Your Post Baby Glow Up

Yes, there are a ton of things you can do pre-baby being born that will help you prepare for the mother load of changes your life and body are about to go through once the baby arrives. But trust us when we say that no matter how well you do pre-baby, doesn’t mean you’re going to feel one ounce of prepared one you find yourself in the postpartum aftermath.

For starters, you will have a crying, peeing, pooping, vomiting, sleeping, non-sleeping baby that might be a little confused about when and how to eat/latch. Your boobs will ache. Your nether regions will feel like a war zone. You will be sleep deprived. You will have a hormonal roller coaster like nothing you could have possibly imagined. Oh, and you won’t have time to do anything - like anything. Brushing your teeth (or peeing) will feel like the ultimate vacation.

While we’d love to sugarcoat it, the truth is that having a baby is one of the hardest things that you can do in the entire world. And as if that weren’t enough, we get to deal with all the societal pressures of ‘bouncing back’ almost immediately. While this is anything but realistic (or reasonable) to demand from a woman who has just given birth, that good old ‘glow up’ pressure is everywhere and unavoidable. So instead of denouncing the ‘glow up,’ we wondered what would happen if we just redefined it?

Stick To A Routine

A routine will feel nearly impossible in the beginning, but implementing at least a semblance of one can do wonders for your mental health, especially in the early days of postpartum. Even if your routine is crap, and basically only follows what your baby wants, that counts. Forget being productive and focus your routine on making sure you and baby are getting the basics. Schedule time for yourself to get three meals, a shower, light stretching, and a little quiet time alone. You’ll be surprised at how much this will serve you as a base for getting back on your feet in the following months.

Give Your Body What It Needs

Speaking of basics of giving your body what it needs, add drinking two liters of water or more a day to your ‘must-do’ list to keep every part of your body hydrated and your mind focused (or as focused as it can be on zero sleep with a screaming gremlin attached to you 24 hrs a day). Other tips include staying away from caffeinated products (when possible - we failed at this, FYI) and sticking to natural sources of energy such as fruit and omega-3 rich foods. Speak up and advocate what you need so that others are aware and can help you.

Pro-tip: make everyone who comes to see the baby bring you a smoothie (and a healthy lunch while they’re at it…)

Target Your Problem Areas

Everyone has what they would consider a problem area. Being self-critical is just part of the human experience. Nevertheless, maintaining this perspective about ourselves can be incredibly damaging. That being said, regardless of what we choose to do to improve said areas, approaching your body with as much acceptance and admiration as possible, especially in the first few months postpartum, can do more for us longterm than picking ourselves apart.

For some women, visiting a plastic surgeon to see what treatments may be available for whatever you might consider your problem area is essential. And we’re totally supportive of that - after all, it’s your body and you get to decide what to do with it. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with proactively making changes to your body. However our advice is to wait longer than you’d like to to pull the trigger on anything. For one thing, our bodies take just as long to heal as they did to adjust and grow to accommodate the baby. From stretchy skin and extra padding to funny shaped boobs, a lot of the post baby side effects go away or minimize on their own with time.

A great way to get rid of a problem area is to stop considering it a problem. You’d be surprised with how your perspective may change just as quickly and dramatically as your body seemed to during pregnancy. New life often brings a reinvigorated and refreshed perspective as to what is beautiful. Those said ‘flaws’ you might be picking apart right now could well be your favorite thing about yourself in a year, and a memento of a truly transformational moment in your life. Give it time and be kind to yourself.

Avoid the Mother As Martyr Trap

Motherhood is a lot of things, including plenty of sacrifices. And while we want to do everything we possibly can for our children, putting others first ourselves 100% of the time is a recipe for disaster. We’ll skip over the whole ‘fill your cup before you fill others’ metaphor, but you get the point.

Do something for yourself every week that has absolutely nothing to do with being a mother, whether that be work, reading a book you love, watching a horror movie, steal away for a few hours with your bestie for a round of vino and f bombs, or hell - dance on the tables all night long for all we care...

But if there’s one thing we know for sure it’s that basing your ‘post baby comeback’ on internal factors, such as protecting your health, sanity, and sense of self is one surefire formula for the right kind of glow up. You got this mama!