New mom Amber Pike is struggling to fully accept her postpartum body.
The Love Is Blind alum, who welcomed a baby girl with husband Matt Barnett in April, got real about her linea nigra — a dark, vertical line that typically appears on the abdomen during pregnancy — in a post shared via Instagram on Tuesday, May 20.
Displaying her postpartum figure in a photo and video labeled “unaesthetic mom things,” Pike, 33, wrote, “Constantly being ocd triggered because your linea negra [sic] is crooked and not centered on your belly button.”
The caption for her Instagram post continued: “There’s a lot about my body that has changed with pregnancy obviously, and I do think I’ve coped with most of it pretty well because I accepted early on that having my baby girl would mean being remade into a new person — what I wasn’t ready for is one of those changes being irritatingly crooked! Don’t get me wrong, I can handle the new markings, but I’m the kind of person that likes things even and balanced… so the fact that my linea negra [sic] is so close to being straight down the middle but is just slightly off centered drives me nuts.”
“I know it’s just a small thing and so dumb but it’s become a pet peeve nonetheless,” she added. “Is there anything that changed for yall with pregnancy that’s not really a big deal but still manages to annoy you, or is it just me?”
Followers flocked to the comments section of Pike’s post, with one writing, “Even and balanced just like your bedroom organization. Welcome to the TYPE C MOM club, we are proud to have you babe!”
Pike responded to the messy room comment: “lmfao when it’s good, it’s great… when it’s not… it’s reallyyyyy notttt.”
She also replied to a fan who mentioned a decline in oral health after welcoming babies.
“Oof yesss, I’m honestly dreading having to go back to the dentist and hear what they say after 9 months of vomiting nonstop from the HG,” Pike shared.
Another fan noted that the crooked linea nigra would “bug” her too, with Pike responding, “Thanks so much babe, the random ocd struggles be cray.”
According to the Cleveland Clinic, “the linea nigra is caused by an increase in hormones and fades once your baby is born.”
Pike has been open about her postpartum journey over the last six weeks. On April 27, she shared another “unaesthetic mom thing”: her shoes not fitting due to her swollen feet.
“So I’m realizing there’s a lot that people glaze over about having a baby, like how people may mention your feet swelling when pregnant but… they forget to explain that could mean having to replace all your favorite shoes,” she wrote via Instagram alongside photos of her feet in sandals. “Ngl I’m pretty disappointed that the @rainbowsandals that I spent years and innumerable blisters breaking in so that they were molded perfectly to my feet now leave my toes hanging over the edge. The odds of having to replace your entire shoe closet after birth may be low, but they’re never zero.”
Pike also shared a candid post on Mother’s Day about her pregnancy and birth story, deeming it “the most intense hazing experience.”
“From being told that I wouldn’t be able to get pregnant, to being told that if I did it would likely be a still birth, to twice weekly infusions and injections for thirty weeks, to all of the scares and testing, to finally having a healthy happy baby in my arms that is literally the most precious thing I’ve ever encountered — I feel like I’ve been through the most intense hazing experience ever but have finally made it to the other side and feel so honored and blessed to be in this league of extraordinary moms,” she shared. “From the outside looking in I thought I knew what it was all about, but now that I’m here… I don’t just know — I understand. Happy Mother’s Day to all my fellow Mamas.”
Barnett, 34, shared a Mother’s Day dedication to his wife on May 11, writing that “becoming a mother wasn’t easy” for Pike.
He added, “And being a new mom can be crazy exhausting, but you show amazing strength every day and I’m proud to have you as the mother of our beautiful little girl. You truly are the best mom! Happy Mother’s Day! @atypicalamber.”
Pike and Barnett met and tied the knot on season 1 of Love Is Blind, which was filmed in Georgia in late 2018 but aired in February 2020. Ever since the pair got married on TV, they have offered supporters a glimpse into their relationship on social media but have chosen not to be a part of any Love Is Blind reunions.
“We are together IN SPITE of that show not because of it,” Pike shared via Instagram in 2023, adding, “I told them to stay away from us.”
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