Elastic lets you grow

Pregnancy was fun. I enjoyed it (well the second and third trimesters). I know some people who have been miserable the entire time. I wasn't. I loved having a life moving around inside me. I glowed. My hair was shiny (but fell out during pregnancy rather than after).

My favorite thing about pregnancy? Maternity clothes! Oh the stretchy loveliness of the preggo pants pouch! Ahh! Emergency runs to the bathroom - not a problem when you don't need to worry about belts or buttons or zippers! YAY!

Gone are the days of  tent clothes designed to "hide" pregnancy like my mom had to deal with.

My momma and I on Halloween a couple months before my brother was born.

Today's maternity clothes are cute and comfy and help make a woman in the most beautiful phase of life...well, feel beautiful.

Picture courtesy of my talented cousin, Jenna

Because of an unfortunate illness pared with breastfeeding and stockpiling milk for an upcoming business trip, I lost weight very rapidly.

I was quite sick in this picture. My daughter was 1 month old and apparently afraid of her momma's giant man hand on her belly.

When my daughter was about 6 weeks old, I was completely out of my maternity pants. Some shirts I hung onto for a while, they snapped back better than I did!  I maintained my lower weight while I breast fed, mainly because I had to cut so many things out of my diet to keep the kid from going nuts. When she was about 8 months old, I stopped breast feeding, and reintroduced the evils of the food world back into my diet (i.e. chocolate).

I ballooned. My pants no longer fit. I had passed on my maternity pants to other soon-to-be-mothers (and kicked myself for it). One by one, I filled my dresser with pants and shorts with elastic bands.  I wore them all summer. This gave me carte blanche to eat how I wanted however much I wanted. I never felt huge because my pants were never tight.

I took zillions of pictures of the kids, but hardly included myself. Then on my daughter's first birthday, everyone hauled out their cameras.

And I saw this person holding the birthday girl.

On my daughter's first birthday. At the peak of my frustration.

I hit a wall. I decided to make a change. I chose to buy jeans that fit - and to make some major changes. It wasn't easy. But it worked.

Here I am (daughter is about 15 months old) in jeans and much more comfortable in my body (picture courtesy of my friend Katie)

That was 2 months ago.

My victory jeans that I purchased when I hit my goal weight are snug now. I fell off the wagon. I let work, and other craziness, take priority over my health. I went for easy (comfort) foods that weren't my best options.  I'm still learning. I'm still growing. 

But I'm not loosening my belt and letting myself become comfortable in my pants today in lieu of being comfortable in my body tomorrow.