Not Pampita

They know her by first name like Cher, Madonna, Bono. She is Argentina’s Heidi Klum – a model, sometime actress, celebrity and gorgeous-bodied mom. She is the woman all normal moms here love to hate.

I hate her too. When I was pregnant last winter, Pampita posed boldly in a string bikini on the cover of Gente magazine (Argentina’s People) in her 8th month of her second pregnancy. She glowed and looked sexier than most non pregnant women I know. She is in Gente magazine again this week. This time to flaunt her taut bod six months post birth. My jaw dropped when I saw the g-string bikini shots of her cavorting on the Chilean beach with her beau and two young children. She hasn’t a touch of cellulite or loose skin anywhere. You would never know she was big bellied – twice. I hate her.

I gained 40 pounds in my 9 ½ months of growing Valentina. 30 melted off within two weeks of the birth with little effort other than breastfeeding. The last 10 aren’t budging. My belly, which used to be toned and flat from yoga is now a bowl of jello. The skin is squishy and loose and spills over too tight jeans. The vertical dark line still runs from my sternum to well past my belly button. My hips are wider and seem to smirk when I attempt to wear any of my pre-baby pants. I am not Pampita. They say she went to a spa for two weeks after the baby was born to get drained, massaged, wrapped and who knows what else. Whatever she did, it worked. What I am doing is not working. Some days I do yoga at home in between feedings. Others I go rollerblading around the lake. I tried once last week to run for the first time in nearly a year and lasted half a lap with lots of gasps for air. My organs felt like they were being jostled around an empty suitcase. This is not the body I remember but it’s the one I’m stuck with now.