A few weeks ago, on one of the momma pages I'm a fan of on Facebook, the question was raised about how pregnancy and motherhood had influenced your view of your body. I didn't have to think about this long to realize the answer, and yet I hadn't much thought about it before. And I think I was a little bit surprised by my response.
I have never been a big fan of my body. My specific list of issues I had with my body is unimportant, since we all have such a list, and the details are not important. But when I read this question, I realized I didn't much think about the parts of my body I wished I could change anymore.
In addition to putting my body through pregnancy three times, I breastfed all three of my children -- Ryleigh for a year, Ashtyn went a little more than 13 months, and Jaden, at just under 5 months old, is exclusively breastfed. I can't say I love what this has done to my breasts. Large breasts getting much larger, and then when it's over... eh. With all three children, I lost all but ten pounds of my pregnancy weight fairly quickly. The last ten pounds hung on until I stopped nursing.
What is the point of all this? The point is my answer to the initial question. I could bemoan those ten pounds and the larger and later floppier breasts and the extra padding in my thighs. Pregnancy and motherhood do all kinds of crazy things to your body. Some women's feet increase in size during pregnancy. When I heard this while pregnant with my first, I started praying "God, please. I don't care what other side effects you send my way, but please, please don't let my feet get any bigger." I was already a size 10. Guess what? God has a sense of humor. I now wear a size 11 shoe. :)
Despite all this, I am in awe of my body. I remember, during my first pregnancy, when I had the time to think about every little thing that was happening, when I was constantly checking those websites that tell you how big your baby is that particular week, etc. (We called Ryleigh "Lenny" for a while because she was the size of a lentil bean one week.) Psalm 139 took on a whole new meaning, as I was so keenly aware of God's work within my womb as He knit my precious child together over those 41 weeks.
A woman's body changes during pregnancy to perfectly nurture and protect that precious unborn life as best it can. Your baby gets the best of whatever you put into your body. I was simply in awe that my body could sustain another life. And then when I began to feel her move within me... Wow! And then I began to nurse my newborn baby. As an aside, let me just say that, especially with my girls, nursing was no walk in the park for quite some time. But again I was wowed by my body, as it was able to produce the only nourishment my children needed for the first year of their lives, as the milk that was produced within me changed to meet their varying physical needs as they grew during that year. What a masterpiece God has created in the human body!
So, while I may not be particularly happy about certain aspects of my body, pregnancy and motherhood have taught me to appreciate the body God has given me. I know that He knit me together in my mother's womb and prepared my body to then sustain the life of my children. The extra pounds, the cellulite that has been added to my thighs, the larger and saggier breasts, and all the rest... I am proud of them, because those are my marks of motherhood. Some people call them their battle scars. I am able to accept my body for the miraculous way God may it and the way He created me to be a mother. Wow.
No comments:
Post a Comment