I am a mother of 4 beautiful children. 2 boys who were born vaginally, and 2 girls who were born via Csection. My first born gave me hundreds of stretch marks, from my stomach, inner thighs, breasts and outer thighs. I didn’t get many more from the other children. My attitude towards my body changes daily. Somedays I think I look great for having 4 children. I have kept my youthful appearance since I am told many times a day I do not look 32 yrs old. But there are some days when I am getting dressed or walking out of the shower when I feel disgusted with myself. When I got pregnant with my first son I weighed about 135 lbs, at 5’5″, I gained 45 lbs with him. I kept my weight around 170 after him and after my second son. Then I lost all my weight, I was back down to 135 and shortly after got pregnant with my daughter. I had many issues through that pregnancy and didn’t gain much weight, only 22 lbs. and lost it immediately. My last daughter I weighed about 150 when I conceived her and now 18 months later I weigh 163. Right now I’m in the depressed mind about my body. I feel ashamed of it, I want to hid it, I point out the gross areas daily, each time I walk by a mirror. When my husband doesn’t want to have sex I convince myself it’s because he’s disgusted with my body. It’s a roller coaster of emotions when I think of my body, my children. In the end they are all worth it all. They are my blessing from above, and made from love. I appreciate this site and I am glad I found it, to feel there are others that feel the same way as I do helps.
you look BEAUTIFUL…I love your pic it’s RAELLY nice…good job on sheltering those 4 (I’m SURE beautiful) babies…:)
I’m sad to read your post. The moment I saw your photo I thought how beautiful this photo was!!! It really is one of the most beautiful self portraits I’ve seen on this website. You should look at it and take pride in your beauty. You are gorgeous. Don’t be ashamed, be proud. Be a feminist when it comes to your body. Be proud that you came through four pregnancies and TWO C-Sections (which is amazing!)… You carried four children to term and your body nourished all of them to health! Wow! You are gorgeous!!!
Reading your post makes me cry because its exactly the way i feel. I have 3 children myself…The only thing that helps with my poor body image is to say to myself “Just remember how blessed I am. There are women out there who cant have children and would give anything to have to have the stretch marks we have.” Oh and by the way I love your picture it really is beautiful.
Thank you so much for all your nice and sweet comments
I feel the exact same way as you. I feel so depressed about my body. I can no longer enjoy sex because I keep worrying about my tummy.
I have 5 kids and I am 30. My youngest was born 3 months ago.
My tummy flab is so big that you can barely see my pubic are when I stand – I wish my tummy looked like yours… All I think about is having it all cut off in a tummy tuck, but it will never happen because we have no money.
I have 4 children as well (born May ’98, Nov.’00, Aug.’02 and Jan.’04). My stonach didn’t look too bad after baby #1. It started to look unfavourable after #2 but I was still ok with it in a way. After baby #3 and #4 my stomach reached the point of no return. It has marks and lines and it is saggy and I don’t like it at all.
I’ve been told, by male friends in commited relationships, that when they look at the women they love they don’t see these imperfections we agonize over. They see the woman they fell in love with. So let them make you feel as beautiful as you are.