Hi Everyone

I actually figured out how to help my hormonal acne. I had really good skin though the pregnancy, but afterwards it became terrible. Before it was always bad around my period. So what helped was to not touch my face. Especially when I get spots, I have a habit of touching my face. It seemed simple so I thought why not give it a go. Turns out it worked! I’m so happy that it’s under control again. I really didn’t know that was a cause.

I’m happier with my skin and my weight now. It’s really strange the effect that thinking badly about yourself has on you, especially to do with your appearance. It’s hard to describe. Visually I can see that there have been changes but my mind hasn’t caught up yet. In a way, part of me still feels like it was before. I’m sure it will wear off over time.

It was really hard during the pregnancy with my weight. I actually preferred being overweight to being pregnant. The worst comment I got from someone was that I looked pregnant when I was overweight. Whereas when I was pregnant, some people for some reason felt like they had free rein to comment and describe in colourful language how big I was. This happened to me so many times, regularly. It was quite upsetting. I understand that people didn’t mean it in a bad way but it still hurt. I felt very insecure with all of the comments.

I’m glad that things are getting better now. I hope that things will be okay for when I go back to work.

I’m still doing my best to keep up with my physiotherapy.

I’ve been reading and learning about the links between tiredness, overstimulation and anger. Fascinating stuff!

I’m thankful for Peter’s advice the other day. It was very helpful.

I noticed that sometimes I’m tired but not angry and sometimes I’m tired and angry. I asked my husband why he thought that was. He said “Ah you’re like our son. Overstimulated!”. That was very insightful of him. I’m thankful for that too.

I’m glad also that my husband has been communicating more during disagreements over things that bother him. For a long time he just said that I didn’t listen or that he didn’t feel heard. But no matter how I listened it didn’t help him. It’s really helpful now that he is giving me very clear descriptions of things that I can do to help him. It’s helping him to feel heard and listened to during disagreements.

I’m glad that our son is getting used to his formula. I hope he grows up to be happy and healthy.

Wishing everyone all the best! 🙏❤️

Having some difficulties with the body positivity again. A lot of people make negative comments about people who are pregnant or who have recently been. There is a lot of pressure to return back to the previous weight.

I couldn’t walk with the last month of the pregnancy, or much after the birth because I had major surgery. Then I hurt my knee and I couldn’t walk much because of that.

People don’t have realistic expectations. I don’t really talk about when I’m suffering, so how would they know? And I’m the only one responsible for taking care of my son during the night. So I’m exhausted and tiredness makes people eat. I’m doing the best I can right now to survive. That is all I can do.

In the spirit of body positivity. I’m glad that my stomach took care of and protected my child during pregnancy. It’s a miracle of life. I’m glad that I can walk a little more now. Being outside is really important to me. I’m glad that I can take care of my son. I remember when I was a child I didn’t really understand why adults would complain about being overweight. I thought it was perfectly fine for a mother to be overweight. From my perspective, it was softer to hug. My recommendation as a child was to dress better. Because it’s easy to feel bad when you wear unflattering clothes. I think if you dress well it doesn’t matter what size you are, you can still take pride in your appearance. Perhaps I should take my own advice.

I’m thankful for my beautiful family. And thankful for the progress that my son is making with the bottle. I’m thankful that we have enough to eat. I’m thankful that the medicine is helping my dog to feel better because she has been sick. I’m proud of myself for working on my exams, even though it’s difficult to find the time with a baby at home.

I think it’s hard having taking care of a child because I like to help people. It feels like so much of my life now is centred around my son. I miss helping people. He deserves all of the attention and all of the help in the world. I know that it is important. I didn’t have that and I know how badly it screwed me up. I’m glad that I can do that for him. But I do miss helping people. It helped me to feel better about myself and negate the voice in my head telling me that I wasn’t good enough. Perhaps that is something I need to work on. Valuing my inherent goodness.

Sometimes my day feels small taking care of a child. Cleaning up. Feeding. Entertaining. To many people these are just regular everyday things. But sometimes regular everyday things are the most important. What a child values is consistent care and kindness and it helps them with so many challenges in their life if they have that stable base. I care about the little things. Like being positive when it is time to clean him up and not making him feel bad about being messy. Asking for permission to change him. Allowing him the space to protest if he doesn’t like something and listening to his wants and needs. Cheering for him when he achieves his goals. He gives me the biggest smile and the cheering encourages him to try and do it again.

On the one hand, my day is small but on the other I feel like I save him from himself on a regular basis. Like a sentinel I’m always there watching, trying to protect him. The boy is a lemming and even though nurses say that kids are resilient and stronger than we think. I’d argue that they’re not. It’s important to be safe.

I wonder how I got through my early life of being a baby. It’s a miracle because my mother didn’t take care of me properly.

Hi Sophy

Thank you for your kind words! Definitely, it is amazing being nature’s 3D printer. Truly it is a miracle of life. I know my body is trying it’s best.

I have been losing weight now that my knee is a bit better. And the dysphoria has passed. It’s a very strange experience that I didn’t expect. I think that it is because people feel like they are allowed to freely comment on pregnant people’s size because they are not ‘fat’. It still feels pretty awful when they do though, and because it was so constant especially in the third trimester, it really got in my head.

When I have been overweight people were actually more polite and all I got was the rare person asking if I was pregnant. Maybe a couple of times in my life.

Love and best wishes! ❤️🙏