THE EXTRA POUNDS DON’T BOTHER ME
Lottie Waters, 32, is an art teacher from Crewe, Cheshire. she and her husband James, 31, a bar manager, are parents to oliver. she says:
IN THE six months before my wedding in August 2019, I went running four times a week and lost 2½st. I was thrilled to get my princessstyle wedding dress taken down to size 10.
James and I have been together for ten years and always planned to start a family right away, but even so it was a shock to find out I was pregnant a month after the wedding.
I was delighted, but it did cross my mind how much my body would change after I’d worked so hard.
As my bump grew, I found it liberating not to have to worry about counting calories. By the end of my pregnancy, my bump was so enormous, people were asking me how many babies I had in there.
The first few weeks after the birth, I was so amazed I’d had a baby, I hardly even looked at myself. My tummy was still very big though and my feet and ankles swelled up so much I could hardly squeeze into flip-flops. Gradually the bump went down, but it feels like my waist and ribcage has expanded a few inches to make room for Oliver, and I don’t think those will go back to the way they were.
Before I was pregnant, I never carried weight on my stomach. Now I have a pillowy Mum-tum. My whole body feels softer and rounder. Over Zoom calls, older relatives have asked: ‘Have you lost the baby weight yet?’ I tell them not to be so cheeky! Being pregnant doesn’t make my body public property.
I’ve even put the scales away because I’m not even going to look at them. I’m now around a size 12/14 and would like to go back to a size 10, but there are times when I look at my wedding dress and can’t imagine ever getting back into it.
When I go back to work in a few weeks, I’ll be wearing loose and flowing dresses rather than the old shift dresses I used to wear.
I’m just so proud that I’ve produced such a gorgeous little boy that — for now — a few extra pounds really don’t bother me.