I recently had a new baby boy. His name is Max, and if I do say so myself, he is quite the handsome little man. Now, this sweet 9lb 9oz baby, his 2-year-old brother, and 5-year-old sister came with a price. They wrecked my body. A broken tailbone, a gallbladder that quit working, bladder control not at it’s best, and the infamous weight gain. With my first two, I never worried about my weight after having them. After my first baby, I was too tired to care. When I had my second baby, I had gallbladder removal surgery three weeks later, which lead to significant weight loss. This baby, though, is my last. I am wearing all the pounds I gained with him and I can tell. Most people are polite and tell me that I’ve just had a baby and to go easy on myself. Some not so nice people mention weight loss ideas and exercise routines around me. All of this has left me a little down about my current mom-bod.
The thing that we all need to remember here is that our precious babies don’t see what we see when they look at us.
We see: A fat face in a photo
They see: Mama
We see: Thinning Hair
They see: Mama
We see: Bags under our eyes
They see: Mama
We see: Sagging everything
They see: Mama
We see: A frustrated mom with a lot on her mind.
They see: Mama
We see: Not the woman I was when I got married
They see: Mama
We see: Someone who couldn’t possibly be enough for these children.
They see: Mama
While, yes, it is essential to make sure we are healthy for our children, we also need to remember to give ourselves some grace. We grew HUMANS. That’s right; a human person CAME OUT OF YOUR BODY. How weird is that? It’s marvelous but completely crazy. No wonder our bodies are all messed up. If you came to be a mother by adoption, your child has taken a toll on your body as well. There is no way of escaping stress to your body when you are a mom. You earned those gray hairs. What matters is that you are their Mama. You were chosen to be this baby’s Mama, and no one else. They see Mama. They see their home. That will never change whether you look like Heidi Klum, or the girl from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory who turned into a giant blueberry.
So join me in taking some of my own advice and love yourself as you are, your babies already do. You’re their Mama.
