08/18/2020
39 weeks preg with miniRAD - 2 weeks PP
Documenting this journey has been very important to me. I found myself so frequently reflecting on my pregnancy with Royce wishing I had more photos to bring me back. I LOVED being pregnant with him. I was hardly uncomfortable, even at the very end, and fondly recall practicing warm slow flow on my due date. We moved so gracefully together..it all felt so natural, but I was still painfully insecure about my growing body and didn’t want to ‘bother’ by asking him to snap a single photo once per week 🙄. Call it experience or just less sh*ts given in general..actually 💯 it’s definitely that I now give zero f!* . I’m oh so proud of what my body has done to grow and nourish not one but two extraordinarily magnificent little creatures but I’ve learned grace and surrender.
Mamas ask me ‘can I still do yoga at such and such weeks pregnant?’, ‘what did you do to stay healthy?’..and all I want to say to you is this. First of all, ask your healthcare provider, not your yoga teacher. I may have a BS in kinesiology&health science on top of my YTT but I can only speak to my own experience and as much as I love you, I am not fully qualified to tell you what you should or should not be doing. That said, I want to see you celebrate the many phases of your life. I want you to stay well in whatever way helps you feel empowered and supported. I want you to take the picture of yourself two weeks postpartum and be PROUD. So very proud of the body that created a loving home for another magnificent life. Proud of the body that perhaps made certain sacrifices- gained weight..lost weight..grew tiger stripes..got wider to accommodate a mini. Do CrossFit..or yoga, or run. Or don’t. Just walk if that feels most appropriate. LISTEN to your body, don’t force anything onto it because it’s what someone else did or because you think you should to fit a certain image. Eat the food, move your body, be WELL. It will all work out in the end, I promise, but you must first begin by respecting the vessel that was gifted to you. It starts and ends there. This proud mama of two is excited to explore movement soon in this new body ✌🏼. @ Wilmington, North Carolina