My Husband's Words Finally Made Me Feel Beautiful Again

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I stand in front of the mirror in raw form, looking at a zig-zag pattern of light purple lines that I thought were supposed to fade. They mark my skin connecting into what looks like a jumbled mess on a soft belly that I don’t feel will ever get back to where I want it to be.

For so many months I have been worried about my size. Yes, I have gone up 4 sizes since we started having our babies. Do I feel like I have changed? Definitely. But for the better.

Over half of my friends have little ones and it seems that one of the main topics that women like us are worried about is the weight we will gain during our pregnancies – the weight we will eventually have to work to lose. For the past year, I worried about how I didn’t lose my weight as quickly as I had with out first. I worried about what others thought. I worried that I was the talk of the conversation for the weight I had put on.

But then my husband sat me down after one of my daily, “Do I look skinnier today?¨ questions and said:

¨You carried two babies in less than 3 years. I don’t even notice the stretch marks or the extra weight. Women, women like you are too hard on yourselves.¨

And you know what – he’s right. Some women like myself get caught up in the number and size and we miss out on the now. I am happy with where I am and the size will change if I put the effort into it.

We have time for that but we don’t have all of the time in the world to read stories to our babies or to chase our toddlers around the kitchen pretending to be a monster.

These days, you’ll find me in my stretchy jeans sipping pretend tea out of a Minnie Mouse cup with my pinkie up because I am happy and proud with where I am at – finally.

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Brooke Teel

I'm Brooke a mid twenties mom and teacher with a mile long to do list. I am married to my high school sweetheart, mother of 3; 2 girls in my arms and one in our hearts while keeping up with an ornery, chocolate lab. We are stationed in our favorite small town with big dreams we are trying to fulfill while making sure our ship stays afloat.

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If you liked this, you'll love our new book, SO GOD MADE A MOTHER available now!

Her View Shop

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