"Bouncing" back after a baby --- ya right!

I have been talking with so many friends lately about this desire to bounce back post pregnancy both in the physically arena and in our productivity.

Before I say what is on my mind, trust me I all about getting back to they gym and eating a healthy diet for both your recovery after pregnancy and to help with energy and breastfeeding! This is not a post about just letting yourself go and eating garbage and not being active. But this time around for me that awesome "fluff around the middle" has hung around a lot longer -- in fact it's still there! After my first baby I was back in all my jeans shortly after and I really didn't know what all the fuss was about with losing weight after a baby. I know that is going to sound SO bad but honestly it just went away, no work really required! I even loaded up on food I wouldn't normally eat due to "breastfeeding" haha. It has been humbling this time around to have expected all the weight to melt away like last time and to see it still sittin there! This isn't about me seeking some kind "you look great" praise from you all, I just want to express how that pressure to bounce back to our pre-baby bodies is not only unrealistic........I'm not sure it's healthy. 

We for some reason crave comments like "wow you don't even look like you've had a baby!" or "look at her you can't even tell she's had a baby" and I realized -- Do I even want that?
I have had a baby!
2 babies! Do I really want to look like I did before my body had carried and delivered two children? Sometimes I do! But I have also been coming to terms with while I want to lose the rest of the weight and be healthy.....things will never look the same, and that's ok. For those of you that have had children you know what I am referring to! That little pillow around your belly button is the hardest to get rid of if ever :) 

I am still of course getting my butt back in the gym and getting back into eating foods that give me energy but I have been mulling over these ideas lately of why do I want to look like I haven't had a baby when I have?

This also HUGELY applies to life after a baby. I have been reading a lot about other cultures where a women who has just delivered isn't allowed to cook for weeks, or go in public for a month, or have people over. She is supposed to be at home, resting and bonding with her baby. In the US we are so productive based that we want to be "up and at it" as soon as we can after a baby. Myself included! I did NOT want to be one of those people lounging around doing nothing -- but what is the cost of going at it too soon?

• Your recovery will be longer since you aren't allowing your body the time it needs to rest and heal.
• You will feel emotionally spent and frazzled because you really are trying to accomplish too much! 
• You could even have complications with breastfeeding like clogged ducts, mastitis, etc.......just ask me I know. ;( 

Be ware of craving those compliments about "look at all she is doing! I can't believe she just had a baby!" I have been challenged lately to just take time with my children. Sit and read books, do puzzles, go for a walk. All the things you "need to get done" will still be there later. 

This is all to say, you know yourself! And if your an extreme doer like me then you need to take a break, take a breath, and relax. You will still have all those things to do after you've rested! I have found such joy

and peace in letting things go that I would normally have stressed over getting done.

What are your thoughts on this?! Do you think too many women do too much? Or do you think too many women take it as an excuse to not do things that need to get done?