MUNDE: Hips don't lie, loose teeth, big feet and other lies (and truths) about the post pregnancy body

 I'm not opposed to cosmetic surgery; if it makes you happy, do you. I, however, drew the line and figured it's not for me after hearing one content creator say in an interview that it's more painful than child birth. 

Now, back to the realities of the post pregnancy body. 

On the matter of hips, Shakira sang 'hips don't lie', but don't believe the lie that your hips and bum will grow round after giving birth. Just as varied as there are women's bodies pre-birth, the same applies postpartum. For some women, their hips get round or rounder, but for some, they stay the same or get smaller. I fall in the latter. I've mentioned in a previous article that I lost the kilos I gained during pregnancy fast... And some... ie I'm slightly smaller than I was prepregnancy and those few kilos lost seem to have been from my hips! 

Another fact about the post pregnancy body is that you could end up with weaker teeth or lose one... Or two. Luckily that didn't happen to me, but I have a few friends who lost a tooth during pregnancy or after. This is due to the baby using your calcium reserves. That's why it's important to take a calcium supplement during and after pregnancy to save your teeth and bones.

Another reality many mums face is having to change their shoes after gaining a shoe size. Yes. You can actually gain up to a shoe size during pregnancy and the feet don't shrink back.

Then there's that matter of losing one's hairline. It happens for some, while for others it's the baby who ends up losing hair. You might have seen, or maybe you have a baby who was born with a healthy head of hair and then all of a sudden it starts disappearing and by month 6 it's only a little patch left. It happens and for the baby, it's attributed to sleeping on the back (which is recommended to reduce risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)). 

I've written about other realities of the postpartum body in a previous article, which you can read here.

What other myths and realities have you heard of or experienced personally?

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