4/12
"I probably shouldn't have been so hard on myself. I was pregnant and doing the best I could. But I gained 100 pounds in six months. I'm five foot two. There wasn't a lot of area for the weight to go. I was huge. It was difficult to move. It was difficult to get up and down. It was difficult to shower, to shave my legs. I had to leave my job a month early. I was an ER nurse at the time, and people could hear me coming down the hall – I was so breathy.
They weigh you at every one of your doctor visits. One day I weighed in at 185 pounds. I started crying on the scale, and they said, 'It's okay – we won't weigh you anymore – it's okay.' Which probably was the wrong thing to say. They should’ve asked, 'Why is this girl gaining so much weight?'
I always thought I would be this beautiful pregnant person. I spent my life admiring pregnant women thinking, You're so beautiful. You look so good.
By the time I went into the hospital to have the baby, I could barely see out my eyes – they were almost swollen shut. I had about six double chins. I looked like I was going to pop. It was not the image that I had in mind for myself all those years I wanted to be pregnant."
4/12