Does this pregnancy make me look fat?

16. Read 30 books I haven’t read before (in addition to the above) and blog about them. (18/30)

Does This Pregnancy Make Me Look Fat?
by Claire Mysko and Magali Amadei

I think this book definitely needed to be written.  I have seen too many off-handed comments from women I know (either well or just tangentially) about how they felt fat while pregnant and how it was gross to be that heavy.  Many times this would be said in front of me before I lost weight, which would always make me think, "Hello, do you not realize I weigh more now than you did nine months pregnant?"  I never knew how to respond beyond, "Huh."

So I think a lot of women struggle with the bodily changes that come with pregnancy, especially if they've never gained weight before (lucky them).  For me, the book was a bit "101" - meaning that it felt like taking an introductory course in something that I've already been studying for a decade.  I'm used to seeing the numbers on the scale go up/fluctuate.  I've had stretch marks for fifteen years.  I already saw my breasts drop (and had them lifted).  There wasn't much in here I hadn't already experienced and thought about at length.  If anything, I always thought that pregnancy was a time where other women got to experience a little of what it was like to live as an overweight woman.  What I've realized happens sometimes, though, is that these same women who have body issues and strongly negative ideas about fatness then translate those thoughts to pregnancy and see their pregnancy that way, which I find sad.  I think all pregnant women comment about "feeling huge," especially during the last trimester, but there's feeling huge and there's feeling like it's a bad thing (instead of just uncomfortable or inconvenient).

That's why I'm glad this book exists.  I think it could be helpful to a broad spectrum of women so they could enjoy this fascinating period of time (pregnancy) instead of feeling negative discomfort and thoughts about it.

Comments

[Lori @ I Can Grow People]

For most of my pregnancy, I felt really good about my body--for the first time in a very long time. It was like I was finally letting my body do what it was made to do and that felt good. But towards the end, I just felt awkward. There were things that I couldn't do without help (like putting on and tying my shoes.) Asking for help with tasks that I was able to accomplish on my own when I was only a body of 1, some how made me feel like I failed. BTW, I have issues with failure, so I am sure that is part of it.