“This is postpartum. This is mushy belly, jiggly booty and bowling ball boobs”
Mum-of-three Sandy Ballard shares glimpses of her family’s life on her Instagram account, The Ballard Bunch. Everyone’s beaming and gorgeous and making memories together. It’s all very feel-good stuff.
“This body is pool ready”
But it’s a slightly different sort of post that’s struck a chord with other parents recently. Sandy posted an update about the changes having children has sparked in her body, writing a tribute to the power of self-acceptance.
The northern hemisphere is in the midst of summer right now, and some mums are grappling with the idea of feeling comfortable in their togs. Sandy admits she’s one of them, but says she’s determined to shake off negative self-talk about her (brilliant) body.
“Nine months in, nine months out. Or something like that. This is postpartum (x 3). This is mushy belly, jiggly booty, and bowling ball boobs because breastfeeding,” Sandy wrote.
“This body is pool ready. Is it skinny? No. Is it what it used to be? No. Did it bounce right back? No. But it’s a body and it’s at the pool. So it’s pool ready.”
Many other women will relate to Sandy’s thoughts. Phrases like ‘beach body’, ‘summer bod’ and ‘thigh gap’ place insidious pressure on women and promote a ‘beauty ideal’ which excludes many. What those expressions don’t recognise is the power of women’s bodies and the ways having a baby can transform them into something fresh and new.
“It grew three giant babies,” Sandy said, recognising the hard work her body’s done. “It stretched to capacity and stretched some more. It nourished two of those babies round the clock.”
“I used to spend hours wishing away everything about how it looked. All the stretch marks and imperfections. I could name them off at the drop of a hat.”
“I put things off until I lost the weight. Then I realized I was missing out on their lives. These little people I love so much,” Sandy continued.
“Then I wanted to sit out and cover it up and hide it. Why? Because society tells us we should be one way or have a beach body.”
Life. Be in it.
Sandy says she’s not going to sit it out anymore, because she’s sitting out … her life!
“After my third baby I finally realised I already have a beach body and full arms and a full heart,” Sandy wrote in her emotional update. She also noted that her attitudes to her own body would directly influence how her kids see themselves.
“Postpartum is beautiful. For every scar and stretch mark and wiggly body part, there’s a woman desperate to have those lines, desperate to have given birth,” Sandy noted, counting her blessings. “Here I am with not one but THREE healthy happy babies.”
“Don’t waste time praying to be skinny ’cause it ain’t gonna work, trust me,” this brilliant mum summed up. “Spend time playing in the pool with your kids.”
“They won’t remember your lack of thigh gap, they will remember this moment when you had so much fun together. I am working hard to love the skin I’m in.”
