Love Changes Everything – And So Does Pregnancy

Being a mother changes everything. Aside from the sleepless nights, the preparation and planning that you suddenly have to fit into your life and the forever increasing pile of dirty laundry that wouldn’t have been there before, there is also the issue of your body changing.

What’s the deal?

Some women are lucky and don’t notice any change once they’ve given birth. Others notice the sagging breasts, the stretch marks, the widened hips and any other things that may have cropped up during pregnancy that weren’t there before; varicose veins, acne and darkened areolas, for example. It may be that you’re focusing too much on something that hasn’t changed, but you never noticed before. It can be a hard to time to accustom yourself to the change that you haven’t inflicted yourself; if you were purposely trying to change your body, by means of diet or exercise for example, you’d welcome certain results. But this is a byproduct of producing human life; you should be proud of what your body has gone through to create a new baby.

Any breast is best

It is a common thought that breastfeeding causes your boobs to lose their firmness. It’s not true – pregnancy itself is the actual cause of your breasts stretching. It doesn’t bother most people, but if it is causing you to have confidence issues then you could either try investing in a nice new bra (they do change size and shape once the baby’s here – you’re probably just in the wrong size!) or cosmetic breast augmentation. Be sure to remember that, if you’ve taken the breastfeeding route, your breasts will continue to change size depending on if you’ve just fed or are waiting to give a feed. If you are taking the cosmetic surgery route, think long and hard about it before coming to a decision.

A tiger who’s earned her stripes

Stretchmarks never completely go away. They are your body’s way of naturally elasticating your skin to make room for the baby. Although they may seem red and quite raw at the beginning, they fade away into an almost silvery-like strip. There is no real way to prevent them, no matter how many products are on the market claiming to do so; for instance, genetics plays a huge role in whether you will get them, as does how fast you are putting on your pregnancy weight (rather than how much weight you are putting on).

Hair today, gone tomorrow

Post-pregnancy, it’s natural for your hair to fall out. Don’t panic – during pregnancy your body releases more oestrogen than normal, meaning that when your hair should naturally be falling out, it’s being held onto for more growth. This can make your hair appear really thick and healthy throughout the duration of your pregnancy, so it’s a shock when the oestrogen subsides and clumps of it start to fall out. It’s completely normal and happens to a lot of women. Soon enough it will go back to normal and will become a memory of the distant past.