Celebrating Motherhood: Jjanga
In this series, we hope to offer insight and support for mothers going through bodily changes during pregnancy and post partum. We want to highlight the incredible ways our bodies can adapt and transform while preparing to become a mom. This week, we want to spotlight Jjanga, a long-time partner and supporter of Understance. She is mom of 3, model, influencer, and all around bad-ass!
For almost two years now I’ve been trying on, wearing, supporting, and modelling in Understance. In those two years not only was I already a mother of two, I also became pregnant with my third. In the past I remember feeling like it was pointless to even try to buy undergarments while pregnant because they’re all always so uncomfortable, whether it’s because they won’t stretch enough, dig into my body, or don’t move with my body. Since I had already been wearing Understance when I was pregnant with my third baby, I just knew I was going to keep that going. I absolutely LOVE that I was able to wear products that weren’t just for pregnant bodies, meaning I can wear it not only while pregnant, postpartum, and even after I’m past those stages.
One of my favourite pieces was wearing the Darby (discontinued), as a mother of three comfortability is extremely important and then comes “how good do I look in it?” haha. The Darby is always in my model bag for castings, traveling, my go-to for busy days, and even on days I don’t feel the greatest because I know I ALWAYS look good in it. I also loved that I could wear the Darby while pregnant and the soft compression allowed me to lift my tummy up while also supporting my back through the day, I got to look amazing while having support! It’s been great for me to be able to wear something like Darby for more than just throughout pregnancy, even postpartum I’ve loved wearing it because it helps me feel snug, comfortable, and it’s been so easy to just throw on as an effortless outfit for a day of chasing after kids or modelling.
Being a mother there will always be a lot of sacrifice, one thing I can advise is to make sure you balance those sacrifices. If you’re always pouring from an empty cup, you’ll burn out. Exhaustion, resentment, and even depression can be even harder to fight when we don’t feed into ourselves. One action I take is to always make sure that no matter what I take 5-10 mins to do hair & makeup, and then put on a fail proof outfit that always makes me feel sexy, even if it’s an amazing lingerie set underneath like my Salma set! Wearing the Salma set truly makes me feel like I’m the hottest mama in the room, feeling that way helps me learn to adapt to my body changes like the new brightly colored stretch marks, the looser skin, and the weight fluctuations.
There have been moments I’ve experienced through motherhood I have lacked confidence. I used to be extremely hard on myself on my body image. Through letting go of the things I know I can control as well as learning body acceptance, I’ve come to start loving the imperfections and not really seeing them as something to hide any longer. Maybe it’s getting older too, haha, but in reality I stopped caring about what others thought of my body because at the end of the day I’m the one that faces the mirror and has to love what I see. It’s never going to just be something easy, I take it day by day. It’s really all you can do. Learn to be softer on yourself. Learning to give the compassion you give so easily to others, to yourself.
Believe me, I completely understand how overwhelming motherhood can be a lot of the time. ESPECIALLY, when the number of children you have outnumber you! That’s why I find it so important to maintain a healthy balance of time for yourself. Find that time wherever in the day to do something for yourself, find that sexy bra that makes you comfy and feel unstoppable at the same time or throw on some lipstick that reminds you just how amazing you really are.
Remember that no matter what, you are gorgeous, you created life with love, and you’re a bad ass!
Find out more about Jjanga on her Instagram