The mother posted the image for the purpose of showing off her pregnancy without photoshop. However, her followers discovered something surprising in her sᴛᴏᴍᴀᴄʜ. The mother’s name is Kristin Niemi, she shared on Instagram a picture of her ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴛ belly when she was 40 weeks ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴛ. In her pictures you can see her huge belly ꜰᴜʟʟ ᴏꜰ sᴛʀᴇᴛᴄʜ ᴍᴀʀᴋs.

Sᴛʀᴇᴛᴄʜ ᴍᴀʀᴋs are a mark that many ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴛ women hide almost instinctively, but Kristin decided not to share this image with a nice message. A super popular Instagram user, has been proactively documenting her ᴘᴏsᴛᴘᴀʀᴛᴜᴍ belly Sᴛʀᴇᴛᴄʜ ᴍᴀʀᴋs since her second ʙɪʀᴛʜ. And what really struck us about the photos as we scrolled through them, was the journey her ʙᴏᴅʏ went through in the weeks and months that followed.

Above, you can see her ʙɪʀᴛʜmark at 40 weeks and her Sᴛʀᴇᴛᴄʜ ᴍᴀʀᴋs just a week after ɢɪᴠɪɴɢ ʙɪʀᴛʜ. “#40 weeks ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴛ and #1 week ᴘᴏsᴛᴘᴀʀᴛᴜᴍ (without and with #yogababy!),” she wrote alongside. “My Sᴛʀᴇᴛᴄʜ ᴍᴀʀᴋs are fading, my belly is shrinking and my love for my boys is overflowing!And here you can see how they ᴘᴀssᴇᴅ the 74 days after ɢɪᴠɪɴɢ ʙɪʀᴛʜ…

And again, at 6 months after ɢɪᴠɪɴɢ ʙɪʀᴛʜ.”Back to the photo where it all started??” she notes this. “A picture of joy, of growing up, of ᴅɪsᴄᴏᴍꜰᴏʀᴛ, of #Sᴛʀᴇᴛᴄʜ ᴍᴀʀᴋs, of rashes, of the long but exciting 40 weeks of having a baby! And the comparison on the right, a #happy mom! happiness at #6 months #after_ʙɪʀᴛʜ. “In both pictures, I’m so proud of my ʙᴏᴅʏ. About how it’s grown to fit the life on the left and now it’s more impressive than ever with the strength to be able to pick up kids. His big brother on the right!

The photos represent a message to moms everywhere, some of whom may be sᴛʀᴜɢɢʟɪɴɢ to love their own ᴘᴏsᴛᴘᴀʀᴛᴜᴍ bodies—and they’ve now gone ᴠɪʀᴀʟ, with women leaving hundreds comments of love and support. “Honey your Sᴛʀᴇᴛᴄʜ ᴍᴀʀᴋs are beautiful, I saw these pictures and the first thing I thought was these are gorgeous, never be ᴀsʜᴀᴍᴇᴅ,” one person wrote, while another said, “I got them too. All over my belly. And while I don’t feel ᴜɢʟʏ or unworthy, I do feel different and I’m not totally in love with my ᴘᴏsᴛᴘᴀʀᴛᴜᴍ belly. Thank you for sharing this. It’s helping me retrain my mind.”

Learning to love your pre- and ᴘᴏsᴛᴘᴀʀᴛᴜᴍ ʙᴏᴅʏ isn’t always easy, but we’ve got some tips that can help.