Today on "Today"

This morning on "The Today Show" a group of moms were featured for fearlessly taking photos of their postpartum bodies to help encourage other moms and protest the oftentimes unrealistic figures of celebrity moms.  How refreshing! 

I have a petite frame to begin with and never had a weight issue (except during freshman year of college - who didn't?!) and I will admit that I welcomed the newfound curves of pregnancy and embraced it. But after having my son and not being able to fit into any of my pre-pregnancy clothes and wearing leggings everyday - size large no less, I realized that a post-pregnancy body can really have a toll on your self-esteem and mood. Plus seeing pictures of celebrities bouncing back with a blink of an eye adds salt to the wound. I will note one celebrity that does not make me envious is Jessica Simpson.  


On top of that, the body warping back into its pre-pregnancy state creates more ailments  than I remember from pregnancy. 


Our culture focuses so much on the pregnant body and glorifies it, which is wonderful and ought to be recognized as a miracle. However when it comes to the postpartum period of a woman's life it's all about the baby, sometimes leaving the mom neglected. But what we might forget in all the new baby excitement is that the post-baby period is one of the most life altering moments of a woman's life both emotionally and physically. If we look at traditional cultures there is much to learn from their support system of women taking care of the mother as much as the newborn baby. The structure of today's family and society makes it difficult to follow traditional practices, but I think a shift in mindset will help. 

One of the most thoughtful gifts I received was a pair of comfy pajamas in my new size (LARGE!). It was touching because I had run out of comfy things to wear especially because nothing fit me post-baby. Another friend came over and folded my laundry. I was so exhausted from lack of sleep and not to mention crashing on adrenaline that seemed to spike everytime I breastfed (every two hours), the simple act of folding my laundry was heaven-sent.  I remember thinking, "this is what I need not another onesie!" 


My advice to friends and family of new moms is to celebrate the newborn with her and take on a mothering the mother attitude. 


Following traditional Korean practice, my mother actually came over to my apartment in Manhattan from Queens everyday to help me out for almost a month. More on that on another post.  


Here's an interesting article in the NYT about traditional Chinese postpartum care, which is similar to Korean practice that my mom tried to follow. 

(Photo: ctworkingmoms.com)