Showing self-love. Pregnant Isabel Rock honored her stretch marks alongside an empowering message on Monday, November 1.

“In the beginning of this journey, I was really hoping not to get stretch marks on my belly. That feels hard to admit,” Jacob Roloff’s wife, 25, captioned a photo of herself posing in a black sports bra and matching cardigan, her bare bump on display via Instagram. “I talk about body positivity and self-love so much. I feel like a fraud admitting that I didn’t want to get stretch marks. I have them everywhere else on this body of mine.”

The mom-to-be reflected on her experience with stretch marks over the years, writing, “I got them on the back of my calves when I was only 8 because I grew so tall so quickly; I had the growing pains every night to accompany them. Yet somehow, I thought maybe I’d escape pregnancy stretch mark free. How silly that was something I desired at all. Even after following so many people in this community who normalize stretch marks, they’re still not fully accepted or desirable. I was allowing myself to believe the lie that I’d be less valuable with them. I know they’re mostly genetic. I know there are lotions and things you can use to diminish them. But the thing is, after eight months of growing this miracle in my belly, I don’t look in the mirror with disgust like I thought I might.”

The artist clarified that she now looks “at them with pride.” Rock concluded, “I see them as badges of honor. I did this. I grew a human. And I have the scars now to prove I did. Growth, these days, just feels all kinds of beautiful.”

Rock’s pregnant sister-in-law, Audrey Roloff, called the painter a “beauty mama” in the comments, alongside a heart emoji.

The social media upload came four months after she and Roloff, 24, announced that their first child is on the way. “We are elated to share that the baby boy we have been dreaming of is coming this December,” the expectant star captioned her July reveal.

As for the dad-to-be, he wrote at the time: “Not for you but us: I’m very happy to say, we’re having a son.”

The couple wed in September 2019 in Oregon, two years after their Iceland engagement. They started dating in 2014.

This story originally appeared on: US Magazine - Author:Riley Cardoza