Body Image

I finally received photos from a pregnancy photo shoot I did 3 weeks before Omar was born. It is so surreal to look back. The reason I really wanted to do this photo shoot is because I had a hard time accepting my pregnant body - it's hard to undo a lifetime of subliminal messaging about how a female form is supposed to look in a matter of months - and that bothered me. I remembered talking with Mom about how kids in her class got such a confidence boost when Tina took their picture. I thought that having this pregnant physique documented by a professional photographer would on some level help me to accept this body for the way it was. Even though I didn't get the pictures back until now, it really did help just to go through the process. I think photography should be part of therapy.

Seeing these photos now makes me also realize how much the experience of being pregnant, giving birth, breastfeeding...blooming...has dramatically changed the way I feel about how my body relates to my self. Seeing how different my 'shell' looked during these various phases over the course of just over a year makes me realize how NOT my body I am. I accept how I was pregnant and how I am now and I basically just hover above myself so objectively without judging or hating any part of myself anymore. This is yet another one of the benefits of being born into motherhood, I think.

Can you believe Omar is in there??