Body image is a pretty hot topic these days. After carrying and birthing a baby, being OK with your body becomes more complicated.

Pregnancy means weight gain, stretch marks and even increased shoe sizes. And after your darling baby is born, rather than returning to that pre-pregnancy body, we are left with sagging, loose skin and other reminders of what our bodies have gone through to bring a new life into the world.

Yes, creating and nurturing a life is beautiful and wonderful, but it can leave both new and more seasoned mothers feeling frustrated about their bodies. Even after months of working hard while exercising and strict dieting to lose the baby weight, our bodies may hold onto those last ten or twenty pounds. And regardless of magic creams, the extra skin and stretch marks never seems to go away.

Post-pregnancy body woes

One mother, Laura Mazza of Mum on the Run, went to Facebook with her experience of post-baby body frustrations and the realities both her and her husband now face.

On her post, Mazza wrote the truth, "This isn't the body you fell in love with." She explains that the body she once had -toned muscles, free of stretch marks, no extra tummy from separated muscles- is not what her husband fell in love with.

What mother can't relate? We all miss fitting into whatever we want to wear. We've traded in stylish jeans for comfy, stretchy clothes and find ourselves looking at pictures from years before pregnancy.

"I stood in front of him, exhausted and broken, the tears welled in my eyes, 'this isn't the body you fell in love with,'" Mazza stated in her Facebook post

Her husband's response

Mazza's husband speaks some beautiful truths that all women need to hear:

"[Y]ou're right. It isn't the body I fell in love with.

"Instead it's a body that grew our children, it fed our children, it comforted our children, it made life. Your body is the one I fall in love with every day.

"I didn't know what love was until I saw this body and found out all it could do, so thank you."

The reality we all need to face

Mothers: You are amazing and so is your body. Sure, we may not look like super models, but hardly anyone actually does. Your body created children, fed them, wiped away their tears, lost sleep caring for them, worked tirelessly to cultivate a loving environment that would allow them to become wonderful people. Not only did a tiny human grow inside you, but your body continues to give of its strength and energy to raise that human.

It's a beautiful thing.

Give yourself a break. Your body has been through a lot and it's awesome and amazing what you've done. That sagging skin covered in stretch marks might mean wearing a bigger size, but it's a reminder of the miracle you've been a part of.