Thursday, August 28, 2008

My post-baby body.

Many people believe that having a baby "ruins" a woman's body. That a woman should look the same way as a mother that she did as a young girl. Have you ever seen a 90 year old woman that you could have mistaken for a 15 year old girl? I didn't think so.

I believe a person's body is a canvas of the life they have lived. Someone with wrinkles around their eyes are from the smiles they had on their family vacation. And someone with a scar on their leg from the time they went scuba diving and got bitten by a shark proudly displays the scar and brags about it. From the time we are young we get marks and scars on our bodies that are a timeline of our experiences.

My body, for example, chronicles my life's events.. I have a scar on my arm from just this past June when I reached into the oven and touched it to the hot rack and got a big long blister. It's still pink and it gets pinker in the sun. I have a scar on my little toe from when I dropped a bottle of shampoo on it in the shower in John's little apartment. I have a scar on my right pinky finger from slamming it in the screen door when I was probably about 10. I have a scar on the top side of my right wrist from reaching into my parrot's cage when I was young and tried to bite me.. I jerked my hand away and scraped my arm on his cage. I have a 2 inch scar on my left leg from when I was in high school. I was on the track team and I was competing in high jump. I landed funny and the spike on the bottom of my shoe impaled my leg and tore downwards. I have a couple of scars on my face from having large moles removed. I have stretch mark scars on my breasts and hips that have faded into a pearly white color from when I was a teenager going through puberty. I have small new red stretch marks on my breasts from them filling up with milk to feed my baby.

So what I don't understand is why we as women are shamed into believing that the scars our bodies obtain while we are pregnant are these awful hideous ugly marks that need to be hidden from view. Why is the scar on my leg that I got from a spike going into my leg considered cool, but the scars on my breasts considered ugly? I HAD A BABY for crying out loud! How cool is that???

Why would I want to look the same way I did before I had a baby? I am not by any means the same person I was before I gave birth. I am a MOTHER now! Inside AND out. My arms and back are muscular and strong from carrying around a growing-like-a-weed baby. My breasts are full and round from filling up with milk, and soft and jiggly from being emptied over and over. My stomach is soft and fluffy and makes a perfect spot for my baby to rest while she is nursing. I am more curvy now than before I had my baby. I now have boobs and hips. Yay!

Maybe when I get home I will add some pictures with this post of the body I once had and the body I have now.. but only if I am brave enough. Won't you encourage me? :)

What kind of scars do you proudly display? What kind of marks do you hide?

9 comments:

Jenn Ann said...

Yay! I know you'll post the pictures because you are a brave chick!

Queen B said...

You are a hot chick, pre- and post-baby! I love this post... it's beautiful and relevant and powerful. You rock!

Andrea said...

This post makes me proud of all my scars and life lessons. I'm not a mom and never will be, so I won't know the joy and pain of the scars you are talking about, but I've faced other battles and while in the past I haven't been exactly proud to present these scars, maybe I will in the future.

Great post and great thoughts...show off and be proud of the beauty that is you!!

Jane said...

I love my canvas. There is more to the canvas than I would like these days. But I love the canvas all the same :)

Ruth Anne said...

I think everyone should love their body. I love theirs! It is amazing what it can do.

I think you definitely should post your pictures. (I, unfortunately, am too vain, and still don't want to accept the changes.)

Anonymous said...

Nice post, Bianka! You asked about our scars...

My "favorite" scars I have are right below each of my big toes. When I was about 7 years old, I was obsessed with using my feet as brakes while riding my Big Wheel. And one day I lived my dream, which caused me a lot of pain, but the scars are very small now:) I would die if any of my children tried this. My poor parents!

Jinjer said...

I am all for encouraging you...yep, post the pics! And by the way, you look great!!

Andrea said...

This is a BEAUTIFUL post... you should definitely post pictures. Thanks for sharing with us.

Skipper said...

Like I mentioned earlier...I love this post. So beautifully written. I am proud when I say "That's my beautiful cousin and she just had a beautiful baby!" I love you more than blogging.