Three Things I Learned About My Body Through Pregnancy
Be kind to me, or treat me mean. I’ll make the most of it, I’m an extraordinary machine. - Fiona Apple
Some women feel great much or even all of their pregnancy; those women are not me. Yet amidst all of the challenges pregnancy has brought on I’ve found more peace with my body in my second pregnancy, which just entered the second trimester. Knowing what to expect, that it will last for just a season, and that there will be an incredible rainbow after this storm are great gifts from my first pregnancy. My journey through motherhood has also taught me much about my body that is applicable to mothers and non-mothers alike. This Mother’s Day I share with you three of these lessons.
Our Bodies Are Resilient
Pregnancy can be grueling. I’ve struggled with fatigue, nausea, food aversions, gas, constipation, and even had the extreme nausea of hyper emesis gravidarum in my current pregnancy (thank you, Zofran, for getting me get through the day), and I’m only just entering the fourth month (!). My past pregnancy brought me the challenges of needing to pee all the time, sciatica, round ligament pain, trouble getting comfortable enough to sleep, and so much swelling that I couldn’t wear my shoes. And then there’s childbirth. No matter how your child comes into this world, your body will go through a major feat. The pain after my C-section was intense, and when I had mastitis less than a month later I felt like I had the plague. Pregnancy and birth were brutal on my body.
Yet I survived. My C-section pain eventually ended and my incision healed. I was able to breastfeed my son for over a year, an incredible feat that helped me understand my body in a whole new way. Thanks to great physical therapy and a wonderful trainer I was able to return back to my previous level of fitness and then some, which was greatly needed for chasing around an active toddler.
I entered my second pregnancy with more confidence. I had seen that my body can experience pain and then heal. It had done it before, and with some work and good medical care it will do it again. For our bodies are extraordinary machines.
Our Bodies Are Strong
Our bodies are capable of so much, including adapting to the needs and contours of our lives in different seasons. Carrying a child to term and birth itself require tremendous bodily strength, as does taking on postpartum healing. I have a friend who jokes that the hardest category to compete against in a race is fairly new moms, as they are fresh from postpartum recovery and just keep continuing the momentum. And I think of my friend whose four-year-old daughter fell asleep at our home and she didn’t want to wake her, so she carried her forty-pound daughter the 20-minute walk home.I’ve also witnessed this increase in strength myself.
For example, I’ve never had much in the way of arm muscles, carrying my strength in my lower body. This, combined with being short, meant I struggled putting my carry-on bag above me on an airplane. Not so after I became a parent! All of that care of a wee one gave me strength that no weightlifting had ever been able to produce, and I surprised myself at being able to easily hoist that bag up.
Our Bodies Are Ever-Changing
Our lives unfold in seasons, and our bodies have seasons as well.
When I was growing up I had very curly hair. Over the course of my 20s it turned into waves except for a few stragglers on the bottom. I felt like I’d finally gotten the hang of my curls, and then they were gone. A core piece of my identity as a “curly girl” was no more, and I now had to learn how to care for wavy hair. This was the major physical event of my 20s, and the first major physical change my adult body had experienced.
The shapes and contours of our appearance are ephemeral, and pregnancy is a great teacher there. In my first pregnancy I struggled more with the changes, feeling like my body was no longer mine. I looked in the mirror and the person I saw wasn’t me, as her body’s shape was so different from the one I had gotten used to over my life. Now in my second pregnancy I know that these shapes will just last for a season, and these seasons are ones to embrace. For example, I invested in some beach dresses (from Thred Up, a great sustainable place to shop)in a style I’ve never worn before, but which suits my growing body. It’s fun to enjoy these new styling options.
My second pregnancy also feels like good preparation for the fact that our bodies are aging every day and one day will “look old”. Yet with age comes wisdom and the chance to take on more sophisticated styles as well as the confidence to enjoy new fashions. Living through the changes is also a great reminder to enjoy the body you have now, in whatever season that may be.
About the Author: Rebecca Ballard lives in Washington, DC with her son born in April 2017 and her husband. She is pregnant with a daughter due this Fall. Rebecca is the founder of Maven Women, a socially conscious clothing company that honors people and the planet in every decision they make. Sign up for their listserv to learn more about ethical, sustainable clothing.