OMG that is NOT my vagina!

Last year I was contacted by a marketing company, Skinstore was bringing out a new range called Mama Mio and they were looking for quotes from mommy bloggers about how their bodies survived pregnancy.

While I was really flattered and all I couldn’t help wondering why on earth they contacted me? Like what exactly is their definition of “survived”? Because while I am still breathing and my heart is ticking I fail to see how else my body survived pregnancy.

I did the best I could and instead of highlighting any of my bulging body parts I focused on being grateful for the amazing things my body has done by creating new life… and being accepting (read between the lines: resigned) to my new body after birth.

The truth is that when I first got the email I stared at it for a few minutes and then I started laughing thinking about some of the things I have heard moms say to me about their bodies after birth. I started giggling imagining sending them some of those one liners.

A couple of moms and myself were chatting outside the school one morning and the discussion turned first towards child birth, like it so often does, then to our bodies after birth.

One of the moms, quite a conservative one too, suddenly shouted out “Yes I know, I was so like OMG that is NOT my vagina”.

There were a few open mouths and a couple of stares before we all burst out laughing.

She said yes it may be funny, but it is sadly true. There is someone else’s vagina on her body and it is the strangest feeling.

We all want to maintain good vaginal health, and after birth it can look and feel like our body is not our own, yes the vagina too!

Now I am really grateful because although I may have had an awful first pregnancy, a really long and painful 42 hour labour followed by an emergency c-section… my whopping 4.12kg baby did not exit through my vagina changing it for life. If you’ve had natural birth check out this article on 12 tips to improve vaginal tightness.

Another really funny conversation, also about vaginas and child birth, was a close friend’s sister telling me that she tore during birth and when they stitched her up they did a botch job, leaving her with a permanently crooked smile as she puts it.

Now while thankfully my most intimate bits are in tact I can’t say the same for the rest of my body at all. I regularly catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror and wonder what happened. It is like seeing someone else that is unfamiliar and strange to me, but my head is on that body!

I look back at my life and I can distinctly remember the day I became aware of my own body and started feeling insecure about myself. I would put something on and then think it is too skimpy and it showed my “fat” stomach.

I can’t believe how I felt so self conscious for so many years and only now that I am truly bumpy and lumpy can I appreciate the fact that I was worried over absolutely nothing.

If I could go back to those days knowing what I know now, oh my I would live in a bikini in summer without a care in the wold.

Anyway, I have been trying something out and I have managed to lose 3 cms from around my waist and a total of 2kgs in the last month, and bear in mind that was during the festive season with all those family dinners and eating out!

I will be monitoring how it goes for a while longer before I share the details with you mommies!