New Mom Must-Do: A Postpartum Panty Raid.

Hey! Did you know that there’s a National Underwear Day? (August 5, to be precise. Yes, I celebrate.) No, I’m not getting paid to mention it… I merely saw it on some online ‘special days of the month’ calendar and laughed out loud at the thought. How did I not know about a day that hits so close to my heart?

A favorite new mom must-do of mine? A postpartum panty raid.

What? You don’t know that I was obsessed with having my own personal new mom postpartum panty raid after having each of my baby girls? A panty-palooza full of perks, if you will. Now you know. (Those of you who’ve followed my online shenanigans for a long time might remember this.) I remember how ridiculously-obsessed I was about my underwear just a few years ago… right before giving birth to my very first baby (you now know her as LadyP…).

I’ll explain: Underwear aside, I was secretly wishing that I wasn’t yet becoming a mom. After seeing that little pink plus sign, just three months after my hubby and I tied the knot, several un-repeatable words flew out of my mouth and tears of fear began streaming down my face. If you’ve already read ‘The Little Long Story of Jill…” (via the link in the ‘Meet the Mommy’ box), then you know that I ignorantly thought being a “Mom” meant completely trading in your aspirations, freedom AND sexy underwear for a bunch of baby junk decked out with dorky designs. According to random stories that I’d heard about motherhood, “Moms” don’t have the time or energy to do anything associated with their previous lives… especially anything that involved wearing cute underwear. Not to mention, everyone kept telling me to run out and buy as many granny-panties as I could prior to having my baby. You’ll never want to wear skimpy, sexy panties again! they’d all tell me. Woohoo. Let the fun begin.

New Mom = Boring Underwear = Boring Life. This according to my personal book of ignorance back then.

When my little girl was born, I fell in love with her immediately, but in the back of my mind I was still trying to solve the big underwear dilemma. (After all, I was stuck in those how-are-these-sanitary-and-even-legal cutoff net short-things that the hospital gives you after birth because I was too headstrong to buy high-waisted granny-panties before heading to the hospital… stupid.) Surely, I must be EXEMPT from this ditch-your-cute-underthings phenomenon that seems to overtake all new mothers. And then, about a week in, I came to a deliriously sleep-deprived realization:

IF NEWBORN BABIES COULD SPEND ENTIRE DAYS IN ONESIES, THEN SO COULD I. So I did.

Some can say I spent ridiculous time resurrecting frilly robes, lace-trimmed tank tops, push-up bras, boy-short panties… and even gave in to some high-waisted cotton panties in bright colors and prints. As it was still warm outside when my baby girl was born, I tended to her – all day – in my undies. I cleaned my apartment in my undies. I washed bottles in my undies. I ate bagels on the couch while watching bad reality TV as she napped in my undies. What had I turned into?!? I didn’t care – it was fabulous!

I felt liberated, comfortable, oddly-inspired and more and more like my before-baby self every day… which I believe made me a happier (and more fun) mommy to my baby girl. As virtual 24/7 captives in our home (for the first month of her life), we bonded in our respective onesies. Seeing myself in my scanty wardrobe (constantly) also served as a daily reminder to myself to not pass judgement on my post-baby bod every time I passed a mirror. I’m convinced my husband thought it was kinda cute too. (Hey, we were still ‘newlyweds’  after all… never mind that he gave me raised-eyebrow looks when he got home that silently begged the question “You spent all day in your underwear?”)

My logic was this: If I could commit to keeping my cute underwear and camisoles active and outta my drawers (while also learning to be comfortable in my new self), then washing my hair, wearing lipstick and getting my energy back would follow quickly.

The most insane thing about my wacky experiment? It actually worked for me. (But then again, I’m semi-psycho.) A few months after my second baby was born (about a year and a half later), I was equally obsessed with my underwear drawer again… and actually enlisted my first daughter to help me conquer it. My obsession with underwear had a strong hand in bouncing me back (mind, body and spirit) in mere weeks postpartum.

Yes, you may think I’m totally bonkers. My tank top and panty days are getting less and less frequent (since my baby girls are now older toddlers and we actually go places a lot now) but I still rock the look early in the morning before everyone’s day starts. The more that us women can see and look at ourselves in our underwear – and become desensitized to our saggy bits that are a bit squishier after becoming a mom  – the happier, more appreciative and respectful we will be to ourselves and what our bodies are as we gracefully mature. That’s a good thing for any family.

So let’s use and abuse National Underwear WEEK and get our heads in the right spot. Just don’t come knockin’ on my door expecting to see a show.

Now you try…. and tell me how it goes!