Kym

My body and I have not always been on good terms. When I was young I didn’t know how to listen to what it was telling me and unless I was telling it what I hated about it I often ignored it altogether. 

When I got pregnant with my son it was a bit of a surprise and an adjustment to say the least. During labour it was pretty tough going and I desperately wanted to have my baby as naturally as possible. He was eventually born via emergency c-section. I was devastated but also overwhelmed with love for my son, so I soon pushed the experience aside. 

Many women have c-sections and I never thought any differently of them. So why did I have this intense anger towards my body? It’s the high standard that we hold over ourselves, the inner thoughts saying, “yes, they are beautiful and their worth isn’t dependant on their abilities, but mine is”.

When I got pregnant with my second child, I realized that I hadn’t dealt with my anger towards my first birth and my body. I still held a lot of resentment towards it, and the fact that my hips had betrayed me. I feared I would have another traumatic experience and that my body wouldn’t be able to give birth naturally the way I had dreamed of. But my second son was born completely naturally with a short labour! I couldn’t believe my body had pulled through for me! 

I was shocked and in honest disbelief at how strong I really was. When I started to trust my body and listen to it, it was amazing the worth that it held.