Tess Holliday, plus size model and inspiration to all, is at it again.
Because not only is she still putting in work to normalize breastfeeding, not only is she being her usual lovely self, but she’s also getting extremely personal about the struggles she’s faced after giving birth for the second time.
At this point, could you possibly love her any more than you already do?
Guess we’ll find out!
She shared the above photo on Instagram — just one of many photos she’s shared of herself breastfeeding her precious little son, Bowie.
And while it’s beautiful and wonderful and all kinds of good things, it’s the caption that really got us.
“It’s not #tbt technically,” she wrote, “but I found this photo on my phone now from September of last year & it gave me so many feels.”
“this photo was taken at my dear friends home during a dark time in my life. I was an emotional mess + struggling to find my way as a new mom again.”
“When I looked at this photo,” she said, “a wave of sadness poured over me, but now I only see my tiny bubs nursing & Sweetie,” that precious little dog, “looking on like a nervous new mom.”
Tess, full of wisdom as she is, continued with “Life is messy, love is complicated, & it can all feel so overwhelming but we grow & learn.”
“I’m so grateful for my life & appreciate it all, even if I can’t always see the light at the end … it’s there. Promise.”
Amazing, right?
After giving birth, so, so many women are just a mess of hormones and emotions, and they’re still made to feel horrible if they struggle with that.
Postpartum depression is a huge issue, and while Tess doesn’t explicitly say she suffered from it, it sounds like she got a rough case of the baby blues at the very least.
It’s so important for women to talk about all these things, and to get the message across that it’s normal, and it doesn’t make you any less of a mother.
So not only is Tess normalizing breastfeeding, not only is she telling the world “eff your beauty standards,” she’s also standing up for herself and for women everywhere who’ve gone through similar issues.
What do you know … it turns out we can love her more!