Bristol Palin Has Been 'Crying' Over Son Tripp's Decision to Live With His Dad Levi Johnston in Alaska

Bristol Palin has mixed emotions over watching son Tripp , 15, grow up.

On Wednesday, August 14, the mom-of-three marked her and ex-husband Dakota Meyer 's daughters' first day of school via an Instagram Story post, but notably absent from the photo was her and ex Levi Johnston 's son.

"This has been the hardest ‘first day of school’ yet with one of the biggest pieces of my heart missing. Tripp has decided to finish out high school in Alaska to be closer to his dad and our entire family," she revealed of the teenager.

"As hard as it has been to come to grips with his decision — it’s truly not about what I want," the Dancing With the Stars alum, 33, noted.

"He’s almost 16 years old and that relationship with his dad is a lot more important than my own selfish desires of having him with his mama forever!" she added. "I can’t talk about it yet without crying, but selfishly praying for a quick year and easy transition for us all."

Palin was just 18 when she gave birth to Tripp in 2008, and the following year, she and Johnston, 34, called off their engagement.

In 2016, she and Meyer, 36, married, but after two kids together, they divorced in 2018.

Palin's updated on Tripp comes nearly one year after she returned to social media following a hiatus from the platform.

"I’ve been pretty MIA for a year — I stopped taking my adderall Rx and had those two surgeries within the last year — I gained some weight and it definitely took a toll on my confidence," Sarah and Todd Palin 's daughter told a fan last year who asked why she wasn't active on Instagram at the time. "I honestly didn’t feel like posting anything."

The brunette beauty has struggled with body image for years after a botch b----- augmentation at 19 led to a total of nine surgeries.

"I've had previous surgeries trying to correct the initial damage of muscle tissue and terrible scaring," she explained. "The whole situation has honestly made me very self conscious my entire adult life."

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In the fall of 2023, the Teen Mom star said she was trying her best "to stay positive, hype myself up, and remind myself that I have so much to be thankful for."

"I'm healthy, fully capable, and this is just an inconvenience cause things could always be worse," she added.