This Mom's Instagram Post Gets Real About Pregnancy Complications

When tabloids display celebrities' post-baby bodies, they're usually discussing the new moms' weights or workouts. But the appearance of your body after giving birth can mean so much more. That's why Kari Horn decided to share a photo of her stomach on Instagram while recovering from multiple pregnancy-related complications: to show that "our bodies really do tell stories," she told The Huffington Post.

When Horn learned she was pregnant, she had a feeling it'd be a tough pregnancy. She suffered from endometriosis, a reproductive disorder in which the uterine tissue grows outside the womb, and had a uterus tilted in the opposite direction of most. But things got worse than she even imagined.

Since she had Group B Strep, a bacterial infection in the vagina or rectum, she was on antibiotics. She had to give birth quickly to take them again, but she wasn't making progress. She began shaking and vomiting, and when the baby was showing signs of distress, she got an emergency C-section.

It didn't stop there. Months later, she saw a doctor about a painful bump in her belly button, which turned out to be three hernias. "I’m convinced that after a C-section and triple hernia repair, I will never have proper strength back in my abs or a pain-free day," she said. "My C-section scar still hurts to this day on top of the repaired hernia areas, but we make the best of it. At least eating, breathing, and holding my son is no longer uncomfortable, so that’s a win."

Now, her body is a reminder that she made it through all that. "Mothers are the real MVPs," she wrote on Instagram. "Don't hate on yourselves, ladies. You're beautiful no matter how many scars you get."

The parts of motherhood they don't talk about much. Sometimes, despite what your dream of child birth is, you have to have an emergency c-section. Sometimes, no matter how much coconut and vitamin e oil you put on your pregnant belly, you still get all of the stretch marks. Sometimes, even when your baby is now a toddler, you find out that you have not 1, but 3 umbilical hernias, and you have to get your abs and muscles cut into again. Then sometimes you're allergic to the bandaging the doctor used and end up with burns and a rash all over your already sore tummy. Yet, despite the fact that I may not have much of a belly button after all of this, I'm really only worried about how I'm going to get all of that stitch glue out of my belly button haha. Mothers are the real MVPs. Don't hate on yourselves, ladies. You're beautiful no matter how many scars you get. #4thtrimesterbodiesproject #stopcensoringmotherhood

A post shared by Kari (@karialliah) on Feb 11, 2017 at 10:41am PST

Korn isn't the first to show a different kind of postpartum body. One woman named Mia Redworth recently showed off her stretch marks, eczema, and C-section pouch to make a point that these supposed imperfections are normal. Another named Jessica McCoy wrote about what it was like to feel her expanded stomach after losing a pregnancy,.

Whether or not they appear to belong on the covers of magazines, all these bodies are worth embracing. As Korn told The Huffington Post, "those of us who have become ‘less than ideal’ over time just have the scars, stretch marks, bruises, etc. to show it and remind us that we are warriors."

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