Model Kayla Reid is used to showing skin. But the 27-year-old former Playboy Playmate, who welcomed her second child with Olympic swimmer, Ryan Lochte, on June 17, hesitated before sharing a selfie that was taken three days after giving birth.
“I took this photo 3 days postpartum. No makeup, greasy hair and engorged boobs,” Reid revealed to her more than 400,000 Instagram followers on Sunday. “I was going to keep this photo personal to track my own progress. (Or least I would have at least put a little makeup on) BUT whatever, I changed my mind.”
Reid said it’s her “job” to stay in shape so she feels extra pressure. And the model has had to work “twice as hard” since son, Caiden, 2, (and now her new daughter, Liv Rae) arrived on the scene. “I am truly just not one of the people to ‘bounce back’ effortlessly,” Reid wrote. With both pregnancies, the 5-foot-7 Virginia native gained approximately 50 pounds.
“I remember I went to the mall when Caiden was about 1-2 months old and was asked by the lady at the cashier, ‘When are you due?’” Reid recalled. “I had to work my ass off to feel like I had MY body back.”
Though Reid’s “main concern” is feeding Liv Rae, she said she is also looking forward to hitting the gym.
“I love hard work and a challenge, this photo is that to me!” Reid explained. “I don’t think there is anything wrong with having the desire to look good… I am proud of what my body is capable of! Every postpartum journey is different and should be celebrated for creating LIFE!!!”
Last week, Reid snapped a photo of herself posing in a pair of post-pregnancy underwear. “Postpartum day one (I will leave the TMI to myself),” she wrote on Instagram stories. “Swollen. Cellulite and stretch markers have tripled.”
On Sunday, Reid noted that the point of posting honest pictures is to show her “journey” and connect with other women.