The first few times I went to visit a newborn baby in the hospital, I was always a bit shocked by the size of the mother’s postnatal belly. At least it prepared me for my own first postnatal belly…it was nothing compared to my third. I still looked about 7 months pregnant! So you can understand my 2-year old’s confusion, she kept giving my belly kisses. I’m like “the baby’s already out, sweetie”.

This being my third pregnancy I already knew I’d be wearing maternity wear or at least loose-fitting clothes for weeks or even months after the delivery, damn postnatal belly! From previous experience, the shopaholic in me also knew better than to shop for new clothes during this period, given said postnatal belly. But I’ve reached the stage where I can wriggle myself in almost all of my pants, and although I must admit the skinny ones aren’t all that comfortable, I sometimes choose fashion over comfort…

Since I’m breastfeeding and don’t want to have to practically strip naked in order to feed my baby in public, my wardrobe is still a bit limited. Especially dresses (unless they’re button-down) are a no-go. I am still to find the first nice breastfeeding-friendly top or dress, they’re allways so ugly. I can’t say I’ve been searching very hard though as I’ve found a way to breastfeed wearing my normal clothes. I did stack up on very stretchable tank tops to wear underneath my sweaters and tees: sweater goes up and top goes down. Easy peasy. Why didn’t I think of that with my first baby?

I should start postnatal physiotherapy…the thing is I’m just too lazy…I’m secretly hoping this little belly will magically disappear. If it doesn’t, do I start exercising or buy a bigger size? Perhaps I should lay off the sweets but dieting, seriously?! I feel like I’ve had to mind what I eat and drink for so long already, first during pregnancy, now during breastfeeding. Boohoo, I know, poor me. I did voluntarily choose to become pregnant and I also chose to breastfeed all of my kids (I even insisted on it, though the start was difficult and painful in two out of three cases). So you could say I brought this on myself. As much as I detest dieting, I forgot my kids are actually forcing me onto a diet just by being around. As a mother of small children, I’ve gotten used to eating my food when it’s almost cold, that is if I get a chance to eat at all. I feel like I can barely sit down at the dinner table since there’s always someone who needs something: “Water!”,  “Spoon!”, “No, that’s not the right spoon!”, “Help!”. Worst case I’m feeding all three kids (including an infant) at the same time. I also don’t want to encourage my kids to eat too many sweets so I either have to do it secretly or not at all. And when I try to eat something healthier like fruit or yoghurt, my kids always want a taste and end up eating it all, as if I can deny my kids food, let alone healthy food…