Here’s What to do When Your Body Feels Different After Birth

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You really have to experience this for yourself; it’s hard to understand or describe, but there’s this weird moment after giving birth where the baby is finally here, everyone’s talking about feeding, pumping, sleep, diapers, and visitors, and meanwhile your body is just over there feeling like it’s been through an entire lifetime in a few days. A lot of people describe it as a marshmallow, with how weird, soft, and hollow it gets (well, once all the swelling is gone).

The bump is different but not gone; the swelling may still be hanging around, clothes feel confusing, skin feels stretched, everything feels tender, and even walking to the bathroom can feel like a full-body group project (especially that very first bathroom visit for number two). And okay, people love saying things like “give yourself grace,” which is nice, sure, but sometimes that doesn’t answer the actual feeling of standing in front of the mirror.

Hopefully, you know already that your body isn’t broken; rather, it’s just recovering. But yet, there’s still this strange feeling, so it makes sense you just want to feel like you again ASAP.

Stop Expecting Your Body to Snap Back ASAP

The whole “back to normal” thing can be so unhelpful because normal is not a switch someone flips after birth. Your uterus has to shrink down. Fluid has to leave your body. Hormones are doing whatever mysterious nonsense hormones love doing. If breastfeeding is involved, breasts may feel different by the hour because apparently that’s just part of the package, too.

So, no, it’s not weird if your belly still looks pregnant for a while. It’s not weird if rings feel tight, shoes feel different, or your face still looks a bit puffier than expected (same goes for the nose, too). At this point, you’re more than aware that birth is a big physical event, not a quick outfit change.

Give Your Skin a Bit of Support

All that puffiness was just mentioned above. But it goes far beyond just that, though. So, skin goes through a lot during pregnancy and birth. It stretches, holds fluid (which makes you feel like a whale if it’s really bad), changes texture, it can get really itchy, and then has to adjust again after the baby arrives. Usually, the very second the baby is out, a lot of symptoms are immediately gone, like the itchiness.

So if your stomach, thighs, hips, breasts, or arms feel different, that’s not something to be embarrassed about. Honestly, it’s impressive if nothing has even changed for you. But yeah, that’s skin doing its best after months of being asked to expand, shift, and cope. Technically, during pregnancy, you should be using bath oil (rather than normal gel), lotion (cocoa butter is usually praised and advised), and be sure to use collagen peptides as well for skin elasticity (and you can use this while breastfeeding too).

Yes, You Need to Eat Like Your Body is Actually Healing

Now, no one needs a perfect postpartum meal plan. Please. A tired new mom eating toast at 2 pm while the baby contact naps isn’t really failing at wellness. Sure, at least you’re eating, but your body does need fuel. Hopefully, it’s not too late to say this, but if you haven’t given birth yet, you could do some meal prep and make sure it’s high in nutrition and iron-rich.

*This article is based on personal suggestions and/or experiences and is for informational purposes only. This should not be used as professional advice. Please consult a professional where applicable.