Warning essay: Hi Ladies, I would like to introduce myself. Im Jess (Maddisons cousin). I will be by her side helping support her through this journey of creating this dream project of hers! Maddie and I were sitting in my lounge room today overwhelmed with how many women this has touched and continues to touch. I have a 3 1/2 month old son and have battled mental illness for the past 10 years however a lot of people I know will be shocked reading this because they may have never known. Planning a family was a very scary thought for me having to alter medication doses, my fear of how mental illness could affect my parenting, the chances of PND and most of all struggling with the massive physical changes on the body going on through pregnancy and after postpartum. I am a girl that wears my heart on my sleeve and have tried to be as open and as honest as I can with the people around me about how becoming a mother has changed me. After having my son I have constantly looked in the mirror and criticised myself for the way my body now looks. I have been my own worst enemy. It has really had me down. At first when Maddie asked me to be apart of this project I honestly thought I wasnt the right person to help her. I was thinking I was using my current look for motivation to loose the 20kg I have put on to go back to my pre-baby body. I have felt so drawn to the negative flabby, saggy, cellulite, 2 sizes bigger body and forgotten to accept that it took 9 months to build my precious baby and I obviously needed some extra protection. We spend so much time praising our children creating a healthy environment and sense self esteem for them that we, as mothers, have forgotten about ourselves. Our children are not born with the capacity to judge what our bodies look like, its a learned behaviour from us. Why on earth have we created an expectation upon ourselves to hide what nature intended us to do? I actually believe my husband finds me more attractive being a mother. So this is why we need to stop and change our attitudes. Carrying a child is the most amazing task Ive ever completed. I want to support you all and strengthen you as you all get comfortable loving yourself just the way you are. Im no hippy and Im not about to march the streets in my underwear claiming liberation however I do want to vocalise my own journey and affirm any struggling mother you are not alone and as a community we can support each other. Thank you Maddie for bringing this into the light. This is a not for profit project, thank you all already from the bottom of my heart. I look forward to meeting you all over the course of the next few months. Maddie and I are going to be in the process of meeting and creating in the next few weeks and we will get back to you asap with more project info. In the meantime keep spreading the word. We need all the help we can get! Jess xx
Posted on: Mon, 26 May 2014 11:37:35 +0000
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