“Mom jeans” a derogatory term for high-waisted unfashionable jeans. I have to admit my kids are too young to be embarrassed by what I wear, but I totally have mom jeans.  Bring on the 5% Spandex and cinch in the waist!

“Going through pregnancy is like lending a paperback book to a friend, it is seldom returned in its original condition.”    -Regular Joan

I am 8 months post partum and the busy life with three little ones allows very little time for exercise. It is frustrating and it shows in the 15lbs of baby weight left to lose. Carrying the baby strengthens the arms, but the belly is not so cute now that the baby is gone! I’m seeing a new meaning to ‘don’t judge a book by its cover,’ perhaps it is the tattered book with the water damage that is a most exciting adventure!

It is hard not to get discouraged at times. Positive self talk, “It took 9 months to gain the weight I should at least get 9 months to lose it.” Seems fair, but I can’t look back at pre-baby photos and not know that things will never quite be the same. Sigh.

I read a rather jolting quote of Peter Kreeft’s, that pointed out how the devil distorts Christ’s holy words “This is my body” into a defense for abortion. During the consecration of the Eucharist a Catholic priest repeats the words of Jesus at the last supper saying, “… for this is my Body, which will be given up for you.”  Sadly, like the post- abortive young woman told me “this is my body” and I don’t want to put it through that [pregnancy]. Of course this attitude has a complete disregard for the some-body growing inside her.

I think there is too much emphasis on having the perfect body. It’s funny because if you look at the models in magazines – you know that the majority of women are not made to look like that. And ironically with all the airbrushing even the women in those pictures don’t look like the women in those pictures!* Is obsessing over one’s weight a form of materialism? I do believe in honoring the bodies God gave us with healthy habits, but focusing too much on the physical is not a good thing. It is actually kind of shallow. And really our self worth should not come from our appearance, or anything else based on the perception of others. Because it isn’t what others think about us that determines our value; it’s what God thinks about us.  And I get the feeling that God thinks I’m doing alright, even if while on loan my body did get a few marks and blotches. It’s the story inside He’s more concerned about.

Am I feeling guilty about the extra weight? Yes. I would love to have my body bounce back like it seems to happen for the moms in their early 20s. But my guilt doesn’t measure up against the pride and joy I have in my beautiful children. In society’s eyes I may be overweight, but in my children’s eyes I am beautiful, smart, caring, fun, and pretty much all the stuff a super hero is made of. And with love like that it is pretty hard to feel anything but good.

Someone once gave me a onesie that said “Happiness is Mommy” and I love that because it is a two way street. Babies relish in the happiness of being held by and nourished by Mommy -their whole world. And the Mommy is happy being able to give that little baby all her little heart desires, a full belly and a soft place to sleep with reckless abandonment.

So add the Mom Jeans to my tab. Thankfully, my happiness does not hinge on my dress size. Mommy is happiness because God has given her so many blessings! A faster metabolism just wasn’t one of them ; )

*joke borrowed from Mark Gungor, Laugh your Way to a Better Marriage

**Psalm 139: 13-16 You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you, because I am wonderfully made; wonderful are your works! My very self you know. 15 My bones are not hidden from you, When I was being made in secret, fashioned in the depths of the earth.* 16 Your eyes saw me unformed; in your book all are written down; my days were shaped, before I came to be.  http://www.usccb.org/bible/psalms/139