Four Truths about Our Post-Baby Bodies

3. Instead, your body will do amazing things you never dreamed it could do

Your body will not fail you as you get up for the fourth time in the middle of the night to feed a hungry baby. You will be able to hold an infant or a 1-year-old or a toddler for ridiculously long periods of time -- cuddling, soothing, shushing -- and your biceps will grow strong and defined from it. Your core will tighten and hold you firmly in place as you lift your child from the crib or catch her as she jumps from the bed into your arms. I didn't know how fast I could sprint until my toddler slipped from my grip and darted towards the parking lot. You will surprise yourself. Marvel over what you are capable of with this new mama body.

4. Beauty is where you find it

The talk about post-pregnancy beauty is relentless. We get it: yes, our bodies have sagged and crinkled and jellied and no, that doesn't mean we're suddenly ugly, but we each catalogue those changes with varying degrees of self-acceptance. Our body-obsessed culture doesn't help prepare us for our newly hewn post-baby bodies or feel good about them. The challenge is to blow all of that off and realize it's not just our bodies that have changed. The way we view the world is different too. Beauty abounds in the most unexpected places, making the minor and mundane suddenly magnificent. I remember looking at my daughter's impossibly long eyelashes as she slept thinking they were the most gorgeous things I'd ever seen. And who hasn't called their new baby's poop beautiful?