The Shape of a Mother

Twins - The Aftermath - Update (Anonymous)

Original entry here.
Hi, I wrote my thoughts and feeling back in May 2008 in my original posting “Twins- The Aftermath”. Almost 6 months later, I have tried to loose weight. I Finally compared the pictures and I can see a difference in which makes me PROUD! i have never been proud of my weightloss. THANK [...]

Mum to 3 boys and a girl on the way (Anonymous)

I’ve been a mum since I was 19. I’m only 5′4″ and I’ve never been thin, always struggled with my weight and body image. With my 1st pregnancy I gained over 45lbs. 19 months later I had my 2nd son at home after gaining over 55lbs. I went from a size 10 before babies to [...]

Young Mom! (Anonymous)

Hi! This is my story: I got pregnant when I was 17 and 99 pounds, 5 days before having the baby I was 132 pounds and I was only 38 weeks, imagine at week 40!! My son is 2 years and 8 months old. Now my weight is about 103 pounds. I hate my stretch [...]

11 months postpartum 20 years old (Anonymous)

I am a 20 yr old mother. I couldn’t have imagined that I’d be able to do this well as a mother before I had my son, but I always knew I’d do my best. I doubted that my best would be good enough, but I never knew at the time that it would come [...]

Feeling Depressed About Breasts (Anonymous)

A lot of you women on here come on here being proud of your bodies and what they have done..which I am.. BUT I can’t help being depressed about my breasts. They seem to sag so much more and I’m afraid of what they will look like after I wean. In these pictures I have [...]

Two boys and trying for one more baby (Anonymous)

I have had two boys that are sixteen months apart. My oldest is three and the baby is almost two. I workout several days a week plus I try to eat as healthy as possible. I am disgusted with my body but I also realize that this body brought two beautiful lives into this world. [...]

Accepting the “mom” figure (Anonymous)

Before my pregnancy I was 115 lbs and stood at 5′8. When I found out I was pregnant I was scared. I was 17 at the time and my boyfriend and I were having problems. When I saw those two pink lines on the pregnancy test I knew my life would never be the same. [...]

2 years pp and finally… (Anonymous)

2 years pp and finally at a “healthy” weight…
I was overweight before my first pregnancy. I all the pregnancy weight plus 20 pounds after that delivery. TWO YEARS after my second delivery I am finally at what is considered “normal” weight for my height. What I should have weighed before conceiving #1. I am generally [...]

3rd pregnancy of a plus-sized 20-something (Anonymous)

I’ve never been very skinny. The only point I can remember being so was when I was 13 and 5′6″ and maybe 90-100lbs. After that I plumed big time. At the age of 15 almost 16 I started having really bad pains that made it hard to walk, it was found that I had ovarian [...]

When he smiles (Anonymous)

I want to lie and say that I am comfortable with my body.
I want to say that I don’t give it a second thought.
The truth though…
The truth is that I think about it often.
I can be honest and say I think about it less now than I ever have.
This website helps.
Trying to maintain a healthy [...]

12 Months Postpartum (Anonymous)

Well, my daughter is going to be a year next week, so this feels like a good time to celebrate what an amazing year of changes it has been. It’s been the most profound year of my life, and I wouldn’t change any of it for the world. Having said that, it hasn’t been an [...]

I’m So Soft (Anonymous)

I have always been thin, and I still am. Everywhere except my belly. I can dress in such a way that my proof of parenthood is quite well disguised, but I’m still chubby enough that every once in a while I get asked if I’m pregnant. I’m okay with that.
I’m also surprised [...]

Changes 10.5 Months Postpartum (Kashi)

Pre-pregnancy I weighed 180 lbs, I walked out of the hospital weighing 145 lbs… (10 lbs more than I had weighed a week before) After all the water weight came off, I sat at 225lbs for a few months. Slowly came down to 210, and now I’m 197 lbs, FINALLY back down into the 100s!!
Here [...]

My Journey to Accepting My Body (Anonymous)

Before and During Pregnancy
I have always been rather slender. I am very petite; the heaviest I have been is 113 pounds and I am 4′11.” I should also note that I have never had an eating disorder and have never been on a diet. Sure, there were times I was out of [...]

Emotional Teen Mom Part 2 (Erin)

Original entry here.
Well since my last post a lot of things have changed *except my stretch marks.They don’t bother me as bad I don’t really care to be in a bikini and being a size 4 instead of 2 doesn’t bother me that bad either. I have a new meaning in life. I have to [...]

This is Me (Angela)

My name is Angela and I’ve never been a slender girl. I’ve always fought with my weight and have had a poor body image since before puberty (Thanks Mom) It wasn’t until after the birth of my first son Azriel that was I was able to gain some sort of acceptance towards my body. Even [...]

eighteen months postpartum with baby #2 and 100 pounds lighter (Anonymous)

My entire life I have hated my body. And because of that hatred, I had no desire to take care of myself. I gained weight, lots of weight, and teetered on the edge of 300lbs. Then in my quest to become a surrogate mother, I started reading about beautiful women who hate their bodies because [...]

Bringing Sexy Back with a New Body (Anonymous)

In high school, I was always a slender and athletic girl. At 6 feet tall, it was easy to put on 5 or 10 pounds without anyone noticing. I played a sport every season and enjoyed food.
When I went to college, I was the cliché: about 15 pounds, but lost it quickly, before my wedding. [...]

25 After 2 Kids (Anonymous)

I love this website. I felt like I was the only person in the world that had stretch marks! Seems like all my friends and family lucked out with pregnancy. I have stretch marks from the tops of my breasts all the way down to the backs of my knees. I’ve never been too self [...]

Irrational Jealousy and Blame (Anonymous)

I started back at work 5 weeks postpartum and let me tell you…nursing (the profession) and nursing (breastfeeding) don’t go well together! In a 14 hr day I had the chance to pump one (maybe 2) times. It’s not really the “chance” to. I have to make myself stop what I am doing and go. [...]

My Body Before and After HBAC (Anonymous)

I had my first child via C-section after a long traumatic labor when I was 21. I was told that my pelvis was misshapen, very small, and that I wouldn’t be able to birth a baby bigger than 6 lbs. Four years later, I birthed my second child into my own hands in a pool [...]

Lillian Grace (Anonymous)

i am a 21 year old mother & wife of a United States Marine, who is currently deployed to Iraq. for deployment number two!! Our Little blessing, Lillian Grace, was born three months into our first deployment together, and because i don’t have a constant (or - let’s be serious, ANY.) means of a man [...]

Ripened by Pregnancy (Anonymous)

Before I got pregnant I was a very petite person. I used to worry about whether I’d manage to “stay pretty” during pregnancy, keep my weight gain reasonable, avoid stretch marks, etc. But the first time I became pregnant, unfortunately, it was an ectopic and the diagnosis was missed. The pregnancy in my left fallopian [...]

3 Months After 10lb 10oz Baby (Berni)

I’m 18,I live in London England with boyfriend of 2.5 years. I recently had my first baby, a boy I named Caden. I had a traumatic labour, I had an emergeny c section, after my baby became distressed. He had opened his bowels whilst still in the womb and swallowed the poo. He didn’t breath [...]

007, A New Blog

The wonderful Maria who runs the 007 Breasts website has started a blog all about breasts: breastfeeding, shapes and sizes of breasts, surgery and anything else that women should be aware of. I’m adding it to my blogroll right now!

22 year old mother of triplets (Kelley)

Hi, my name is Kelley and I had triplets at age 20. Yes, they were natural, and No, they do not run in my family. Anyway, that was a year and a half ago, I am now 22, and I struggle everyday to accept my body the way it is. I love my sons, but [...]

(Allison)

These photos are of me 13 days postpartum. I had a 8 lb. 3 oz. girl via C section. This was my first pregnancy. I also included a photo of me with my beautiful new baby girl.

Carrying a Piece of Art (Anonymous)

I’m 20 years old, 36 weeks pregnant, and pretty content with most parts of my body. I’ve sported stretch marks on my stomach since about 13. I wasn’t “fat” by any means, but nature decided I’d be growing a little early. I was of course mortified by them for a long time, until I became [...]

Fifth Pregnancy (Rachel)

I am 27 years old, and recently gave birth to my fifth child 3 months ago. With each pregnancy I have gained between 50 and 60 lbs and have managed to lose the weight every time. Usually this takes me about 9 months, but with this past pregnancy i worked out during and [...]

Body by Lizzy (Anonymous)

Well, I’m 37 week pg with no.2. My lil girl Elizabeth. I just wanted to share. Growing babies is hard work both inside and out. My first time around was alot harder, this time I’m alot more accepting. I love my roundness, and knowing that I’m making a healthy lil big person. I tend to [...]

Trying to love my new breasts (Anonymous)

Giving birth was the best thing I’ve ever done. I love being a mom more than anything in the whole wide world. Even enough I can accept the little changes to my body. I’ve always been a curvier girl, but never had stretch marks before I was pregnant. Now I have what I call tiger [...]

2 Beautiful Boys and Lots of Stretchmarks (Anonymous)

After delivering my first son I was so upset by all the stretchmarks. In time they did fade but the indentations remained. With my second pregnancy I carried 3 weeks longer and did get a few new ones but it was far less devistating this time around. I am back to my prepregnant [...]

Third Time Mum (Anonymous)

I met my husband when I was 17yrs and he was 21yrs. This September we have been together 18yrs, and married 12yrs We had our first child when I was 23yrs. We were the only ones in our peer group to have a child that young, even though in reality, it isn’t that young! Our [...]

You think you sag… ppppllzzz. (Anonymous)

this is me bending down…I am only 21 years old…my body was very beautiful before… i’ve lost 110 lbs..i have no fat in my body just lots of hanging skin that tortures me every time i look in teh mirror. I’m almost numb from it becuase i don’t beleive i really look like that… I [...]

Body Image, Bulimia, and a Beautiful Baby Boy (Katie)

I struggled with my weight all my life. I struggled with a viscous eating disorder that ruled my every moment, and nearly killed me. I was 106 pounds, and had no menstrual cycle to speak of, fainting spells, seizures, ulcers, and heart problems. Eventually I got more confident, thanks to my (now) husband, and started [...]

Bed Rest After Childbirth / 8 to 14 in a Year (Anonymous)

I had a diffcult pregnancy to begin with where I gained 45 lbs. The birth was worse. 23 hours in labor pushing for 32 minutes before they realized he was stuck. Tried to move him manually (oh by the way the epidural didnt take all the way) causing me to jump and slam my back [...]

first baby girl (Anonymous)

I had my baby girl June 2nd, 2008. We named her Autumn Elizabeth. She was very much wanted and I was so excited to become a mom. I gained more weight than I had wanted/expected to (I wanted to gain just the 25-35 that is written about…) but i ended up gaining 55 lbs. I [...]

Coping With Body Changes at 18 (Anonymous)

I am an 18 year old mommy of a beautiful baby girl. I got pregnant when I was 17 and weighed about 140 pounds. I didn’t really gain any weight until right at the end and gained a total of 35 pounds. I always thought that it would be easy for me to get back [...]

emotional teen mom (Erin)

My name is Erin im 17 years old and have a beautiful baby girl jade star she is four months old i have had many problems though out my life to start growing up my parents were drug addicts they arent anymore but it was a hard time in my life my grandma passed away [...]

Women are magic - Photo of the Week, February 12, 2007

Women are magic

Originally uploaded by Tampen.

This photo (or, rather, these photos) are striking. Shows the beauty of a woman’s body both with and without child. I also like it because this site has been accused or never showing the women who do “bounce back”. Which simply isn’t true.
In any case, the submission [...]

I, Mother (Anonymous)

My son came to us after years of suspecting I may be unble to conceive. I had tried to conceive before, always to my disapointment when my period came, month after month. It was sad, but I came to accept my infertility. I figured if I wasn’t meant to bear children, then why tamper with [...]

Anonymous

This is me in my 40’s after giving birth to 4 children. My first 3 were born when I was very young and the last was over a decade ago.
I got stretch marks with the very first one and gained a few more along the way.
I’m happy with my body now but was embarrassed by [...]

Anonymous

first pregnancy, 20 weeks. Self concious about small breasts.

Anonymous

All my childhood I wanted to do nothing more than to be a Mom. I dreamed about pregnancy and childbirth. At career day, I didn’t want a career other than to be a Mother.
Before becoming a Mother, people always commented about how tiny I was, how thin I was. Now, 4 pregnancies and 2 live [...]

Anonymous

I am a 29 year old mother of 4 beautiful girls (14 months, 3, 8 and 9). I want to teach my girls when they are older that real women don’t look like the ads in magazines, and that they should be proud of the body Nature gave them and be proud that they are [...]

Anonymous

It was really nice to see that my body is not alone feeling the way it does. And that I am not alone feeling the way I do about myself. So it made me want to share…a picture of me at 37 weeks, two pics, 20 months(to the day) after the birth of my, thank [...]

Anonymous

I have posted a pic on here before, but it was only of my stomach, no boobs and no bum…that is the last picture incase nobody can figure out what the hell it is!! I put on 30kg while pregnant and have worked my butt off loosing 20kg of it to help prepare for the [...]

Anonymous

This is a picture of me at 25 weeks. You can’t really see the stretch marks on the bottom of my tummy and my breasts(which used to be A’s). The farther along I am the happier I seem to feel. I love to watch my belly grow and don’t mind the scars so much. Thanks [...]

Anonymous

When I first found Shape of a mother, I was moved to tears. I was inspired. I was proud. I wanted to be a part. Finally, many months later, I was able to find the time to shoot these pictures of my marks. Marks of Motherhood. Marks of Fertility. Marks of Nurturing. Marks of Pride. [...]

Keleigh

I’ve been meaning to submit to Shape of A Mother - what a fantastic project! I’ve done some writing about body image for mothers through my work as a henna artist and several people have recommended this project to me. I would be honored to participate.
Three children - pregnant from April 2003 to June 2005 [...]

Anonymous

This is my body 2.5 years after I gave birth to my first (and so far only) child. Although pregnancy was kind to me and I lost all my “baby weight” shortly after giving birth, nevertheless, my body is not the same. Breasts that were once perky and full are now limp and floppy from [...]

A.T.

8.5 months PP, and still breastfeeding our daughter. I started getting stretch marks at 6 weeks of pregnancy, and I gained about 40 pounds. They are still bright red and deep. I also had a C-Section, and I have a lovely apron of skin that I’m told will never go away on [...]

Small scars for a triplemom

What a wonderful site (or sight) to see all real mothers and their tummies.
These are the small scars I got from two pregnancies resulting in three kids. First we had a girl which actually didn´t scar the tummy at all.
The second pregnancy was a twin pregnancy adn the stripes didn´t show until the very last [...]

Redifer

13 weeks approx. (pregnesia kicking in, can’t remember poop) YAY round.

Thanks, Red, for sharing an update! (Her original entry can be found here.)

Anonymous

I’m starting to learn that it’s ok not to be ashamed of my body. My stretch marks are long red and wide but they helped to create the beautiful 2 year old boy that sleeps in the next room. My breasts sag but they nourished him. My hips are uneven but it [...]

Belly Cast

38 weeks belly cast
Originally uploaded by Wannabe Hippie

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