There aren?t that many photos of me pregnant. It wasn?t a conscious decision; I just didn?t prioritize it because I thought surely an experience so profound could never be forgotten. But five years out from my last pregnancy, I find myself forgetting not what it felt like, but what it looked like. What I looked like. It was impressive, growing life, but who was I now that I have been forever changed" My body told the world that I was a mother before I had really grasped that idea myself. And the world was selling me celebrity snapbacks, waist trainer ads and diet noise. When I discovered body positivity?which has roots in the ?fat acceptance? movement of the 1960s?it felt like a powerful, yet soothing, antidote to all of that.

Five years ago, body positivity was buzzing, making joyful noise on Instagram, inspiring think pieces, attracting attention with billboards featuring ?real women.? Models and influencers like Tess Holliday and Gabi Gregg reached millions with positive posts about self-love at any size, shape, shade or ability. They preached that women and those who identify as women could, and should, celebrate their bodies for what they do and how they make us feel. Body positivity, also known by its inevitable short form, BoPo, felt a bit like ?Fake it till you make it??if you say you feel good about your body no matter what, eventually you will believe it. It felt freeing for perinatal women and mothers to see stretch marks, saggy skin and Caesarean scars ga...