“It feels like floppy… goo. Seriously, it’s like floppy goo.”

My 5 year old son’s description of my stomach the other day when we were in the pool. #ThanksBud #DidntNeedThatLastShredOfSelfConfidenceAnyway

I feel like in the mommy world, there are generally 3 types of tummies:
1) The tummy with skin that resembles a stretched out and deflated balloon, often adorned with stretchmarks because the jelly-like wrinkled skin wasn’t bad enough.
2) The tummy that for the most part goes back to normal but is riddled with stretchmarks that could pass as a tiger mauling.
3) The tummy that looks totally normal, which if that’s you, congratulations for wining that gene pool, I’ll try not to give you dirty looks at the beach, #JustKidding #KindOf #JesusLovesYouSoIHaveToToo

Suck it in and throw some black on it.

I was blessed with 3 very large, healthy babies, and I have the first tummy to prove it. My kids are oddly entertained by the way they can jiggle it and often see how far they can stick their finger into the abyss of my mommy tummy. On the particular occasion mentioned above, I was in the pool with my kids and my son was once again examining my bare belly (yeah, I rocked a bikini… and by rock I mean lived in constant fear that one of the neighbors might look into the backyard and see my belly in all it’s glory). While I laughed with my son about this floppy, gooey belly of mine and used words like “cool” and “awesome” to describe it, there was still a part of me that made a mental note to see if tummy tucks are covered by our insurance plan. #NotReally #ButMaybeIShould

I know women in general tend to struggle with body image issues even though we’re clearly the better looking gender #AmIRightGuys, but women who have had babies seem to go through a whole new onslaught of body image issues. It seems like everything changes, both inside and out. Even if you manage to lose all the baby weight, hips are wider, feet get bigger, skin and hair changes, hormones hijack your brain and don’t even get me started on the real and legitimate fear of sneezing with a full bladder. There have been times when I wondered who’s body I’m in. I struggle daily with how I feel in the skin I’m in and I’m not going to lie – I hate that I care so much. I want to be able to say “I EMBRACE YOU, FLOPPY GOO BELLY! I LOVE YOU, FLAT AREA THAT USED TO BE MY CHEST! I ADORE YOU, HIPS THAT RESEMBLE A MUFFIN WHEN CLOTHED!” But… I’m not there yet.

I’m working on it though. #SeeWhatIDidThere? If not for myself, then for my kids. In a world where already perfect bodies are further photo shopped to an unattainable ideal, I want my kids to grow up thinking that my not-so-perfect body isn’t actually not-so-perfect – it’s just a body, and one that I’m not ashamed of. Who knows, maybe one day I might want to get some sort of procedure to “put things back into place” so to speak. I know many women have and I don’t fault them for wanting to do so. Or maybe I’ll decide to just leave things as they are, which many women I know have done as well. My feelings on plastic surgery change daily but one thing I know for sure: my body is an amazing creation, capable of creating and sustain life, and THAT is something to be proud of. Floppy goo and all.

#ImStillWorkingOnIt

My son perfecting the art of the belly flop. Bet he wishes he had a little floppy goo for some extra flop.