PREGNANCY & BODY IMAGE
PREGNANCY & BODY IMAGE
Embracing her sexuality and body is something that has always come naturally to Caroline Vreeland. She chats with A Pea in the Pod editor, Callan, on her experience with it during & after baby—plus how having her son has changed her for the better.
Callan Russo (CR): What was your favorite part about being pregnant?
Caroline Vreeland (CV): I had been a free spirit and a little wild, especially when I met my husband. We were in such a seduction phase. We were travelling and going out and living, as much as we could during these past few years. And I think being pregnant…it sobered me up. It made me realize my priorities. [Pre-pregnancy,] I loved showing up with a suitcase and just saying, Fuck it, I'm in Berlin, let's make it happen. I think being pregnant really helped instill a sense of routine for me that I had never known before.
I just met my husband two and a half years ago. We got married. I moved to Canada. We got pregnant. We did everything quickly, and it felt really good to put roots down. I was always the person that could up and go anywhere, focus on where the next job was, and now I feel like there's a foundation being built. I think about having assets and saving money. It just feels exciting. Now that I have this guy, he depends solely on us. It's inspiring to have that new side of me. I was a little bit wild before, and now I have this motherly instinct, and it started growing right when I got pregnant.
CR: The mental shift of being an individual to becoming a mom is just crazy.
CV: Yeah, little dramas that you used to be involved in or care about are just so unimportant. It’s a little daunting. It's a little intimidating, but it's exciting.
CR: It seems like you very much embraced your pregnant body. What was that journey like watching your body change? How did you feel about it then versus now being postpartum?
CV: I loved having my belly, I loved the feeling of it. Of course, you become lethargic and it becomes challenging, but I was doing all the content, let me tell you. I was doing lingerie and stuff, and I was loving that. What do you think happens after all the sexy stuff goes on? That’s how you make a baby. I didn't shy away from still being my sensual self. I like to see my body change, and I really felt powerful. And afterwards, things are good.
I like [the belly]. It’s a little protruding and it's going to take time to go down. But it’s kind of comforting in a way, and he likes to sit on it. It's nice for him. But to me, I’m just so in awe of how the whole body works together, and when he cries, I can feel it in my nipples, or when Nico was kind to me during labor, the oxytocin would flow… shit like that blows my mind.
I don't get hung up on "bouncing back” immediately. I just did a job for the vitamins that I've been taking and my favorite picture was the one where it shows that I still have a little bit of a belly, because that's normal. That's exactly what’s supposed to be happening. Nico's always telling me that I still look sexy, so that doesn't hurt.
CR: I love it. Can you tell us more about embracing your sexuality while pregnant?
CV: I just felt sexy. I didn't feel gross. I definitely felt heavy and slow and tired and farting and peeing, but I didn't feel any less sexy. I felt like Nico was a little afraid—he was doing that thing of being afraid to poke the baby [during sex]. I had to tell him, like, there's the mucus plug. I was fascinated by the mucus plug. To be honest it's hard to do it because you can only lay on the side. Maybe there's more creative ways.
I felt very supported because if my libido was not as high as it was before, my partner would never hold me to that. I didn't feel pressured. I didn't feel like I had to keep up this crazy libido that I always had. I definitely still felt sexy. I'll just put it this way, I'm very eager to get going again. How long do I have to wait?
CR: I don't know! I had a C-section, so I was a little different.
CV: You were back in the saddle. Well, not back, but your vagina is perfect, is what you're trying to tell me.
CR: Exactly.
READ MORE FROM CAROLINE ABOUT BREASTFEEDING AND POSTPARTUM IN PART 2