Hello Hive fam! It's a pleasure to be writing again.
Today I want to talk about my postpartum weight gain as a first time mum.
Body before pregnancy
I had my baby about ten months ago. I'm sure that various cultures have different practices before, during and after child birth.
Well in my own culture, after a woman is delivered of a baby, an older woman comes around to bath the baby and massage the mum's belly as well. Very hot water is used for this practice. The hot water massage is a step towards losing that extra postpartum tummy.
Although it is a cultural norm, it is not done on mothers who had a cesarean birth and this was my case. I got helped with bathing the baby, but I didn't get the hot water massage.
Also, a lot of people would come around, everyone has an opinion on how motherhood should be. Most of them speak from experience, and I found some to be true, but a lot of them do not apply.
I didn't lactate until after about thirty hours and it seized after a few days. The doctors said that was because of an antibiotic I was taking at the time. But I was told, (not by a doctor now), that I needed to eat a lot of food to be able to produce enough breast milk.
I was made to drink a lot of pap, soups and all. These things were prepared and served in large portion bowls and I was forced to finish all of it or at least, almost all of it.
As a first time mum, I listened and kept eating and taking in so much food, just because I wanted my baby to have enough breast milk.
With time, my appetite grew and I began to eat “well”. Now instead of losing weight, I began to add so much weight. It still didn't help me to lactate as much as I expected, given the quantity of food I was consuming.
With time, the same people who encouraged me to eat a lot for my baby to have enough milk supply are the same ones telling me to lose weight. Most of them even try to body shame me, but that's by the way.
Believe me when I tell you that it takes very little effort to gain weight compared to how hard it is to lose it.
After childbirth
Also, you don't need to eat a lot of food to have sufficient breast milk supply. One thing I noticed is how well I lactated when I decided to be intentional about my diet and cut down the portion of food I consume.
Meanwhile, I must say, it is really difficult to keep up because a lot of times, eating feels like filling up an empty hole. One has to be disciplined most of the time.
It's been four months since I decided to be intentional about my diet and I've lost 6 kg since then, but I know that I need to do more and I am willing to do anything to achieve my weight loss goals.
I recently got myself a meal replacement supplement by a popular brand from Sweden. One would say it's a little expensive, but I feel like it's worth it. It's used to replace one or two meals of the day. It's plant based with high protein and fiber. I got it because of the beautiful reviews I saw on it.
I'm excited to commence use of it and I'll hopefully share my review here soon. My goal is to regain my previous weight or even lesser. I miss my nice body and shape.