Katie | Milford, CT

Images by Jacklyn Greenberg

"I acknowledge and appreciate my body for what it has and will continue to provide me. It is incredible. It is generous. It is full of life. How could I ever be ashamed of that?"

From Katie:

 "'Hey Thunder thighs';  23 years later and I still remember the juvenile taunts,  muffled giggles and feeling of being stared at behind my preteen back when my 4th grade classmates, reminded me that my thighs and hips were a standard deviation from the norm.  As a preteen pear shaped girl, I would awake, run to the bathroom and look in the mirror disappointed that my evening wishes to get rid of my hips and thighs was not granted. Why couldn’t I look like other girls who had narrow hips and a thigh gap?  I was ashamed. I didn’t want curves, I didn’t want to struggle when I went clothes shopping, I didnt want my pediatrician measure me and  tell me I have “birthing hips”, I didn’t want my thighs to touch, I didn’t want stretch marks,  I didn’t want to be made fun of, I didn’t want my body.

These negative self-images carried on through my high school and college years. And while other girls commiserated complaining in their size 2 body, I felt I had done something wrong and my punishment was cellulite and a double digit pant size.  It would be a rare occasion to wear shorts, a skirt or, heaven forbid, a bathing suit, in public. Why? Because despite being over a quarter century with my body, I could still hear the playground chants “thunder thighs, thunder thighs”.

Now I know: 

My body serves me well and I am grateful. 

I am a vessel with the privilege and power to create life.  Previously despising the contour of my stomach, I now caress the curve of my growing belly. The newly acquired stretch marks that my prior self would reject and hide now serve as proof of my baby’s existence.  My hips have expanded greater than I could have ever imagined but they cradle my growing child and soon will sway my baby to sleep. My thighs may be big, but they are strong and faithfully carry us through our 9 month journey without reservation.  While I continue to grow in size, I also grow in spirit and emotional strength. I am not even close to what I once was physically and because of that, I now understand that it is not about what my body looks like, it is what my body does for me and my baby.  I acknowledge and appreciate my body for what it has and will continue to provide me.

It is incredible.
It is generous.
It is full of life.
How could I ever be ashamed of that?"

-- Katie

Images of Katie by Jacklyn Greenberg.