An Australian mother-of-two has shared pictures of her body during and after pregnancy – revealing how the changes to it made her feel.
Tahlia Aubusson, 29, who gave birth to her son Arlington in January, penned a post to Instagram about the interest in women’s bodies after birth.
‘People are so interested in what your belly looks like postpartum,’ Tahlia – who blogs at Housewife Style, wrote six weeks after the birth of her boy.
‘I’m not sure why, maybe its to compare, or for women that are not mothers to prepare themselves for what they may look like or to give them hope that they might snap back into being flat and flawless like some do.’
‘I too, before children, was curious about what I would look like after pregnancy.
‘There was a time I had a six pack and perfect skin and if I could have shown myself this photo then I would have been depressed knowing what was in store for me,’ Tahlia – who is also mum to a little girl, Ambria, admitted.
‘After having Ambria my body changed forever, I knew I had to find acceptance especially if I was going to have more children.
‘Something shifts in you when you become a mum, it’s odd because for me vanity and the obsessive need to always improve my appearance just became almost non-existent and because of that I found the ability to be able to finally love myself or at least be at peace with myself, totally ironic.
‘Of course I wanted to lose the baby weight but my focus was more to feel healthy not to look a certain way.
‘About nine months after having Ambie, to my surprise my tummy did actually go back to normal, despite a few stretch marks on my hips that eventually faded to some extent.’
But Tahlia said that this time she wasn’t sure if her body would be ‘as forgiving’.
‘Both pregnancies were a total gain of 20kgs, my tummy and breasts were stretched to breaking point both times,’ she wrote.
‘At the moment I still look about 20 weeks pregnant and as you can see my skin is like a dimpled baby’s bottom just not as cute lol.
‘I don’t know if it has the ability to tone up the way it once did, I guess I’ll have to wait and see but if this is what I am left with, so be it, I’m totally ok with that.
‘How could I ever be left disappointed in myself when I have two incredibly amazing children who give me more joy, purpose, reward and pride than a perfect physique could ever give,’ the mum concluded.
‘Today I showed my husband progression photos I’d taken from 1 week postpartum to now, he replied with THIS: ‘You are always beautiful to me no matter what shape, all I care about is if you are HAPPY’.
‘It’s because of him and my gorgeous kids, that I AM happy because they remind me what BEAUTY REALLY IS.’
