When Sameera Reddy began posting pictures of her bump on Instagram in February this year (her account is @reddysameera), she did so, “Knowing I would be myself and I didn’t need to please people,” she says, acknowledging that she has, in the past, felt anxiety with people projecting the perfect life.
Her most recent posts, hashtagged #imperfectlyperfect talk about body image and self-love, and show untouched-up pictures of herself as an overweight, ‘too-tall’ 13-year-old (picture on the right), and her post-partum bump. She gave birth to a daughter two weeks ago and is still struggling with the physical pain of a C-section and breast feeding, and says as much online, with none of the Hallmark-ey sentimentality we see so much on, especially when it comes to motherhood.
“In the beginning, you think you’ve done it once, you can do it again quite easily, but you need help all over again. You’re much cooler with the second one though. Everyone had to sterilise their fingers and toes with Hans (her elder son). Right now, I have him coming in with his toys and his food. He’s a part of the process — he’s my little helper. He wants to get the diaper and the wipes,” she says.
She wanted to have another baby though, despite her difficulty with her first pregnancy. She had prolactinoma (high levels of prolactin) and placenta previa (a low-lying placenta covering the cervix), keeping her bed-ridden. “I was hormonally challenged. Everyone saw me fall apart. I was scared, I didn’t know what was happening, and I put on 32 kg,” she says. After her son’s birth, there was the post-partum depression to deal with.
The second time, she resolved it would be different. One part of it was to feel positive about the process; the other was to reach out to women with a keeping-it-real message: “I’ve been very proactive about women feeling good about themselves.” It’s important, she says, to surround yourself with people who support you — in her case her husband Akshai and son (“They keep me together”).
Her underwater shoot, when her pregnancy was fairly advanced, received good feedback from women. “One woman in her 50s told me she wished she’d done this in her pregnancy,” though there were the odd Indian-women-don’t-do-this kind of comments.
The difficult part has been with breastfeeding. “Someone should write a manual,” she jokes. “I kept telling my husband I’m sure I’ll be fine, but last week I fell apart. Sometimes to start the milk supply is hard, and people around you can either demoralise you or have your back,” she says.
This time, her husband supported her, because “once you start a top feed, it’s hard to get them (babies) off.” The breast pump has worked for her: “Even if you’re getting very little, the action seems to work,” so she’ll pump three times a day, between feeds.
Her trainer’s wife had a box of gond-and-methi laddoos with her the moment she delivered. She’s also eating methi with bajra roti.
Fenugreek and lactation
- In India, women are given fenugreek, as it’s said to help in milk production. This is not supported by research. “This isn’t a clinical claim,” says Manjari Chandra, a Delhi-based dietician. “But there is some sense to eating foods that have prebiotic effects, especially soluble fibre. Lactation is a metabolic activity,” she says. For oxytocin and progesterone to be at the right level, you want insulin, the master hormone, to perform well. For this, methi is one way to manage sugars and metabolic activity better, lending overall balance.
The best part of the journey, for Sameera though, is seeing a relationship build between her son and yet-to-be-named daughter, now called Girlie, by Hans.
“He wanted a cricket set and has asked his grandmother for a bat for her too, imagining she’s soon going to be playing with him very soon.” The four-year-old asked where his sister had come from, and Sameera showed him her scar. “Now he thinks she’s a superhero who’s come out of a scar.”