Category: 100 Days of Summer Blogging

An Unexpected Perk of Swim Class

I’ve been really excited to take swimming lessons again. I enjoyed the class that I took last year – despite being in my first trimester and generally unwilling to move my body – and have been excited to take up a lower impact form of aerobic exercise.

I have been transitioning back into “regular” (ie, not pregnancy-related) doctor’s visits, which have heightened my anxieties around my own health and body in many ways. The other day, my doctor reassured me that it takes time for pregnancy weight to drop off, to which I responded, I’m actually pretty close to my pre-pregnancy weight already… oops.

My class was earlier today, and while walking from the locker room to the pool, I realized that I had – at least temporarily – shed a lot of the shame I had been holding about my body. At the pool, I don’t care as much about my waist circumference or the cellulite around my thighs.

This is easily explainable when I’m in the pool – it’s easier to not care when most of my body is hidden under the water! – but I was surprised to still feel carefree out of the pool.

My swimming is getting better, by the way! Still need to work on my breathing!

My Unexpected, New Wardrobe

I was expecting to buy new clothes while I was pregnant. I tried to buy things that I could continue to wear postpartum, like flowy dresses and loose-fitting, non-maternity-specific pants. I’ve continued to wear a lot of my “maternity” wardrobe as planned!

However, I was not prepared to buy another, entirely new set of clothes for breastfeeding. I felt like I had done so much research – how to do it, potential roadblocks, lots of encouragement – but I had not given a lot of thought to the actual logistics of it. Sure, I bought nursing and pumping bras, but only because I liked the idea of them. They sounded like a thing I needed, so I got them. (This is parenting in a nutshell, by the way!)

I spent my first postpartum Black Friday shopping for any clothes that would make breastfeeding easier, with bonus points if I could continue to wear them after my breastfeeding journey concludes. I scrolled through pages and pages of zip up, clip down, easy pull, low cut, etc. outfits, and got quite a few that I am really happy with and will definitely continue wearing.

That said, I do miss wearing my non-breastfeeding-friendly outfits. My t-shirt dresses, my tighter and more rigid tops, my spaghetti straps… you really don’t understand what you had until it’s gone.

I made a lot of sacrifices during pregnancy – eating healthy, no alcohol, limited wardrobe – and was completely ready to have full control over my life again after baby was born. I was a fool!