Reasons I’m proud of my mum tum

In our BISS Post-Baby Body series we're exploring how real mums feel about their bodies since having children. Katie Davis, blogger at Mummy in a Tutu

, proves why a mum tum is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of...

Looking back, I don’t ever remember a time that I was happy with my body, which is a bit stupid really because if I was as thin now as when I first thought I was big I’d be laughing all the way to the shops! You know the pattern, we diet, we put on, we diet, we put on… and I hate to admit it but I am an emotional eater – celebrations and commiserations, whichever it is there will be food involved.

Then I got pregnant and my whole perception changed - I have never felt so comfortable in my own body than when I was pregnant. I adored it. No sucking in the tummy, no strategic dressing – I wore horizontal stripes and tight tops loud and proud! Then I gave birth and instantly slipped back into the old mentality of trying to cover up my body, especially when rather than dropping any baby weight I actually started to gain a little.

I began following a strict diet, and yet the pounds weren’t dropping off like I thought they should and the black loose clothing went back on. I became rather upset because I wanted to be the kind of mummy that my daughter could be proud of. I wanted to take her swimming and to the beach but I was going to look more like a whale than a mummy wasn’t I?

Then I stopped and realised, I was letting these negative thoughts about myself stop me from doing the things I wanted to do with my daughter and she was missing out – NOT HAVING THAT!

I signed us up for an expensive swimming course, knowing full well I wouldn’t want to waste the money, donned an all in one swimsuit and braved the pool and you know what? NOTHING HAPPENED!

No one looked, no one jeered and no one other than my daughter laughed and that was because she was enjoying splashing mummy so much. I looked around and all the other mummies and daddies, big and small, were too engrossed in their own little ones to notice my mum tum and it hit me… I shouldn’t be ashamed of it!

I have wanted a child for as long as I can remember and was starting to worry I would never get to have any. Now I have my beautiful daughter and I have the mum tum to prove it!

I don’t think we women are EVER happy with our bodies but we should definitely be proud of our mum tums – we grew a baby, we birthed a baby, we fed a baby and we’re raising a baby. That is what my mum tum says to me!

I am proud of my mum tum because it gave me the most precious gift I have ever received and I intend to give us every experience together I can. So I say: Long live my mum tum!

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