This is a beautiful post written by one of our patients. There is a link to her blog also.
http://twofeetleft.blogspot.com/2011/12/pregnancy-service-stripes.html
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Pregnancy Service Stripes
In the past year I have grown, changed, been dealt a hand of cards I didn't know how to play. I went from being just a girl who did her own thing, to a woman that's a mother.
In a year, my entire life changed. I absolutely love it and could not be more thankful for it. But I do have a few laughs every now and then at my view of things. For example, I thought I wasn't going to get stretch marks.
Stretch marks. I'd like to call them Pregnancy Service Stripes, a cute term I heard on the internet months prior to Liam's birth. At first, I hated them. I despised them. I didn't want to get pregnancy pictures done because I had so many of them. But as time grew on, I shed those fears, and began to strut my stuff.
As a kid, I grew up thinking stretch marks were from people getting too fat. Isn't that funny? I mean, I've seen people whose stomachs looked like Edward Scissorhands got to it. And as a pregnant woman I found myself worrying about that happening. Turns out, there was nothing that was going to prevent me from getting them. For one thing, I'm super short. So my poor baby had nowhere to go but out. And during the the growth spurts he had inside of the womb, my poor skin had no time to adjust.
I put on Bio-Oil, Burts Bees, Lotion, I stayed hydrated and all. I did whatever I could to make sure that my stomach remained as it was before. Who the hell was I kidding? Not only does it look like my cat went to town on my stomach, but I now have this flab of skin that won't go away.
But now, I don't mind showing off my stomach. Because my body has done a beautiful thing. It has sustained life within it. It has grown a human. Sure, a farmer can plant seeds and grow a field of corn with the right amount of sunshine and water...but isn't the ground, the very soil in the earth that grows his corn? Have you ever seen soil after it grows a field of corn? It is demolished and takes time to go back to what it used to look like. I'm not comparing pregnancy to growing corn..(or even if I am)..stretch marks are not something to run from.
Every mark on my stomach is a service stripe of pregnancy. It is a reminder of the great things I have done. There's one for every hour of labor, every week full of heartburn, every pound I gained..and every ounce of my body I gave for my child to be able to come into this world. They have been angry, red, long and itchy, but I have grown to love them as part of my body now.
With that said, I want fellow women to appreciate their Pregnancy Service Stripes. I want them to love their bodies for the miracles they withhold or withheld within them. I want them to love their marks, because it just means they are that much stronger.
Because I have grown a pair, I am going to post a picture of my Service Stripes. I hope ya'll don't mind the image.
This is me 9 months Pregnant. About 40 weeks here. I put myself in a bikini and went to the pool.
And this is 4 months Post Partum...
Yes, I would do it all again. The Miracle of life is worth it. Even if my little brother points at my stomach and stares in awe. Heck, once he even asked if he could show his friends. (Scowls).
Posted by Jillian, Liam's Mommy at 2:41 PM
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