If you’re currently going through postpartum depression, beauty queen Precious Lara Quigaman-Alcaraz’ recent Instagram post may lift your spirits up. In a lengthy post, she talked about the pressures of looking good immediately after birth. She revealed that a few days after her delivery, some of her relatives and friends asked her “Bakit ang laki pa rin ng tyan mo?!” She wrote, “I know they don’t mean anything bad but people can be so insensitive, and all those photos of ‘celebrities and models’ that seems to look so perfect right after giving birth doesn’t help either. I mean, hello I just gave birth, i was cut open and a human being came out of me! Can you just congratulate me?”
The post was a photo of her holding her baby, with her tummy still visibly big. She said, “It was really difficult to post this photo, to show what the world sees as ‘flaws’, but well this is the real deal. My body housed 2 beautiful baby boys and it took 9 months each time to grow them in my belly and I have accepted the fact (trying to by God’s grace) that it will take some time for my body to go back to the way it was (if it does go back) And if it doesn’t, that’s okay too.”
She added, “Don’t get me wrong I’m happy for those moms who have flat tummies just a few days after giving birth, but we’re all different, our bodies are all different and that’s okay and I want other mamas out there who are like me, who look at themselves in the mirror and feel sad because of what they see.”
This is her message for you and other moms who may be feeling something similar: “I want you to know that you are not alone… So to all the mamas out there who are exhausted, who’s not had a proper shower, whose breasts are super sore, (I’m crying typing this—kaya natin to mamas) those who can’t recognize their own bodies because of the stretchmarks and the chloasma or the dark patches all over their bodies, to those who still look pregnant after a month or even months after giving birth—cheers to us! We are are all beautiful and unbelievably strong and God has given us such a wonderful gift that’s worth all these hardships and body changes… So cheer up, mama. You really are amazing!”
She also expressed that all those changes are worth it for her children: “To my Tobias—happy [one] month baby ko, you and kuya Noah are worth every stretch marks, every body changes, every pain, every sleepless night and wouldn’t trade you for anything.”
Photo courtesy of Lara Quigaman’s Instagram account
For the latest in culture, fashion, beauty, and celebrities, subscribe to our weekly newsletter here
Follow Preen on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Viber
Related stories:
Kylie Padilla suffered from postpartum depression after giving birth to baby Alas
Chrissy Teigen wants to break the stigma surrounding postpartum depression
What is postpartum depression and why do some mothers suffer from it?
Instagram accounts that celebrate real bodies