I was very slim and quite fit before pregnancy, and though I didn’t put on lots of weight during pregnancy (as in, additional to baby and fluid), it still took me over a year to shed the extra fat that I’d deposited during the pregnancy, and return to my pre-pregnancy size.
I didn’t stress about my weight/fat distribution in and of itself, not too much anyway, because the first year of my child’s life was quite stressful enough already without being upset by my clothes not fitting. I accepted it would be a short to medium term thing, and dressed accordingly for my new slightly pear shaped proportions. Bought some cheap but nice jeans from Uniqlo, wore lots of longline tops and cardies, and generally made my peace with it. Sometimes I was a bit down (couldn’t fit into my nicest dresses for friends’ weddings or parties, for example) but it didn’t last long, mainly because my DD would keep me busy and distracted! I was back in my normal tops a few months after delivery but bottoms took longer. I’m back in my pre-pregnancy jeans and most of my tailored workwear now.
Lots of women drop any excess quickly if they’re breastfeeding, but I wasn’t one of them. I know plenty of other breastfeeding/mixed feeding mums who it practically just melted away for though.
Amyway, congratulations on your pregnancy, and good luck with little one when he/she arrives! If you’re excessively tired, have you had a recent blood test to check on your iron levels? Might be worth asking your midwife or GP to arrange a blood panel if you haven’t been checked yet.
You’ll need lots of nutrient-dense food to help your tissue and bones and brain recover from pregnancy, so dieting in the post-natal period probably isn’t the best thing you can do for long-term you. Spend a while being conscious that you’re recovering from having given up lots of your reserves to build your baby, let yourself build back up properly. It’s a good idea to have a mindset of being as physically active as you can be for strength and cardiovascular fitness rather than for weight management (you might find you have a baby you need to walk miles with for naps anyway!). And a few months down the line, if you’re still bigger than you’re comfortable being, you can start thinking about getting back to your comfortable size. But the chances are that it’ll all be fine, like it was for me and for PPs. As you’ve already identified, it’s important that you don’t let it become a source of stress. You seem to have your head screwed on about it 😊
I hope you have a relatively stress-free postnatal period and can relax about your body, even if it’s not as perfect as you’re used to it being pre-pregnancy. It’ll have done something unfathomably brilliant by growing your baby from two cells into a whole human being. If you decide to breastfeed or mixed-feed, it’ll still be doing something brilliant for a long time yet. And if you’re not breastfeeding for whatever reason, then your body is still going to be doing lots of brilliant things every day when you’re looking after your baby. Your body is yours no matter what it looks like, the important thing is that it’s as strong and healthy as it can be in your own individual context. However it looks, you can take pride in all the things it’s done and will still do for you and your little family x