Desiree Fortin struggled for years with infertility, and now, after giving birth to triplets, she’s learning how to appreciate her body, stretch marks and all
A year and a half after the birth of her triplets, Desiree Fortin‘s stomach has a “postpartum pooch” that led two people to congratulate her on another — nonexistent — pregnancy. But after struggling with infertility, she couldn’t be prouder of her “baby bump.”
The photographer and mom blogger wrote about accepting the realities of her post-baby body and appreciating all it had done, after spending years wondering if she would ever be able to have kids.
“I was challenged to really think about my body,” Fortin writes of being congratulated on her ‘pregnancy.’ “Was I really proud of the wounds left behind on my stomach after carrying and delivering my triplets? Was I really beautiful?”
Fortin explains that even after she became pregnant with her twins with a successful round of IVF, doctors were unsure if, because of her short height and low weight, she could carry them all to term. But she did, with babies Charlize, Sawyer and Jax all weighing just under 5 lbs.
“Even though I may have a little extra pooch and lots of tiger stripes, I longed for wounds like these,” she says. “My hope wounds are proof of my strength and bravery through the pain and loss of an empty womb and the extreme joy and glow of a fruitful womb.”
“As I was challenged and inspired to really relish and embrace my hope wounds, I learned that I absolutely love who I am,” she says. I love my wounds, and I love the life that I have been given. I am so proud of my body and the representation it has of my journey.
