In collaboration with Imagen Body Sculpting in Omaha, NE
Happy MAY! The month of May always brings me so much happiness. Summer is right around the corner, the weather is consistently warm in Omaha, and MOTHERS DAY is upon us. Even before I was a Mother, I always loved Mother’s Day. Today I wanted to talk about something very personal…MY body; THE body that gave life. It can be so easy for us that have given birth to criticize our new, transformed bodies. So many changes our bodies go through during pregnancy. More than I ever thought I would experience! I hope if you’re someone who struggles with your postpartum body that you enjoy this post. The woman’s body is worthy of SO much praise. Believe it!
Loving The Body That Gave Life: My Story
I became pregnant when I was 22 years old. I was happily married for only 3 months and this little miracle inside my womb decided to surprise us. I was not ready to be a Mother and I struggled with this new role for months. My flesh was not ready, but God had sooo much in store for us. Just two newlyweds learning to not only live with the new role of Husband and Wife, but Mom and Dad. You can read more about my mental battle with pregnancy HERE IN THIS POST. After I was able to see my baby dance on the sonogram screen, God confirmed in me that His timing was perfect. I became obsessed with the idea of Motherhood and how I would have a forever best friend.
Noelia was born that October and my life changed forever. She was everything I never knew I needed. Perfection in every way…Gods grace in the most precious little face. She was MINE and I was HERS. Motherhood set the foundation for where I am now. There are things I never would have done or started if it wasn’t for my Vida…Noelia Nicole. Vida Noel was born and now here we are! Although I was obsessed with my new baby, I was less than impressed with the body I was left with Postpartum. It was raw, bruised, stretched, sore, and tired. At 23 I wanted to feel confident…and I felt low. As a new mother I had no clue of all the things I would experience in postpartum, especially those first couple months. I knew my body would have a healing process but the battle was so much more mental than physical for me. My baby was beautiful but my body was not. My own voice saying that line over and over in my head for months. Being a dancer and a fitness competitor prior to Noelia, my once “fit, ready-to-perform” body was no longer there.
Flash forward to one year postpartum, and I LOVED my body. It was not an easy process but with proper nutrition and time I was able to feel like “me” again…but a better version. I loved my body MORE after Noelia. Sure, there were some things that were different but I grew to love the signs that I have a body that gave life. I had a wrinkly bellybutton and stretch marks that ran from my groin on both sides down my legs. I had these marks on my boobs and stomach as well. My hips became slightly wider and my skin would go through many different stages. So what did I gain? Power. Confidence. A body of Love.
10 weeks postpartum
I welcomed our second Angel baby this past July, our perfect Reina Ruby. To be expected, the same feelings came pouring back in. Evil thoughts of body shame flooded my mind constantly and it was like I was back to square one. I was…but this time it was different. It was worse. The marks on my stomach only increased in size and my body was even more tired. The body that has given birth more than once is strong, but she is fragile. I experienced more pain, more marks, more thoughts. Just like Noelia, the thoughts subsided and I came to a place where I was happy with my body. My stomach skin, though, was a different story.
My pregnancy with Noelia left me with some stretched skin and marks under my belly button, but nothing too noticeable. With Reina, it was completely different. My pregnancy with her caused more damage to my stomach and it was clear no diet or exercise would fix it. I had very stretched out skin above my belly button and many marks that ran up and down my core. I also had an umbilical hernia from the pregnancy and my Diastasis Recti seemed to be a tad worse.
Working with IMAGEN
I posted THIS POST on my Instagram early this year to show my audience the changes my body went through after having Reina. The team at Imagen in Omaha, NE happened to see the post and later contacted me for a possible collaboration. I learned that there was a procedure they performed called Profound.
Profound is a combination treatment using micro needling with radio frequency. Tiny pins target the RF energy to the deep layers of the dermis while minimizing injury to the superficial skin. This stimulates the production of collagen, elastin, and hyaluronic acid, th essential components of youthful, healthy skin! I also had SideLaze and Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) performed with Profound.
SideLaze Skin tightening treatment is a laser-based treatment that treats the skin from the underside. The laser is inserted through a tiny incision (1/4 of an inch) and passed through the subcutaneous layers of the skin. The gentle warming from the laser stimulates collagen production, helping to tighten and smooth the skin.
Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) harvests the healing properties of your own blood to help improve the quality of your skin. The treatment has been shown to increase collagen and elastin production and assist in the remodeling of scars.
You can find out more about those treatments HERE.
You guys…I literally wanted to cry when I found out there was a treatment for my loose skin. As you can see below, I was damaged…a beautiful type of damage, but a definite change in my appearance. After seeing results of other women’s bodies after Profound, I knew it was a great fit for me.
The Healing Process
I am about 1.5 months post procedure and I am already seeing amazing results. There are some days I feel like not much as changed but as soon as I see my before images I am shocked. I am so excited to see the full results! The procedure itself took about 2 hours. I documented the journey in my latest YouTube video which I will link below. There was a lot of tenderness those first few weeks and I had to wear a compression garment with a firm board to ensure I was healing properly. I had to wear it everyday for the first month. It was very annoying at first to wear but I did get used to it.
Right before going into my procedure
The morning after (remember, I was very bruised from the machine and puffy from the fluid)
The compression garment with board insert
One week after procedure
9 months postpartum and 1.5 months after Profound
It can take up to 6-9 months for full results. It takes time for the collagen to produce what was stimulated during the procedure. I am already so happy to see the results just 1.5 months after. I cannot even imagine what my stomach will be like after 9 months. I hope you guys stick around for this journey with me!
Please know, this is in no way “cheating the system”. This is in no way a weight loss procedure. This is a procedure that betters the appearance of your skin. The damage on my skin and belly button was skin; no amount of diet and exercise can heal that. If you are a woman who has gone through pregnancy, I am sure you have had similar feelings of sadness and loss of self confidence. You deserve things like this, Mama’s! You worked for those babies!
Profound Body, Sidelaze & PRP is now $2,000 off; valid through 5/31/20
You can book by calling Imagen at 402-347-2535
Here is the link to my latest Youtube video discussing my thoughts & the procedure
WATCH HERE
Here is a link to Imagen’s Youtube video going over the procedure in depth. You will hear Dr. Frank describing each procedure and the benefits.
WATCH HERE
Are you an avid Pinner?! It would mean the world to me if you could pin this image below! Xx
