Oh, Baby!

First, a quick note to fill you all in on yesterday evening's talk. I wrapped up Body Image: The Naked Truth nationwide college tour, during which I visited 12 universities, from UNC-Chapel Hill to Baylor U. to Florida State. Every campus I visited was so welcoming and warm, and I can't think of a better place to finish up than at my alma mater, University of Wisconsin-Madison. We had a huge audience including the women of the Greek system and UW's female athletes--about 1200 in all.

So now I'm sitting in the living room of my friends Trish and Manny, watching Trish feed their newborn baby girl, Maya. It is one of the most beautiful, natural things I have ever seen. Maya is barely three weeks old, with her dad's olive skin, her mom's ocean blue eyes and a full head of dark hair that already brushes the folds of her neck. Watching Trish watch Maya as she takes in her milk was a shock to me at first - I remember partying at clubs with Trish, staying out all night and gettng silly on Cosmos! (Now, she fuels herself with bananas, oatmeal, and turkey, and chugs water in an attempt to replenish herself.) But after, oh, two minutes, I became not only accustomed to the site of her breastfeeding, but looked forward to the look of pure love and joy that spreads across her face everytime she simply catches a glimpse of her little girl - her "Baby Bird," as she calls her.

Trish used to struggle with her body image, suffering from an eating disorder at one point. But for her, getting pregnant and watching her belly grow was a phenomenally healing experience. She explained to me, as we played with Maya (OK, we poked at an animal mobile over her head and pretended she could distinguish the giraffe from the donkey) how she has gained a wholly new perspective on her body. No longer does she obsess over perfect abs or her how she looks naked (she looks fantastic, BTW). She has realized the miraculous achievements her body is capable of and it didn't take long before things like the ability to grow a human being outweighed the inconvenience of going up a cup size of the momentary sting of discovering that first stretch mark.

"I literally feel better about my body than ever before, and I have this one to thank for it," she said, bending over and kissing her daughter on the head. "Thanks, Maya!"

Indeed, thank you Maya. Auntie Leslie loves you.

Comments

This is a truly beautiful post, Leslie. I have heard a lot of women echo Trish's perspective. I think pregnancy is healing for people who have struggled with body image, but I also think it can be a real struggle.

I watched one of my sisters grow more and more terrified with each pound gained. Her body image suffered a huge blow, and after she had her babies (twins!), she relapsed. I actually thought her pregnancy was going to have the same impact that Trish's did . . . who knows?? Maybe it still will. I am holding out the eternal flame of hope that she realizes how amazing her body is - that it has given birth to three precious gifts.