Intro to Post Prego Fashion

(Picnicking with Gage at 4 months – 2010)

The scene: Target. 1 month old baby in the cart… bawling.

The Mama: Feeling clueless and overwhelmed about my new life.

The Mission: Operation buy a few new tops.

The Outcome: Mission aborted. One quick glance at all my options and instant anxiety attack. I bolted my buncakes out of there. Never been in and out of Target in under 5 minutes flat. World record time. Maybe it was that prenatal bootcamp I did? Hmm…

I felt completely defeated.

With the baby crying all the way home, I started crying right along with him. A good hysterical cry-fest for the both of us.

I can remember thinking, “It doesn’t have to be this way. I still want to be ME even though I’m a mom too. Since when have clothes freaked ME out? Husby will be happy to hear the new news. That’s beside the point, here. What’s going on with me?”

I felt out of control. Then and there I made a commitment.

A commitment to MAKE myself try. Try to take care of myself again (in small baby steps).

By baby steps, I mean, a gradual process. Pre-baby life doesn’t have to come back on the day you get home from the hospital. In fact, it’ll never go back to how it was before. But that’s a good thing, remember? Life, even with it’s changes, is always better than its past (read my thoughts about this topic HERE).

Afterall, you’re learning to reinvent yourself.

It’s something I’m still working on being okay with. Anyone who knows me, knows I try to have EVERYTHING in order ALL the time. So for me, it’s always hard to put my life on hold for a bit. You know… to just exhale and let things go for awhile. A good friend told me, “Look at this as a the perfect time to watch a movie (even all day if needs be) cuddling your new baby in your pj’s. Just enjoy it.”

For a time, it’s healthy to adjust to your new life with your new baby and not focus on ANYTHING else (not the cleaning, not the laundry, not cooking, not how you’ll ever lose the baby weight, not the wardrobe, etc). Give yourself a 2 month “vacation” per say, to just figure you and your baby out. That ALONE is enough to tackle and feel good about.

But then after those 2 months (give or take depending on your individual circumstances), it’s time.

You’ll know when that time comes…

It’s like all of a sudden you wake up one day and things seem to fall into place and you think, “Hey!!! I’m actually DOING it!” It’s that proud Mama moment you realize you’re well on your way.

That is the time.

The time to admit to yourself you can DO THIS whole mom thing AND take care of yourself too.

Seize the opportunity of feeling successful… for getting to this point. Let it motivate you. It can become the pivotal point where you decide you’re going to be your best… not only for your family, but also for yourself.

Set goals. For me, that meant: 1) trying my hardest to be dressed by 9:00. 2) to know what we’re eating for dinner the whole week. 3) to do my best to keep the baby on his nap/feeding schedule 4) a quick clean once a week. Those were my goals after my, “A’ha it’s time to kick it back into gear” moment with my first baby.

This go around, it’s taken a little longer than the 2 months and my goals are somewhat different. Point being, my goals don’t necessarily need to be your goals. Just make personal goals when your “a’ha” moment happens.

If not, then that fleeting moment of triumph can become a missed opportunity. And the urge to let “vacation” override for months on end can become your new life: chaotic, dysfunctional, discouraging, and frankly out of control.

Many of you have been asking and waiting for a post pregnancy fashion post. But in efforts to not overload or bore you in one day… it’s coming tomorrow: 3 tips for helping you attack any post pregnancy fashion fears.

See you tomorrow, my pretties!

And remember, it’s about taking one day at a time.