Battle Scars

I have decided that I like my stretch marks. I knew I would probably get them when I got pregnant, so I would put lotion on my stomach twice a day, everyday. Asa even helped me do it, even though he hates lotion on his hands. But they still came. I was upset when they first showed up because they will probably never go away. But, now I think they are beautiful. They are my battle scars. They remind me everyday of the fact that my body is amazing and did such a spectacular thing. I grew a human in there! It feels good to acknowledge them as something positive. Once you change the way you feel about them, it immediately boosts your confidence. So what if that person you don't know and will never see again thinks they are ugly? Do I really care? And the people who will see me again shouldn't care.

However, I do still wish I could lose weight. I read a story yesterday about a woman who had a baby and was 8 pounds below her pre-pregnancy weight by two weeks! Two weeks! If only I could have been so lucky. But, no. I am still carrying around every single bit of it, plus some. Even with breastfeeding exclusively.

So, today is the day. I am not embarassed of the way my body looks, but I would love to have a few more clothing options and be able to wear. I am going to only make healthy choices to put in my mouth and I am going to walk 4 or 5 times a week. There. Now it's set in stone. Everybody heard it.

I know that my stretch marks will never go away, but I don't really want them to. They are kind of comforting to me since I loved being pregnant. I am incredibly proud of my body and everything it has done to give me this beautiful baby girl.