We asked 5 mums about their relation with their tummy!

MUM, Motherhood

Our tummy is a sensitive part of our body and the moment we are about to become a mother even more.

We asked 5 mums about their relation with their tummy. From their teenager years to the moment they became pregnant. When your stomach becomes the center of everything.

And after? How do you feel today?

We asked 5 mums about their relation with their tummy!

We invite you to read 5 personal mummy tummy stories:

Sonia
The moment I first heard about this theme, I felt a bit hesitant. After all, has my tummy ever occupied my attention enough to write about it? Then, though, I started thinking and tried to re-connect with my body, and I began to remember things.
When I was little, my tummy was a kind of emotional barometer. Whenever I was upset, worried, or nervous, I immediately felt it in my tummy. I would bet that many of you have had similar experiences. Even now, when I am
anxious, I feel a knot in my stomach and a fluttering, churning feeling that I try to control, albeit not always with a lot of success. However, as a child, I didn’t know that these two things (emotion and belly) are connected, so I often worried that there was something wrong with me and my tummy.

As a teenager, things did not change much for me. When my period came, but I never had a lot of symptoms, and when I did, I turned to warmth for comfort. My hands on my tummy always worked to calm down any discomfort I felt.

The big change occurred, of course, when I became pregnant for the first time. Then my tummy became the very center of the universe.

Hahaha. I guess every woman feels the same way? Special! And I remember observing all the changes that were happening in those first few months, and they felt strange. I have to say that I am a bit of a control freak. I like routines, order, and having the “illusion” that I have everything under control. Thus, this pregnancy process that was happening inside me kept me amazed and feeling a little rebellious. How could it be that I did not have any say at all about what was happening to my body?
However, as the months passed by, I learned to trust my body more and more, and I felt that my tummy knew how to do what it was doing. I trusted that it was ok to pass that control to the core of my body, to the belly. And I remember thinking that my tummy was pure nature, where a real miracle was taking place. It felt so special to me.
My hands were on my tummy all the time, along with the hands of others who wanted to feel and share in that miracle.
At this point of my writing and remembering, I am so emotional that I my eyes are wet, and I have to breath and pause.

These days my children are already getting big. My tummy is not so “beautiful” and firm as it was, but it was my children’s home for 9 months, and it remains the most special and miraculous part of my body.

This article has reminded me that I have to listen more to my body and my tummy because they know how life works.
Thank you Peggy for asking me!

 

Melissa, Eden & Zoe
Growing up, I didn’t think too much about my tummy. It was just like any other part of my body, and that was about it. I did a lot of swimming when I was young, so mostly I remember seeing my tummy in a swim suit or in a bikini when we were at the beach.
As a teen and young adult, I carried on swimming and did other sports, so my tummy was pretty flat (those were the days!), and I still didn’t think about it too much. And my tummy didn’t get much attention from me in those days, because I was more focused on other parts of my body like my knee (sports injury) and skin (acne is pretty hard to ignore!).

When I was pregnant for the first time, I was quite fascinated with my tummy. Just watching it grow and stretch for months. However, it didn’t really occur to me that my tummy would be much different after childbirth. At the time, no one had told me that it doesn’t magically snap back to the way it was beforehand! It was quite a shock after my first daughter was born that my tummy was still out there for quite few weeks afterwards. I was busy with taking care of my daughter to pay too much attention to my tummy, but I did think about it more than I had ever before, and I did miss my pre-baby tummy.

And now, fast forward to three daughters later! There have been ups and downs in relation to my tummy since having my first daughter eleven (!) years ago. I still have a “mummy pouch”, which is testament to having gone through three pregnancies.

As I look down at my not so flat, and not so toned tummy, I know that when I feel properly motivated, I can work out etc. and say bye to my pouch, but in the meantime, this is the tummy I have, and I am back to not thinking too much about it.

 

Kate Neath
To be honest, I never really “liked” my tummy when I was young. I used to think it was too soft and pudgy. I seldom wore bikinis (even though I grew up in Australia) and I never really felt confident about showing it. It wasn’t until I started to do Aikido in Japan (I was about 23 years old) that I started to feel more confident about my tummy and my body. Aikido is absolutely fantastic for strengthening the body, and it was the first time I felt like my stomach was flat and toned. I wasn’t thin, but I felt strong. And I remember after I competed in the Aikido competition in 2006, I went to Australia for Christmas (which is summer!) and it was the first time I felt confident in a bikini at the beach. I didn’t have any boobs, but I had a toned stomach! Haha.

Now, my tummy is completely different. I have had 2 children (both caesareans), and my first baby was over 4kg. My tummy was completely stretched, to the point that after birth, I kid you not I could see my intestines moving around under the thin layer of skin that was left. I cried and cried when I saw it. I thought I would never get back to “normal”.

After my first baby, I did exercises to “strengthen” my abdominal muscles, but after my second baby I had given up. I didn’t have time to exercise, so I simply let my body heal on it’s own. Now, my stomach has some strength back, and I have returned to Aikido. To my surprise, I can still do the tumbles and exercises in Aikido, which I thought I would never be able to do again.

 

Dimitra from Little Pop Up
This topic is very interesting to me and the first time in my life to actually get to talk about it. My tummy…probably the most troubled part of my body. I never understood why, but since a young age my stomach gave me very hard times.

In school, every time it was stressful my stomach would hurt. Later on, while being a teenager, it got so much worse. For one year we where running to the doctors with my mother to understand the problem as besides severe pain, I also had cramps and much more. The doctors did not find something and informed me that it was a reaction to stressful moments and situations.

For the very first time in my life, during my pregnancies, it all changed! It was magical…I actually had a great relationship with my tummy and I loved it. The life it had inside was the most amazing experience ever.

However, after that great time went by, the story repeats itself. And unfortunately in very important moments in my life, my stomach will always be twisted. But another great thing that has happened to me through this experience, is that I am very understanding every time my kids say: Mum my stomach hurts, can I stay home? Maybe it is a sign to take it slow, cosy and with lots of hot chocolate, cuddles and talks.

 

Fenke, Social Media Manager Luna
First of all – I am not one to worry too much about body weight, cellulites and those things. Having said that, I also have to admit that I can basically eat anything and hardly gain any weight. Enter: my two pregnancies.

Although I try not too worry too much about those things, I stopped wearing a bikini after my second pregnancy. I am really ok with my belly, I still wear high waist pants – if you know what I mean. But of course my skin is not that tight anymore. Having had a belly piercing in my twenties, does not contribute in a good way either. But I simply refuse to think too much about it. And above all I refuse to discuss weight or body issues with other women – if there is not a „real“ problem.

On the other hand I am also not a big fan of this whole body positivity movement. Don`t get me wrong – no one should be judged by appearance. And we probably need some people to promote this way of thinking. But I just think there is so much more in life to talk about, than how we look naked.

 

Photos: Getty Images / Michael Heim
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