Month: March 2009

Learning to Love My Body Again (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Before Pregnancy, Belly, Birth, Breasts, Postpartum, Pregnant, Second Pregnancy, Submissions 10 Comments

I am 33 years old. I have 2 children, that today are ages 6 and 8 years old. I nursed both of them. Before pregnancy, I was no super model, but was healthy, around 140 lbs, with perky nice little B cups. With my first pregnancy, I gained 50 lbs. I quickly lost all that weight by 7 months post partum. My body looked better than ever. I had nice boobs and curves that I never did before. I don’t remember what my belly looked like, but it couldn’t have been too bad, because I don’t remember it, LOL. Pregnancy and birth taught me to love my body at whatever size and I felt so sexy when I was pregnant with my first and after. With my second, I gained 70 lbs. This pregnancy really took its toll on my body. It took me almost 2 years to regain my pre-pregnancy weight. I was still nursing, so still had boobs and was confident and content with my body again at that point. But then I developed several autoimmune and chronic health problems: Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, etc etc. I ballooned up to 200 lbs in less than one year’s time! Then I reclaimed my health and slowly worked my way down to 130 lbs, which is where I am today. My body has really gone through so many weight changes now between the pregnancies, nursing and swelling to D+ cups, and the health problems. I am no longer nursing, so my boobs are like flat pancakes today. My stomach is a wrinkly and saggy. I struggled for the longest time to accept this new body as my own. Especially my breasts. I felt a disconnect with them, like they just weren’t a part of me. Some foreign invaders hanging from my body. But I am slowly learning to love my breasts again. Slowly learning to wear the badges of my life’s journey with honor and pride. It is a slow process. Self-love is hard work! Coming across this website has really helped spur that along. Looking at the pics of all these beautiful moms has really inspired me. We are all so beautiful and should be proud of our womanly, motherly, sexy bodies!

First picture: first pregnancy, 6 months post partum
Second picture: nursing my first
Third picture: pregnant with my second child
Fourth picture: just after the birth of my second child
Rest of the pictures: me today at age 33; my kids are 6 and 8 years old

Reached My Goal (Susy)

Bonnie (SOAM) Before Pregnancy, Belly, Child Loss, Piercing, Postpartum, Pregnant, Second Pregnancy, Submissions 12 Comments

I am a 21 yr old mother of an almost 3 month old baby we named William Christian. My husband and I always knew we wanted kids, so 6 months after our wedding we decided to start trying. We got pregnant quickly (3 cycles) and we were both thrilled. Unfortunately, at 5 weeks pregnant, we lost the baby. We were both devastated. After my loss, my cycles became very irregular. I almost completely stopped ovulating. My gyn put me on clomid. By the 5th cycle of it I was losing hope. I was becoming a very bitter person and all but hated every pregnant woman. But God had a plan for us because that cycle was our lucky one! I was scared because I was bleeding just like the first and even cramping, but the little bean held on! The bleeding didn’t stop til I was 8 weeks pregnant. The rest of my pregnancy was smooth sailing and I felt great.
At 39w1d I woke up having strange pains. Little did I know, I was in labour! A mere 3.5 hours later my beautiful boy was born in my kitchen, into my midwives hands and placed on my chest. He was 7lbs 6oz and 20.5 inches long. My homebirth was an empowering and beautiful experience that I will never forget.
Before I got pregnant I was in great shape. Working out every day and taking in very few calories. (Perhaps, too few?). I had gained 37 lbs with my pregnancy, eating whatever I
wanted. I only lost 8 lbs wit the birth, and another 8 in the few days following. After that it stopped dead. The remaining 21 lbs were up to me! Through breastfeeding, healthy eating, and slowly resuming my workout, I lost those pounds by 2.5 months PP. I’m currently 5’9 and 134.5 lbs.
My body isn’t quite what it used to be. I have some scarring where my belly ring used to be. My boobs are covered in stretch marks, but I thankfully didn’t get any on my belly.
I’m happy with my body. It’s ability to grow this child inside me, and somehow become half decent looking again.

Here are pictures of me:
2 of prepregnancy
18 weeks pregnant
35 weeks pregnant
39 weeks pregnant
1 day Postpartum
and 2.5months Postpartum



More Changes (Sarah)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, Belly, Breast or Body Art, Breastfeeding, Child Loss, Four or More Pregnancies, Hyperemesis Gravidarum, Pregnant, Submissions, Update 7 Comments

Since I submitted my story and pictures all that time ago I have been pregnant another two times. The first of those was stillborn in the middle trimester and recovering some sense of my body not being broken is very hard! I’m now pregnant again (my 6th pregnancy) and not far off due.

So much has changed, and changes day to day, it’s hard to know where to begin. But right now, I’m so grateful for all of the good – even though I still have hyperemesis through my pregnancies, even after losing three children, after *everything*. My two girls are amazing (they are four and two years old respectively). I’m looking forward to tandem nursing. And I love this bump, stretch marks and all. :)



2 Months PP Body (Samantha)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Pregnant, Submissions, Teen Mom 18 Comments

~Name: Samantha
~Your Age:18
~Number of pregnancies and births:1
~The age of your children, or how far postpartum you are:2 months

Hi everyone! I love this website i’ve been on here since i was pregnant but haven’t had time to post anything until now.Well i”am 18 and found out that I was pregnant at 17. I found out right after my boyfriend and I split up so I’m a single mother (its better off this way).
My pregnancy went well i started out weighing 120lbs and went up to 160 ! I was induced one day before my due date because i had a slow leak in the amniotic sac. So I was in labor for 22hours. I only pushed for ten minutes and out came Jasmine Isabell weighing 7lbs 15 ounces. Little did i know at the time, because i was totally numb, my doctor cut me ALL the way back muscle and everything I had a 4th degree episiotomy! I couldn’t walk without pain for a week or two but i started working out as soon as the pain started to become less severe.
I now work out everyday and try to eat healthy. Its hard because i used to starve myself before i got pregnant and now i weigh 127 and i cant seem to get the last 7lb off. I’m trying to stay healthy an not starve myslf to lose the extra weight.I have been breast feeding which is going great! Im happy with how my body looks but im hoping to lose the last 7lbs within the next 3-4 months.
I got stuck with stretch marks on my inner and outer thighs, my breasts, hips, calfs, and some on my butt. I hope they get better because they are very dark. I try to hide them in my pictures but you can kinda of see them.
The first picture is me 2 days before I gave birth. The second two are me 8 days pp. The fourth picture is one month pp. And the fifth picture is little Jasmine =]



Young 20 Year Old Mother and Wife (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Before Pregnancy, Belly, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Pregnant, Submissions, Teen Mom 5 Comments

I am a young 20 year old mother and wife! My son is now 10 and a half months old almost reaching his first birthday coming up in april on the 25th! I am so proud to be a mother and even though it would be amazing to have my prepregnancy body again, I would never trade it back if it werent for my little boy Aiden. He is the light of my life and he is what makes up my world as well as my husband. I dont know what I would do without my little family and I am very blessed to have both of them. I had a rough pregnancy with my son (my first and only pregnancy) as I had contractions on and off ever since I was 7 weeks pregnant. The contractions became more and more frequent as my pregnancy progressed and they were always very scary. I took myself to the hospital numerous times always scared that my son was going to be delivered that day! My son held on tight until his gestation was 39 weeks! I was on bedrest every since I was 7 months pregnant which made it difficult as I was still a senior in highschool. Luckily I had a tutor come to my home to help me finish up my credits so I could graduate which I did 3 weeks after my son was born. We had come a long way and are very glad we are where we are now. I gained 70 pounds during my pregnancy due to inactivity and eating everything in sight. I lost 52 pounds and need to lose another 18 pounds to get back to my prepregnancy weight. At this given moment though we again are both going through yet another trial in life as my son was just diagnosed with silent acid reflux. The doctors or I didnt even have a clue of him ever having acid reflux as he had no signs of it. That is why it is called silent. instead of him throwing up, his food was constantly going up and down his esophogus making it raw and painful to eat. This had gone on for almost 5 months with him not eating! We just thought he wouldnt eat until finally the doc ordered him to go to the feeding team to be evaluated. Finally it is all figured out and he is now eating with his special recipe of very concentrated formula plus a calorie booster and a food thickener. he is doing great and I can tell he is already gaining weight and he finally has a full tummy! Here are my pics, the first one is when I was 2 months pregnant, the 2nd is when I was 8 months pregnant, the 3rd and 4th pics are my stomach 10 and a half months postpartum and the last one is a recent one of me and my little boy on my 20th bday! Thanks to everyone and their kind words!



A Request from a Participant

Bonnie (SOAM) News, Submissions 0 Comment

Sarah, a contributor here for the Save our Daughters project has humbly requested that we help her out. She has entered a contest which will enable her, if she wins, to live her dream photography project. Under almost any other circumstances, I would not post such a request here, but her project idea falls right in line with this website and would would greatly benefit women and girls everywhere. Click here to read more. If you feel moved by it, you can “Pic It” (upper left corner) and help her stay within the top 20 which will move her entry on to be judged by a panel of experts.

4 Babies, 1 Tummy Tuck (Danielle)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, Child Loss, Cosmetic and/or Reconstructive Surgery, Postpartum, Submissions 14 Comments

Previous entries here and here.

One year and one day after having my forth baby, I had a tummy tuck. Now I’ve participated in the past at how this site has made me feel liberated from the tone of how mothers should look after having babies. Well like some moms here I did get back to pre pregnancy weight will all my pregnancies quickly. The only problem I had was I had to tuck my skin in my pants too. I had muscle separation too. So 2 weeks ago I underwent a tummy tuck. It wasn’t easy. Actually the recovery was and is harder for me than than the 3 c-sections. But now I have a tight tummy and I still have faint stretchmarks that fall just under my belly button instead of all around it. I’m happy that I didn’t loose all of my strechmarks especially those that I had from my stillborn baby girl. I’m happy with my decision. The pictures that I submit show how I looked before my tummy tuck and after. Now I’m still healing and the rash that you see on my hips is actually a reaction to the medical tape they used under the binding, apparently I was allergic to it and we did not know it. But in time the scars & redness will fade and it will look much better.

Uncomfortable in my own skin (Becky)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, Postpartum, Pregnant, Second Pregnancy, Submissions, Twins 13 Comments

Age: 29
2 pregnancies and 3 births
Ages of children: 8yo, 4 mo twins (4 months 1 week postpartum)

My life has been about many journeys. My husband and I got married when we were 18. Of course most people thought I was pregnant… I got pregnant at 20 and had our daughter right before I turned 21. It was a pretty uneventful pregnancy with no complications. Natalee arrived on her due date October 20th 2000. I was about 175 lb when I got pregnant with her and gained 50 lbs with her landing me at 225 on the day I gave birth. She left me with a road map of stretch marks from my belly button down to my pubic area. I was able to lose about 30 lbs after her birth and stayed around 195 or so for the last 8 years.

I can’t say I was entirely happy with how heavy I was, but I did like the curves that came with gaining a little weight. In January of 2008, my husband and I decided (after much begging!) to have one more baby. And so another journey begins. I went off the pill and by February 2008 I was pregnant. I was so happy! I had my first OB appointment on March 28th… I will NEVER forget that day because it changed our entire life as we know it. My OB did my first ultrasound and discovered I was carrying twins! I thought I was going to pass out on the table… I think I went through every emotion in the book!! We found out in May that they were boys and 70% chance identical. Again I had a very uneventful pregnancy. No issues with high blood pressure, no scares, no hospital visits… I could no longer bend over once I hit 25 weeks… and by 36 weeks I was begging to be induced. He finally induced me on October 20th 2008…. If your keeping track, that was also my daughters birthday. I went in to the hospital at 11 am had my water broken and pitocin started by 1:30 pm and was rolled into the OR at 3:30 pm. Silas arrived at 3:59 pm and Marcus at 4:05pm. Marcus was a little harder delivery because he was breech. He did not breath right away and once he did start breathing his apgar scores were very low (3 and 5).

They are 4 months old now. When I look at my body in the mirror, its not mine. I don’t know where I am, but its not me that I see. I see a woman with stretchmarks and fat rolls and breasts that are obscene and gross…. Don’t get me wrong… I am thankful every day for the wonderful job my body did in carrying my babies. I gained 46 with my boys and have only managed to lose 20 so far. I am uncomfortable in my own skin… and I don’t like the feeling… So now I begin a new journey to find me inside here…

The pictures are 25 weeks, 32 weeks, 36 weeks 3 days, 4 months pp, and my happy boys.

The Best Site Ever! (Kym)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Pregnant, Submissions, Teen Mom, Update 5 Comments

Previous entries here and here.

This Is going to be the third time posting on The shape of a mother. My name is Kym and I am mother to a beautiful 21 month old baby girl! I started my journey into motherhood, a very insecure 18 year old teen. I have been insecure since i can remember and pregnancy didn’t help. I started getting stretch marks All over my belly, as early as 4 months along. I thought this was completely out of the ordinary, I had never even gotten a stretch mark while going through puberty, so i spent endless nights leading up to the birth scanning the internet for pictures of women who had stretchmarks as bad as mine! And surprisingly there was next to nothing! When I found this sight it was truly great, I read every single story that had been posted! after i had my daughter i suffered terribly from depression. This site really helped me forget about me being sad and showed that i wasn’t alone. Fast forward until now, I am now married to my daughters father, and we have been together 5 happy years. I know he doesn’t care about my stretchmarks, which i Too have learned to live with, They have faded SO MUCH!! and it makes me very happy to say that, Unfortunately I am a bit overweight,and due to eating crappy, But i go to the gym, and Ive been eating healthy to get rid of yes still my baby weight! I know tons of women who are having babies now and the second i find out they are pregnant i send them the link to your site! I tell them it helped me accept my body and love it. I know they all visit SOAM on a daily basis!!

1st and 2nd pics were taken 1 month and 1 week before i gave birth
3rd is 1 month p.p
4th me and my daughter
5th my stomach now!!!