Your pregnancy and post pregnancy body is probably one of the biggest areas of discussion when it comes to babies (after the lack of sleep that is). I know I personally battled with it and still do on a daily basis. Some people embrace the changes whilst others are not happy bunnies at the differences they discover in their body. I fall very firmly in to the latter camp. It got me thinking about how we all feel and so the team are being very honest about their pregnancy body changes in the first of our new Q&A series.
We are going to start by talking about our pregnancy bodies and how we felt about them and will follow up with our post pregnancy bodies in a few weeks. As always please do share your feelings and thoughts below and if you have anything you would like the team to answer questions on in the future do let us know. It is good to share after all.
How did you feel about your body whilst pregnant?
Lolly: If I’m being really honest then I felt a bit freaked out about my body whilst pregnant. You’re really not supposed to admit that are you. I felt space invaded and uncomfortable and completely on show. I’d say I’m usually quite a private person but the presence of a bump felt to me like I was standing on a table and shouting “wahoooo I had sex” in front of everyone. I know, totally ridiculous but there we have it. I know that quite a few women (and men!) enjoy the temporary boob enhancement but I found even my supersized breasts off-putting. I hated the lack of flexibility I developed as the months went on; even bending down to pick something off the floor was an ordeal. Despite all of this I was in complete awe of the ability of the human body to grow another tiny being inside of it. I was amazed that I was growing Hector – all those tiny fingers and toes and complex biological structures – without even thinking about it. It was as simple as breathing. Truly fantastic.
Lottie: I will be honest here and say I didn’t really like it. I didn’t hate it per se but I wasn’t exactly an earth mother type. It just didn’t feel like me and I felt a bit out of control with how it was changing. However, I knew I was growing an amazing baby in there and I suppose that was what mattered.
Fern: I really enjoyed being pregnant – it’s so cliched but for me it really did feel like a magical time and I felt really comfortable in my body. I probably felt more confident in my pregnancy body than I do usually!
Lorna: My hair stopped falling out. My nails felt stronger. I even recall not having to shave my legs as often as the hairs just weren’t growing as quickly! Then my waist started expanding and I did not like that. Obviously I was in awe of the fact that I had a tiny human growing inside of me, but never having anything to wear and constantly feeling uncomfortable definitely takes its toll on your confidence. I must confess, by the end of each pregnancy I had definitely had enough.
What changes to your body did you like the most whilst pregnant?
Lolly: Possibly the only change I liked was to my hair which got thicker, glossier and grew at the rate of knots. I also didn’t have to wash it as often as it got quite dry which was a bonus in my book.
Lottie: If I’m honest I actually can’t think of anything positive. The only positive was I didn’t get stretch marks or bad veins so I guess that’s one thing….
Fern: I liked having bigger boobs and I really liked my bump. I loved it when Elle started to move, that connection is just indescribable. I tried to really look after my body whilst I was pregnant – I did lots of swimming and yoga so I actually felt really strong and in control of my body during my pregnancy.
Lorna: I quite liked my breasts getting bigger. I’ve never been blessed with boobs, so to actually have a cleavage was a treat.
Which did you dislike the most?
Lolly: Where do I even begin?? The weight gain? The water retention? The heartburn? I hated every moment of being pregnant. I was not one of those women lucky enough to get ‘the glow’.
Lottie: I didn’t particularly like anything about my pregnancy body. Not even the bigger boobs and particularly not my large thighs and fat arms. The first pregnancy was better in that I didn’t put on much weight or have a large bump but it just didn’t feel like me. Plus my legs expanded and who on earth wants fat calves? I cried the day I couldn’t get my boots on.
Fern: Having said that, I did suffer from chronic back ache from the very start and had to stop wearing my normal bras even before my boobs had grown. I lost muscle tone and put on a bit of fat because I wasn’t doing anything particularly high intensity and there was quite a lot of carb consuming going on.
Lorna: When I was carrying Elliott my ankles would swell up to the size of my calfs. They looked like a pair of elephant pins. That was not attractive at all. Luckily it wasn’t related to pre-eclampsia. I just obviously had a lot of water retention. And then there were the stretch marks. I didn’t get them until I was 36 weeks pregnant with Elliott. I’d ran out of stretch mark cream and missed a few days of creaming. This could be pure coincidence that it coincided, but I can’t help but wonder if I hadn’t ran out what they would have been like…
So that’s us. Team RMF being quite honest about how they felt about their pregnancy bodies. How did you feel about yours?
Lovely to see truly honest opinions on what can be a difficult subject as we’re all supposed to love being pregnant right? I’m 34 weeks in to my second pregnancy and have felt different this time.
First pregnancy I was desperate for my baby belly (weird I know) as a symbol of what was going on inside me and probably helped that along a little too eagerly (with lots of cake)!! I think I was too indulgent. No stretch marks but I did get horrendous swelling with the midwife threatening to cut my rings off if I couldn’t get them off myself. I was really uncomfortable towards the end and had to be monitored for pre eclampsia but thankfully I didn’t have it. People still mention my elephant legs (which I laugh about as they were truly horrendous)!
This time round I’ve been a lot more active, although don’t really have the choice with a toddler to look after as well! I’ve even almost forgotten I’m pregnant sometimes which I think has been a good thing. I’m doing yoga and feel a bit more comfortable in my own skin, put on less weight, no stretch marks (so far) and no swelling (yet). I love feeling my daughter move but it can be uncomfortable and now my bump is much bigger I’m getting frustrated as my movement is more limited, plus my bump is getting more sore at the bottom with the pressure from baby. Oh and my boobs are massive (last time too) so despite working for a lingerie company I struggle to contain them comfortably!!!
So I guess for me it’s a mixed bag, I love the changes because they are due to my children but I also find some aspects difficult. I wouldn’t say I absolutely love being pregnant but it is pretty amazing and a fleeting period of time that is worth cherishing.
xx
Worst thing was definitely SPD. I was on crutches by the end and coping with the constant pain was really hard. Best thing was not having to hold my stomach in after meals!
Love this post! I’m currently 17 weeks and still just waiting for that proper bump to appear – in my normal clothes (the ones I can actually do up – bye bye Jamie jeans) I just look like I’ve over-indulged but maternity clothes are way too big and make me look like I’m ready to pop! Annoying!
Frantically moisturising to hopefully battle stretch marks, but at the moment my skin is what’s bothering me the most. It’s worse than it’s ever been with huge spots all over the place. Hoping the glowing phase kicks in soon, or at all! X
36 weeks with number II and I have to admit that despite crippling SPD at times and heartburn, I love being pregnant. I put on four stone the first time (most in last few weeks going over, issues, 10lb 6oz baby) but am only around a stone heavier this time despite having 50% sized babies (to 34 weeks) both times. I love being able to wear stretchy dresses without feeling like my tummy is flabby. I’ve always had large boobs so pregnancy hasn’t affected them. My nails have grown stronger.
Sure, rolling over in bed is a pain and going to the loo 50,000 times a day is a nightmare but I KNOW this time around it’s worth it. I think I’m happier second time around because I see the end goal chatting and laughing in front of me. Maybe because I have less time to focus on it. First time there was much lying around and moaning and bouncing on balls and OK ACTUAL SELF INDULGENCE and this time I sometimes forget I’m pregnant. Oops. Must not leave second baby on bus or anything.
Last time around I didn’t give a crap about my post pregnancy body as I knew I wanted to get pregnant again pretty soon. This time I’m looking forward to focusing a bit more on getting ME back.
Love this post!! I have a 6 month old little boy and I loved being pregnant with him. Having said that, I had an easy pregnancy, minimal weight gain, healthy hair and good skin. I swam a lot in the later stages of pregnancy and I walked often as well. As a nurse working 12 hours shifts in an emergency department, it did become hard both emotionally and physically towards the end.
The things I didn’t like was the itchy skin on my tummy and towards the end, the increased discharge and swelling “down there”. All very glam. And I was deeply upset to find after labour that I had a haemorrhoid ?
Would love to see a post on the post pregnancy body changes….
It’s coming soon Laura xxx
Really great post, love to see honest opinions. I loved being pregnant and was really lucky that I didn’t experience anything like spd or bad heartburn. I did however put on a lot of weight and got a lot of stretchmarks.
My little girl is now 15 months and I have lost most of the baby weight, just got the stone that I was always losing pre baby to go. But even with that I will be a size 12-14 so won’t be small but I feel happy and comfortable at that size.
However, my shape has completely changed, I used to exercise a lot so even if I was carrying a bit more weight I was relatively toned. I am very very soft now! My little girl likes to bounce her head off my belly as if she is on a trampoline.
The stretchmarks are now silver but to be honest my tummy still looks a mess. However it is only really my husband that sees it and he is very kind and pretends not to know what strechmarks are. We didn’t go away this year to anywhere bikini worthy but I would like to think i’ll still wear one in the future.
My big down side is that my skin is really dry since having her and my hair more greasy. Winning combo!
Next time though I might not view it as a reason to eat cake for breakfast and the baby probably didn’t need cheese as much as I had people believe.
Looking forward to hearing everyone elses stories.
Xxx
Thank goodness we are talking about this! There’s so much weird judgement wrapped up in this- that sexist double standard of supposed selfishness (why wouldn’t you want to share your body, what’s beauty to a baby blah blah) vs expectation (haven’t you seen Celeb x y z and their post baby jeans pics?)
I always thought I would be one of those sexy confident naked on the cover of a magazine type of pregnant ladies. I was so wrong! Last time around I was pretty unwell with heart palpitations and this time I have only just stopped throwing up. I hated feeling like I wasn’t in control of my body, and was disappointed I wasn’t enjoying it. I don’t like not exercising either- one of the earliest signs I’m pregnant is I get terrible stitch running, and between the heart stuff and puking I’ve not been encouraged to keep up the intense exercise I really enjoy.
With after effects I was really shocked by my fitness levels when I went out for my first run. Swimming, yoga and daily walks hadn’t done much to fight the impact of eating granola with ice cream and flapjacks all day long… And the cellulite! Ugh. But it did go, all of it, and I did my a 10k race less than a year post baby and my first sprint triathlon a little later- four days before finding out we were going in for round 2! The only thing that seems permanent are the thread veins on my upper thighs. I can live with my own personal spiderlings I guess.
I loved being pregnant, every single minute. Well maybe not every minute chucking up my dinner for 15 weeks was horrible…especially the splashback!!
I love my huge boobs!! They were excellent. Now they look like deflated socks and during special cuddle time I did say out loud. Oh gosh they look like potato scones! Switch off the light!! ?
It’s hard to not look in the mirror and not recognise bits and pieces. Went to get a bra fitted and was shocked by my new size but did say that fat bits overhanging slightly does that not mean it’s too small. The woman was very kind and went “erm no that’s just excess”. Ah I see.
But I’m rolling with it! In more ways than one, my tyre rolls are now multiple!
I’m 20 weeks pregnant with my second, and feel MASSIVE this time round as I had a bump from 8 weeks! To be honest I quite like how I look with a bump, but I tend to wear quite fitted maternity tops as the drapey ones make me feel like I’m a walking tent. I hated the fat legs and feet I got last time – like Lottie I couldn’t get my boots on and felt like such a whale! I ended up with an emergency c-section, and the midwife who took out my stitches said the registrar who sewed me up did a great job – less than two years later it’s amazingly barely visible, so she was definitely right there! I seem to have changed shape after my first pregnancy – I was the same dress size afterwards but my back went up a bra size and has never gone back down, my thighs are bigger and my waist will never be what it was, but I figure age will do that anyway in time, this has just accelerated it a bit! I don’t exactly embrace the changes, but I don’t lose much time over worrying about them either.
The main thing I hated in the latter half of pregnancy last time was being uncomfortable ALL. THE. TIME. I didn’t have a bad pregnancy, no SPD, no heartburn, no real back ache, but I just couldn’t get comfortable however I lay or sat. I remember crying in the loos at work one day because my desk chair was so uncomfortable, and feeling like such an idiot!
Love this post, it’s so interesting reading different people’s experiences. I mostly enjoyed being pregnant and really loved my bump. I used to get very bothered by people commenting on it though, ‘you’re bigger than when I saw you last week/yesterday/this morning!’ Hmm, yes well that is supposed to happen! When a friend is pregnant now I make sure I tell her she looks lovely rather than commenting on the size of her bump!
I suffered with a few things body wise during pregnancy- sciatica, rib pain (did anyone else have this? It felt like they were burning so I couldn’t sit down sometimes!), sickness and kidney infections. Like most people, by the end I was so ready for it to be over!
I moisturised throughout but got lots of stretch marks on my boobs (they’re not even big enough to have that many stretch marks…) and at about 37 weeks they popped up on my tummy too. They are fading five months on but I still don’t like them… X
I’ve had two beautiful girls but I found the pregnancies really hard.
Obviously the feeling of your baby moving and growing a tiny human is beyond amazing but the day to day difficulties took their toll on me.
My pregnancies in a short were a bit like this….
First trimester – I was so nervous and just waned everything to be ok and to get to 12 weeks
Second trimester – I was so nervous and just wanted everything to be ok and to get to 24 weeks
Third trimester – felt like the size of a whale, SPD, heartburn, boobs could have had their own postcode they were so big, hormonal, tired, so nervous and just wanted the baby here safe and sound.
Now I know I am not ever going to have another baby I wish o had enjoyed it more but the reality is, it is so tough.
Xxx
Great topic! I hated being pregnant, so much so that I’m struggling with the idea of number two, even though I adore life with my five month old. I got horrendous pgp and had bad morning sickness. I normally exercise about 4 times a week and giving that up made me feel terrible about my body. I also got perinatal depression at about 5 months, which didn’t lift until I gave birth. Oh, and to top it all off I have ulcerative colitis, which flared horrendously due to the hormones.
Feeling my baby move inside me was amazing though. Plus, I didn’t really get stretch marks and after five months only have half a stone of baby won’t hanging on, so I feel like I’ve bounced back ok.
Hugs to anyone who is currently pregnant. It’s hard work! I found it much harder than looking after a newborn.
Another one who really didn’t enjoy pregnancy that much. 24/7 sickness until 5 1/5 months, SPD, plantar fasciitis (which is still killing me know), carpal tunnel and general achiness. I didn’t even have much of the fun of feeling him as I had an anterior placenta which covered most of the movement.
That said, I did enjoy my baby bump and my changing shape overall! And my boobs are bigger now I’m breastfeeding – I am looking forward to them being a more normal size again!
Oh it’s so reassuring to hear other people say they hated being pregnant. I completely relate to the feelings of being out of control and not liking the sense of being on show or feeling ‘invaded’ (never mind the nearly 8 months of nausea and sickness and being unable to move properly for nearly 6 weeks after the birth because of inflammation in my lower back). My little girl is a complete joy and I’m really proud of what my body did, but I wish it was easier to say how uncomfortable and unpleasant I found being pregnant without having to justify my love for her. Somebody said to me when I was pregnant and having a tough time that it’s just ‘the means to an end’ and I did find it a lot easier once I started thinking about it in those terms rather than feeling guilty about not being the glowing earth mother of pregnancy legend…
I have mixed feelings reflecting on my pregnancy body. I loved my growing bump, feeling the baby move about and the second trimester when you’re showing and everyone knows you are pregnant but you are not too big yet.
By the third trimester I’d put on a lot of weight (mainly cake and chocolate weight, not baby!!), didn’t have much energy, suffered heartburn, swollen fingers and feet and snored so badly my husband had to sleep in the spare room!! I found it hard to find maternity clothes that weren’t either super clingy or looked like I was wearing a tent so couldn’t really dress my bump / weight gain in a way I felt comfortable.
I definitely over indulged and regret that. The knock on effect is I still have 1.5 stone to lose 5 months postpartum. Next pregnancy for me will be a healthier and more active pregnancy!
I forgot about the snoring! My husband took to telling everyone I snored like a Warthog.
I’m 29 weeks and so far have been pretty lucky in all respects (some nausea for first 14weeks and heartburn since about 25weeks).
I’ve loved feeling all the kicks and daytime my bump is quite manageable. Sleeping, is a different story and is proving to be very uncomfortable which is the worst physical effect for me.
The thing I’ve really not enjoyed are the constant ‘bump-watchers’. As someone who has never felt 100% body confident the intense scrutiny over how big/small my bump is has not been pleasant.
There are also the ‘wait-until’ brigade who can’t wait to tell you how much worse I’m going to feel in X weeks time/when baby arrives etc etc. ?
Really lovely honest post. Thanks ladies!
Personally, I knew I was going to find the changes that pregnancy would bring to my body, very difficult. And I have.
As someone who has struggled with my weight in some shape or form (too big, too small) since my teens, my perception of my body and my need to have control over it, is very distorted. I felt my breasts literally doubled in size over night, when I found out I was expecting… I wasn’t happy (I wasn’t exactly small in that department to start with) along with just general weight gain, EVERYWHERE. I felt I didn’t look pregnant for a long time, and still now at 25 weeks, depending on what I’m wearing, I just look like I’ve put on a few pounds. I know I haven’t put on too much weight, but I still feel uncomfortable, and ‘not me’ as mentioned by Lottie in this post!
My bump is still quite small, but it doesn’t mean it hasn’t caused me problems – I’m suffering from Pelvic Groin Pain, and so walk around like I’ve just got off a horse. And thanks to an under active thyroid, low iron and B12, I’m feeling fatigue like I’ve never known… But on the positive side of things… I’m enjoying being able to feel my baby girl, constantly moving about, and watching my belly move, as she does so… Also, allowing myself to eat well, and not exclude foods for fear of what they would do to my thighs… Eg. Bread! I’ve also discovered since being pregnant, that when it comes to eating, I finally have a ‘cut off point’, where I know when to stop eating, without going over board, and making myself uncomfortable. Something I have always previously struggled with, as my eyes had always been too big for my belly. I will say I cannot wait till this time next year, when hopefully I will be back in my beloved size 10 jeans. But mostly, because I will have my daughter with me, and all these thoughts will be but a memory. And fade into existence in comparison to the worth of being able to bring a human being into the world!
Looking back now I really miss my baby bump and think I looked so much healthier pregnant, but at the time I absolutely hated everything about my pregnant body. My bump properly popped out at around 6 weeks and I was already wearing bra’s two cupsizes bigger and full on maternity jeans by 8 weeks. I think the fact that it wasn’t a particularly gradual change for me made it even harder for me to deal with. What was once my best asset (my teeny tiny waist) was now a huge football and I found it particulatly hard to deal with. I remember regularly sitting on my bedroom floor surrounded by clothes sobbing and never wanting to leave the house. I struggled so much with this change in body image that it led to pre-natal depression. I remember being so ashamed to admit this though. Thankfully, by the end of the second trimester I started to feel more comfortable in myself and saw some of the positives like my thick glossy hair and my glowing skin which was the clearest its ever been. Although I did suffer with really bad water retention towards the end and could only wear flips flops on my feet! Thank god it was the height of summer!
Oh wow, it’s interesting (to put it mildly) how many felt bad during their pregnancy! I wish you lot would have had an easier and nicer experience! I have to admit, I absolutely loved being pregnant soooo damn much. There’s nothing I didn’t like about it! Post-partum is a different story though…
This is such a good post! I am 36.5 weeks with my first and while I can’t wait to meet our boy in a few short weeks I am already missing my bump, pregnant body and feeling him move constantly.
Like lots of other ladies, I hate photos of myself usually, never put photos up on Facebook in case my tummy/legs/face/imagination looks fat or unflattering and yet since being pregnant I have adored my body and what it is doing.
Here in Australia maternity photos/shoots are really popular to ‘capture the moment’ as it were, and while my British mortification at such a cringeworthy indulgence initially won out as I scoffed to friends that i would NEVER get photos taken, I have actually caved and booked one to be able to look back at the one time in my adult life where I look in the mirror and just feel so happy in my own skin.
Ask me again in a few months when everything has changed but so far, so good!