i hate whats happened to my body i had no stretch marks at the beginning of all this.. i love my son to death already but how am i ever going to feel good about my body? how can i ever wear a bathing suit again.. or shorts the stretch marks are ALL over me everywhere i gained 40 pounds so far and i feel like a huge ugly cow… i dont look good in anything
hi, i had my son in 03…it took me 4 years to like my body again and now i can wear bikini…of course i find ut im preg again a week ago…anyways what im trying to say is it took me a long time to like my body again, it doesnt happen overnight..unless your heidi klum.
It does seem so terrible at first. It is new to us and not exactly what all the marketing guru’s are putting on the giant billboards to sell fragrance or just about anything. I was 34 when I was pregnant with my son. I had never weighed over 120 and am 5’6″. I gained 100 pounds with that pregnancy. I did take it off but, knew I would not be able to wear a bikini again with all the extra skin and stretch marks. I had a baby girl when I was 36 and put on 60 pounds with her. Again, I took all that off and I am now pregnant with our final child, a little boy. I am still learning to love my body and I am no longer saddened, angry or upset over my new body. Plus Victoria Secrets makes very sexy one piece bathing suits for very sexy mommies and their new found beauty.
It really does take time, right now your body may seem foreign to you and it will take time for you to learn all of your bumps and curves again, but you will be able to accept what has changed, especially when you can hold and kiss your beautiful baby. The stretch marks fade and you will see that most women get them and still have no problem flaunting their new bodies, I felt just like you (Im covered from my breasts to my knees) and a year after I had my daughter I wore a bikini, most people didnt even notice or if they did they saw that I was a mommy and no one worth spending time with will judge you for what carrying a child does to your body. Just look at what you do like about your body and dont focus on what you hate right now.
And congrats on your little boy, Im 33 weeks with a boy too!
You are SO NOT an ugly cow. It is a shocking change in a short amount of time, I know, but you are a lovely pregnant woman.
I’m blown away by how sweet, encouraging and supportive all you women are. I so could have used your voices when I felt (and sometimes still feel) like the original poster.
And OP, you are NOT an ugly cow! Right now may seem heartbreaking to see your body in such a different state. I had weeks were I’d cry for almost an hour at a time when I saw myself. I was 115 lbs and 5’7” when I got pregnant and at delivery time I weighed 172 lbs (turns out my son was A LOT bigger than we’d expected weighing in at 9 lbs 5 oz.) I stretched to the moon!
BUT, once you hold your child everything dissipates. Stretch marks and weight gain are temporary (the stretch marks WILL fade), the love you feel for your child will last forever. I can live with stretch marks and 15 lbs I’ve yet to lose. I could never live without my son. You will feel this soon.
Just wanted to apologize for the incorrect comments on this post – I’ve fixed it now, but for some reason this post originally saved with a ton of weird and unrelated comments like “triplets”. Sorry, anyone, for the confusion!
Try not to worry. It’s a big shock to get all these changes when you are pregnant and stretch marks when they first appear can be very red and angry (and frightening). It will feel as if they’ll always look like that.
Firstly, you have the most amazing bump – all round and perfect and, if you forget about the stretchmarks for a second and look in the mirror you’ll see how fantastic your tummy is. Immediately after the birth it will go down and you’ll look at it and think OH MY GOD, but I can promise you that it will improve. I had twins and a Designated Disaster Zone for a stomach after they were born but it did improve massively. It took a year and my stomach will always be different to how it was before, but honestly you wouldn’t really know it had a)housed twins for nine months, and b) looked so shocking after they were born.
The stretchmarks will fade. Try putting a topical cream or oil on them – there are some really good ones out there, but people swear by cocoa butter or olive oil so it doesn’t have to be expensive. It will help with the skin tone. Eventually they’ll fade to fine, silvery lines that you will barely notice. And you’ll be able to go in the sun and wear a bikini as the sun will help with the stretchmarks and you’ll have a gorgeous baby to show for it.
As for the weight gain, you look fantastic and all of this will go in time. Breastfeeding, running around after your baby, pushing your gorgeous baby in it’s pram every day – these all help with fitness and tone. Again, give yourself time.
You look glorious. I know it’s hard but just look at the stretchmarks and know that they’ll fade to nothing. And look at your tummy and know that the fantastic dome will one day be a stomach that carried the secret to life. You’ve carried a baby and given life, which makes your body amazing. Enjoy the journey – all will come good in afterwards with a bit of patience, time and body oil.
Honestly? I love your tummy. It makes me want to be pregnant again.
I, too, got stretch marks all over my body- on my stomach, my thighs, my breasts, even my calves! And I gained about 40 pounds total. It’s just something that happens to some women.
I used to be pretty jaded, because I got so many more stretch marks than most women. It didn’t seem fair. But then, I just stopped caring what other people thought.
Women have unreal pressures to be sexy, but you know what? Women’s role in society is not to be eye candy for men. We are not sex toys. We have things to offer besides how well me measure up to unrealistic beauty standards.
Try reading, “The Beauty Myth” by Naomi Wolf. It’s a fantastic read and will have you feeling great about yourself. Another good one is “Full Frontal Feminism” by Jessica Valenti. That book basically helps women feel good about who they are!