Kimberly Daughtery's Zissa Scar Story
Kimberly Daughtery is a screenwriter and an actress. She has two sons. She has one scar.
It runs low across her abdomen, where two C-sections brought both of her boys into the world.
She didn't plan it that way.
With her first pregnancy, Kimberly had developed preeclampsia — her blood pressure spiking — but she'd gone into delivery expecting to do it naturally. She labored for 36 hours.
Then they told her it had to be a C-section.
"I had to let go of what I had imagined and expected my delivery experience to be."
She remembers a moment from inside the operating room. The doctor said and stretch — and Kimberly could feel it. The skin pulling. A whole baby coming out of a small opening.
"They said there's like seven layers they have to cut through to get that baby out. Don't quote me on that."
She came out of it with a newborn in her arms and seven layers to heal. Kimberly is one of those people who doesn't like other people doing things for her. She had to step back. She let her husband and her family take care of her. The emotional healing took longer than the physical.
The second time was different. She knew the C-section was coming. She walked in expecting it. The procedure went smoothly.
The healing did not. She had a cough that complicated everything, and a fluid pocket developed at the incision. The body has its own timeline.
But the emotional weight she'd carried the first time — the grief of a plan that had to be released — wasn't there anymore.
What Kimberly thinks about now, when she looks at the scar, is what came through it.
"My scar is a reminder of how resilient I am, and how incredible the female body is. I carried two beautiful babies, and this is how they entered the world."
A pause.
"My scar is the portal into this world."
She says becoming a mother changed her completely. The scar, low and small and hidden under almost any swimsuit, is the proof of that change.
When we sent Kimberly a Zissa sheet, the first thing she noticed was the movement.
"I'm honestly amazed by how much movement I can do. I hardly even notice it's there."
Then: "It's super flexible. The fact that I can wear it so comfortably and it's also healing is just great."
Then a beat.
"It's also really pretty to look at."
Kimberly's Advice for Someone Earlier in the Journey
"It's amazing what the female body can do — and how small of a scar it is to have an entire baby come out of. It's the portal into this world. Becoming a mother changed me completely, and my scar is a reminder of that."
Zissa Scar Stories is an ongoing series featuring people who are reshaping their relationship with their scars. If you'd like to share yours, reach out.
