Real bodies features…
Kirsty McKenzie hates the way people use the word "real" across social media, especially when talking about body image.
"Almost every time it's used, it leaves the rest of us open to the feeling that our bodies, or our journeys are somehow less than others," she wrote on Facebook. "That because our bodies don't look like someone else's version of 'real,' that we're not doing it right, we either haven't struggled enough, or we should be doing it better (it goes both ways)."
To this mom, her postpartum body after giving birth to her third child is just as "real" as any other person's and shouldn't be hidden just because it doesn't like look someone's version of perfection. "It's just as real as the person rocking her pre-pregnancy jeans and super flat stomach at one week postpartum," she wrote. "We're ALL real. Just a different version of real."
In order to prove her point, Kristy shared raw photos of her postpartum body to hopefully change social media's perception of how new moms should look. "So here I am, third time around at four weeks postpartum. My recovery is slow, slower than it has been the last two times . . . and that's OK," she wrote. "Each of my own pregnancies and recoveries has been different, I can't compare them, because the way in which I found myself at this point has been entirely different . . . and if I can't even compare my own three experiences, then how can I compare mine with someone else's?"
One month postpartum looks different than it did after her previous pregnancies and Kristy wants other moms who feel the same to know that they are not alone. "Four weeks postpartum this time for me means rounded and soft squishy tummy, lots of bruising still (both internal and external), an abdominal separation (which I haven't had properly checked because of the internal bruising), and a brand new scar marking Hannah's grand entrance into this world," she wrote. "Most days I feel like I'm just a milk machine, my body still really belongs to her, and the thought of getting back into it (exercise) is still well beyond me."
However, instead of hiding her "real" self, Kristy has learned something she didn't realize during her other pregnancies and wouldn't have learned based off of her social media feed: her recovering body is incredible. "At this point, almost every aspect of me has been changed again, changed permanently," she wrote. "And the best thing is, this time around, quite frankly, I could care less."
