Body Image Blues

Me? Body Image Blues?

I have never really had body image issues. In fact, I’ve been quite lucky to be the same weight and size for the past 10 or so years, regardless of what I ate or how much exercise I did (hereditary, thanks Dad!). But body image is a constant theme in Cosmo Pregnancy, with more readers writing in about this topic than any other. I have heard countless stories about women feeling like they’re losing control of their rapidly changing bodies. And to be honest (pre-pregnancy), I used to think, ‘But you are so beautiful. You are carrying a miracle baby inside your body – why do you even care if you put on weight?’ But then I would hear tales of strangers patting their pregnant bellies, asking if they’re carrying triplets or being told they’re “huge” or “tiny”.

I was actually beginning to think I had escaped the barrage of comments and opinions, but then I got my first taste at 20 weeks. I did a maternity fashion parade on Mornings with Kerri-Anne and Mum called me afterwards to let me know how great I looked on TV and how much weight I’d put on already! Bless her… Next, a colleague’s eyes almost popped out of her head when she noticed how “massive” my boobs were. On the other end of the scale, Dad didn’t even notice my belly until I pointed it out, then he said, “Oh yeah, you’re probably going to have a small baby”. (He lives interstate and hadn’t seen me until I was 24 weeks.)

The best was my brother, who greeted me with “Whoa, Eddy Murphy!” referring to the flick Big Mamma. The only consolation was being able to tell him to get stuffed! It was then that I decided I needed to work out exactly how I was going to react to all of this. My solution? To laugh. So today when a male colleague yelled out “Hey Fatty!” from down the corridor, I did exactly that. I had a big, fat laugh!

I figure I still have another nine weeks till the ‘birth day’, which could be another five kilos, so I’m sure I have plenty of laughs ahead of me! But it is so interesting to hear how other pregnant women cope. Which is why in this issue of Cosmo Pregnancy (on sale Monday, August 18), we decided to feature pregnant women discussing how they feel about their changing bodies, as well as how their partners feel. We often forget to include the blokes, because all the visual and physical pregnancy signs are focused on us, but I was really surprised with some of their answers. Check it out and let me know how you’re dealing with unwanted body image comments, I need a good laugh!

xfranki