Below is a collection of stories and maternity portraits from mothers of various shapes, sizes, gestations, and walks of life. We need to support, love and encourage one another. No mother should feel alone in her struggles. ~ Natalie McCain

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“After my son was born, I experienced secondary infertility for several years, then the loss of a long awaited and very much wanted pregnancy. Those experiences have colored the way I’ve felt about subsequent pregnancies. I fell in love with my son, unreservedly and completely, the moment I saw the second line on the pregnancy test. I remember talking to him often while I was pregnant, telling him how much I loved him and how excited I was to meet him. I never really felt that connection to my older daughter in utero, and I was really worried about it while I was pregnant, especially as her birth approached. The moment I saw her tiny, perfect face after she was born, my heart was flooded with the same love that I had felt for my son. Bonding with my daughters during pregnancy has not been as easy or effortless as it was with my son, but they are no less loved, and I am so grateful to be their mother.”

“I’ve always been the type to value my freedom and independence. So when I found out I was pregnant, both times I cried. Not because I was filled with happiness but because I was overwhelmed with these feelings of my life as I knew it, being over. I knew that I could no longer live for just myself and that was one of my biggest fears, being forced to love someone more then I love myself and my freedom. It was a sad thing to embrace- knowing I had to say goodbye to the old me when I wasn’t anywhere near ready to yet to become this new me. I spent most of my first pregnancy in anger, sadness, denial, resentment and anticipation of how I was going to have to change to be this “perfect mom” I always knew I had to be. I’ve always been scared to love with everything I have, but motherhood has made me face the ultimate love a human can have for one, the kind of love I have been running from my entire life and the feelings I have been avoiding feeling for so long are now forever at the forefront of my mind controlling my every instinct, move and thought process. All that matters to me is being the best mother I can be and giving my children everything I have. “

“I love my body, I love my baby bump, my tiger stripes, my curves, my imperfections, my loving man, my supporting family and friends, and I’m done letting others influence how I feel about myself. I am beautiful, strong, and intelligent.”

“Early in this pregnancy, I experienced bleeding and cramping. After an early ultrasound didn’t show a heartbeat and blood tests showed that my HCG levels were rising, but not very fast, I was sure we would lose the pregnancy. I was devastated and spent several days crying with my husband and waiting for what seemed like the inevitable outcome. Thankfully, we saw a tiny, beating heart during a follow up ultrasound a week later, and I am so grateful to now be 34 weeks pregnant with a healthy, reassuringly active baby.”

“It’s okay to mourn not having the birth you wanted. A [physically] healthy mom and baby isn’t ‘all that matters’. With my second delivery coming soon, I’m afraid I’ll have regrets again or disappoint myself, so I’m going to work hard at making myself proud.”

“I never truly focused on the things I put into and on my body until I became pregnant. Lotions, deodorants, processed foods, etc. Not a second thought of how they might affect my health. Until I was pregnant. The moment I learned I had a child growing inside of me, I became very aware that the choices I was making for myself would have a lifelong impact on my child(ren) as well. No, I didn’t go completely “crunchy granola mommy” (love you ladies!), but I started reading ingredients. And learning what they meant and did. And thank goodness. What a powerful force pregnancy has on a mother’s mind. I have no doubt that some of these changes I’ve made could have possibly saved my life. Thank you, sweet babies of mine, for helping me take better care of myself simply by wanting the best for you.”

“After I had a miscarriage at 12 weeks in late Oct 2014, I was devastated and did not even believe it was possible for me to be pregnant again, let alone 30 days after my D&C. I found out when I was 8 weeks pregnant by having an emergency visit with my doctor due to excessive vomiting and not being able to keep food, or even water down. It was definitely a shock seeing my little coconut as a blob on the screen and beyond terrifying since I wasn’t even done grieving the lost of our last child. But Bradley my “Rainbow” baby and “tougHGuy” decided he wanted to join the world and come as a Christmas present to us. I was beyond excited and nervous, but was trying to stay positive. Little did I know, the next 9 months of my life would be a living hell and push me to my breaking point multiply times. After the initial shock and sharing this exciting news with friends and family, my boyfriend Alex and I were beyond excited. We couldnt wait to be parents, however this pregnancy took a dark, terrifying twist when I was losing weight and literally couldn’t eat even a piece of bread let alone drink a cup of water. I’ve always been a strong person but i knew something was right. At 8 weeks I was diagnosed with HG or hyperemesis grandvum aka HELL. No one in my family or friends have ever heard of this, but come to find out its a horrible condition that can actually result in death of the mother and or the baby. Every single day I puked at least 30 times and I would get so dehydrated I would almost faint. The hospital seemed to have a room just waiting for me to show up.”

“Seeing my baby looking in my eyes for the first time was the scariest moment of my life, facing true love and not being able to control my intense emotions for this little creature I was holding. I never would have imagined the intense bond we were to share and the love and internal need she has for me and me for her.”

“In 2009 they found a growing mass in my abdomen. My left ovary was extremely large and due to a history of Ovarian Cancer needed to be removed. I was under the care of an Oncologist and it was a very stressful time for my family. I had just moved in with my (now) husband and the future became very uncertain. After 4 months of care in early 2010, I had surgery and my left Ovary was removed. By this point it was 16 pounds. All of my biopsies came back negative, there was no Cancer. I was at that point diagnosed with Endometriosis, it was an endometrioma. Due to the severity of my endometriosis we weren’t sure if I would ever be able to have kids. A year later I was getting married and trying to get pregnant. It took Clomid and 6 months to conceive and the pregnancy ended at 16 weeks. After recovery we started trying again, and after 7 months, and more medication, we succeeded once again. I lost that pregnancy at 12 weeks. After another 15 months I got pregnant with my daughter. I was in the high risk office monthly getting screens and she was perfectly healthy. We had our baby girl! Never in a million years did we expect 7 months later we would find out we were expecting our second little girl! She is very healthy also. So after 4 years and two miscarriages I will have two little girls 14 months apart, and it blows my mind!”

“Something I have found particularly amazing – much more so with this pregnancy than with my first – is the support I’ve received from the community of women in my life. Especially my friends and family who are also mothers. The first time I was sure I knew it all and was very stubborn to take advice and compassion. This time, I feel so comforted just being around my tribe, who have also been through this rite of passage. Sometimes it’s as simple as a knowing glance, a helping hand or a hug. Other times it is as involved as a deep conversation on the complex feelings that go along with a woman’s desired birth experience or the vast changes of going from one to two children. I am lucky to have many mom friends now whom I have learned so much from since my first son was born. When people say “it takes a village,” it’s not just in reference to the child(ren). It is just as much for the mother(s).”

“Everyone has an opinion on how you should deliver and raise your child, but only you know best.”

“My favorite part of pregnancy is after labor is done and they hand me my baby. After all my struggles, I am extremely grateful that I can get pregnant and have my healthy babies. That does not make me hate pregnancy any less. I find it miserable, and if I had the money, I would pay someone else to do it for me.”

“No one tells you how scary it is to poop after a vaginal delivery and that you leave the hospital still wearing maternity clothes.”

“My husband joined me at the first ultrasound. Before the doctor could even say anything, we both could quickly see that there were two! We were taken aback, but weren’t totally surprised with having so many risk factors, quick symptoms and a very high hcg. Regardless, it was still hard to really grasp and accept that there were two! Within 24 hours, we discussed how it’d be best for me to close my in-home company and we started discussing all the logistics we could think of. We know life will be crazy and we are hoping to be as prepared as we can be!”

“My daughter was a C Section after 5 days of labor. I’m in several groups, and there is a lot of talk about wishing our bodies didn’t fail. How a “traditional” birth would have been better, and how did we wind up here. I can tell you I didn’t plan on a C section. I didn’t want a C Section….but my body didn’t fail. This body that has seen surgeries, tumors, and incredible loss didn’t fail one bit. I may not have had some ideal birth, but any body that can make such a beautiful, funny, smart, blue eyed baby girl like the one I have been blessed with, did everything I needed it to. She’s alive, I’m alive, and no scar or procedure will take that away from me.”

“Im 35 weeks pregnant, and just last week I had maternity pictures taken to celebrate this horrible, but beautiful pregnancy. For the first time in about 35 weeks I felt beautiful, and was so excited to share this moment with my friends and family. Later that day we got the sneak peak pictures back and I posted them on Facebook thinking my friends and family would think I was beautiful and would love them, however that wasn’t the case. All I received were negative comments about how huge I am, about how unhealthy I am, and about how they think my baby is going to be a 10 to 12 pound baby by the looks of how much I weigh. I literally went in the bathroom and cried for hours. It’s so hard being plus size, pregnant, sick, and getting negative comments about the way I look. If I’m happy and accepting of my body, why can’t everyone else just be happy for me?!”

“I feel like it’s not out there enough in the never been pregnant community, how uncomfortable the whole 9 months can be for many women. Sure there’s some moms that love it and escape misery, but it often comes with a lot of limitations and discomforts, on top of the worry, anxiety, excitement, stress.”

“I love hearing my husband say I am an amazing mom, even when the house is a mess and I burned dinner, it means more then you’re sexy, smart or beautiful.”

“I cried and threw up when I saw the positive pregnancy test- my life literally flashed before my eyes and I cried like I lost a giant piece of myself forever. I couldn’t imagine even being happy about having a baby. The second time I found out I was pregnant, my first baby was…just that still a baby, still needed me. I still needed her. I cried and cried because I wasn’t ready to give up my time to another yet. I just wanted to hold onto her being a baby for as long as I could and I spent every moment with her like it was my last. I didn’t think it was fair that I would have to split time that my first child deserved to have all to herself. How could we do this to her? I liked it being just me and her everyday.”

“I feel beautiful when I am pregnant! Normally I’m self conscious about my body, but during pregnancy, when I know that I am growing a beautiful new life, it’s easier for me to embrace my curves and appreciate my body for what it is able to do.”

“Its hard walking around and looking at all these skinny pregnant women that look like they have a perfect baby bump and I’m just sitting here looking like I exploded into a house. Don’t get me wrong, I love my baby bump and my boyfriend tells me I’m beautiful everyday, but it still is a constant struggle between what society keeps telling me, how I’m not beautiful, and how I feel. I think it’s time for us women to embrace their bodies and stop rejecting them, whether we’re tall, small, skinny, thick, round, any of it, we need to accept who we are and love yourself instead of trying to change to what a model in a magazine says is beautiful. Constant dieting and exercising to try to look beautiful for someone else is not OK anymore. Let’s face it, making a human being is so hard and we deal with enough stress and body changes, we don’t need or deserve strangers, societies, or others negative comments about our bodies during this time. We need to support and embrace our beautiful curves.”

“Advanced Maternal Age. Later Childbearing. These are terms I directly relate to pregnancy, as I have fallen into these categories since first giving birth at 35 (and of course now, as I am 38 years old about to have my second son). I never thought we would wait “so long” to have our first child, or that the routine practices which go along with older pregnant mothers would be the only way I would know.”

“I never wanted to allow myself to have such deep feelings for another- loving someone more than life itself and sacrificing whatever it takes for them. I was always scared and kept it out of reach because I knew who I would turn into and that I couldn’t just live for myself anymore. Becoming a mother has forced me to feel again, the deepest most raw form of love and has forced me to open myself up and accept the happiness I never thought I deserved to know… the love of a mother.”

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