5 things most mothers don’t know about having a child

I did not know any of this before I had a child but then I started researching and reading up on it and these 5 things surprised me:

Their genes are in you, literally

This makes sense to me.

Your body is basically housing a foreign set of DNA (the combination of your partner and yours) without rejecting it, and there is no way you can do that without your child(ren) leaving a little bit of themselves in you even after birth.

This means that some of Baby Bun (his genes) will always be a part of me, just as he has half of my genes.

Your stomach separates and takes some time to heal back (if ever)

I learned this and was so surprised! Baby Bun is nearing 3 now, and I still have a gap in my stomach, and it is clinically called diastasis recti.

How to check how big your stomach gap is:

Lie down on the floor

Put your fingers right into your bellybutton and push down

Pretend to do a half sit up and feel around for how big that gap is, and if it is more than 2 finger widths wide, you should be careful about doing exercises that could keep that gap open.

!!!!!

This means if you want to work your abs, you need to lean against a wall and push up on that, rather than doing a real pushup or even a yoga pushup.

Your bladder needs to be re-strengthened with Kegels

Your baby jumping like there is no tomorrow and your uterus is a trampoline?

Yeahhhhh.

This wreaks havoc on your bladder. You need to re-strengthen those bladder muscles so that you can still spontaneously peeing all over the place when you sneeze, by doing Kegel exercises.

My mom never knew this, and always thought she was weak for not being able to hold anything in her bladder for any period of time.

You may have your child literally suck all of the fat out of your breasts

I went down a cup size and I am not the only one.

Baby Bun didn’t latch, but I pumped like a mofo for 7 months, and after my milk ducts shrank, I had gone down another cup size.

I am smaller than I was before!

I had no idea this would happen but he basically sucked all the fat out of me, and I ended up with a smaller bust than before I had Baby Bun.

Other mothers I know, said the opposite happened and their children made their bust double in size even after stopping breastfeeding, Cassie I am looking at you!

Your entire body changes in weird ways

My shoulders have widened by at least an inch, and my hips are slightly wider even though I had a C-section.

Other mothers have experienced things like hair loss or gain, curly or straightened hair, spots, more or less acne, and so on.

EVERY mother changes differently.

WHAT CHANGES HAVE YOU NOTICED AFTER BIRTH?