When discussing the state of my 40-year-old body during this twin pregnancy, my husband and I have ultimately decided to give in to nature. These days, our mantra is, “We’ll rebuild the body in 2011.” But, I have just realized the destruction of my ever-expanding temple is not yet over.
Today I discovered three red lines running across my belly button. Because I can only see them in the mirror, I asked my husband to inspect. My first horrifying thought—stretch marks! My husband’s untrained eye could not make a determination. So now, I just have to wait and see if my skin is going to pop—literally.
Of all of the horrible things that have happened to my plump little body, stretch marks seem to be the most devastating. If the marks around my belly button are indeed stretch marks, there’s no way to get rid of them—they’ll be there forever. If I actually regain my bikini body (which I had for only a short period in my life), those ugly little things will be there to remind me that my body will never be perfect—even after a “rebuild.”
No matter how much lifting, sucking, tucking, shaping or shifting I may or may not do, I’ve now gone through enough ups and downs with my body to know that when it’s all over-- I may finally be happy with what I have and what I don't.
