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Pregnancy and motherhood made me more happy in my body. I have wobbly stretched out belly skin and a muffin top in all my clothes, but somehow I just don't care the way I used to. I think it's something about not feeling pressure anymore to be a hot young thing with washboard abs. MILF status is way more forgiving and just as sexy

Used to be very overweight years ago - lost a lot of it, gained some back, got pregnant, and I loved my body while pregnant. I feel like while pregnant, I didn't gain much weight, and I loved my bump.

Immediately following birth I felt really good. And then the pounds started to stack on no matter what I did. I feel like breastfeeding worked opposite for me (like, instead of burning stored fat/calories to produce milk, my body just became more efficient). I hoped that once I weaned my body might slow down, but no, now it's worse than ever.

I even had my thyroid checked, but no dice, it's just me . I take pictures of us all because I want to have pictures of myself and my daughter and our family, but I hate myself in most of them.

I hated my body before kids (why?? I looked great!!) And after my first. After having my second I have come to terms with my body and I'm pretty at peace with how I look. Other things have taken priority (like my skin and face, and gray hairs, ahhhh). It has actually motivated me even more to eat better and exercise more, I think because I'm putting less pressure on myself. It is a huge weight off my shoulders. Other things are finally ACTUALLY more important to me than my weight. I always said other things were, but I was kidding myself!

I'm not loving my pregnant body but I'll be he first to admit I have problems. I danced professionally and never weighed more that 100 pounds. In the 6 years since I retired, I've lost the dancer's body and am softer all over. I then miscarried twice before this pregnancy and gained but never lost about 8 pounds with those failed pregnancies. I feel like I started his pregnancy in a bad place and have been gaining weight sooo quickly. The good news: my husband loves my pregnant body. I think he finds it more feminine than my athletic body. I'm working on accepting a new normal.

If you think counseling is good for you do it now. One of the first things I did was to find a therapist after I found out I was pregnant. We have some family issues going on and I really felt I needed to be proactive so that I could work through everything before the baby gets here. I have been about 10 times and I'm really happy with it and am resolving a lot. I did not *need* counseling but if I did not get it I was worried that I was not setting myself up the best I could for baby.

If anything being pregnant has taken some pressure off being concerned about my body. I feel more relaxed in my body than I can remember.

I was far from ideal weight when I got pregnant the last two times, I hated how my body looked post partum last time and when I got pregnant this time. But over the course of this pregnancy I have come to terms with my body and have realized that even though it isn't everyone's idea of beauty it is still absolutely amazing for doing what it does and it hasn't failed me yet

I've always struggled with body image. While I was pregnant, even though I gained a ton of weight, I felt great about my body. Right after I had Liam, I felt pretty icky, but it just didn't matter because I had a baby. Then, I lost it all plus some and I felt better than I ever have. Nursing and calorie counting helped me lose the extra lbs and I felt comfortable in a bikini, which I thought would never happen again.

I have been about the same size for the last 10 years (20-30), I have always been active and had a fairly healthy eating habits and a body that liked to stay the same size/shape.

I didn't realize how hard it would be when my body started to change when I got pregnant. Loosing my waist as I gained a tummy was really difficult. It's getting better as I start to look more pregnant and less fat. It's been work for me to give myself permission to change. I had not realized how tightly I held onto my size/image before this.

At the same time it's nice to embrace a more womanly body (that my husband loves). I have tried to focus on all the amazing things my body is doing to make room for and provide what this little person needs.

I worry about how I will feel in my body after. I think working to love the changes now will be the best way to set me up for enjoying my body after. Way easier said than done.

I was pretty comfortable with my body before I quit smoking. Then I gained 20 pounds and hated myself. I lost 15 but I still wasn't happy. During pregnancy, even though I gained 70 pounds, I felt pretty. I loved my pregnant body. Afterwards...I'm really depressed about how I look. I'm embarrassed to post any pictures of myself in fear that people from high school will see them. I see their reactions in my head. "THAT'S Danizaur? Oh my god she gained a LOT of weight..."

I usually don't post pictures of myself.

I've struggled with my body image. The comments that people made didn't make it better. Since I had my son I found out that I have some health issues that caused me to struggle with weight gain, fatigue, and joint pain. I'm finally getting everything under control and starting to love my new and improved self. I may not have the same shape/weight as I was before, but I am healitifer and fit. I'm not sure if I will have another child due to the health issues that I dealt with,nod because I am afraid to re-live everything.

I feel better about my body after. I've yo-yo'd a lot and was at my heaviest about 2 years before getting pregnant (but only 15 under my heaviest when I got pregnant). During pregnancy, once I hit about 18 weeks I felt awesome. For the first time in my life I didn't feel like I had to suck in my gut! I could wear fitted shirts and feel like hey-- thats just baby in there So pregnancy was great body-image-wise.

Afterwards I don't feel great about how I look, but probably a little better than I felt before pregnancy. I'm so appreciative of what my body did. I grew a person. An awesome person! And while I still need to lose weight before I actually feel good about how I look, I sort of feel better about myself for having a (not really legit since I look about the same before/after pregnancy, but who's counting) good excuse. Like oh yea I'm a bit flabby but I have a 5 month old so... lol.

I was obese before pregnancy, and had lost about 30 pounds in the 2 years before I got pregnant. So, I was really happy about my weight loss, but still had a ways to go. I didn't gain much weight with pregnancy, and honestly? I'd never felt more beautiful in my life.

Post partum I maintained my weight for a bit and then put some on, and I've now successfully lost that and continued my weight loss. I love the way I look now, for the most part. But I've worked really hard to not transmit my body issues to my daughter. Good for you for wanting to do the same.

I think anytime someone is at the point of thinking that they may need counseling – they should go. You’ve got nothing to lose except your counseling co-pay cost.

I didn’t like the way I looked before I got pregnant, but I didn’t hate it either. I LOVED the way I looked during pregnancy. I loved the big bump, I had boobs for the first time in my life (went from an A to spilling out of DD!) and was happy with how I looked.

I *hate* my post partum body. I wish I was one of those women who could honestly say that when I look at the flabby stomach skin or stretch marks I’m okay with them because they mean my body housed and grew a life….but man, that just isn’t me. I just dislike what I see, and it’s so hard to lose weight.

I was always naturally really skinny (too skinny for a long time), so I never developed any dietary/exercise discipline because I never had to. Well; that sucks big time now when it’s hard to lose the weight *and* I feel like I have no idea what I’m doing.

I am working on it though; I'm fine with never being 110 pounds again, but I will work on the things on my body that I'm not okay with - and I will change them.