Like many women, I have not always had a good relationship with my body. At times, I’ve really hated it, and throughout my adolescence and early adulthood, I often felt at war with it. To be entirely honest, I still dislike my body sometimes, but having experienced the thrills and challenges of childbirth and motherhood, I find it much more difficult to be angry with my body now. It has endured too much, survived too much, given too much, and loved too much.

The term “Dad Bod” is mostly associated with laziness, whether dads deserve that or not. But a “Mom Bod” is different. It comes from a lot of hard work, yet we don’t see it that way. When I look in the mirror now, I still feel the temptation to catalog my faults. But I know that each flaw is actually a witness to the lives I’ve created and care for every day. Have you considered the gifts behind these 5 mom bod “flaws?”