‘Do you see how far my belly stretched?’ This postpartum mum wants you to CHILL OUT
Blake Lively’s said it, Zoe Saldana’s said it, Drew Barrymore’s said it; in fact, there are plenty of celebs who have urged us to calm down when it comes to stressing over our postpartum bodies.
One of the most compelling arguments, however, comes from mum-of-two Kristen Sullivan.
Kristen, who is a mum-of-two, recently welcomed Baby Gavin into the world. Despite staying super-fit and healthy during her pregnancy, she has not ‘bounced back’ to her pre-baby shape yet – but if you think that she cares, well, you are very much mistaken!
You see, Kristen is not about to put herself under pressure to live up to some ridiculous societal expectation, and she wants mums everywhere to adopt the same attitude.
A post shared by Kristen Sullivan (@krisrosulli) on
And so, after much thought and a little hesitation, Kristen took to social media to share the true reality of life postpartum.
A split-photo shows Kristen three days before giving birth to Gavin, and then three weeks after having him. There’s clearly no baby in the second shot, but Kristen’s belly still sports a definite bump.
“I’m sharing this to show mums that, sometimes, it doesn’t matter if you’re thin, ate right, and exercised during pregnancy,” she explained.
“Sometimes, your body grows in such a way that simply doesn’t allow you to ‘bounce back’ in frigging three weeks.”
Kristen’s post comes just days after actress Nikki Reed shared a photo of herself looking incredible in a crop top, just weeks after welcoming her first child. This is perfectly fine, of course – and Kristen knows that; she just wants others who are not ‘snapping back’ to know that that is just as OK, too.
Concerned that she may have diastasis recti (separation of the abs), Kristen is going easy on her body right now.
“I’m giving my body a chance to breathe. Did you SEE how far my belly stretched?! There is no race to bounce back, mums. We’ll get there!” she added.
Yes, yes, yes to all of this! We simply adore Kristen’s attitude to her postpartum body – everyone should take a leaf out of her book.