Whether you’re brand new to motherhood or a seasoned veteran, postpartum is a delicate time. Her 4th time around, Kourtney Kardashian knows what she wants and is setting the boundaries to make it happen. In the latest episode of The Kardashians on Hulu, Kourtney reveals how she’s doing postpartum differently with Rocky, the baby she shares with husband Travis Barker.
On a call with Kim and Khloe a month after Rocky’s birth, Kourtney tells her sisters she hasn’t left the house, and is in the midst of completing an intentional 40 days at home with her new baby.
“In many different cultures, women don’t leave the house after having a baby for 40 days, to let your body have that time to heal,” she tells the confessional cam. “And beyond that I’m really into attachment parenting.”
Kourtney elaborates on her version of attachment parenting, “I really don’t separate from him. I love being at home right now. My time is dedicated to taking care of my baby and bonding with him.”
On the phone with her sisters, Kourtney adds, “I just feel like I don’t even want to go anywhere still.” The call comes to an end when Kourtney announces, “I’m gonna go back to my blissful baby bubble now.”
In the US, one of the only countries in the world without paid maternity leave, unfortunately we can’t all afford the luxury of a blissful baby bubble. Still, Kourtney’s instinct to stay within hers is relatable.
Later in the episode, Kris Jenner visits Kourtney at home as she’s being fitted for an outfit to wear to the Emmy Awards, where she plans to watch Travis perform the opener before leaving early to get back to the baby and stick to her breastfeeding schedule.
Kourtney admits she’s starting to feel “a bit of anxiety about going back to the world.”
As Kris peruses dress options, Kourtney tells her “I still have 10 pounds… if I care to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight.” Her mother interrupts her to say, “Of course you care.”
Kourtney clarifies, “I care to get back, but I’m breastfeeding, so I’m taking my time.” Moments later, she re-enters the room in corseted shapewear and a bra, to encouragement from Kris who exclaims, “It’s amazing how the body can snap back!”
In confessional, Kourtney compares her attitude now to when she was a first-time mom to Mason, born to her and ex-boyfriend Scott Disick in 2009. “My priority is not bouncing back and getting my body back in shape like it has been in the past.”
“I remember after having Mason that it used to be a really big thing to talk about how soon can you bounce back… I did a magazine cover in a bikini and [remember] stressing myself out to eat a certain diet.”
The magazine cover appears on screen with the headline ‘How I Lost 33lbs,’ over Kourtney’s thin, bikini-clad figure.
OGs to keeping up with the ubiquitously prominent family may remember the 2010 episode of Kourtney & Khloe Take Miami where Kourtney ends up in the back of an ambulance. She collapsed while exercising amidst extreme dieting as she prepared for the Lifestyle photo shoot scheduled just 3 months postpartum.
Kourtney’s postpartum body is the topic of another episode following the birth of her second child with Disick. She stands on a scale, down to 115 pounds, and Scott asks what she weighed when they first met. Kourtney estimates 95lbs, to which Scott quickly replies, “Ninety-three is the dream.”
This time around, Kourtney’s approach to motherhood is different. The glowing mom of 4 tells the camera, “This time I’m really just all about nourishing my body and eating the best foods to keep up my milk supply.”
The Kardashians elicit mixed emotions to say the very least, but as moms, Kourtney’s progress is something to celebrate.
We lived through the same body-shaming diet culture. Plenty of us survived a douchebag boyfriend or overbearing parent who felt entitled to share their expectations for our bodies. Many of us continue to struggle with loving our bodies that have aged and changed as we’ve created and sustained life. We’ve all been on the receiving end of judgments about how we choose to do motherhood and how we look doing it.
Postpartum moms need support and space, in amounts that are subject to change minute by minute. Enough with pressuring parents to rush physically or emotionally through a time nature designed for healing and bonding. Celebrities and us normals alike deserve the empowerment Kourtney’s claimed this time around.
