I'm still waiting to be content with my body...especially when I see myself in photos. I honestly think I look much thinner and better than I really do. It's kind of a weird mix of bad body image (not liking the way I look) and high self esteem (thinking I look better than I do, so long as I'm not looking at myself!)

I totally agree with all the moms about not having time or energy to care how you look when the kids are young. I was huge thru both my pregnancies, had ginormous babies and look back at photos of myself pre-kids and get angry at myself for thinking I was fat back then. Then again, I look at videos of myself in the first 7 years of motherhood and I'm angry at myself for dressing like a dork.

Wow, the pregnancy and post-pregnancy stanges sound scarry to me. But I do like the idea of someday being able to accept my body and be happy with it. That's something I haven't experienced since elementary school when I found horses much more interesting than men, clothes, etc. I am getting to the place where I kind of want a baby in the next few years, but I'm still scared of pregnancy.

Don't be scared, Sarah. Not all pregnancies live up to the horror stories you sometimes hear. I had two very healthy, happy, feeling-good pregnancies. I had taken it for granted that I would never have a decent figure again after pregnancy/childbirth, and while my body definitely isn't the same as it was before, I'm happier with my body than I have ever been. Emotionally, I have grown much more than I would have thought possible. I thought I was an extremely mature person, educated and highly prepared to be a parent (I became a mother at age 28), but I found out just how selfish and whiny I really was!! It has been reassuring to hear from other parents that I'm not the only one who got that flash after becoming a mother. And my two beautiful daughters are worth all that and more.

Right on, Becky! And I think it's normal to be a little scared.

Hm, I'm getting a little worried about the turn this thread took. I sure didn't mean to sound negative about pregancy and having a child in any way, and I don't think shiny or others did, either. I loved (LOVED) pregnancy. The first two years after were a differnet thing, and I personally think women aren't open enough about their struggles after having a child. I know it's a wonderful for many women, but I also know (not just from my own experience but from talking to plenty others) that many women have a very difficult time adjusting to being moms and their lives changing dramatically (rather than incrementally). That doesn't mean there are any regrets, just that it can be a diffiult time of adjustment, and it's important to acknowledge that and make space for talking about it. And, back to the focus of this forum, style and fashion often take a backseat for a while. But as the contributors to this forum prove, we all emerged eventually with great confidence, newly found interest and joy in style and fashion, and new appreciation for our bodies.

I feel like I might have been the one to turn the thread that way with a very short comment that didn't express the whole situation too well. I certainly have days when I do struggle a great deal being home with kids! (that is while #3 is planned to be the last!)
I can also relate to something Shiny wrote in another thread about not hating her body - but finding it difficult to dress. If I look at myself naked in the morning (only time I do!) it doesn't look too bad! But getting clothes to fit, as I have expressed in other posts, is another matter.
Maya's initial topic in this thread is something I can also relate to. I love tailored looks and would love to wear pencil skirts but every fashion advice I have ever read says they aren't flattering for pear shapes.

Susannah (of T & S) said once that Trinny found being pregnant harder than she did because pear shapes lose their skinny torsos and still have the big bum/thighs etc - I experienced this exact feeling!I will never have a 26" waist again and always have a bit of a tummy and I do feel rather self conscious about that (hooray for tunics)

And for a while after having the baby I felt very buxom (only by comparison to being an A-cup - I never get begger than a C) and although I'd always wanted that it made me feel as if I looked sexier than I was comfortable with - so I can relate to Maya's comments about that.

Ha, Anne, I feel the same way! I like my body naked better than with clothes! I thought maybe I was some sort of wierdo!

Sorry ladies. I didn't mean to say that you make pregnancy sound scary, just that, as much as I am critical of my body, there are things about it that I don't want to change. I don't want my waist to get bigger than 26" unless my hips and bust also get proportionally larger, and even then I'd prefer to stay small with as little height as I have. Some women say they got their little waist back after pregnancy; others say it will never happen. I guess it varies with everyone and I'll have to wait and see.