Our photographer sent us a couple sneak peeks from our maternity shoot on January 21st. These were taken at 32 weeks and I felt enormous, sweaty (I'm constantly overheated!), and less than photogenic.

I almost decided to skip maternity photos altogether because I'm so camera shy most of the time, unless it's a selfie where I can control the angles and avoid showing the areas I don't love about my body. I've been every clothing size from 6-16 and struggled with eating disorders for most of my life. Gaining 40+ lbs with this pregnancy has been mentally difficult for me. I was just starting to make progress with getting back to a regular fitness routine following a 20 lb. weight gain after my pre-wedding fitness binge in 2014. In June I was feeling strong and healthy, and then suddenly in July I had to slow down and think about the baby growing inside of me instead of my own fitness goals. Once the swelling and foot pain started in November I pretty much gave up on working out and have been focusing on just getting through the day.

But I'm glad that I set aside my body image issues to record this important period of time in my life, because you can't get these moments back.