Rumer Willis is "in awe" of her postpartum body.
"This body of mine made a human from scratch … and she looks and feels a little different now," Willis, 34, captioned a nude Instagram photo on August 14. "But I am truly in awe everyday when I look at my daughter and see her smile or look at her perfect face and tiny toes and the way her eyes light up when she wakes up in the morning and recognizes my face. She is the love of my life."
Rumer, who is the daughter of Demi Moore and Bruce Willis, gave birth to daughter Lou on April 18, and soon after revealed her first photo and unique name. Willis shares Lou with her partner Derek Richard Thomas.
The "Sorority Row" actor wrote that she is no longer modeling her body after perfection — in 2015, Rumer wrote an essay for "Glamour" explaining that she felt "bullied" for her appearance while growing up with celebrities for parents, and yearned to look "tiny and androgynous."
In her Instagram post, Rumer revisited those emotions.
"This body of mine that I spent so many years trying to shape and mold into what I thought was desirable or made me feel good in clothes, is a little softer and rounder and jiggly and different and that’s OK," she said, adding, "More than ok it’s kind of amazing because I grew a person inside of it. This little being that I love with a fierceness and wonder that reaches new levels everyday."
With Lou almost 4 months old, Rumer wrote that she is "adjusting" to her postpartum body.
"Whatever shape it ends up in, I am just grateful for all that it did and continues to do," she wrote. "In the ongoing process of transformation, I am grateful for every twist and turn. My breasts might be bigger and perhaps ever so drifting downward but what a gift and privilege that they can feed and provide nourishment for my Lou. They also make a fantastic pillow while we co-sleep. My hips and tummy, now softer and rounder, cradle my daughter in safety, warmth, and love."
Rumer wrote a reminder to herself:
"The most profound beauty I’ve ever felt in myself emerges from remembering daily, to not reject these parts of me, but just embrace and give them such deep gratitude."
In June 2023, Rumer shared the "primal" details of her daughter's birth, which happened at home with assistance from her partner Thomas, mom Demi Moore and sisters Scout and Tallulah Willis.
Rumer described the birth as a "psycho spiritual experience" during the “Informed Pregnancy“ podcast with prenatal chiropractor Dr. Elliot Berlin.
Inside the birthing tub, “the contractions were getting really intense, like getting to that point where it’s the overwhelming pain," she wrote, comparing herself to "some sort of sexual mermaid."
“I let go, I actually let myself surrender to ... what was happening. And my body ... just downloaded what to do,” she said.
Rumer said she broke her own water.
The midwife "was checking me and felt my water bag bulging, but still not popping, which was wild,” she told Berlin. “And so I was like, ‘Well, should we break it? Do you want to break it?’ And she goes, ‘Well, you can.’
“I was like, ‘What? Are you serious?’” said Rumer. “OK, because I reached my finger up and I’m feeling and it was crazy. Yeah, I can totally feel this little bag ... it feels like a water balloon but with a bit tougher skin."
After Rumer "popped it," she said, Lou was born.
"So she had a cord wrapped around her neck, but it was also wrapped around her body ... almost like a prom sash ... But then as soon as they untangled her, she was in my arms,” Rumer told Berlin. “It was the most ecstatic, joyful moment of my entire life. And I just started sobbing with joy.”