The new mom, 27, posted an Instagram photo Monday of her newborn baby girl Holland, along with an in-depth post about her pregnancy journey
Ireland Baldwin is opening up about her difficult pregnancy journey.
The new mom, 27, posted an Instagram photo Monday of her newborn baby girl Holland, along with an in-depth post about her pregnancy and postpartum experience.
“I haven’t really taken a moment to process all this. I just wanted to write a message here for soon to be moms. I know I said I wouldn’t dedicate my Instagram to my pregnancy/mom content, but getting these words across is super important to me and I hope it helps someone even just a little,” Baldwin began her post.
She continued, “I really struggled in my pregnancy as many of us do. Not just by puking everywhere. I don’t miss that. As someone who suffers tremendously from health anxiety, pregnancy shifted everything into overdrive.
“Every thought in my head pertained to hurting the baby. Hurting myself. Blame game. I’m doing it all wrong. Am I [drinking] too much caffeine? Did I bend over too hard? Was my shower too hot? Am I crying too much? Why am I crying again? Do my feet look swollen? Am I even going to make a good mother?”
Baldwin also revealed her worries throughout her pregnancy, stating, “I spent the last nine months worrying about pulmonary embolisms, blood clots, pre eclampsia. I read countless pregnancy horror stories and watched negative birthing video after video until I’d go numb from it all. I worried I wouldn’t make it through my delivery or something terrible would happen.”
Once she gave birth to baby Holland, her worries subsided.
“Then it all just happened so fast. When she was born, all of this dissolved into nothingness. Nothing ever mattered until that moment. I know we’re all different and our birthing stories are different, but here’s what I want to share from mine. I found it quite sad how women would go out of their way to tell me what was going to happen to my body. How a baby would negatively impact my relationship. How my body would fall apart. My tits would sag to my knees. How I’ll never sleep again.”
The first-time mom further emphasized that everyone has a different pregnancy experience, writing, “Then of course I’d get told by few how I will never be able to do this without nanny’s and night nurses. Worse, everyone told me how god awfully painful this whole process and recovery was going to be and how I’ll never recognize my body. Again, we’re all different. Our bodies are different. No one ‘wins.’ This isn’t a contest.”
And while Baldwin admits her body did change after giving birth, she is all the more grateful for what she was able to accomplish.
“But here’s what happened to me. Nearly everything everyone told [me] would happen, didn’t. She was born. My fears fled. My heart was full. I’ve fallen in love again for a second time. I’ve lost loads of sleep, but I couldn’t care less. I could stare at her doing absolutely nothing for hours. A sense of calm has washed over me since her arrival and that has in turn made me feel restored,” the model wrote.
“My boobs have changed, but I finally have those Pam Anderson’s I’ve always wanted. Just a little floppier. My body created life. A brain!! A heart. Little feet! My body is f—ing magic. No one could tell me otherwise. You’re right, I will never look at it the same. I don’t want to. I would birth her 100 more times if I had to.”
As for her road to recovery, Baldwin is feeling good and has been enjoying time with family, giving a special shoutout to mom Kim Basinger.
“My recovery has been smooth. I’m up and on my feet enjoying this weather and my time with family at home. I couldn’t be more grateful for my partner’s parents and my mom who visited.”
She also showed gratitude for her boyfriend, Portuguese musician RAC, 38. “My partner and I have taken this on together and we make an even better team than I imagined. I’ve never been more in love with him. I catch glimpse[s] of the future father he’s going to be and it makes me quite emotional. She’s the luckiest girl to have him as a dad. And my heart breaks for those who don’t have a supportive and loving partner through this. I don’t know what I would do without him. I am so proud of my body.”
“I am so proud of the work I put into preparing for birth. I was as prepared as I could be. Without the breath work I studied, I’m not sure what I would have done. WIthout my badass OB, angel of a doula, and the nurses who cheered me on, I don’t know where I would be.”
Baldwin concluded her lengthy post by writing, “I guess my moral here is, you got this. Don’t let people tell you how it’s going to be. Life is scary and unpredictable and this process was terrifying but it’s the greatest thing I’ve ever done and ever will do. Don’t let people scare you. Just take deep breathes [sic] and enjoy being pregnancy [sic]. Even if you’re a waddling, constipated solar system like I was. Because now that she’s out, I stare at her little feet kicking the air and remember what it was like feeling her kick me. Knowing she was protected by my body and now she’s a little person in the world. It hasn’t been long at all, and I already wish I could stop time.”