Admire the beauty

Wrote this on Tuesday and forgot to post it.

This should be about Christopher's birth, but soon enough that will come!...along with my Madeline 4 yr old blog!
But, I just have to get this out there.
I have always had body issues...one might even say an eating disorder here and there. I have ALWAYS taken care of myself while pregnant though. With every birth, I have not looked directly in the mirror after. But, I would catch a horrifying glimpse as I was stepping into or out of the shower and it would make my stomach turn.
This pregnancy was incredibly tough. I had Polyhydramnios, which is an excessive amount of fluid, and it was beyond painful. I'm not talking normal pregnancy pain, it was unbearable. It also distorted the normally cute, round pregnant belly into a hanging, heap of uncomfortable weight to carry around. Also leaving me with stretch marks for the first time in 4 pregnancies.
Well, while I was still in the hospital, I found myself stripping down in front of the mirror and admiring what my body had just went through. I saw my hanging, stretched skin in a way I hadn't before. I saw the beauty that a 7lb 4oz baby was just there, swimming in tons of fluid. I saw the strain my, now swollen, legs went through to carry that weight and a toddler or preschooler on my hip. I saw the beauty in my large, engorged breasts that have and are now feeding our baby. I saw a body that brought 4 beautiful children into this world. It is so amazing what my body has and is doing.
I hope that as I come out of this baby cloud 9 that I will still be able to admire the beauty in this mothers body.