Thursday, February 20, 2014

Post Pregnancy Body Reinvention: Why Swimsuits are Empowering.


It is ten days until my due date, and though there are a million things I should be thinking about, I can only focus on one thing today: swimsuits. Spring and summer have always, always been my most favorite time of year, and during this time, each year, I absolutely, unequivocally live in swimsuits, which means that not only do I love the summer and spring time, but I love being outside. I love to play tennis, go to the beach, the park, camping; I love everything that Florida has to give this time of year, and I have a million swimsuits for these occasions:


Unfortunately, last summer, due to the constant feeling of seasickness from the early stages of pregnancy, I only stayed out in the sun until mid June, and for the rest of the season, I stayed in an enormous bed, which felt like it's own raft being sent out to sea. Tim even got us season passes to Adventure Island, which we only used once, and I have not seen the right side of the sun since then.

But in the next few weeks, all of that will change. Though I may have a wild Spring Break (because it is the week after Langston is due), I know that at least a part of it will be spanned outside, next to the pool, falling asleep in a sun chair at my parent's house, while Langston sleeps inside, and we wait for Tim to come see us at lunchtime (because his office is 3 seconds away from my parents' house), and I will be sun sleepy and happy, and Langston will probably be sleepy-sleepy and hungry.

And my images of the summer revolve around taking Langston to the pool. Him, floating around in his little yellow raft, and me swimming right next to him, adjusting his little hat. I've already bought him a bathing suit for these occasions.


The romantic part of this is Tim coming home for lunch, and us having a picnic at one of the pools at the apartment. That sounds like such a dream, but a woman needs a swimsuit for these occasions,

so I have been borrowing backlogs of Glamour magazine from the library in order to figure out who I want to be, fashion wise, post pregnancy. I have not looked at fashion magazines since last June either because I did not want to bum myself out with the difference between what I wanted to wear and what I would be able to wear, but now, I get to dream about fashion again, and I am starting with swimwear. I have the long hair, the glow, now I just need to find the suit.

Most likely, post pregnancy, I will not have the same body I had before,



and probably like most women, there are parts about my pregnancy body that I would like to keep, and other parts I would like to return to the days before. The fortunate part of all of this, which has also made my pregnancy easier than most, is that I have an extremely long torso.

 
 
A long torso is not only great for giving my little lion some room, but the vintage bikini styles-- those high waist suits, are not only great for my shape, but also great for a post baby body. One of my favorites is this bright teal Zimmerman swimsuit, which has the best crocheted accents.
 
 


I have some other styles in my head that I am absolutely going to make myself because I dig making swimwear, and all of the styles revolve around a different kind of appeal; something that I only hinted at before I got pregnant. At least at this moment, I am absolutely not interested in overt sexuality in fashion; it's uninspired and boring. And in a lot of ways, I look forward to the person I am going to be. I'm excited.

I remember the first swim date that Tim and I had together. He lived at this apartment that had a phenomenal pool and clubhouse, and it was full of half dressed college students. On that specific day, there were a quite a few girls by the pool, pink skinned from too much sun and not enough sunblock, giggling and getting drunk and wandering around in tiny, ill-fitting string bikinis.

That day, I wore a Billabong striped, vintage inspired, low cut, side cut one piece; it was sexy (I thought) and totally not over the top, which is not the image I wanted to give to a guy I really, really liked. I also wore a pair of hunter green Dolce & Gabbana aviator sunglasses and this hat:

 
 
And Tim told me that I looked funny. ha. He was wearing basketball shorts, and when I asked him why he wasn't wearing a swimsuit, he told me he didn't own one. Actually, he still doesn't; I need to get him one soon. He was born and raised in Florida and doesn't own a swimsuit. Langston isn't even born yet, and he even has stylish swim trunks.
 
The point is, we cannot take ourselves so seriously from one angle, especially when it comes to fashion. I keep reading about how worried women are about swimsuit shopping, but honestly, an even tan, a smile, and a well-fitting swimsuit changes everything. So don't be daunted by the task at hand, and don't let your body hang ups ruin your spring and summer. Even if, right away, my body isn't as fit as it used to be,
 
 


I'm even more stoked about the new curves I have, and I hope I get to keep all of the good ones. And honestly, seeing this guy at the beach all season

 
 
makes me feel pretty sexy too. 

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