Slowly but surely. Vanderpump Rules alum Stassi Schroeder opened up about her postpartum journey seven weeks after giving birth to her first child, daughter Hartford Charlie Rose Clark.
“I don’t know who needs to hear this but it’s been [seven] weeks since I gave birth and my maternity jeans are still the only ones that fit me. I’m also wearing Spanx to hold in what looks like a [four]-month pregnant belly,” the 32-year-old wrote via Instagram on Saturday, February 27. “I thought it would be way easier to bounce back, and every day I wake up like a kid on Christmas morning hoping that when I look in the mirror, I’m going to see my pre-pregnant body once again and that [obviously] never happens.”
The former Bravo star welcomed her baby girl, whom she shares with husband Beau Clark, on January 7. The pair got engaged in July 2019 and the 40-year-old’s proposal aired during season 8 of Pump Rules. Stassi announced her pregnancy in June 2020, three months before she and the casting director decided to tie the knot in a small ceremony after the coronavirus pandemic derailed their Italian destination wedding plans.
In her candid postpartum update, the first-time mama went on to question how “f—ked up” it is that she is “so obsessed with bouncing back” when her body “just made, housed and delivered” a child. “My body issues consume my thoughts about 97 [percent] of the day, and it is a major hole I struggle to dig myself out of,” Stassi revealed. “We’re told we have to eat enough calories to breastfeed but don’t overdo it because then we won’t get our bodies back. All the while, I’m trying to stay mentally and emotionally healthy for my baby, my husband and myself.”
The former podcaster noted she had received several “kind DMs” from people imploring her to “give [herself] grace,” but said she “truly [doesn’t] know how to give [herself] grace and that’s a depressing fact.”
She concluded, “I also feel like an asshole for complaining about my body when I was given the most perfect baby. Totally wish I wasn’t so vain, but unfortunately, I am. All I can say is thank the Lord shirt jackets are in. Hope this helped at least one other postpartum mama feel a little less alone today. On a positive note, my Chanel slingbacks fit.”
Despite her body image struggles, it’s clear the former reality star and her man are happily adjusting to being parents. “Beau and I have spent the last couple of weeks enjoying every moment with our daughter,” she wrote via Instagram on January 21 while announcing their newborn’s arrival. “Every cuddle, every sound, every poop, all of it.” Stassi went on to call her newborn the “best thing that’s ever happened” to her.