“As a kid and a teenager I think I was confident, outgoing and happy with who I was...but in my teenage years I always compared myself to others. I’ve always had big thighs and big calves and wished that I had skinny legs...ideally I was confident, but compared myself and criticized myself. I still do, even though I am happy where I’m at.”

 

Throughout her four pregnancies and three births, Julie embraced her body changes and enjoyed them. Then, at three years post her final birth, she found herself in a depression with a decreased libido.

 

“Eventually, I wasn’t confident or very happy with my body so I bought weird clothes that I would never wear just because they fit or would cover my body...then I made a conscious decision to be healthy and fit.”

 

After working hard to lose 50+ pounds and dedicating herself to regaining her confidence and her body, Julie realized that she wasn’t going to be able to get parts of her body back to a pre-pregnancy state. Despite her concerns about the social stigma attached to elective breast augmentation she decided to have the surgery.

 

“It was for me [the breast augmentation]. My family was supportive either way. As moms, we tend to take the backseat. We get lost in motherhood. I look back at myself  [before the surgery and weight loss] and I see someone who wasn’t me at all. I wasn’t happy with that and I decided it was time for me. So with a ton of my hard work and a bit of help from my surgeon...I feel like myself again, sassy, sexy and confident!!!!

I don’t tell a lot of people because I do feel that some people think it is the easy way out...but, the struggles of women are hidden within. It [the surgery] doesn’t change who I am...not my heart, my mind or my soul. I’m not perfect, nor do I want to be. Whatever any woman does to her body, whether it be piercings, tattoos or surgery, they still are who they are inside and that is the most important.”