Back

Mum of twins proudly shows of her tummy after beating post-natal depression

Shina Pierce, 29, got fit to beat PND and

By Frances Sheen

February 14 2019

Shina Pierce, a mum-of-two , whose post-natal depression was so severe she struggled to leave the house is now competing in fitness competitions and proudly showing off her loose skin and stretch marks on stage.

The mum from Auckland, New Zealand, had twins Harper and Nicole in December 2016 but her PND became so bad, she rarely left the house and struggled to cope.

Shina had no energy and and no confidence in her ability to be a good mum to the twins

She remembers, "For the first couple or few weeks I’d break down and cry to a point where it was almost every day for a while for a couple of hours.

"I was so tired, I felt like the worst person in the world because I couldn’t deal with being a mother."

First year of postpartum 2017 VS second year of postpartum 2018 after twins👊🏻👊🏻 . You can do anything you want to and yes you can do it and anything is possible if you work hard & stay consistent 🙏🏻 . Going into motherhood was one of the most life changing things I've ever experienced and the most rewarding 💖 I love and have such appreciation for my body as well as so fascinated by our bodies and the things it let's us go through mentally and physically 🙌🏻 I do still get self conscious though about my extra skin but over time it's starting not to bother me as much cause it's only really when I plank that it does cause it does sag down 😂 but don't care about the stretch marks anymore, they're just a part of me now 😊 . In this day age there are so many fads and diets which might be good for short term etc and I'm not a nutritionist (yet) and just started my PT studies but I've always been a strong believer in just eating healthy, no high fat diet this and that just eat your veggies, eat your fruits, protein and you will get results...it's hard initially if you've got a habit of treating yourself everyday but it's just a habit you have to break or create a new habit 😉🍎👍🏻 . Last year before I even thought about exercise again I look at what I was eating which was takeaways everyday, high, processed foods, high carb and all I did to loose the first 5kgs was cook my own food 😋 . When it comes to food and fitness just start with the basics and the rest will fall into place 🤗 . #fitmum #nzfitnessexpo #nzfitnessmodelsearch2018

Happy Friday 💪🏼 . Incorporated coach's @marjohn_abelardo training with @berdinamagdalena_ 😁 . 5 sets of 8-10x Seated Row 8-10x Lat Pull down 8-10x Barbell over head press 8x Barbell Bicep Curls 8x10 Barbell Bent Row . #prep #nzifbb #teamabelardo #workhard #dreambig

The mum-of-two also experienced a difficult labour which lasted four days and resulted in a second-degree tear.

As a result, it was painful for Shina to move around and leaving her house seemed impossible.

Shina says, "I had no energy as I was getting up every hour for the first month or two as well as that I had a second-degree tear and I found it hard to just move around or sit down.

"I spent the first month recovering from the tear and surgery."

Feeling exhausted, Shina also experienced shortness of breath getting down and up off the floor which made her long for her pre-pregnancy body.

“My midwife also suggested to go outside and take the girls for a walk just to get out but I was too tired and couldn’t comprehend how to leave the house for the first three months."

Eventually Shina found she could manage taking by her girls for a walk around her local area in their pushchair and doing 15-minute home workouts.

She added: "I felt incompetent and that probably explains why I didn’t really want to leave the house for the first three months but I managed in the end.”

The mum-of-two now goes to the gym five days a week as well as continuing to work out at home.

She's now taking part in bikini fitness competitions - proudly showing off her post-baby body.

2 years Postpartum Twin pregnancy 👶🏻👶🏻 . Swipe to the left for first year of PP ➡️. Right was taken sometime last week . On the 29th of December 2017 I gave birth to 2 of (in my eyes) the two most cutest humans ever 💖 During that time I did let my cravings get carried away but also had quiet huge babies than the norm for twins so my stomach stretched a lot and my stomach also changed a lot as you could imagine, my abs separated 😬 and I've got quiet abit of loose skin 😅 . Looking back though I've progressed quiet a lot to a point where I'd be happy to rock this tummy and even more so because it reminds of all the hard work I've put in 💪🏼🔥 . This was all due: . 🔅Healthy food choices (implementing small changes that I know I could adhere to) and refining what I ate (I hate the word diet as people often think celery, eat nothing, boring when in fact diet is simply what you eat) . 🔅Being a bit more organised ie by meal prepping,planning when I would get my exercise in especially when I was doing full time mum for a year . 🔅Drinking lots of fluids ie water 🔅Moisturising 🔅Consistency 🔅Making it fun & making it work 🔅Blogging like what I do now it's a great tool to help with accountability . #fearlesslyfemale @lornajanenewzealand

When they have toy cars but still want you to be the car and do piggy back races around the house 😂 #mumlife . My life pretty much every afternoon/evening #twinmumlife means double the workout 😅

She revealed, "I'm definitely proud of [my body] but there are definitely times that I wish that the saggy skin would disappear, I actually don’t care much about the stretch marks at all it’s mostly the loose skin."

"When all the other mums and fit models were back stage, I was a little self-conscious because most of the girls and mums’ tummies didn’t really look like they had babies at all.

"But I just had to remind myself that I did this for me, I had to remind myself the reason I wanted to go on stage was to prove to myself that I can get out of my comfort zone and that I can do anything I put my mind to."

Happy 2nd Birthdays to my gorgeous twin angels 👶🏻👶🏻✌🏻🎂💖 . The best thing I ever did, the best joy I have ever experienced and the most love I have ever felt 💕 . They take a lot of energy, mischievous but boy do I love them like I can't even describe 😍 . #twinmum #twinmumlife #blessed