With women everywhere showing off their pregnancies on social media, it seems like everyone has a perfect pregnancy nowadays. Somehow, women on Instagram look gorgeous both while they're expecting and immediately after giving birth.
Like this woman, known as the "six-pack mom," some new moms have perfect bodies — but most don't. And Kristen Sullivan is one of those normal women. Her body didn't immediately bounce back after giving birth to her son.
Recently, Kristen posted two side-by-side selfies showing off her belly and proving that every woman's body deals with pregnancy and postpartum differently.
And that's OK.
By posting her brave pictures, Kristen is validating every new mom who feels self-conscious about their postpartum bodies.
Alongside the images, Kristen shared a meaningful statement, telling moms that there's no race to bounce back. Postpartum bodies are beautiful — they show that women's bodies are capable of growing entire human beings.
[H/T: PopSugar]
Kristen wrote:
It took me 4 days to decide whether or not to share this.
But recently there have been moms reaching out to me based on some things I've shared, so here goes.
The left pic is 3 days before I delivered Gavin (my 2nd child), the right pic is 3 weeks postpartum.
I'm sharing this to show moms that sometimes it doesn't matter if you're thin, ate right and exercised during pregnancy, sometimes your body grows in such a way that simply doesn't allow you to "bounce back" in friggen 3 weeks.
I feel like all I’ve been seeing is new moms sharing their amazing postpartum bods, 11 days after birth, 2 weeks after birth, etc.
And while that's wonderful for them, for many others, KNOW that it's not realistic!
While I won’t be totally sure till 6 weeks, I have a strong feeling that I’ve got diastasis recti (separation of the abs), in which case I’m determined to get the PT I need to heal.
I've also been wearing a postpartum corset for extra support.
But in the meantime, I’m giving my body a chance to breathe. Did you SEE how far my belly stretched?!
There is no race to bounce back, moms. We'll get there!!
Other moms were amazed by Kristen's honesty.
One woman wrote, "You are so brave. Thank you for showing how we REAL women look."
Another woman wrote, "Thank you for sharing this!! It makes me feel sooooo much better! I'm three months [postpartum] and I still haven't 'bounced back' — I was feeling so much pressure. But I am glad I am not the only one out there!"
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