How the heck has an entire year passed since we brought our beautiful girl, Stella, into this world!? I’m weirdly still finding myself saying “I just had a baby”, when the reality of that life event occurred a full twelve months ago. The brain fog of information-overload as a new parent, the immense fatigue over some sleepless nights, and the intense whirlwind of hormones all contributing to the time-warp that is the first year postpartum.
Just one year ago, I was 9 days past-due with Baby Wilson (with still one more day to go), 65 pounds above my baseline weight, swollen in every possible extremity, and sweating out of seemingly every orifice. I was in a deep season of longing to meet my baby, longing to bounce back post-delivery, longing to feel like myself again.
I acknowledge the miracle that is pregnancy and child birth, but man-oh-man, did I feel trapped during those almost 42 weeks of pregnancy. I have shared with several friends and family this viewpoint on pregnancy:
Every day of pregnancy, you are one step further away from your baseline self.
Just think about that for a sec. Your baby is growing, yay! But that also means, you’re larger, more uncomfortable, slower, and seemingly weaker than the day before. ALL a journey worthwhile to meet your baby, but a HARD journey nonetheless. Both physically, and mentally.
Over this last year, I have found that the postpartum journey was far more of a positive experience than I expected it to be. I realized that my viewpoint on pregnancy, ‘every day being one step further away from your baseline’, was the exact opposite in the postpartum season. How refreshing!
Every day that passed postpartum, I was one step closer returning to my baseline body.
Each day – sweating off all the pregnancy fluid, gradually losing baby weight, progressing to a baby that sleeps through the night, becoming more skilled at breastfeeding and pumping, cycling through hormone waves, gaining muscle back in the gym, feeling more and more like myself again. *Admittedly, some extra skin on my abdomen, some droopier breast tissue, some hair loss, and lots of pelvic floor recovery* – but regardless, a gradual upswing of improvement each day!!
As this week is Stella’s first birthday, I am trying to celebrate the journey that my body has trekked over these past twelve months. It wasn’t an easy one!
My intention for this post is not to be boastful about my own one-year postpartum wins. But instead, to inspire new moms to celebrate their own unique one-year postpartum wins as they approach their baby’s first birthday. Us new mommy’s are superheroes, didn’t you know 🙂
Here are a few personal wins I’m celebrating ONE year postpartum:
I carried and delivered a healthy 7lb 3oz 21.5 inch baby girl for almost 42 weeks, and have raised a 23-pound, 31 inch big ONE year old!
I am exclusively feeding my baby breastmilk, despite having returned to work full-time at 4 months postpartum. The blend of breastfeeding on days off and pumping when on shift at the hospital has been difficult, but rewarding.
I have pushed myself to workout 6-7 days a week since just 1 week postpartum. Thank you to my husband who supports my goal of getting to the gym every day!
I have had to take IN the waist of my pre-pregnancy skinny jeans because my core is stronger and smaller than ever. What a non-scale victory!
I am feeling confident in my own skin, in a way that I haven’t ever before.
For the first time ever, I modeled for a poolside photoshoot, wearing a bikini without a coverup! So beyond my usual comfort zone. The photos featured here in this post!
I am feeling beautiful in front of my husband, who saw *every gory detail* of Stella’s birth as he caught her coming out of me in the delivery room.
I am more aware than ever that my body is stronger than I think, as I celebrate achieving a 38-hour Natural Labor and Delivery. Never gonna stop feeling proud of myself for surviving labor! Fellow moms, I hope you look back on birth feeling this way too.
I gained 65-pounds, and then lost 70-pounds in the course of 9 months pregnancy and 9 months postpartum. What a rollercoaster for my wardrobe and amazon shopping budget haha.
I’m closer than ever to doing an unassisted pull-up (lol yes, just one).
I am celebrating one year postpartum having a healthy outlook on body positivity and self-love. Also, now knowing from personal experience how incredibly amazing the female body is.
Mad mad mad props to EVERY mother. At any stage of postpartum. We doin some tough stuff here. Each and every one of us is a badass.
I recognize that not every new mom gets to experience such a positive postpartum journey in the way that I have, and for that, I am beyond grateful. With all the successes in this one year postpartum, did come plenty of struggles and lessons learned. I couldn’t even imagine raising a new born and recovering postpartum without the help of my spouse and our close family and friends. So cliche, but it truly does take a village.
New moms, I hope this post celebrating the wins of one-year postpartum has inspired you to reflect on your own, unique wins of your one-year postpartum journey. This season is hard as heck, but we as mothers are so resilient, brave, and STRONGER THAN WE THINK.
Comment on this post some of your own wins in your first year postpartum, or join in my community on Instagram.
Photography by Sabrina Kinsella. Glow by Sundays Sunless Tans. Bikini is Amazon.
