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Mom of 9-week-old decides to embrace her post-baby bump: 'This body isn't shameful'

It's the question most of us are conditioned not to ask: Are you pregnant? This mom of a 9-week-old was asked just that, and she had a powerful response.
/ Source: TODAY

It's a question many of us are conditioned not to ask: Are you pregnant?

In the best case, the woman in question is pregnant. But worst case, she's not.

One woman, who gave birth nine weeks ago, was recently asked if she was pregnant, but she feels that being asked this question is far from a worst-case scenario.

Lindsey Kay Self wrote on Facebook that she was at Target when a man asked her if she was expecting.

"I laughed and told him, 'If you're asking when I'm expecting my 9-week-old to sleep for longer than 45 minutes, I'm hoping soon,'" she wrote.

Whereas Self took the lighthearted approach when responding to the man, "his look of joy immediately turned to complete embarrassment and shame."

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The shame that he felt left Self wishing she would have responded differently, she explained in her post. "I wish I would have told him that there is nothing to be ashamed of — not for him or for me."

"This body grew a freaking human (two of them, for that matter) and has continued to nourish said human for 9 weeks," she said. "This bump was my child's home for 9+ months. This bump is his favorite place to nap."

"These arms, that could use some toning, lifted my son out of the water and held him as he took his first breath. They will hold him tonight as he fights sleep. They will pick him up when he scraps a knee and hug him when he experiences his first heartbreak."

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"This body isn't shameful, this body is amazing," she continued. "It barely resembles the body it once was — it has grown and stretched and has a few scars to prove it. Just like my heart that loves more than I could have ever imagined."

Now, Self has a new answer to the question, "Are you expecting?"

She said, "I am expecting. I'm expecting love and laughter; hugs and temper tantrums; choir concerts and first kisses; graduations and groundings. I could not be more blessed, and I have this bump to thank.

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Self says everyone should thank their moms in their lives, and that anyone who has given birth should embrace their bodies.

"If you have a bump because you were given the gift to carry a child," Self wrote, "Be proud, not ashamed, for it's a gift denied to many."