True Story of My Wife

Dear Dimensions:

Thank you for providing a forum for letting those of us who feel that a woman's shape can be something other than a toothpick.

I am a male who has been married for 11 years to a wonderful woman, and I would like to share my feelings about her transformation over the last few years, minor as it may be compared to some.

When I met my wife, as well as shortly after we were married, she was 5' 3” a weighed in the neighborhood of 130 to 140 lbs. She was never 'thin', and always had a wonderful hour glass shape.

She was, I suppose, a size 12 for the first year or so of our marriage, and stayed in the 140 lb range.

Then something wonderful happened. She got pregnant! Now at first, the weight she gained gave her anxiety, and caused me some, too - although how can you not gain weight when you are pregnant? I reassured her that it would be fine and that after the baby came, she could then lose the weight. After the baby came, though, she weighed in at 170 lbs. This did not pose a problem, but, shortly after, she became pregnant again.

She only gained another 10 lbs and topped out at 180 at the end of her term with our second child.

During this time I noticed something occurring with me. I began to really love her new shape. She still maintained the hourglass figure, but her hips had filled out and her legs were gorgeous! Fortunately, she was only able to lose about half of the weight and has settled in the neighborhood of 165 lbs. She now is a size 16, and, even though I joke about it with her, I tell her that if she ever gets below a 14, that I will tie her down and force feed her!

She has a hard time believing me, and all I can do is tell the truth about how I feel.

Do you have any suggestions that I can do to reinforce my wife's confidence in how I feel about her, as well as maintaining her weight?

Thank you

John in Michigan