The Shape of a Mother

Happy Mother's Day!

2008-05-12T04:50:54Z

It's late now - possibly over for many of you, but I hope it was lovely and full of joy, with many reminders of why we love being mothers. Blessings to each of you!

My Little Story (Julie)

2008-05-12T02:46:18Z

Hello, my Name is Julie, I am 30 years old and single parent from Mailin Anouk (*10.12.02, 50cm and 3380 g.) and Eleni June (*11.05.04, 55cm and 4260 g.). I live in Hamburg/Germany and I will show you some pictures from my pregnancys with Mailin and Eleni. There where both cesarians! (Mailin was in breech presentations and Eleni was toooooo big) The first pictures shows the pregnancy with Mailin After that, you can see the pregnancy with my second daughter Eleni Than you can see my belly right now. I hate my bellybutton, but so what - I have my daughters!!! At least, I show you my daughters right now :o) Sorry, my english is very poor :o( All the best, Julie with Mailin Anouk and Eleni June

Update (Anonymous)

2008-05-10T00:02:59Z

I posted here before when I was about 2 months pp. I am now 11 months pp and still unhappy with my body. But mothers bodies are supposed to be squishy for babies to cuddle up to.

4 children and a lifetime later (Anonymous)

2008-05-08T06:25:40Z

My body was pretty fit B4 I had my children. I didn't think a whole lot about what I ate and I got an average amount of exercise just doing daily activities and going for walks. After I had my 4 children (born: May '98, Nov.'00, Aug.'02 and Jan.'04) my body and life changed forever. As my stomach grew so did my heart. I love my children beyond words and dislike my stomach very much! I am proud to be a mother of 4 happy, healthy and energetic children. I have been blessed! Now if only my tummy thought I was still a teenager...

This Body (Anonymous)

2008-05-06T17:11:30Z

First off, I will start by saying, that I have always had body image issues. I was never what you would call 'fat' I just had a little extra pudge. I was always very self-conscious about my body. When i met my hubby, i was a size 8. I thought that was heavy. Now, almost 7 years later, and 2 babies (one in heaven) later, I am a size 14. I hate it. I am stuck with stretch marks, saggy boobs, and extra fat. My son is 2 1/2 and I can't get rid of the extra weight that I gained with him. I gained 35-40 pounds when i was pregnant, and only lost about 15. To top it off, I got on the BC shot and gained it back!! I came to this site to hopefully feel better about this body that i have. I also just want to add, that you ladies are very brave, and gorgeous! These pics are of me 2 1/2 years after my son was born.

Fearful (Anonymous)

2008-05-06T17:11:04Z

I am now 26 weeks pregnant and have gained 12 pounds. Everybody says that once you've given birth your body is never the same. Is that true. Is there any hope for somebody who is completely terrified of losing her pregnancy body?

So worth it (Anonymous)

2008-05-06T17:05:33Z

I'm a 25yr old mummy of two amazing children. Before I became pregnant I lived in bikinis and tube tops, showing off my flat, toned tummy at any opportunity. But at 22 when my son was born by emergency c-section weighing 9lbs 3ozs, I quickly realised those days were well and truly over. My tummy was riddled with stretchmarks and loose skin but all that mattered to me was that my little boy was alive after a very traumatic delivery. My son was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at 5wks old and the heartbreak of watching him fight through sezuires and many many hospital admissions made me drop all 60lbs of my pregnancy weight within a matter of weeks. I was still pumping and breasfeeding as much as I could so that he could still have mummy's milk on those long and sad days on the hospital ward. I didn't think much of my body during his first year of life - all that mattered was him. A few weeks after our son's 1st birthday I discovered I was pregnant again. This time with my daughter, I gained far less weight and she was born by VBAC weighing 7lbs 7ozs. She has just turned one and I have started to feel self-conscious about my body for the first time. After breastfeeding two babies my breasts have lost most of their substance but I am just so proud to have been able to breastfeed them that my breast shape doesn't bother me too much at all. What I've really been struggling with is my new tummy. My husband still thinks I am beautiful and loves my whole body, but I can't help but feel envious of friends I know who have more kids than me and have no stretchmarks or loose skin whatsoever! But at the end of it all, it was so worth it. My children give me so much joy and enrich my life more than I ever could have dreamed. I love them and I love the body that carried and gave life to them. I know my new body will take some getting used to but I think by posting here I may have just taken the first step on a journey to acceptance. I'm so glad I'm not alone.

Fitness Magazine May 2008

2008-05-05T08:06:24Z

Fitness Magazine May 2008
Originally uploaded by zebrabelly.

Fitness Magazine recently published an article about women using technology to fight back against the images the media pushed about what we are "supposed" to look like. Women like you are changing the world and the world is noticing!

Thanks to every one of you who has contributed. Congratulations, ladies, we're on our way to a reality-based view of women thanks to you.

Check out the article here.

2 Kids in Early 20's (Anonymous)

2008-05-05T07:45:03Z

All my life I saw my mom as a beautiful woman. I didn’t notice her stretch marks from bearing 4 children until after I became pregnant with my first. I had no clue what pregnancy and breastfeeding does to a woman’s body, but all I ever wanted in life was to become a mother. I was unexpectedly granted that wish at the ripe age of 19. I was a college freshmen and dating a Sailor. We learned we were expecting 2 months after dating so imagine the shock there! I started the pregnancy at 130lbs and ended at 156lbs, a weight gain totaling 26lbs. It killed me to see the scale creeping up, but I knew my weight gain was totally normal. My breasts only went up to a DD from their original D cup during pregnancy. It was afterwards that I was falling out of an E cup when breastfeeding! I had a normal pregnancy with my first daughter, except the few bouts of dehydration that landed me in the hospital with IV fluids. I gave birth to a 7lb6oz baby girl a week after my due date and a week later I had lost all 26lbs of the pregnancy weight. Of course my body was now shaped differently but that number on the scale meant so much to me. I kept losing weight, eventually getting to 108-110lbs (depending on how ‘full’ I was with milk) at 9months PP. I nursed exclusively for the first 8months of my daughter’s life and at 5months PP I started working out. I did yoga 3x/week and worked out about 2-3days in addition to that with my sister. I loved seeing my body shrink smaller than I was prepregnancy but still had that extra skin and stretch marks on my stomach. My breasts shrunk back down to a D and lost their perkiness but it was okay because they were my daughter’s favorite thing in the world until she was 20months old. I married her father when she was 9months old. When she was 14months, I became pregnant with my second daughter. I started that pregnancy at 120lbs and ended at 160lbs, totaling out at a 40lb weight gain. I kept telling myself that so long as I didn’t get past 160lbs I could lose the weight easily. I gained weight in my stomach, in my butt, my legs, and my back during my pregnancy but nowhere else. I gave birth to my second daughter on my due date and she weighed 8lbs11.3oz. Her labor and delivery were easier than her sister’s and I only had one slight tear afterwards. At 6weeks PP I weighed 135lbs, hating seeing that I was above my prepregnancy weight by 15lbs. However, I did not dwell on it and stuck to nursing and enjoying my beautiful little girls. My breasts swelled up to a DD and are now back down to a D. I am nursing my second daughter like I did my first and at 5months PP I weighed my prepregnancy weight again. I am now 2lbs under my prepregnancy weight at 8months PP but am still left with my extra skin around my stomach. I have stretch marks on my breasts, stomach, back, thighs, calves, hips, and arms. I know which stretch marks came from my first daughter, and which ones are from my second and I run my fingers over them daily. (It may appear as though I was so concentrated on my weight gain during pregnancy, but I was not focusing on it all the time. Just as a woman who is hardly 5ft1in it is hard to see the numbers on the scale go upwards.) I am not working out actively at the moment because I just do not have the time to, but I would not trade my body for anything! I am 23years old with a mother’s body and I couldn’t be happier about it! Here are pictures of me during my first pregnancy at 27weeks and 38weeks. Then of me during my second pregnancy at 30weeks and 36weeks. Following those are two pictures of me at 8.5months PP after baby #2 and a picture of my beautiful girls ages 2.5years and 7.5months. I do not have any pictures of me with my swollen pregnant belly at either of my due dates because I felt I was monstrous and I regret that.

First Pregnancy (Anonymous)

2008-05-04T04:32:33Z

I've been lucky the first time around. My first pregnancy went very well with little difficulty. The delivery was hard work, but I was able to do it unmedicated, and gave birth to a beautiful 5lb. 12oz. 19" baby girl: Ruth. She's named after my grandmother, a beautiful and dedicated woman, who taught me the value of using your mind, being skilled, remembering family, and giving generously. I hope that baby Ruth will be able to stand against the current of image-obsessed culture, and, like her grandmother, help to foster in others a sense of beauty and contentment.

(If you would like to see more of this poster's work, check out her photography website here.) www.studiomathewes.com

After 3 wonderful kids (Anonymous)

2008-05-04T04:24:57Z

I am a 25 yr old mother of 3 beautiful children. I had my first one at age 19 and jumped right back into my size zero. Know with my 2nd child it took me 14 months to get get to were I was happy. Know with my 3rd child I can not seem to loose any weight at all. I am now 18 months post partum and still have 18lbs to loose. but am activly working on it. the first picture is 4 wks pregnant with baby #3

Boday after baby and c-section (Anonymous)

2008-05-03T06:00:30Z

I became pregnant at 18 and gave birth at 19. I was very excited but didnt know I would be so ashamed of my body after. Before becoming pregnant I was 112lbs and was 175 before I delivered. I thought hey my mom got no stretch marks or sagging tummy and she had 4 babies then I probably wont either. WRONG I had stretch marks that were like road maps and after I had my son my belly sagged. I thought i was gross. Now im okay with my body image and am down to 130lbs which isnt a bad wieght still losing though. Even if the saggin never goes away I will be fine with it. My boyfriend thinks its soft and loves touching it. wierd but he likes it so its fine hehe. My son is almost a year old now and I wouldnt take back anything in my life!

Two under 2 (Anonymous)

2008-05-02T07:05:26Z

I gave birth to my first child, a daughter, on July 20, 2006. I was 22 years old. Before I became pregnant, I did yoga and pilates for up to five hours a day. I was about 135 pounds, but was solid muscle and super lean. I LOVED my body. Then I got pregnant and although I only gained 29 pounds and didnt get a single stretch mark, my body will never be the same as it was before. Then, when my daughter was ten months old, I found out I was pregnant again. After the birth of my first daughter, I lost 45 pounds and was ten pounds under my prepregnancy weight... I gained 40 pounds with my second pregnancy and delivered my second daughter on Feb 3, 2008. I am now 10 weeks postpartum, and have (so far) lost 26 pounds... I was blessed to not develop any stretch marks on my belly or hips, although i have a few on my thighs. They are so light, i have to look at them with a flashlight just to see them... but i know that they are there. I will never be the same again, and know that my body is not nearly comparable to what other women are left with... but its hard to adjust to this new body...

3 Pregnancies in 3 Years (Anonymous)

2008-05-01T19:57:13Z

The first photo is 36 weeks pregnant with twins. The second is 37 weeks with singleton, the third and fourth are 7 weeks postpartum from my final baby. I used to be a very superficial person. I used to think that my character was based upon the things I had, rather than the things I am. After having children, I understood that my life is not worth less than the person with the brand new car, huge house, or several flat screen TV’s. I may not have all of that but I do have a loving family, fabulous children, a wonderful husband and a roof over my head. On February 22nd, 2005 I gave birth to an angel. She was born a when I was 20 weeks pregnant, a loss due to an incompetent cervix. My body literally failed me. I had a tremendous amount of guilt over something I had no control over. I did nothing to make my cervix incompetent, nothing to make me dilate to 3 cm and my water to break. It took a long time before I truly believed that. 6 months later, we found out we were pregnant again. With twins. While I was immensely happy, I was scared out of my mind. My cervix cannot support the weight of one growing baby, how was it supposed to support TWO? Thanks to a little miracle procedure called a cervical cerclage, I carried my twins to 36 weeks. They were both very breech and born via c-section weighing 7lbs 3oz and 7lbs 6oz. My body made me very proud. Then, I discovered the joy of having “twin skin”. This is the hanging belly of extra skin. The consistency of bread dough. I could actually kneed it. But my body made me proud. When my twins were 15 months old, I found out I was pregnant again. We had planned this pregnancy, but didn’t expect it to happen so soon. Again, I had a cervical cerclage placed. Who would have thought I would go to 39 weeks and deliver a 9lb 10oz baby girl? Again, my body made me proud. Our final baby was born on the 3 year anniversary of our first baby’s death. February, 22nd 2008. Our family has come full circle. What was once a very sad day, has become a joyful one. Society in general is very superficial. Things matter, looks matter, clothing size determines your worth as a person. I hate this. The stereotype that a fat person is unclean, lazy, stupid, etc really makes me angry. I am overweight. I have been my whole life. I am not unclean, I am not lazy (I have 3 kids under 3, I cant be lazy), and I am far from stupid. I hope to raise my children to be loving, caring, and compassionate members of society. I don’t want them to grow up thinking that one needs to have a $900 handbag in order to be successful. Simply untrue. I am a mother, a wife, a lover, a teacher, a cook, a daughter, a sister, an accountant, a maid, an entertainer, a comedienne, a taxi, a personal shopper, a story reader and a boo boo kisser. But most importantly, I am ME. My body makes me proud.

My body redesigned by twins (Anonymous)

2008-04-30T17:38:59Z

First of all - kudos to the creator of this page and to all the women who posted their stories! Here is how my story goes: I got pregnant after 2 years of trying, fertility treatments and one round of IVF. Got blessed with boy/girl twins, whom I carried to 38 weeks. They were born at 6 lbs 9 oz and 5 lbs 2oz. Unfortunately I don't have any digitals of my pregnant belly, but it looked like it was attacked by the angry tiger. Even my stretchmarks had stretchmarks! What can you do - bad skin elasticity! I am 5'7'' and was around 130lbs when I got pregnant at 29, gained 65 lbs and lost it all within a year. I looked great in clothes but my tummy looked like a deflated baloon, something that even 90-year-old grandma won't claim as her own, and I was constantly getting infections in my belly button (or what was left of it) because it got closed. I've contemplated plastic surgery for years, and finally when twins were 4 I went for it. People thought I was crazy, so I had to lift up my shirt to prove my point. :o) The surgery went very well, and recovery was pretty easy for me, but my skin is being my skin - it scars very badly. I knew it going in though. So almost 4 years after the surgery my scar is still angry red/purple and wide. It is starting to fade in spots though lately. Since I had stretchmarks way above the belly button, they are still there after the surgery, and while it looks ok standing up - if I bend the skin still wrinkles and sags. Or well, at least if my shirt rides up, the site doesn't induce vomit reflex in onlookers. :o) I am almost 38, and even though I thought I was done with having babies, I think I am getting a baby fever. the thought of what the pregnancy will do to my body is frightening though. So most likely - no more babies for me.