Friday, March 26, 2010

Dressing Your After-Baby Body

Warning: This post contains graphic (although fully clothed) photos of a woman's body 9 days after giving birth. It's not always a pretty picture.

Have I told you I feel like a million bucks? It's been 12 days since I gave birth to our perfect baby boy...

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...and I have absolutely no symptoms that I just had a baby. I'm full of energy, nothing is sore, and at last, I can bend over again! Well, I take it back. I have experienced baby blues of sorts, such as crying over the fact that I didn't have the forethought to tune the 9-year-old's sax to the piano before we performed for his solo festival and crying when I heard THIS SONG, because it reminded me of the 13-year-old boy's grade school graduation, when I cried and cried because I had had mastitis while nursing the twins and it reminded me of the 18-year-old's upcoming graduation from high school and the fact that soon his childhood will be over and have I taught him everything he needs to know to be an adult? ...and so forth....

Oh, and when I stand for too long, it feels like a few essential organs, which shall remain unnamed, may fall out at any moment, but yes, other than those things, it feels as though I was never pregnant!

Because I feel so fantastic, I decided to go to church 7 days after I delivered. This is not at all unusual for me. I figure if I feel good enough to sweep my kitchen floor, there is no reason why I shouldn't go to church. My only concern was that too many people would want to touch the newborn's face. To stave off this problem, when someone would come over with a meal, and ask how long I would be taking off from church, I would tell them that I didn't intent on taking off any time from church, but that I would hope that people would have the consideration to not touch the baby's face or breathe too near him.

When you live in a small town, you only have to say this to two or three people before the whole town gets the memo, and it worked. Of the around 300 people, in both wards combined, that could have touched the newborn's face, only one person did, and she was from the Spanish-speaking ward, so the memo could have gotten lost in the translation, and that's okay. The 8-year-old girl held him as I played the organ, I nursed him during the talks, then went straight to the children's primary room and sat in the back, where I continued to nurse and hold him for the next two hours, as the Primary president had made sure I didn't have any responsibilities with the children for the next two months. Thanks, Jeni!

Now, the question is, and the reason for this post..... How does one dress a body that delivered a baby only a week before? It's not easy, but let me show you how I do it...

The key is LAYERS. Now, I'm not going to claim that I actually looked good at church, but I looked as good as was possible. The following photos, however, were taken at 9 days after delivery, on the day I accompanied the 9-year-old boy on his sax for his solo festival and cried over it, but the only thing different between this outfit and my church outfit was that I wore a skirt instead of pants. Here we go....

My first step was to put on stretchy black maternity pants and a stretchy pink shirt, for color...

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As you can see, wearing this alone out in public would have been unacceptable, as I look like a stuffed sausage. Now let's see what happens if we add another black stretchy top, as black does a great job of hiding fatness...

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Although this top is black, the fatness is still visible, the sausage look still being sported, so let's add a black blazer...

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This is much better, but pot is still showing, so let's add a long colorful scarf, one the matches the pink shirt...

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Ah, there we have it. I still look like a large, matronly woman, but the sausage/pot is well-concealed and I am now ready to go out into public.

P.S. I also made sure to wear large, bulky earrings to detract even more from the sausage/pot area...

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The added bonus of this outfit is that it is very modest to nurse in, as the scarf does a great job of hiding anything you might not want any member of the bishopric to see while on the stand.

Want even more coverage? Put your baby in a front-carrying sling, like this one from my favorite sling store, hotslings.com...

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(Yes, if you click on the hotslings link and buy something, I get paid, so thanks!)

I promise, no one will notice any sausage/pot when you're wearing a cute baby in one of these. And isn't he the cutest?...

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Now, to be honest, I think this look....


....is cuter than this look....

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...but if you don't have a 9-month-old fetus in your uterus anymore, you've gotta do what you've gotta do! So far I've lost 20 pounds (19 more to go), so hopefully in a few months I'll be sporting cuteness without the belly! Thanks for listening.



On 365 Days of TV-Free Toddler Time today:
It's Cereal and Pipe Cleaner Time! Click the pic to see.




On life in mexico {and other places} a picture a day today:
{a bonfire}

28 comments:

Amy Snow said...

You look great! I like the pregnant one too, though. I think preggo people are adorable!!! And the sling is beautiful!

Jessica Stier said...

You are so cute! That's a great post pregnancy outfit.

Whenever I have a baby and feel frumpy I always tell myself that the cutest accessory I could ever wear is the baby. It kind of helps. Somedays not as much as others though! :)

Mom2my10 @ 11th Heaven said...

Jessica, so true! I'm loving wearing my baby!

Keeley said...

I just stopped by your blog after being away forever - to discover you'd given birth to a beautiful baby boy!!! Congratulations!!!

And not only that, you look absolutely fabulous! You do a great job at dressing and looking beautiful. I need to take lessons. =D

Java said...

Wow you look fantastic!! I love outfit! You don't even look like you've had a baby...let alone 9 days ago! Good for you! Your little guy is adorable too! Congrats!

BarbaraJo said...

you always amaze me. the bar is pretty high now. i just have one question...how is nursing through all the layers?

Mom2my10 @ 11th Heaven said...

BJ, don't EVEN talk to me about raising the bar! You are the QUEEN of looking good after having a baby! So to nurse, all I had to do was lift the two stretchy shirts to get to my bra. No prob! And I love wearing a blazer when I'm breastfeeding because it hides anything that is showing from the sides!

Grammy Suzzy said...

My dear...You look AMAZING! The before is cute...but the after is stunning...and so soon! You should feel very very proud! I still don;t look that good...and my 6th kid is 17!

Unknown said...

You look beautiful.

Sallinger said...

Adorable!

Victoria Anne said...

So he is the cutest little baby ever... well until i have one :P but he is sooo sooo cute! And i'll def. have to get a sling!

Debi said...

I love your ideas! Where were you when I was having babies and struggling with what to wear??
Great advice - I enjoy you blog and will pass it on.

Jb said...

I only gave birth to two kids, and that was 15 years ago, and I doubt I ever got back to looking as good as you do in these pics! Congrats on the baby!

Pati @ A Crafty Escape said...

You look fantastic and just have the ability to make everything look so easy- I love you for that!

Sallinger said...

Congrats on the new baby, you look great. Love the blog!

Emily Q-F said...

You look amazing! I love your blog. : )

I do have question for you...little backround first: I am due to have my 2nd baby in late September, but we live in AZ so it's still very hot that time of year, so what would you suggest for the hotter months? I'm assuming you have a great outfit for those too! Or I'm hoping at least!

Thanks.

Jamie H said...

Too funny! It's amazing what a few layers and a scarf can do! You look fabulous!!!
Again, how come your great tips come after I'm done having kids?

Katie said...

watch out some of those baby slings are being recalled .....INFANT DEATH

Mom2my10 @ 11th Heaven said...

Katie, you're right. I'm so glad they haven't recalled any of the hotslings, but when I use it, I'm ALWAYS checking on my baby to make sure his neck isn't positioned incorrectly. It has me paranoid!

Mom2my10 @ 11th Heaven said...

Emily, I think layers are the thing to do in hot climates, too. I know where you're coming from. I've lived in Louisiana, El Paso, and Mexico, and it is often hot!

What I would do is wear a stretchy shirt underneath, then wear a light-weight button-down shirt over that, and maybe even a light-weight scarf. This also offers good coverage while nursing.

So what do you think? Does is sound doable? The last time I had a baby in the summer was 13 years ago, so hopefully that helps!

Ashleigh said...

Ha! You're cute. I'm six months pregnant with my first and wondering if I'll EVER fit into my pre-baby clothes again. I guess the clothing dilemma really continues even after the baby comes huh? Oh well - like you said, a perfect baby boy makes it all worth it :)
xx
ashleigh

trooppetrie said...

this cracked me up. sausage belly. mine probably looks this way and my baby is 4.5 YEARS old. I love the way you taught us to dress. Thank you for telling me you get paid if i click on the link. I think lots of people have these on there blogs and I would definitly click them if I knew to

Nat's said...

WOW! you look awesome, I don't look that good and I gave birth 14 years ago!

After reading yor post on looking good after giving birth, I went back and had a look at my after birthing pics....they are now packed away for personal viewing only.

Stephanie said...

Yoou look great, and yes he IS the cutest! :)

Carol said...

You look fantastic! So perky looking! I love your tips for hiding a post baby tummy. Hmm, could work for me on hiding a few to many comfort foods this winter! lol
I'm glad you're feeling so good!

Sharon said...

I think you look fabulous!! I haven't been to your blog for a bit so I missed the birth of your little guy...congratulations!!!

CreativeCat said...

Super cute & inspiring! (This coming from a new mom with a 6 week old who has recently lost any desire to do her hair since giving birth) I'm finding it frustrating to go from feeling so cute with my baby bump...to my new belly frump! "What's the point" I hear myself mumble in the mirror. But you make it seem so easy!

CreativeCat said...

Super cute & inspiring! (This coming from a new mom with a 6 week old who has recently lost any desire to do her hair since giving birth) I'm finding it frustrating to go from feeling so cute with my baby bump...to my new belly frump! "What's the point" I hear myself mumble in the mirror. But you make it seem so easy!