Wherefore art thou belly button?

I'm 3 months post baby and my belly button is still unrecognizable. Of course I can now see it which is a good thing but I keep wondering if it will ever return to that perfect little innie that Dr. Weideman created 32 years ago.

When you get pregnant you expect your body to change but you are silly enough to expect to look like the maternity models with a cute little basketball bump and no weight gain in other part of your body. Newsflash: I'm pretty sure none of those maternity models are really pregnant :) The harsh reality is your face swells, your butt gets big, and your fingers and/or toes may turn into fat little sausages.

And for some reason, you are naieve enough to think that as soon as the baby comes out your stomach it will miraculously shrink back to your pre-pregnancy tummy. The baby came out so there should be nothing left, right? The reality is you'll still look 4 months pregnant after the baby is born and have this jiggly pouch with a crater (formerly known as your belly button) in the middle of it.

As I said, I'm 3 months out and slowly my crater has again turned into an innie of some sort. But it's stretched out into a mishapen circle with wrinkly, raisin like skin around it. The dark line that showed up lengthwise down the middle of my stomach in the last month of pregnancy is still there, too, and I'm trying to remember how long it took to fade back to normal colored skin after I had my son. I think it was close to 6 months. I know, it's a pleasant image but us moms know this is the reality of a post baby body.

I wish the belly button was the worst part of it. I don't think my hips will ever be the same. I'm pretty sure it has something to do with one 7 1/2 and two 8 1/2 pound babies being pushed through the birth canal. I have to admit I did enjoy my pregnant breast swellage at times and my nursing breasts can look great when they are full of milk but they are sore most of the time and leak a little every now and then...sexy, eh? The worst part is when you are done nursing and they hang there like deflated balloons. I have the same cup size as before, I just have to roll them up to sit in the bra cups.

I know my body has changed and I'm happy to have three beautiful children to show for it. It's just frustrating trying to get back into shape especially when you are just trying to survive most days. I'm hoping that with enough diet, exercise, push-up bras, and Spanx I can look almost as good as I did before having my kids!