Don't Retract Pack

Birthmarks

Poem and first photograph by Cassie Fox.
Additional inspiration from Fox at Cassie Fox Photography.
Birthmarks photos shared by peaceful parenting readers. To include your photo in this gallery, send to DrMomma.org@gmail.com



A mark for every breath you took, every blink, every sleepy yawn.

One for every time you sucked your thumb, waved hello, closed your eyes, 
and slept in the most perfect darkness. 

One for every time you had the hiccups. 
One for every dream you dreamed within me. 

It isn't very pretty anymore. 
Some may even think it's ugly. 

That's OK. 

It was your home.

It held you until my arms could, 
and for that, I will always find something beautiful in it. 


~ Cassie Fox


















































Related Reading:

Good Birth Books!

The Shape of a Mother

Love Your Mummy Tummy

Mother's Antithesis 

Lizzi Miller: The Beautiful, REAL Woman on p.194


~~~~

59 comments:

  1. Oh. dear. The bum photo at the end was perfect! :D Thank you for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I so happy to see all these bellies... it's nice to see the beauty in what the media deems ugly. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you!!! Such perfect timing to remind all the wonderful Mommies that bodies aren't the way the movies and magazines make them out to be and that they are to be celebrated and embraced:) Maybe swimsuit season will take on a whole new meaning of showing what we have instead of hiding what we haven't, I find it can be a difficult season for a lot of us Mom's. Love these photo's:)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I loved the last one! lol

    ReplyDelete
  5. LOVE these!! I've recently added a few scars to my belly from donating a kidney. I see my stretch marks and these new scars as in the same group; the marks that love left!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love seeing these pics. I have been so much more open with my second pregnancy and showing my belly. Every mark is there for a reason and I am growing to love them. I wish they would stop itching for a minute though.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Such a great reminder that our bodies, no matter how out of fashion by current standards, will always be beautiful in the ways that matter most. Thanks for reminding me to love my post baby body a little more today. : )

    ReplyDelete
  8. LOVE IT... is there a FB page where we can all share our 'birthmarks'

    ReplyDelete
  9. I think one of Satan's tools is trying to get us to believe that there is something less than beautiful or sexy about a body that is carrying or has carried a baby. Hence all of the media showing "perfect" bodies, when it is at best difficult and at worst impossible to achieve and maintain a body like that. Mommies' bodies are beautiful, largely because of what they can, have and still do accomplish. These mommies' bodies have grown and nourished babies. Way to go, mommies.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Womb-in are amazing... & our bodies are amazing ~

    ReplyDelete
  11. This is so beautiful!! I actually have tears in my eyes! It doesn't matter how many sit ups I do, you just can't shrink skin. But that's ok, my tummy was the perfect place for my babies to grow as I got to hug them from the moment I knew they were inside me. Now, I have to chase them for hugs!

    ReplyDelete
  12. This is lovely isn't it, brought a tear to my eye. Tears becuase it is so lovely and tears as I won't experiene the joy of carrying another baby again.

    ReplyDelete
  13. We were brought up with my mum telling us that stretchmarks are our baby's road map to life.. I now find myself telling my kids the same and friends who get upset they have them. :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Awww I LOVE this!!! Thank you for posting. It's high time we mommies started seeing our post-baby bodies as what they are - normal and beautiful. <3

    ReplyDelete
  15. OMG...the first one's my tummy exactly...I have been devastated by 2 babies one with eclampsia (gained 30 KG) and one with pre eclampsia and diabetese insulin dependant (gained 35+) You have made me shed a tear but also see a different side to the tummy that i soooo hate and hide and try to wish a way every day....thank you : D

    ReplyDelete
  16. gorgeous photos.......i refer to mine as my "flames of creation" as they pop up over my waist band ( i read it somewhere whilst pregnant and immediately loved how the lady spoke of hers with such pride)..they are fading now but i'll never hide them away, i am soooo proud of my amazing body and how it grew our gorgeous son xx we should remember to wear our scars with pride .... we are amazing women!!! xx
    claire and baby ethan xx

    ReplyDelete
  17. when you stop and think about it, we are pretty amazing - growing a tiny little human inside of us is so special..so wear those marks with pride ♥

    ReplyDelete
  18. CaseyMarie ~ Birthmarks photos are being shared on the peaceful parenting FB page:

    https://www.facebook.com/peacefulparenting

    All posted will be added to this gallery. :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. So beautiful ♥ We need to appreciate our bodies so much more than we do!

    ReplyDelete
  20. OH! I relate so well, that looks like my stomach, so soft and squishy. But a masterpiece, knowing why and how it got there. I'm embarrassed some days, and proud some days. I'm sharing this!

    ReplyDelete
  21. I call them my Tattoos of motherhood.

    ReplyDelete
  22. LOVE!! I had tears in my eyes after reading the poem then laughter at the last picture!! The comments are just as amazing as the pictures themselves!!! Makes me more proud than I already was of my stretchy belly and stretchmarks!

    ReplyDelete
  23. This is so beautiful! thank you for making me feel better about my stretched belly :)

    ReplyDelete
  24. gorgoeus..I call mine battle scars but love each one of them for they came with my most beautiful creations my babies!!

    ReplyDelete
  25. That is so lovely... thank you for reminding me of the power in the female belly.

    ReplyDelete
  26. yea, looks like mine except its brown lol i love this!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  27. It can be so hard to accept my "new mom body". People tried to tell me I would be back to normal by 6 months. Later realized those women formula-fed, so they could quickly lose weight w/o fear of putting toxins in their babymilk. I am glad to breastfeed my son, even though 7 months in I haven't lost any baby weight. It is also comforting to know that I am not the only one with a zebra-striped tummy. I still find it hard to find the beauty in it. I am going to write this on a card and the Mother's Antithesis on another card, tape them to my bathroom mirror to read aloud to help me accept my body. Many thanks for posting this!!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Hey! Theres a belly in there that's flat and unmarked! Was someone trying to brag? lol!

    ReplyDelete
  29. I just found out that I am pregnant with #3 (6 year old daughter, 15 month old son (still nursing strong!), and 4 year old livein nephew, as well), and I can't wait for the huge belly and baby kicks and hiccups and...! My daughter can't wait, either! She used to always kiss my belly button because she said it was her baby brother's lips! As soon as I told her about the new baby, she immediately kissed my belly button!

    ReplyDelete
  30. absolutely beautiful. thanks to all for sharing their gorgeous bellies!!

    ReplyDelete
  31. So beautiful! Thank you. Birth marks indeed. I love every mark on my body that reminds me of the amazing trip that we have taken together to bring my children into this world.

    ReplyDelete
  32. The picture for the link & the one right after the poem is mine. Thanks so much for putting it in here. These are beautiful <3 Sarah

    ReplyDelete
  33. I always said I have 2 butts because I had to have a c section and back then they did it up and down and the Doctor cut into all my deep muscles and all the doctors that seen it said that he butchered me. I always hated my belly and now in my 40's who cares I have something very beautiful for all the marks on my belly and if nobody likes it oh well it's mine this was great. Me and my 2 butts!! I will still say that but it is what it is and I loved what everybody else had to say and to all the beautiful bellies!!

    ReplyDelete
  34. BEAUTIFUL. Thank you! I love it.

    ReplyDelete
  35. I love every mark that brought my 3 children into the world. I would do it again and again. Thanks for the reminder that they are worth it.

    ReplyDelete
  36. beautifully said . so true. if only more people saw it that way. our bodies should be celebrated instead of being hidden!

    ReplyDelete
  37. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks I "earned" my pudgy tummy!

    ReplyDelete
  38. Oh wow! These are wonderful! I love moms who aren't ashamed and can show their pictures without fear. I especially loved #14 from the top. It is a picture of someone wearing a pink shirt. The skin is very stretched out and caved in. *THAT* is what I look like a few months after birth! I have had six babies and am pregnant with #7. It always gets flatter and tones up some before the next baby comes but I always (and will forever) have that little bag of saggy skin at the bottom...and you know what? I don't care!

    ReplyDelete
  39. Thank you for putting this website up, I felt like i was the only one but now i feel like i can embrass my belly again!

    ReplyDelete
  40. WOW LOVE THIS! Had 4 beautiful boys and gained 70 pounds with the 1st pregnancy! I call them my road maps! hahaha Have not been able to wear a bikini in 10 years,but all 4 of my boys were worth everyone of them!

    ReplyDelete
  41. Wow! Did anyone else notice the second from the bottom looks like two little footprints- one on either side of the belly button, facing up, just how you would put your baby's feet if they were lying in your lap- That's SO LOVELY! xoxo I also especially loved the pic with the cuddly kids in it... nice to see the mama getting and giving love with the kidlets that decorated that belly!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They are indeed my son's footprints after he had took his morning nap on me. It seemed so appropriate that his footprints were overlaid on my tummy! It's one of my favorite pictures and I wear my tiger stripes with pride :)

      Delete
  42. Ahhh, wonderful, I've been feeling seriously flabby and gross lately, and this perked me up, to most of us who've had babies, we really should wear our tiger-stripes with pride! I'm just having a hard time accepting I was a size 6, now a size 12... Big shift in body image you'll guess, lol!

    ReplyDelete
  43. Wow! When i saw the 1st pic loading I was thinking what the???!!! Than i read the poem saw the pics,was shocked, but than I realised the scars I have on my body,no matter if its not all on my stomach had a meaning! Never looked @ it as a scar with meaning,but now I can look @ it in a totally diferent way,and can have more confidence in myself while showing off my body/scars.Now summer days can come for sure! Love it!!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  44. I LOVE this poem, and I loved seeing all of the beautiful, life-giving bellies. I have stretch marks all over my belly from being pregnant with my daughter, and I have learned to accept them. They are totally natural! I love this post. I linked to it on my website in the post that I just wrote about stretch marks! http://www.fitandpreggers.com/stretch-marks/

    ReplyDelete
  45. I love this post :-) I wrote a post about my stretch marks just a few days ago too . . . http://thestanleyclan.blogspot.com/2011/10/scars-and-stretch-marks.html

    ReplyDelete
  46. its lovely to see, that many other mother have strech marks, you are not the only one! when I had my first baby at age of 19, I got the worst bellies ever, it was so much a shock! but when I had my second at age of 37 (last may) I did not care so much :-)

    ReplyDelete
  47. I saw this a few months ago, but it means even more to me now that I've given birth to my second child and have a belly that looks very much like some of these photos.

    ReplyDelete
  48. With my first two babies I never felt ashamed of my belly, stretchmarks and all. With my third and the emergency section I feel a great sadness when I see my belly in the mirror. I am trying to get past it and my husband and I had a long talk about it last night, but I just cannot seem to get past it:( What happened was so traumatic for me and the scar and the shelf that are left are reminders. Jax was worth it for sure, but it just doesn't seem to make it easier for me to embrace what was done to my body.

    ReplyDelete
  49. My fiance always told me that if I didn't get stretchmarks by the end of my pregnancy I would be a freak. A freak indeed. No stretchmarks. I'm actually a little sad. That was one scar I would have been proud to wear.

    ReplyDelete
  50. Im so happy to see that Im not the only one who looks like this after having children. I see so many women who are in a bikini and looking good 1 year later and I wonder why I look so awful. My children are 6 and 5, my roadmap isnt ever going away.

    ReplyDelete
  51. Seeing this made me feel better about my body, I have 3 beautiful daughters my last one being 2 months old and I have been feeling really upset about my tummy this made me feel normal. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  52. The most amazing poem, it made me cry! I have stretch marks myself, all over... they dont bother me so much anymore! thank you!
    Marisa

    ReplyDelete
  53. Love this comment sent privately to us:
    "Your body is not ruined: You're a Tiger who earned her stripes!"

    ReplyDelete
  54. Thank you
    My tummy looks like pic13 the pink shirt, to much skin that won't go away.
    Its hard to be proud of it every day but thank you for showing me that there is some one else out there just like me.

    ReplyDelete
  55. I was lucky and didn't get stretch marks on my abdomen but got them on my butt an thighs. After 31 years, I don't care, as long as I'm healthy

    ReplyDelete
  56. Beautiful. Our bodies are amazing, we created human beings for crying out loud. Love every scar and never forget that you were blessed with the ability to create life when so many others are not.

    ReplyDelete