Five weeks postpartum. I love so much about this image. Her toes. My hair. The angle of our limbs. Beautiful in an obvious way. This is not the image I had in mind when I asked Jasmin to photograph us. I envisioned us from up above, bellies touching, stretch marks on display. She got it so much better. She did take the one I asked of her. It's beautiful in a different way. You just have to look a little harder to see the beauty and I feel brave sharing it. Perspective is everything.
I gained 50 lbs during my pregnancy, while eating incredibly well and swimming about 4,000 yards a week throughout my second and most of my third trimesters. 9 months in and I didn't have any stretchmarks. I felt happy and proud to have avoided them. And then they appeared at the very end, and not on my belly, but on my hips and breasts. And I'm so glad they did. Badges of motherhood, hiding beneath my clothes. Someone I admire told me, "your body is so deserving of all the love and admiration and praise you can nourish it with." And she's right. I'm grateful for my body, the body that grew this beautiful child. There is nothing more miraculous to me than the reality of every one of us growing inside our mothers' bodies.
Photos by Dogwood & Fern Photography