Ashley Grahamlearned the importance of relinquishing control after her first pregnancy.
The model, 33,is preparing to give birth to her second child, after welcoming her firstborn, 18-month-old son Isaac Menelik, last January. “I think being in control when you’re pregnant, it just gets thrown out the window,” she tells PEOPLE while discussing her new partnership withKnix.
“And I learned that the hard way when I tried to control everything when I was pregnant with Isaac and I told myself that I was going to bounce right back because I was breastfeeding and everybody told me, ‘Oh, if you breastfeed you’re going to lose all the weight,’ " Graham adds. “And I had a few honest women tell me you will never feel the same. So they were just blunt with me and sure enough, I haven’t felt the same.
“And then boom. I was like, ‘Well, I just got pregnant again so maybe I’ll never feel the same and I don’t even know what I felt like before I was pregnant with Isaac anyways,’ " she says.
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“It’s all about where it usually hits on the belly and it just hits you in such a good way that like you’re not uncomfortable all day,” she says, also praising the body inclusivity, with sizes ranging from XS to XXXXL and wireless bras up to 42G.
“I started off as a customer. Then I kept wearing the same clothes after Isaac and that doesn’t normally happen,” Graham explains. “I just went down a size and that’s the beauty of it. It’s clothes that are made for every type of person at every stage of their life and here I am pregnant again, still wearing everything.”
Graham’s involvement with the brand came after she connected via Instagram with Knix founder and CEO Joanna Griffiths. “I love Joanna. She’s so badass,” Graham says. “She created this company. She’s also a mother. She launched it while she was pregnant. She’s just so innovative with her ideas.”
As an ambassador for Knix, Graham will appear in the brand’s campaigns, while also participating in theLife After Birth Project. In partnership withCarriage House Birth, the initiative is a traveling gallery that spotlights different women’s birthing experiences and postpartum journeys.
ThePretty Big Dealpodcast host hasfrequently decried mommy shamingwhile advocating for other moms. “I think that the best thing I did was find a mommy community and when I’m pregnant, I find other pregnant people to just call and ask [questions] because this pregnancy is so different from the last and different symptoms, different feelings,” Graham says.
“And then when the kid gets here, then you have a whole other slew of questions because they don’t come with a manual, so [I’m] all about the community,” she adds. “And I think that if I didn’t have that, I would be so lost.”
source: people.com
