“After the initial excitement of having a child wore off, I was ready to start ‘getting back to normal.’ I woke up, got out of bed, and walked past a mirror. I stopped and stared at the person looking back at me. I didn’t even recognize her. The girl I’d known my whole life was gone.”
‘I’d gained 40 pounds while pregnant. ‘I’m sick of feeling ashamed of my body.’ It was like a switch flipped inside of me.’: Mom of 3 shares body confidence journey, ‘I finally love myself’
‘This is a perfectly safe option.’ I LOVED how I looked. Then they tried to kill me. I couldn’t get them out of my body fast enough.’: Mom beats Breast Implant Illness, ‘This could SAVE your life’
“I struggled with loving my post-baby body. ‘Things’ seemed to have ‘deflated’ and headed south, if you know what I mean. I thought implants were ‘perfectly safe.’ What could go wrong?”
‘Curvy women welcome, but ONLY if the curves are in the bust or butt.’ I would wear t-shirts over bathing suits out of fear someone would see my stomach and die of disgust on the spot.’: Mother advocates for body positivity, ‘You are perfectly imperfect’
“I didn’t even let my now-husband look at my stomach for a YEAR. I closed my eyes and waited to hear his groan in disgust. I felt his big hand rub across my stomach.”
‘I was SO proud of my body before kids. Even when I would drop a dress size, I never felt it.’: Mom finds self-worth after struggling with body image, eating disorders, ‘every stretch mark tells a story’
“I was more ‘attractive’ to men. Found it easier to shop for clothes. Being thin actually made me more acceptable in society, it made me seem like I had my life together. I used to feel so validated by being skinny.”
‘Someone commented on my postpartum appearance. I cried instantly. You have a choice, every day. Will you heal or will you hurt?’: New mom receives hurtful comment, ‘It did a number on my heart’
“It did a number on my already-raw heart. A week later, I was FaceTiming my mother-in-law. I kept the camera angled towards my husband Luke—careful to ensure no one caught a glimpse of my healing body I was suddenly insecure about. During the call, I was thrust into the camera view.”
‘If I lose 10 more pounds, I’ll be happy.’ I had a postpartum body to ‘fix.’ I was terrified of getting fat.’: Mom overcomes postpartum depression and eating disorder, ‘Change is possible’
“I blamed myself for not being like other moms who had it all together. I would halt a workout and walk out of the gym if I spotted a fitter girl. It drove me into a pit of despair.”
‘There is no end to partpartum. No matter how long it’s been, we’ve changed in a way that can’t be undone.’: Mom urges ‘she still deserves respect and so much grace’
“My youngest is 15 months old, and I wear compression socks. My 7-year-old calls my tummy ‘squishy,’ and I can’t hide the stretch marks. I struggle with hormonal swings and anxiety that made me message two doctors and a nurse friend today. No calendar date or finish line can return anything to how it was before.”
‘She told me, ‘Your stomach is so nasty. How can you be confident and dress sexy when you look like that?’ I constantly compared myself to my beautiful friends.’: Woman urges ‘all bodies are good bodies!’
“‘Wow, you look beautiful,’ my husband would comment. ‘Shut up… No, I don’t.’ On a daily basis, he’d tell me I was undeniably gorgeous. I’d deny each and every compliment. But he never gave up on trying to make me feel beautiful and sexy. This body was a home for 9 months.”
‘This morning I got some horrible news: ‘Models who aren’t a size 0 are called plus size.’ My body isn’t risky or brave, it’s normal.’: Woman learns lesson on body positivity, ‘I realized it’ll take more than 30 days to do’
“Even skin conditions you have no control over will have people asking you questions about your ability to ‘keep yourself.’ I said I would make it my mission to spend 30 days working on body acceptance. When the 30 days were up, I got some horrible news. I realized, it’ll take more than 30 days to do.”
‘You’re still pregnant, aren’t you? Is there another one in there?’ I’d given birth 4 days prior and was expected to ‘snap back.’: Mom embraces postpartum body, ‘You’ve earned your stripes’
“I hid behind my clothes, wondering if I’d ever get my body back. Wondering if my partner looked at me the same way he did 10 months ago when we created this tiny human. Wondering if this was the same way mothers all around the world were feeling moments after their life’s greatest accomplishment: small.”
