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When I got pregnant, I knew that my body would change. But I was not prepared for all the ways my body changed. For the first time in my life, I had acne on my chest and back in addition to my face. I had to sleep on an incline or else I snored. The changes were shocking, and I felt totally unprepared. And I was just a regular person who only saw the baristas at the local coffee shop regularly. Amber Pitkin, a beauty influencer and makeup artist on Instagram, makes her money using her face. So when she became pregnant, she didn’t think about how those changes would affect her. But now, she’s making it part of her platform.
She got candid about the ways the changes were affecting her.
Pitkin shared an Instagram Reel showing the ways her pregnancy has changed her face. “My face feels swollen, puffy, and my nose is quadruple the size,” she said in a voiceover.
In the video, she shows a before and after comparison of her face as she applies her makeup.
“I didn’t realize how much this would affect my confidence,” she admitted. “As someone who built a platform around makeup and beauty, and spent hours on makeup looks, now I don’t even recognize myself when I look in the mirror.”
So many people in the comments shared their experiences to help her realize it’s normal.
“Yes!! Same thing happened in my first pregnancy with my daughter,” one commenter wrote. “It was difficult to deal with. It takes some time for it to return back to normal as well. I thought everything was going to get back to normal the same day I had her.. haha I was so young and naive.”
“I’ve had it with all my pregnancies. It goes down but it’s just extra fluid. You’ll end up doing a lot of wees the first week after birth,” another person joked.
“YES! Thank you for speaking up about this, pregnancy does so many unexpected things to our bodies, and it’s so easy to feel like we’re the only ones dealing with it. You’re not alone in this at all! Plus, you’re creating life, which makes you absolutely beautiful even when your skin or face feels different. Sending big hugs,” a different person wrote.
Amber Pitkin said the changes were ‘quite a shock.’
The beauty influencer, who splits her time between London and Dubai spoke with People about the video, opening up further about how things have changed.
“It’s an overwhelming feeling to know so many changes are happening to your body and you have no control over it,” she shared. Still, the 31-year-old knows that the physical changes are only one part of something bigger. “I’ve had to come to terms with the changes instead of fighting them. This season is temporary, and my body is doing something amazing,” she said.
And as her first pregnancy continues to change her body, she’s found ways to help her feel like herself including, getting her hair done, or trying different makeup techniques.
“Those little things give me confidence and help me feel beautiful again,” she shared.
She’s aware of the pressures pregnant people face to not share the less than great parts of pregnancy.
“I think a lot of people are afraid of sounding vain or ungrateful,” Pitkin said. “There’s this pressure to only speak positively about pregnancy because it’s a blessing and you should just be grateful your baby is healthy.”
“But being honest about the parts that are difficult doesn’t mean you love your baby any less. It simply means you’re going through one of the most physically and emotionally demanding experiences of your life.”
Through sharing her real feelings about the ways pregnancy was changing her body, Amber Pitkin was able to make connections with other people who’ve been there.
“I have never received so many lovely supportive messages from other mothers; it’s been amazing to see such kindness and empathy from other women,” she said.
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