — while it's important to have a healthy relationship with your body, it's also important to remember that this won't always be the case. It's okay to not feel as 100% body-confident as you want to, as long as you also know that not feeling great about your body doesn't diminish your worth.
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