It has been one year since I learned that I was pregnant, and as
I reflect on the past year, I am amazed at myself - at what my body has gone through and
accomplished in such a relatively short amount of time. In that year, I have stretched my skin to the limit by gaining and losing (almost) almost 50
pounds. My body has changed from something that was once my own to something that is now at the total mercy of another, and I am okay with that. My clothes and shoes fit a little snug, one of my toes has a crick in it, my rings are now too small, my skin is softer, I don't even know what my belly button is doing (not sure it will ever recover!).....the list can go on! During my pregnancy I dreaded the spiral lines that now populate my belly and sides, but as I look at them today, I think about how lucky I am to have them. I look at my scar across my lower abdomen and am reminded of the exciting and terrifying night Poppy was born....the night my belly stopped growing and my heart began to swell. I see those marks on my skin and changes to my body as signs of love, health, and happiness. Without those changes that my body went through, Poppy would not have been the little girl she is today. She is practically perfect. I have successfully incubated
one of the cutest, sweetest, smartest, most amazing creature I have ever known, and I am proud of my body for that. I am a mother now because of those changes - a place of comfort, nourishment, and warmth for our daughter.
