I went out to pick up lunch for me & Tarzan today. While I was standing in line to order my sandwich a girl walked in holding a baby. I didn’t think too much about it. Her baby looked to be a couple months younger than Monkey & she was holding him in her arms.
A lady came in behind her and said, “Is that your baby?” The girl replied that it was her baby. The lady asked if it was a boy or a girl & was told that it was a boy. Then the woman, quite rudely I might add, asked how hold the girl was. Obviously I was quite shocked at the balls of this woman to ask a question like that. The girl replied that she was 19 years old.
Eh, whatever. Old, young, rich, poor, black, white – It doesn’t matter. While an older mom might have more experience with being around kids, I don’t think that it’s fair to think that a young mom won’t be a good mother… Or whatever the older woman was thinking.
But then the older lady asked how old the baby was. The young mom said that he was 2 months old.
At that point I started to think about Monkey when he was 2 months old. As my mind started to remember that that was the time when I started feeling better about him & started to like being a mom, I was interrupted by the older lady telling the younger one how fabulous she looked.
Yeah, that’s right. She just had a baby two months old & was rail thin. Like Heidi Klum doing the Victoria’s Secret show after just having her baby. She looked perfect.
It was at that time where I turned around & faced forward. I kept hiding behind my sunglasses & thanking my lucky stars that Monkey wasn’t with me. I didn’t want to be compared to the Heidi Klum of post-pregnancy.
You might also want to read:
- You can just call me “Fat Cousin Itt” (pregnancy weight related)
- Secrets on how to lose weight and belly after pregnancy: Tarzan interviews Jane about weight loss after your baby
- Day 2 of losing pregnancy weight: What does an orgasm have to do with the gym?
- Day 1 of going to the gym to lose this pregnancy weight
- Postpartum Exercise + Flabby Baby Weight = A LONG Way To Go!
= a post from Mommy Jane 
= a post from Daddy Tarzan
{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
This girl might have been really nutritious with what she ate during pregnancy, or she could have worked her butt off (literally) getting the weight. I know one woman who was in good shape before pregnancy, only gained 25 pounds during due to extremely nutritious eating and pregnancy exercise classes, and lost 15 when she delivered. The rest was gone when her little girl was two months old, and she looked exceptional.
That’s funny! I think a lot of it is just genetic. I’ve NEVER gone right back to my pre-pregnancy body right away even when I was 21 and had my first. It takes me at least 6-9 months to start feeling “normal” again. I also have secret bad feelings about those who go right back without even trying. But to be honest there’s probably more of us in this club than in the Heidi Klum club!
I have to chime in here…….um hello, do we as mothers have to ALWAYS be scolded for not being a gym rat or eating celery all day. I tried to eat as healthy as I could during my pregnancy, and still gained 39 lbs. Now granted, non stop morning sickness that lasted through out all of my pregnancy definitely added to the lbs that only protein and starchy foods could alleviate. (Late night pb& j sandwiches were the only thing that kept me from throwing up my prenatal vitamins). There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t look at my flabby tummy and sigh of the state of my body now. At 2 1/2 months I still have 21 lbs to lose, and I know that I will get there eventually but I HATE it when I have to be compared to another Heidi Klum look a like. Like there isn’t enough pressure I put on myself already?! Remember that some women are wired to have the weight fall off of them. And no matter how unfair it seems to be, it takes more sweat and effort to for me to slim down. I have to remind myself that it took 9 months to gain it and it will take longer to lose it. Especially since I am breastfeeding and can’t lose too much at once. And no, breastfeeding hasn’t been the weight loss plan I had hoped it’d be. Don’t get caught up in comparing yourself to someone else, Lord knows there’s enough pressure on you already. You’ve just brought a beautiful boy into this world, and its a lot of work. (note…. this is actually a good reminder for me as I type this out, thanks for letting me gab)
There, I’ve said my peace. Peace OUT
Some people just have all the luck. My mum was the same with both her kids. I was not so lucky… I think a lot has to do with genes and a lot has to do with your pre-pregnancy weight too.
I was a size 2 before I got pregnant, ate really healthy and worked out like a fiend. I kinda went crazy during my pregnancy and gained 40 lbs. (and that was only at 37.5 weeks, when my son was born!) Most of it came off right away, but I’m still about 7 lbs. above my PPW. I work full-time outside the home, though, so forget about having the time to exercise if I want to see my boy at ALL. I’m fine with the extra weight for a little while. As long as I’m healthy.
I should be exercising right now but I am reading this instead
Yeah I am with Paige. Though I have to say after my first I dropped the weight rapidly. Here it is 11 months after my second, and I’m still hanging on to a good 12 pounds. Even when I eat like a rabbit and work out it hangs on. I’m hoping when I stop nursing some more will fall off. Fingers crossed.
I HATE it when people look at me and judge me and my age when I am out with Aaron. I am 27. I can’t help that I look 21. I look young, and I hate being judged for it. Last Christmas I was at the mall shopping with Aaron and I was at one of the little booths in the mall and the lady was cooing at Aaron said “how old are you?” to Aaron and I said his age and she looked right at me and said “And how old are you?” Very condescendingly as if she were my mom asking me where I was last night. I looked at her and coolly said 26. And she said “Oh.” And shut the hell up.
As for the skinny mom at the store, some women/girls are and always be skinny. I had a friend who had a baby at 19 and when I went to visit her 6 weeks post partum she was skinnier than me! She’s one of those ones that 100 lbs soaking wet. It’s just the way she is. The rest of us sadly have to work for that. Having a baby gave her horrible stretch marks from her stomach to her thighs so didn’t luck out in that department.
It helps to be so young.
I gained 55 lbs with Julian, and I haven’t weighed myself since my 6 week checkup. At that point I still had 25 left to lose! For some it’s just easier than others.
When I was pregnant with my daughter (my 1st baby), I gained around 20kg but eventually I was back to my usual weight 6 months after I breastfed her. Now with my son I gained around 19kg, and after I breastfed him for 2 months plus I’m loosing approximately 11kg… I’m so happy everytime when I breastfeeding him (wondering how much fat I’m loosing on each feed), so keep up with breastfeeding Monkey (You are on your way to loose weight)!!
I had my baby 2 days before you had yours. I gained 65 pounds with the pregnancy (yikcs!). I’ve been working out since I got the go ahead at 6 weeks postpartum, and I’ve lost 46 pounds so far. I was a size 4 before, and I’m a size 8 now. If I can get down to a size 6, I’ll be happy with that. Still breastfeeding away…
People don’t stop doing that – I’m not young anymore (sigh) I turned 39 the day before the new baby was born (spending my birthday in labor was not high on my wish list), but my first is 19. I don’t look particulalry young anymore, especially since the arrival of this baby, but people still are rude & ask if I was 12 when I had my first.
As for the weight – I’m avoiding the scale but hitting the gym for an hour every day after I drop the bigger kids off at school – hopefully it will start to pay off soon. I was getting way too obsessive when I was stepping on the scale & wasn’t eating hardly anything trying to get the number down. I only gained about 16 lbs during the pregnancy, and at last count I had lost almost all of it, but depending on when the baby has last nursed my weight fluctuates ALOT. My question is how is it possible to weight the same amt as I did before pregnancy, but not be even close to fitting back into my jeans????? So unfair!
Hi,
Thanks Jane for the info. on the swing. Here in Canada, it’s going for $200 before taxes…I may venture into the States for some cross border shopping before Christmas and perhaps save a few bucks. I’m very curious to see if Natty will like the swing as much as Monkey loves his. She did have an Eddie Bauer Bouncenette, but she never liked lying in it…It went back. She isn’t a fan of lying down in a stationary position, so I’m hoping something like the swing will keep her entertained.
As for the baby weight, I still have 10lbs. to lose. I can’t fit into any of my pre-pregnancy pants
, tops seem to be too short on the bottom 
, but my sweaters seem to fit fine. My hubby and I have agreed to buy a treadmill for Christmas. Before the baby, I used to run all the time and found that this was one way to lose weight and tone up those trouble areas. I’m looking forward to getting back into this routine. As for dieting, I don’t diet. I enjoy my food so I try to eat everything, but in moderation. No snacking after 8pm!
Don’t worry, you’re not alone. I’m even doing Weight Watchers AND exclusively breast feeding. I’m only 4 lbs from my pre pregnancy weight, but I started 20 lbs overweight. Add to that, that my body just changed. I don’t fit into my pre pregnancy jeans or fitted pants because my hips and butt dimensions changed, I guess.
I’m just going to keep trying to be fit. But I’m proud that my body brought me my precious little boy. And that’s the way I prefer to think of it.
I am nursing a 5 month old. I couldn’t keep seem to keep up the milk production while also dieting. Does anyone have any tips for me?
Try Weight Watchers. They have a program for nursing moms. I haven’t lost milk production at all.
Wow, I just read your Twitter, and I can not believe you are thinking of not getting a picture of Santa due to germs. Come on woman! WTH? You gonna keep the kid in a bubble?
NMN, go away!!!!! My child was just exposed to h1n1 and it’s scary as hell! Especially when they’re too young to get the vaccine or the anti-viral! Do you have children?? If so, how about you worry about your own!
Ok, sorry Jane. Getting a little fed up with that person. I was one of the lucky ones who lost 20 lbs by the time i came home after birth (gained about 35 lbs during pregnancy). I am currently below my PPW, but my jeans don’t fit the same (Laura, what IS up with that??? lol), and i have hella stretch marks evrywhere as my child was a bigg’un and lots of loose skin on my tummy (thanks c-section). So you take the good with the bad lol I just look at it this way…it’s my battle scars from creating such a precious life!
NMN – Yes, I plan on keeping Monkey in a bubble, preferably one that he can grow into so that we don’t have to keep getting bigger bubbles. So what if he never has human interaction – at least he will be protected from germs. Is there something wrong with that?
I was going to use those really big ziploc storage bags!
Or use a space saver bag, that way as he grows you can just suck the air right out of it and Monkey wont take up too much of your space! Perfect for travel too!!!
I think you could try those space saver bags. They make really huge ones that a kid could totally stand up in.
I think its genetic. I lost the baby weight (34 pounds) in a few short weeks, but didn’t really try. A close friend of mine (younger than me) is working her ass off and has 20 (of 26 total) pounds to go.
It isn’t fair to you to compare yourself to someone else. Your body gave you Monkey. The weight will work itself out, but in the meantime just keep in mind that the extra pounds were worth it for him.