Me, My Mom & Our Mom Bellies

When I was younger, I’d look at my mom’s belly full of stretch marks — and wonder why it’d gotten like that. ⁣

𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦…⁣

All the time, sacrifice, and strength it must have taken to endure a healthy pregnancy, and a cancerous molar pregnancy, followed by a “miracle” pregnancy. ⁣

𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦…⁣

That, to her, those marks represented her kids, her two gifts. ⁣

It wasn’t until recently when I looked into the mirror and saw my own belly after birthing my own two babies that I realized:⁣

𝐌𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬. ⁣

⁣Full of stretch marks — that mark one of the most beautiful periods of my life. ⁣

⁣…More and more I see her when I look in the mirror…⁣

⁣And I am proud to have a belly like 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴. ⁣

Oftentimes, older women-our moms and grandmas- get overlooked as their skin and bodies age. ⁣⁣⁣⁣

𝘞𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥. ⁣⁣

Women in my mom’s generation mostly covered up their pregnant bellies with baggy clothes and didn’t proudly expose their postpartum bellies. Instead, it was looked down upon to expose those parts of you. (Decades later, even I caught slack from my ‘Buela for wearing a bikini when pregnant.)⁣⁣

So, I am 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥 she stood next to me for these photos.

Here she is—here we are:⁣⁣

𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 ⁣⁣

𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐫 *𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐦𝐨𝐦 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬.* ⁣⁣