by Melissa Willets posted in Pregnancy

After three pregnancies, I'll admit it's a (big) struggle to fully embrace my postpartum body. Sometimes I wish my tummy was (much) less squishy. That my breasts didn't have stretch marks. That I had the firm, tight figure I (so) took for granted in my early 20s.
When I get down on how I look now, I'll try to take a step back, and think about everything this body has accomplished. It's nourished and then birthed three beautiful, amazing children, I love more than life itself. That's no small feat.
Recognizing that fact, I'll take a deep breath, and stop beating myself up over the "pinchy" part of my tummy, underneath my belly button, for not being good enough. And instead, I'll remember that even if I don't look the same as I did a decade ago, I'm still beautiful in so many new and hard-earned ways. Of course, given the seemingly never-ending stream of pressure on women to spring back postpartum, it still isn't easy to embrace my body after baby. That's why I love photographer Mikaela Bodkin's Love Your Postpartum photo series, which features over 30 moms who are celebrating their tummies, and breasts, and all their other postpartum parts, instead of hiding them in shame.
 

 
Mikaela told BabyCenter that the project "was inspired by a momma mentioning to me that she'd love to do a shoot to embrace her new postpartum body." The Ontario-based photographer loved the idea, and sprung into action, ...