When I was in my mid-twenties I had a lot going for me. I had a job I loved, was single, worked out a lot and had a good social life.
I was strong.
I was healthy.
I felt great about myself.
I had self-confidence.
I was happy.
Then I was thrown off kilter, just like that.
It happened when I went to a chiropractor for care because of intense pain on my neck and between my shoulder blades. I’d been in a car accident and a “tubing” injury from my youth flared up.
I was referred to a chiropractor who had a massage therapist on staff as well. His practice was in a converted bungalow nearby. When I showed up in pain I had the full work up, an exam, medical history report, and x-rays. I liked the doctor. He was friendly and I felt at ease with him immediately. He led me to a closet-turned-x-ray room where he took a couple of x-rays to see whatever it is that a chiropractor needed to see on x-rays.
The x-rays revealed many things about my bones that would impact my treatment and apparently my skeletal frame for having children.
He said, “You have a very wide pelvis. Those are baby making hips.”
“Huh? What did he just say?” I thought.
Then out loud I said, with an expression of bewilderment, “What does that mean?” He went out of his way to back pedal, saying it was a “No, no, I meant it as a good thing. It’ll make having babies easier.”
In my head I could only hear, “Your body is so wide. Large. Bad.”
Up until then I’d never had a huge problem with the shape of my body and all of a sudden I didn’t like my hips. One comment and I looked at myself differently.
It was a long time until I let that one comment in my head disappear. I suppose with age I had the benefit of not caring what other people think. If there’s a regret I have in life – and I really strive to live without regret – it’s that I ever cared what other people thought about my body.
So, yes. Please know this: I have baby making hips.
I am in the middle of writing a post about all the great things big hips are good for. I try to tell myself they are sexy, but it’s a work in progress. So I’ll just laugh and poke fun at them instead.
Your hips rock. And so do you. I love you. Thank you for making me see myself in a different light, at least for a moment.
I’m a chubby girl with tiny hips. I’m still hot and so are you.
and your hips, like the rest of you, are awesome.
I come from the line of baby making hip women you do. i only made one baby, but I did a damned good job with her. still working on the self acceptance thing. but that’s why GBP exists. thank you for being a part of it.