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Is there another baby in there?

Baby Yo is 9 weeks, and I am still very much in the depths of running on little sleep and relying heavily on my diary to remind me of what I’m meant to be doing! I was lay in the bath last night, a pure luxury soaking quietly, when in burst my 3 year old. He bursts in with such huge excitement just to tell me that Daddy is making a big lego garage. He stops and perches on the stool next to the bath, and dangles his fingers in the water talking about how funny it is that Mummy is in the bath before he is in bed (it was about 6.30!). It’s all very sweet, and I smile that even though my peaceful bath has been disrupted, he really is cute.

He then points to my tummy, “Mummy, is there another baby in there?”. I look down at the most definite Mum tum, and reply “No, baby was in there”. He looks puzzled and says “But why is it like that now? Are you sure there’s not a baby?”. At this point I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry, “No there’s definitely not a baby in there sweetie, it’s just where the baby was and well.. Mummy is a little fat..” Having said the word fat, I realise I shouldn’t have done, although bluntly, I am fat, very fat. He looks back and says “Mummy, I don’t like your tummy fat, it doesn’t look very nice, your tummy should be FLAT, like mine” and he pulls up his t-shirt to reveal his flat tummy and prods it to show that it is very firm.

I can honestly say, I had no idea how to reply, like it or not, my tummy IS fat, and his IS flat. He is 3 and 3 year olds are very erm.. to the point. I was actually rather pleased that he is the only person honest enough to tell me that really my belly is out of control, or perhaps he is the only person brave enough. I ended up explaining to him that it takes a while for Mummy’s tummy to go flat (hah it’s not been properly flat since 2007!) but it will ‘be flatter soon. It has made me think that perhaps I really ought to curb my chocolate cake habit, and find a healthier snack to indulge in while breastfeeding baby Yo. I am an unfortunate comfort eater, and as having a new baby is a time when sleep deprivation alone makes me need a little comfort, I make no secret of my urges to attack the biscuit tin. I’ve decided that little steps are the way and so I have ordered our food shopping on line and chosen only 1 naughty snack and an abundance of “healthier” options.

Let me know what you think, is there a right time to lose the baby bulge?