The idea that women should get their bodies back a certain amount of time after giving birth is absurd. Yet the idea is everywhere, and women still feel the pressure of it, even knowing what we know.
A woman has been struggling with losing weight since giving birth. She's also struggled with postpartum depression. She tried to confide in her husband about it in hopes he would understand.
He demonstrated the direct opposite of understanding in how he handled the situation. Things got so bad that mom snapped, making her 4-year-old and 6-month-old cry and adding to her feelings of guilt. She took to Reddit to ask for advice on whether or not she was overreacting.
A mom struggling with postpartum depression has been having a hard time losing weight since giving birth. She's wanted to start getting back to the gym but hasn't been able to get herself there, as she explained in the opening of her post.
"I (32F) gave birth back in October. Since then, it's been extremely difficult for me to lose the baby weight … mainly due to my postpartum depression," she explained.
"I get next to no sleep attending to my children and most mornings, I can barely get out of bed, much less drive to the gym. It's been a dark few months for me," she admitted.
She decided it would be best to be open about these feelings with her partner.
"I've told these things to my partner 'Dave' (43 M) and though he said he understood, I don't think he really does," the original poster (OP) continued.
"Though never explicitly stating it, he makes jokes and comments that imply I'm lazy and that he's no longer attracted to me."
Doesn't sound particularly understanding.
The way he went on to handle things doesn't do much to redeem him. "Last week, I broke down to him about not being able to lose the weight, and he said that he would push me to do so because he loves me," she shared.
"Since then, he's taken a 'Biggest Loser' approach."
"[He] started calling me 'Ms. Piggy' and has instructed all of my friends and family, even my kids, to do so."
"I hate this nickname, but he says it's supposed to motivate me to lose weight. I think he really believes it's going to help me, but I feel really undermined while parenting because of this nickname."
As if this wasn't bad enough, it came to a head at a family dinner and led to a scene.
"The other night, my family was eating and my children started oinking at me, and out of frustration, I started yelling at my husband," she shared.
"We have a rule not to yell in front of the kids, but we're almost always in front of the kids during quarantine and I feel so dismissed. The kids started crying and Dave says I'm to blame."
Commenters came out to make sure OP knew this was wrong and that she was in a bad situation.
"This is bullying and abusive? What is wrong with your partner? He's belittling you in your own eyes and your childrens'," one commenter wrote.
"You have every right to be upset. That's cruel. [Expletive] like this causes eating disorders, you deserve a lot better … Your partner deserves to get kicked to the curb."
As another commenter pointed out, it's not exactly effective.
"[That] show has been proven to not work, like… At all," they wrote.
"Everyone regains their weight in little more than a year after being berated and abused on that stupid show."
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