08/28/2026
for all my mamas & mama to be’s ✨🫶
Let's be honest, the pressure to "bounce back" post-partum is a little ridiculous. I know it, you know it, yet we still feel it right?
Well imagine that pressure, but as a gym owner. You spend 9 months growing this tiny little angel that keeps you up all night kicking your bladder, you gain 70 pounds just to give birth to a 9-pound linebacker, then you have your 3rd c-section.
Society gives you a few weeks but then it sets in. I still have 40+ pounds to lose, my face still looks swollen, and why the heck do I still have residual "fat" on my stomach. All while being up every 1.5 hours feeding and changing a baby, managing your business, keeping the other kids fed and well and trying to find a glimmer of normalcy.
Now, I don't know about you, but the quicker I can fit in my pre-pregnancy clothes the better my mental health goes. Which is INSANE. Like girl, take a breather. But the overwhelming pressure we put on ourselves just fuels that ideal bounce back. Not to mention the "shot and tox" culture we live in where every person on our Instagram suddenly has a whole 6 pack 27 hours post-delivery, how hard it must truly be to be rich rich.
So, here's where it escalated quickly. Of course I eased into working out after my c-section. Sure. Absolutely. NOT. I jumped in headfirst because, well, yolo. And you know what I did, I separated my abs. Hello Diastis Recti. Hello 11 months post-partum looking like I have a beer belly because my abs decided they didn't like being besties anymore.
So now I did not give myself a choice, I had to stop. I had to slow down, give my body grace and realize that I just did an absolute miracle. The spiral this put me in mentally was insane, literally. Because what do you mean I have to rest, I have to do physical therapy, I have to stop being Temu wonder woman? Sheesh. Thankfully my OBGYN knows me so well and lovingly let me up my meds ❤
The thing is that this is exactly what I needed mentally and physically. I needed the setback; I needed the physical stopping point. Because it made me focus on what is actually important not only postpartum, but in life. My kids do not care if I am in pre-pregnancy clothes, they do not care if mommy has fat on her stomach, they care that I can run around with them, pick them up, spend time with them. My husband still thinks I am beautiful - shoutout Donald. And not a single client has ever once looked at me and said dang girl you still haven't bounced back.
So here is the reminder I needed and that you may need too. Even if you're still breathing in the newborn stage, you're a year PP like me, or your youngest grandchild is a senior in high school. Just like Rome was not built in a day (because women didn't build it, clearly) neither are we. It is okay to give yourself time, to give your mind a break, and to love that body that grew literal fingernails. And if you ever doubt if you still got it, go to your local gas station and see how many old men's heads you turn.
XOXO,
K
📸 Kala Reynolds Photography
