The Shape of a Mother

Needing Guidance- Finally reaching out (Anonymous)

It will be a year next week that my son was born. I have kept these feelings inside for far too long. A year that I have been living in this body that I now call my own. My belly button still looks the same, saggy and loose. I still have “love” handles and [...]

Ce la Vie (Anonymous)

Age: 23
Number of Births and Pregnancies: 1
Age of Baby and Months Postpartum: 6 months
My story begins in March of 2008 when I had an abdominal myomectomy to remove a 3 1/2 lb fibroid leaving me with an scar that was much larger than a c-section scar. Then six short months later I found myself [...]

Discussion: Men within SOAM

There have been a few recent comments here about how we, as women, feel about men commenting here. Above all else, I deeply want this to be a safe place for women - but it is, of course, the internet.
I have chosen to keep this forum open and public for a few reasons, but [...]

Considering another child…. Need Advice. (Anonymous)

~Age: 26
~Number of pregnancies and births: 1 and 1
~The age of your children, or how far postpartum you are: 3 yrs. old
My husband and I are considering having another child. We’ve been together since I was 18 and have taken our time to [...]

Staying Hopeful. (Anonymous)

25 years old
I’m not pregnant, yet, nor have I ever been pregnant. I figured this would be the perfect place to come for support with infertility. My partner and I have been trying to conceive going on 2 yrs. I’m hoping that there are mothers here on The Shape of a Mother that have been [...]

young 22 year old mother of 3, soon to be 4 in need of advice (Anonymous)

I am a 22 year old mother of 3, soon to be 4. I am now 20 wks preganant. I am having very mixed emotions. This is my seventh pregnancy. I was 14 when i miscarried twins. i had my oldest daughter at 16, she is now 5. My second is 4 and my [...]

14 Months Later (Linda)

I am 29 years old and first time mom to a beautiful 14 months old girl. I really don’t have any complaints about my body, the few stretch marks that showed up 2 weeks before I had her, seem so faint that really don’t bother me. Three months ago, my husband didn’t think I should [...]

Finally Brave Enough to Face an Unwanted Reality (Anonymous)

Original entry here.
Age: 26
Pregnancy and births: 1
Age of children: 3 years
I’ve been avoiding writing this letter. I think it’s because writing it means I will have to face a reality I don’t want. For almost three years I have been telling myself “it’s got to get better – maybe just another year and it will [...]

Not a Mother, Yet… Or Ever? (Tatiana)

I am 26 and engaged to marry a wonderful man next year. Just a couple of days ago he told me that his utopia would be to marry me and have a baby with me. The thing is, this is not necessarily my idea of an utopic life. I love traveling, I love being able [...]

Battling Myself Over Surgery (Anonymous)

I am a 30 yr old mother of 3, ages 10, 7 and 8 months. I have always been self-conscious about my body but now more then ever. I am coming to terms with my mommy body however I have never been happy with my breast. I have always been almost a “b” cup but [...]

Elisha

Hi there i had a baby 11 months ago and i still havent got back to how i would like at the moment i hate my body and cant bear to see myself naked i am 23 and this is my first child and pregnancy, birth and motherhood was and is the best experience ever [...]

Wondering How My Postpartum Body Will Look? (Colorado Mama To Be)

First off, this site is truly amazing. What incredible women you all are! My situation: I am 27 and just found out I am pregnant. It was a total accident, but I love my boyfriend and am not entirely opposed to having a baby. But we are both currently unemployed, which makes for a VERY [...]

Breastfeeding

There has recently been some discussion here on this site about breastfeeding beyond toddlerhood. I decided to go ahead and make it an entry of its own so that it does not overtake the actual submission.
I want to be clear here that this post is merely to ask and answer questions about [...]

Color of private area after having a baby? (Anonymous)

Hello Ladys Just need some education on private area color after having a baby. I have been very self conscious about the color of my genital area, I do remember before having a baby the color of genital area being fairly close to the color of the rest of my skin, and once i got [...]

Sad (Anonymous)

I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy just over ten month ago. I didn’t have the best pregnancy with one thing and another. However nothing could of prepared me for giving birth. Lots of damage was caused which meant I had to have surgery after having my baby. This was for vagina reconstruction and [...]

Dunno what to do? (Rocio)

Ok first off my name is rocio im 20 yrs old and i have a son thats gna be two in april. I now weigh 170 lbs my before baby weight was about 120 well around there… i had a c-section (and not by choice) sometimes I feel like my boyfriend is still with me [...]

Let’s be Honest… (Anonymous)

I’m fourteen months post-partum, and still have about 20 lbs to lose to get to the weight I’m comfortable at. How did you lose the weight, if you did (and if you say solely “breastfeeding” I’m going to scream, because I’ve been breastfeeding for fourteen months and have found that to be the BIGGEST myth [...]

Second Cesarean, 2 Separate Incisions? (Anonymous)

I gave birth to my 2nd son via c-section on 11/12. I just had a chance to really get a good look at myself and noticed that I have 2 separate scars. Everyone I talk to says that my doctor didn’t know what he was doing, that he should have cut along the previous incision. [...]

…treatment? (Anonymous)

Stretchmarks treatment?
I was searching on the net and found this site:
http:// michellemarques-tratamentoparaestrias.blogspot.com/search?q= (leave out the spaces)
What do you think? Can this be true or it’s light manipulation? And, does anybody knows something about a new treatment for strecth marks called ROLL-CITTM? Thanks, i’ve participated here before, and i’m looking for some method to make [...]

Anonymous Question for You All

Fearful (Anonymous)

Post Partum Anxiety/Depression (Anonymous)

knowing myself more (Anonymous)

I know I’m a bad person… (Anonymous)

Stretchmark Prevention? (Anonymous)

Question, ladies

Question (I-dra)

Advice for a Diabetic (Anonymous)

Question from a reader about cesareans (Ashley)

Afraid of C-Section, Episiotomy

Stretchmarks? (Anonymous)

Hair loss, anyone?

Some Questions for your Ladies (Anonymous)

inquiry (anonymous)

Advice requested (Anonymous)

Jillian

Mother’s Mark

This was posted over at our group at Flickr and I wanted to share it here. If anyone has any answers to her question at the end, you can either e-mail her or post comments here or at Flickr. I’m sure many women would benefit from these answers and I will compile them [...]

Curious

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