The beautiful Mallory Schram with 11 month old Everett. Mallory struggled with Anorexia in middle school that developed into a combination of bulimia and Anorexia in high school. Mallory had to leave school for treatment and through heavy work with physicians, psychologists, psychiatrists and support groups was able to get healthy again. Mallory had a healthy pregnancy and was able to accept her growing body but has found the stretches, stripes and scars left behind to be difficult. Mallory had a lot of pain at 37 weeks and went to the hospital. It was determined that she had appendicitis and she had to have an emergent cesarean to deliver her baby and remove her appendix.
Mallory's motivation for participating in the project is best left to her own words, "Like many new mothers, I spent most of my time at home, learning the ropes of breastfeeding and motherhood. When my son would have his nursing marathons, I would search the internet for support on how to overcome my new insecurities; that's when I found The 4th Trimester Bodies Project. For the first time since becoming a mother, I had felt good about myself. I started to embrace myself and my new body; I took pride in the fact that I had just grown a human being and started seeing those embarrassing stretch marks as beautiful. My c-section scar was no longer a wound; it was my son's gateway into this world."