When tabloids display celebrities' post-baby bodies, they're usually discussing the new moms' weights or workouts. But the appearance of your body after giving birth can mean so much more. That's why Kari Horn decided to share a photo of her stomach on Instagram while recovering from multiple pregnancy-related complications: to show that "our bodies really do tell stories," she told The Huffington Post.
When Horn learned she was pregnant, she had a feeling it'd be a tough pregnancy. She suffered from endometriosis, a reproductive disorder in which the uterine tissue grows outside the womb, and had a uterus tilted in the opposite direction of most. But things got worse than she even imagined.
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Since she had Group B Strep, a bacterial infection in the vagina or rectum, she was on antibiotics. She had to give birth quickly to take them again, but she wasn't making progress. She began shaking and vomiting, and when the baby was showing signs of distress, she got an emergency C-section.
It didn't stop there. Months later, she saw a doctor about a painful bump in her belly button, which turned out to be three hernias. "I’m convinced that after a C-section and triple hernia repair, I will never have proper strength back in my abs or a pain-free day," she said. "My C-section scar still hurts to this day on top of the repaired hernia areas, but we make the best of it. At least eating, breathing, and holding my son is no longer uncomfortable, so that’s a win."
Now, her body is a reminder that she made it through all that. "Mothers are the real MVPs," she wrote on Instagram. "Don't hate on yourselves, ladies. You're beautiful no matter how many scars you get."
Korn isn't the first to show a different kind of postpartum body. One woman named Mia Redworth recently showed off her stretch marks, eczema, and C-section pouch to make a point that these supposed imperfections are normal. Another named Jessica McCoy wrote about what it was like to feel her expanded stomach after losing a pregnancy,.
Whether or not they appear to belong on the covers of magazines, all these bodies are worth embracing. As Korn told The Huffington Post, "those of us who have become ‘less than ideal’ over time just have the scars, stretch marks, bruises, etc. to show it and remind us that we are warriors."
Welcome to Mothership: Parenting stories you actually want to read, whether you're thinking about or passing on kids, from egg-freezing to taking home baby and beyond. Because motherhood is a big if — not when — and it's time we talked about it that way.