My body works. It does what it was intended to do. It does what God made it for. It makes healthy children. It bears healthy children. It feeds children to make them healthy. My body works, I am a mother. I have always felt like an old soul in a young body. If I believed in reincarnation, I would swear that my soul had been around for centuries, had lived different lives, experienced different worlds. When I became an adult I decided to act on these feelings and become the woman I felt inside, instead of the woman people saw. I fell in love on the cusp of womanhood, married the man that nature intended to be mine, and gave birth to my first child before I was more than a child myself. Birth was a natural thing that happened in life, like breathing, like puberty, like gray hair. Birth was just something that happened. It was not bad, it was not scary, it was not hard. These are the lessons that my mother taught me, showed me in the birth of my siblings. When my children came into the world, they came naturally. They came into our home, they came into their father’s arms. They came into a place without fear or anger. A place full of love and peace. My firstborn came without fear but not without work, hard work. Now I know why they call it labor. I am so grateful to him for being strong enough to come first, to teach me how to be a mother, to pave the way for the others. And then a daughter. The second edition of my original self. She is stronger, fearless. Everything wish I could be. I will not hold her back. Giving her the birth I did, I started her down a path that shows her the world is hers for the taking. And my baby. My second son. So much quicker, easier, calmer. The peace maker in our home, from the moment of his conception. His spirit is so strong, he will do great things in this world. I give my body to them now, as I did when it was their world of growing. Now they gain from it love, confidence, nourishment. I am not ashamed of what they have done to my body, I am proud. In one of the past lives that I never experienced, I was a warrior. I draw strength from that warrior woman now, as I did when I brought my children into the world. My body is brown. Like the earth, it soaks in the sun, making me warm and life-giving. My flesh, my curves, are my battle scars. But scars cannot be called beautiful, so mine are not scars, but badges. Badges as beautiful and colorful as ancient badges of honor. Badges as adored by my husband as sunken cheeks are adored by the world. My body is considered beautiful. If not by you, or you, then it is always considered beautiful by my love, by my children, by me. I am theirs forever, theirs is the only approval I seek. My breasts are not perky anymore, my butt is not tight anymore, my stomach is not smooth anymore. My body is different than it was when I was a girl, but that is because I am not a girl, now I am a woman. How could someone go through such alterations as pregnancy and childbirth and not be affected? It would be wrong. The body is made to accommodate, and serve as a reminder to life. Like puberty, like grey hair. Change is something that happens. I welcome the change to my body, it serves as a reminder of the miracles of life. Of the beauty of nature. Of the blessings of love. I love my body. My body works. It has done what it was intended to do. It has done what God made it for. It has made healthy children. It has born healthy children. It has fed children to make them healthy. My body works, I am a mother.
Thank you for this. You write so beautifully and capture what being a mother is about. You and your badges are stunning.
I love what you wrote! I love especially your photos!!! Especially the first photo. It shows what true feminine womanly beauty is! Wow! You are bsolutely stunningly beautiful!
This is beautiful.
You are what I strive to be. Thank you for being you and your encouraging words. Your babies are beautiful and blessed to have such an amazing mother!
you can’t see me, but i’m standing up & cheering! best. submission. ever.
Who took your photo’s? They are stunning!I am so glad you are proud of your body, good for you!
WOW! I love the confidence and comfort I see in your photographs. You are fierce and fabulous.
You are absolutely beautiful, thank you for sharing your story.
Your story is beautiful, and the pictures with your baby are amazing! I especially love the first one! You’ve really captured the beauty of motherhood! =)
Your post is awe-inspiring, and SO ARE YOU! Your confidence and wisdom shine through in your photos of yourself. To me, that makes you a thousand times more beautiful than a socially-acceptable “skinny girl” with obvious self-loathing issues. You love yourself and that’s awesome. Rock on, mama!
When I read your post, I found I started to choke up a little. Halfway through I cried, in relief and in admiration. Thank you, you speak the words so many of us wish we believed, and after reading them, I do.
that was beautiful! thank you.
Yours was the first post here that rang true for me. Your words are delight and sunshine. Your family is lucky indeed to have you as Mama who knows the balance and walks with strong confindent strides.
Thanks for sharing. I say similar things as a birth attendant and mother to 5.
Many Blessings~
This is the best writng I have ever read on this site. I am so inspired now, about my own body that gave birth to two perfect little girls. Thank you for making my day:)
Wow !!
I am taken by your outstanding words, especially ….
“My body is different than it was when I was a girl, but that is because I am not a girl, now I am a woman. How could someone go through such alterations as pregnancy and childbirth and not be affected? It would be wrong. The body is made to accommodate, and serve as a reminder to life.”
Such true poetry!
You are one beautiful human being, mother, wife, friend and should be a poster-mum on this website!!!!
THANK YOU you have made my day
xxxx
Ange
This is the most beautiful post I’ve ever read. How moving and insperational (sp)…this is the way that I used to feel before everyday life and “things” get in the way. Thank you! for that wonderful reminder.
Your wonderful words made me cry because you just said everything I have wanted to say. You are a beautiful woman and your children are gorgeous. You are an inspiration, as are your children. Our children. Well done!
just wonderful.
thank you for sharing!
Your photos encompass what this whole website means to so many women, me included. THANK YOU!
What powerful words! Thank you for lifting me up and sharing your strength.
Absolutely fantastic post. Thank you for sharing. Your attitude is wonderful, you are beautiful and I find what you have to say both encouraging and inspiring.
Your post truly brought me to tears, it warmed my heart. It is what so many woman, myself included, feel but can’t put it so eloquently.
I lurk here often, but never have commented, but this post inspires me so!!!
You look proud in these pictures – and I love it, cause I can see my body there too and you have made it beautiful to me.
Beautiful pictures.
Just beautiful.
What a remarkable testimony and stunning pictures! You are beautiful, inside and out.
I see my body when I look at your pictures. I have larger hips but my body and yours have much of the same characteristics! You wrote beautifully. Especially the part about no longer being a girl but you are now a woman! I will never again look like the girl I once was. Instead I am the woman I am now, but I have yet to conquer body image! But you make me think and strive…thank you!
i LOVE this. I am 23 weeks pregnant with my first and i have many stretch marks and started to worry. but when i read this, it turned my thoughts around. your pictures are absolutely beautiful, I love the first one… just amazing! best thing i’ve read. ever.
That was truely inspiring! I love your pictures. They are so natural
I was extremely moved by your words and your pictures. I would love to talk to you more, through email. Thank you so much for posting! You are helping more women heal.
i regret being shy about my body and lost the oportunity to take beautiful pictures like these. I was soo embarrased about my stretch marks that i dont have not even one picture of my belly without any cloths.. i regret it soo much. you look beautiful in every single picture! love it!
How beautifully written. Im so moved by your words. I am ashamed that soemtimes I feel not good enough. I gave someone life. I brought him into this world and yet, sometimes Im not happy with my body. THank you for writing that and helping me open my eyes. I am a mother….the most wonderful thing in this world I can be.
P.S you look beautiful!