by Deidra Romero posted in Parenting

There?s so much pressure on women to get their pre-baby body back after giving birth. It?s unreasonable, unfair and adds to the mountain of body shaming women experience. We have a fascination with how quickly women can snap back.
I definitely felt this pressure after giving birth both times. Breastfeeding is often presented to moms as a great way to help lose the extra weight. While it is true breastfeeding burns a lot of calories, we can't assume it will work that way for everyone.
Every woman's body is different.
Personally, the weight was not falling off like the books and articles promised. It did happen for my friends, but for me, my body held on to those last few pounds like a life preserver. I tried to watch what I ate. I exercised. I meal-planned and even counted calories but the weight only budged slightly. Still, I managed to make peace with my post-baby body. I had more important things to worry about.

Then miraculously when my 12 months of breastfeeding concluded, the weight actually did fall off. I would wake up feeling thinner. My clothes started fitting better. And even though I wasn?t dieting (or exercising!) the number on the scale kept dipping down to a normal range for me.
How can this be" This is NOT what everyone said would happen.
I did what every millennial mom does. I went to my Facebook mommy group. And yes, it was true. A lot of those moms dropped the pounds after they finished breastfeeding.
A BabyCent...