The truth about motherhood is that you can’t guess all of the ways it’s going to change you – physically, emotionally – before it happens. When you decide to have a child (however you make that happen) you’re accepting that you don’t have control over what’s coming, but you want to take the journey anyway.

Sometimes, that includes stretch marks.

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same me. few new stories.

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And even though there are hundreds of products on the market that want you to believe they’re able to save you from those particular tiger stripes, the fact is that they’re largely genetic. Your mom got them, you probably will, too, and if the women in your family are magically spared, there’s a good chance you’ll luck out.

When you make your living as a model, I imagine those truths can be harder to reconcile than for some – but new mom Ashley Graham is still baring it all, embracing her postpartum body and everything that means.

Her Instagram and Snapchat are full of her story of natural birth, her breastfeeding journey, her adoration for her new guy, and now, showing off the stretch marks I’m sure she hoped wouldn’t appear.

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☕️&🥛

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She captioned the photo “same me, few new stories,” which is an awesome way to describe the marks pregnancy and childbirth leave on our bodies.

Of course, no celebrity owes us a peek behind the curtain, but when they give us one as body positive as this one, I think we should thank them and tip our hats.

I was lucky enough to avoid stretch marks with my first, and had I not ended up with an enormous amount of amniotic fluid with my second – which marked my belly up to a month ahead of baby’s growth – I might have been as lucky with the second.

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Raise your hand if you didn’t know you’d be changing your own diapers too🙋🏻‍♀️ After all these years in fashion I never could’ve guessed that disposable underwear would be my favorite piece of clothing but here we are! No one talks about the recovery and healing (yes even the messy parts) new moms go through. I wanted to show you guys that it’s not all rainbows and butterflies! It’s been tough, but my friend Chelsea @cmrh and ceo at @fridamom is making waves and starting honest conversations. It’s unbelievable the obstacles we still face talking about what women really go through. All their stuff she sent me has been a life saver.

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I know, though, that Ashley feels the same way as I do (and that moms everywhere do) – we’re really lucky to have delivered healthy babies.

Moms, we’re all on this crazy train together, so let’s stop making each other feel terrible for things that are nothing more than proof of how amazing our bodies are, got it?

Or… let us know what you think in the comments!