Pregnancy Photos: Don't Be Ashamed.

When I became pregnant with my son many moons ago, I only took two photos of myself when I was pregnant. I wasn't happy with my "baby bump." I thought I was fat. I thought my stretch marks were disgusting. There were times that I told myself, "You don't even look pregnant--you just look fat." I was very, very hard on myself.

I stand at 5 feet, 8 inches, and I weighed 160 pounds when I found out I was pregnant. I had just recently lost about 30 pounds, and I just couldn't believe that I was about to gain most of it back (I actually gained 40 pounds). I loved the idea of having my son, but I hated the idea of looking like, what I deemed, as a "swollen balloon."

And then, I gave birth to my son.

And that's when I regretted not having taken more pictures of my pregnant self.

So, when I found out I was pregnant again 6 years later, I started taking photos of myself. I may not have added my face to the photos, but I took a photo of myself with my bra on showing off my baby bump in all of it's glory.

They may not be professional photos, but I have them!

All real. All beauty.

They're not stretch marks. I'm a tiger, and I earned these stripes!

 

Take it from me, mamas. You will regret it if you don't take maternity photos. Even if you don't want to share your face, even if you don't intend on showing anyone, please, take photos. These moments--these precious moments--are not about how you feel about yourself. It's about how you feel about what's growing inside of you. Your photos are not to please the world. They're about remembering that you, my friend, carried a living, breathing human being inside of your body for nine months.

And after you've taken those beautiful maternity pictures, learn to love that body of yours. It's beautiful. It's real. It's powerful. You created LIFE!