I posted a photo, to instagram, the other day, of my now non existent belly button and stretch marked tummy. (tastefully I might add) I titled it I am Made of Scars. It didn't go viral or cause an explosion of outrage. It got 1 single comment from my sister. She, as with many other mothers, refereed to the stretch marks as stripes, due in part to a viral meme. Ladies, I'm sorry, I just don't get it. A tiger is born with it's stripes, a kangaroo with it's pocket, a wolf to it's pack, I was not born with these stretch marks. I EARNED them
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My stretch marks are my Battle Scars. From the moment of conception a woman fights for her health as her body is taken over, she does everything she can to win the battle called pregnancy, for to lose means a fatality.
I know mother's who have been bed ridden, scared that every extra step could cause harm. Some mother's suffer from Hyperemisis and are severely sick throughout the entirety of their pregnancy, they struggle to keep food down not only for themselves but the precious cargo within. After fighting this battle for months on end, it comes to a stand off. We rally the troops,
galloping full speed shout at the top of our lungs, "The baby is coming! The baby is coming!". Then we head off to war. Some have it easy, active labor lasting mere hours, others, like myself, rage on for 12-28 hours. God have mercy for those of us who have had to endure and anxiety of an emergency cesarean. Then there are those who have scheduled cesareans, You Rock, you carried with you the knowledge, fear even knowing that your body couldn't not safely deliver vaginally. When the battle is over, when it's said and done we reap the spoils. Oh and are the spoils WONDERFUL!
So, go ahead and wear those scars, stripes, marks, whatever you want to call them, with PRIDE.
6 comments:
I have a huge emergency c-section scar that got infected and had to be opened again. It was a battle, I've never been in such pain and I don't know many people who would have been able to go through everything I had to. And at the same time I took care of my baby, breastfeeded him, coslept with him, basicly as a single parent because his dad is military. So you could say I'm proud of my scars!
I have a friend that was sad that many of her scars went away when she lost over 100+ and had to have surgery on her stomach to remove the excess skin. Those scars reminded her of her babies.
Right on! Scar'd here too, and proud. I'm a huge believer our body is just a vessel, and being a mom is one of the greatest things that comes from it. Also, only superficial beings would say anything negative about your belly. To me, its beautiful, and carried 6 beings, and I bet all those gifts love kissing, and poking it. Mine do lol. I'm like seriously, what if I had no belly!!
It is so important to embrace your body. I know when I got pregnant I was scared to death of the changes that my body was going to go through.
I love that you refer to it as battle scars - they should be marks of pride! My husband loves my stretch marks... they are a "souvenir" from that magical moment in our lives.
WOW! Ladies it's such a comfort that I'm not alone in embracing what I've earned, what we all have earned. Thank you all for your comments and wonderful words.
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