'My son asked what was wrong with my belly. Here's what I told him'

A week after her twin daughters were born, Hayley Garnett’s toddler son asked her a question that would likely stop any mother in her tracks.

Noticing the marks on his mum’s stomach, little Archer enquired: “What’s wrong with your belly?”

Although stretch marks are a common result of pregnancy and childbirth, they can be a source of self-consciousness for many women.

However, Garnett’s response to Archer’s question serves as a powerful, much-needed reminder of the incredible feat they represent.

“I told him that all of my babies leave marks on my belly so I never forget that I grew them in my body all on my own,” the US photographer explains in a Facebook post shared on Love What Matters.

“Mentally, I was also struggling because I wasn't sure how my son would take to having two babies needing our attention, when it was always just the three of us.”

Despite this - and Garnett’s concerns about the financial element of having two babies at once - she describes the arrival of her daughters as “an amazing gift.”

That’s something to be proud of, stretch marks and all.

You can find more of Hayley Garnett's beautiful photography on Instagram here

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