Embrace your bodies, mamas! And if you won’t take our word for it, take Teddi Mellencamp‘s!
In the Instagram era, it’s rare that we get a chance to see someone “warts and all.” There’s an app or filter or angle to address every “problem area,” which might seem like a good thing, but all it really does is encourage normal people to have unrealistic expectations about our bodies (and pretty much everything else). Thankfully, some people with a platform, such as Real Housewives of Beverly Hills‘ Teddi Mellencamp, are willing to give us a peek behind that false curtain of perfection.
The RHOBH star and mom-of-three recently took to Instagram to get real about her post-baby body with her followers, sharing a video that features her stretch marks and loose skin. You know, things that often come up for pregnant women and moms everywhere but that for many still carry an embarrassing stigma.
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Teddi Mellencamp Shows Off Stretch Marks and ‘Loose Skin’ in Candid Instagram Video: “Embrace ‘Em!”
In a video shared to her account on Saturday, August 14, Mellencamp films her body while addressing a commenter’s question. “‘How come you don’t have any stretch marks,” Mellencamp says, referring to a question she often receives. “Oh, I got these bad boys,” she says, showing visible stretch marks on her thighs and legs. “I just embrace ’em!”
“Loose skin,” Mellencamp continues, as she films her stomach. “Got it. I just wear my high-waist bikinis and embrace what’s going on.”
Swipe to the right in the Instagram gallery embedded above to watch the short video.
In the caption of the post, Mellencamp writes, “t’s easy to lose ourselves in comparison – how we perceive our bodies vs others.” She then adds:
“We too often default to self-criticism and forget about the effort we’ve put in to get to here. It’s taken years of work for me to feel comfy enough to head to a beach day and only think about the good times I’ll be having with the kiddos, rather than things not fully in my control.
And even so, I can snap a pic feeling confident in my bikini but the reality is the stretch marks and loose skin are there. I’ve learned to love and embrace them because they tell my story. So today, I am heading to the beach feeling good about myself because that’s the only way it should be. With lots of SPF and Truly’s of course!”
– Teddi Mellencamp
Teddi Mellencamp Says That Her Stretch Marks and Loose Skin “Tell My Story,” And, Girl… We Feel You!
Mellencamp welcomed her third child, a daughter named Dove, in February of this year, so this video comes less than six months after giving birth. She and her husband — Edwin Arroyave — also share a son, Cruz (6), and another daughter, Slate (7).
This is not the first time she’s spoken candidly about her motherhood journey — the ups and the downs and everything in between. After welcoming Dove in February, she shared a highly relatable post about her “postpartum reality,” according to People.
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“It is unbelievable, unconditional love,” she said at the time, before sharing details about her “powerful bond” with her new daughter. But she also kept it real, mentioning the lack of sleep and “feeling delirious.”
“It is humbling, to say the least – switching from the mesh ‘mom diaper’ with ice from the hospital to high waisted compression panties at home. It is drinking way too much prune juice with crushed ice because you are anxiously awaiting the first post-baby [poop emoji]. It is embracing and loving this body of mine,” she continued.
We hope she keeps keeping it real! We wish more moms with her platform would do the same.
Matt is a writer, editor, and content strategist currently based in Washington state. He has worked as a managing editor for the iconic I Can Has Cheezburger, Celebuzz (a SpinMedia site), and now Mamas Uncut. He also acted as the Social Media Director for CafeMom.