On the slow shift from postpartum to something more like you
There’s no set date.
No milestone.
No final feed that signals: you’ve made it out of the fourth trimester.
Instead, it happens softly.
You leave the house without a list.
You answer a message that’s not from the pharmacy.
You put on a shirt that buttons.
Not because you have somewhere to be — but because you wanted to.
You’re not exactly back to your “old self.”
But you’re not fully in the fog anymore, either.
This in-between place — it’s tender, and strange.
You catch glimpses of the woman you were.
But she’s layered now.
Quieter in some ways, louder in others.
You laugh differently.
You wear things that feel easier, but somehow more intentional.
You’re not rebuilding your identity — just brushing off the dust and asking, what do I want now?
Dressing becomes part of the answer.
You reach for softness, not sloppiness.
Clothes that move like you do.
That don’t pinch, don’t judge, don’t ask for too much.
You start choosing pieces not just because they “work” — but because they feel like home.
Some days you still wear leggings and the same T-shirt from last week.
Other days, a crisp linen suit and earrings.
Both are valid. Both are you.
You’re allowed to shift.
There’s no bounce back. There’s just forward — slowly, gently, beautifully.
The baby changes.
You do too.
And somewhere in the middle of it, you remember that you’re not just surviving.
You’re still becoming.
Not all at once.
Not perfectly.
But quietly.
And in your own way.
