My Favourite Jeans

I'm going to celebrate in this post. And be happy for myself, just a little bit. This picture shows me how far I have come. It was taken the day I checked into the hospital to be induced. I think I was weighing in at about 165 pounds at this point. If I was a boxer in the Summer Olympics, this would make me a Middleweight. This picture makes me cry, and not the elated, what-a-sweet-memory kind of cry. More like, dear-Lord-I-look-like-I-ingested-a-beach-ball kind of cry.

Fast forward to about three weeks later, I step on the scale and am elated to see that I've lost all the weight I gained save about 5 pounds. I run into my closet to get my favourite pair of jeans to do a litmus test. All the while I'm thinking to myself, "Wow, only 5 pounds to go, these jeans will look fabulous!"

Every women has a pair of these jeans. They are so comfortable, they fit you like a glove. Yet at the same time are cute and sassy and make you feel all sorts of cool while you're wearing them. Mine are a pair I bought at Kohl's in their junior department. From their clearance rack. They cost $8.00 and I love them.

So as I pull them on, dreaming of days gone by, the happy music in my head comes to a screeching halt when the jeans get stuck around my thighs. I pull and tug, but to no avail. So I take them off, delicately fold them up, and whisper a promise to my best, most favourite jeans. "I will wear you one day."

Over the last seven months, I have returned to my favourite jeans time after time. Although the last few visits have been out of duty and not because I have any hopes of them fitting. The last time I tried them on, my rather generous bum impeded me from pulling them all they way up.

I had pretty much resigned myself to the fact that they were never going to fit. Pregnancy had warped my body in such a way that about 75% of my wardrobe was useless to me. Today I decided to give one last shot. Go all in, to use a poker reference. If I tried them on this time and they didn't fit, I would add them to the donation box.

I took them off the shelf. Left leg first, then right leg... cringing as I pulled them up. Whispering a silent prayer as we inched closer to the hazard of my bum. Amazement as they cruised up and over to my waist. One last obstacle. I sucked in and buttoned up.

They fit! They fit! The jeans fit! Ladies and gentleman, this truly is a wonderful day!

Okay, maybe I'm being a bit overly dramatic. But as any former preggo can attest, getting your body back is a bit of a victory. With pregnancy, birth, and nursing, we put our bodies through so much that it's nice to get back to the familiar.

So I will savour this victory. Probably by getting a nice, big piece of dessert with my dinner tonight.