I used to love running.

It was sort of a therapy. I could feel the wind whipping past my face, hear nothing but my heart pumping, and my own breathing, and feel the burn in my legs. It was the only thing that blocked out my thoughts which ran on every second of the day otherwise. The majority of the thoughts in my head at that time were negative. I don’t run anymore, I don’t have the same need to get away from my own thoughts, but it’s also physically much less comfortable than it was before I had kids.

Everyone knows pregnancy changes your body.

There is no way around it, though you don’t have to see it as bad. It’s simply different. My body was certainly changed after two kids. There are plenty of articles and products promoting “how to get your body back”, but that’s a lie. Sorry, if you were holding out hope for that, but it is. You can’t have your body back. You can look and feel wonderful, but it still will never be just the same as it was. You have a new body. An amazing body! I think of what my body accomplished, carrying and birthing a baby, twice! And that is reward enough. I have two wonderful kids and I would never trade them to have a (so-called) perfect body.

I am actually thinner now than I was before I was pregnant, but my skin is much looser, and things have shifted around; parts hang lower than they used to (you’re welcome for that visual)! But, I can either hate my body and try year after year to change it, or I can live healthy, take care of myself, and just enjoy life as I am. This is what I choose to do.

Back to running.

I still haven’t taken up running again, mainly for lack of time and extra energy, but if I did, besides certain parts jiggling about much more than on my 20 year old body, having babies does something else to you. It happens when you sneeze or laugh hard, and it definitely happens when you’re exercising rigorously! If you’re a mom, you already know I’m talking about light bladder leakage (LBL). For many it goes away over time, for some not. But, almost all woman experience LBL at least briefly after having kids.

I don’t have to go out of my way to exercise as I am active all day long; running after kids, practically sprinting here, there and everywhere, at work, through the store… I feel like I never stop exercising! But, would I get out and accomplish what I need to with confidence everyday if I was fearful of a little LBL?

LBL is not something to laugh about.

No, wait, it really is! Because if we can’t laugh at ourselves, especially when we pee our pants a little, we are way too uptight and not living joyfully enough, in my opinion. We can all go without the embarrassment, though, right?

I am being compensated my participation in this campaign as part of the Mom It Forward Blogger Network. All opinions are my own.

There is no reason LBL needs to hold us back.

You probably just use a period pad to avoid any embarrassment, right? But, they are not designed for LBL. Poise has been innovating ways to care for feminine needs and the new Poise Thin-Shape Light Absorbency pads are 40% thinner than original Poise brand pads. They stay 3 times drier than leading period pads and the Thin-Shape pads flex and move with your body.

Poise teamed up with Brooke Burke-Charvet to help educate women about LBL and empower them to seize their Poise moment – that exact point where they stop letting leaks interrupt their lives.

I will not let anything hold me back from living life to the fullest. Especially not a little light bladder leakage. What is your Poise moment?

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What would you do if you were fearless?