Katherine Heigl is opening up about the unexpected way pregnancy changed her body. In a recent interview with Us Weekly, the Grey’s Anatomy alum spoke candidly about aging, specifically focusing on her journey with perimenopause and accepting the C-section scar she’s nicknamed her “hot dog bun.”
“I got away without stretch marks, but I had a cesarean, so I have this scar that created this kind of lump there,” the 46-year-old said of her pregnancy with her now 8-year-old son Joshua. “It looks like a little hot dog bun on my lower belly that will be there forever now.”
Heigl continued, saying she never expected to be left with a C-section scar because “nobody told me that would happen.”
“Everybody acted like the cesarean scar would be nothing, and that you’d never even see it, you’d never even notice,” she said. “And, like, this has changed my body forever, I will never look like I did pre-pregnancy.”
While her postpartum scar is something she had to get used to, the actress made it clear that it’s something she’s grateful for, and she frequently reality checks herself to remember that her scar is a reminder of everything she’s experienced thus far.
“I had to sort of smack myself and be like, ‘What are you talking about? It was so worth it,’” she said. “I think you have those days where you beat yourself up and think, ‘Oh, I wish I looked like I did when I was 25.’ But then there’s the reality check of, like, you’re not 25 and I wouldn’t want to go back to 25 for all the tea in China. I am very grateful for the existence I’ve had thus far, for another 20 years of life to love, and learn and grow and experience. This is part of that.”
Heigl also opened up about her experience with perimenopause. The actress recently became a brand ambassador for Poise, and she explained why it was important for her to get rid of the stigma associated with women getting older and experiencing issues like bladder leaks.
“There was a little hesitation, for sure, because you’re basically telling the world about your personal perimenopausal journey, you know? And I’m like, ‘Do I want everyone to be aware of what my body is doing?’ But then I just felt like, I know because of my girlfriends, my sister,” she said. “I know I’m not the only one this happens to and I know that the more we sort of act embarrassed, the more heartbeat we give that.”
