Like a car accident

Wow, a lot of people share in my social media rage! It's funny how we are all so annoyed by hashtags when those weren't even a thing 10 years ago. I think 10 years ago my biggest annoyance was when people didn't mute that "Boo-BOOP" sound that AOL messenger generates.

I often have a post idea or two in drafts and I figure now is as good a time as any to pull out a (hopefully) crowd-pleaser. Even before I became pregnant with Faith, I used to love looking at people's "Body After Baby" posts. If it was good, then it was nice to know that pregnancy wouldn't treat my body like the Mongols treated Baghdad. If it was bad, then it was like driving by a car accident when you know you shouldn't look but you can't help it. Now that I've had 2 kids, I like looking at those kinds of posts because there nothing that women like more than comparing themselves to other strangers. That way I can either pat myself on the back for looking better, or if she looks amazing I can think "That bitch".

I finally remembered to take pictures of myself today so we can revel in the entire transformation. I hope you like bathroom pictures.

Here we are at the beginning, 9 weeks pregnant. You can tell it's summer because my hair is going nuts.

Let's skip all those boring months and go right to the end, or as I call "Oh my damn!" level of pregnancy:

My bathroom is so classy

Here I am the day I after I got home from the hospital (2 days post birth). It's Halloween, so that's why the toddler is dressed as a crazy unicorn cowgirl.

Can you tell I'm on narcotics? 

Because I can't hold a thought, I didn't take any magical progression pictures after that one. Skip forward 3 months:

At least we're in a different bathroom here?

Oh wait, I forgot that I'm a blogger.

Who needs to breathe?

For the most part, my body has settled back to "normal". That's a lie. In reality, most of my jeans don't fit. Well, they fit but only if I remain standing at all times. My hips are wider than pre-pregnancy and I've gone up a size for jeans. I still have a fair amount of loose skin in my stomach area and if I remember correctly with my recovery from having Faith, that takes almost a year to go away. Most of my shirts don't fit well anymore either because of nursing. The important thing is that all my running gear still fits, other than sports bras.

I've been really bored with my limited wardrobe because I didn't want to buy new stuff since I wasn't sure if I was done shrinking back down, but I think this is as good as it's going to get. The nursing makes my body hold onto a little more body fat than usual and my hips may never go back to exactly the same width. Don't worry, the prize for accepting that I'm not a size 4 anymore was shopping. I even convinced my husband that I needed new boots to balance out my booty.

I'm sure as hell not dieting. All I want to eat are huge amounts of protein (I think it's a breastfeeding thing?). This was my dinner from a few nights ago:

Lamb with chickpea curry

Between nursing and running, I out-eat my husband at every meal and not by a little bit either. The other night he had one chicken thigh and some rice and I had three chicken thighs and I could care less about the rice (don't worry, I still ate some). I don't even know who I am anymore. I used to be all about the carbs!

I hope you enjoyed seeing my post-baby body as much as I enjoy when other bloggers do it. If were horribly bored, I apologize. Peanut feels your pain.

Remember before the internet when people had to have talent to be widely read?

If anyone wants that chickpea curry recipe, here is the link. It was amazing, but it makes a ton. Either halve the recipe or be prepared to freeze some of it! I didn't modify it at all except to use powdered cumin instead of whole cumin seeds because I didn't have any. Don't be afraid to include the peppers, it makes so much that it's still not spicy in an unpleasant way.

Wait, am I food blogging now? Don't worry, this is just a blip because the curry was that good.


What are were you more interested in, the recipe for that curry or how I look after popping out a second kid? Don't worry, it can be a tie.