How Motherhood Changes Your Body

I am a size 12.

I had 3 babies, in less than 5 years and my stomach looks a lot different than it used to and I’m SO okay with it.

I think when you become pregnant you have this vision of what everyone else looks like after they have a baby, and you think “I’ll just bounce back”. But you don’t realize there is no bouncing back. You just grow and change and adapt and become a new version of you.

I used to be a size 4! Before I was pregnant with our second born, I was a size 4. I was much tinier. I weighed 130lbs and I did feel ‘good’ in my skin but I feel great in my skin now. I am proud of the weight I’ve gained from having babies. I am not unhealthy, I am healthy and the weight will come off but I am not pressuring myself to be a size 4 again. I just want to be healthy.

That’s the stigma. Loose weight to feel great not to keep up with an image. Not to look skinny, or be a certain size.

I am not so much talking about weight in this photo though.

What I’m talking about is the loose skin. The skin that isn’t going away. I can workout, and tone, and use creams but my skin STRETCHED 3 times. It grew life inside it and I’m proud of that.

I don’t need to be ashamed of my weight, my size, my loose skin. I am embracing it.

And although I do focus on losing weight for my health, I focus on loving myself the way I am in the process.

You deserve love, mama. Embrace your stretches, your loose skin, and the weight you gained while pregnant.

You can do this while simultaneously working on your health, and losing weight to get healthier.