She’s Still In There
A Woman Is More Than a Number on a Scale
Pre-kids.
Baby boy #1.
Baby boy #2.
And now.
Each version of me has looked different.
Each version has carried different weight, different responsibilities, different insecurities, and different strengths.
And yet every version of me has been worthy.
She is more than the numbers on a scale.
She is someone’s whole world.
She is enough exactly as she is.
I’ve spent a lot of time wondering why society teaches women that their worth is somehow tied to their appearance — and more specifically, to numbers on a scale.
That mindset is dangerous.
It has poisoned far too many minds and convinced too many women that shrinking themselves is the same thing as becoming valuable.
But a woman’s body is far too complex to be reduced to a number.
Women come in every size, shape, and form. Trying to force women into boxes that were never designed for them only creates shame where there should be understanding.
The Lie of “Bouncing Back”
Society has sold women a very specific dream about motherhood.
Get pregnant.
Have the baby.
Lose the weight.
“Bounce back.”
As if pregnancy, birth, and motherhood are temporary interruptions instead of life-altering transformations.
As if women are supposed to return unchanged after growing, nourishing, and delivering another human being.
The idea of “bouncing back” has always felt deeply insensitive to me.
Why would I want to go back to the version of myself that existed before my children?
Motherhood changed me completely.
Not just physically, but emotionally, mentally, spiritually.
A woman is reborn the moment she enters motherhood. And from that point forward, there’s this lifelong process of trying to figure out who you are both inside motherhood and outside of it at the same time.
Motherhood Grew Me Up
Motherhood is the hardest and most rewarding thing I’ve ever done.
There are definitely days I look back on my pre-kid life and remember how carefree things felt. I had more quiet. More freedom. More space to think only about myself.
But honestly? I couldn’t imagine being the version of me I was back then and trying to mother children at the same time.
I was 32 when I had my first son and 35 when I had my second, so technically I was already a grown woman.
But there were still parts of me that had not fully developed yet.
Motherhood grew those parts.
It humbled me.
Exposed me.
Softened me.
Strengthened me.
The lessons I’ve learned through raising children could not have been learned anywhere else.
Learning to Love My Postpartum Body
I still struggle with my post-baby body sometimes.
I think a lot of mothers do, even if we don’t always say it out loud.
But I’m trying to love the parts of my body that changed because of my children instead of resenting them.
I will never have the same body I had in my 20s or even the same body I had before my first pregnancy.
And truthfully, I don’t really want to.
That version of my body didn’t carry two babies well past full term.
It didn’t have stretch marks from growing life.
It didn’t have wider hips from making space for my children.
It didn’t have the physical reminders of motherhood written across it.
And yes — I will happily keep the bigger boobs too 🤭
Becoming at Home in This Version of Me
I know one day I’ll fully embrace this body for everything it has done.
This body carried, nourished, protected, and birthed two whole humans.
That deserves softness.
Respect.
Gratitude.
Right now, I’m still figuring out who I am within this version of myself.
Not the pre-kid version.
Not the freshly postpartum version.
Just… this current version.
The one learning how to exist in the “now” while making peace with all the versions that came before her.
And maybe that’s enough for this season.
Looking for more inspiration?
Explore our digital resources, catch up on the latest podcast episodes, and join our newsletter for thoughtful insights, encouragement, and updates from Turn The Paige.
Keep scrolling for more.
