A.B (34 - she/her), Lucille (6 - pictured), Everette (4), and Norman (2 months - pictured)
You can view A.B's original photo and story from 2016 here.
Austin, TX
“Myra Anne was an unexpected pregnancy at 21, when I had just started my teaching career. I lost her at 13 weeks and that started the end of my long term relationship with my high school sweetheart and catapulted my journey to yoga birth work and myself.
How has parenthood impacted your body image?
I’m still learning the answer to that question. It has changed with each pregnancy birth and postpartum period. This last pregnancy I was my heaviest and food was the hardest for me to see as nourishment without severe trigger to past food trauma from my teen years and years of toxic diet culture. I can say that parenthood has shown me where my triggers are and opened to my eyes that I don’t have to live in shame of my body or in an unhealthy relationship with it or with food. I’m working on that daily.
What was your postpartum experience?
I love being a parent. And I love watching myself evolve and grow with each of my experiences. This last postpartum period has been gloriously slow and deliciously selfish.
What is one piece of knowledge you'd pass along to your former self, or a new parent?
That there are no awards for getting parenting right. If we stop trying to achieve a parenting style or do it right or be the best, we can settle into a more intuitive and authentic parenting style, which is different for each of us.
Why did you choose to participate in this movement and share your story?
This is my second time. Soooo much has changed for me since the last time. My body. My career. My relationship to myself my husband and my kids. And this is my last baby and I think participating in this movement helps to validate the lessons I’ve learned about my body and myself through the season of birthing.