Author: Bonnie (SOAM)

3 Years Later and Still This?? (Angele)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, Postpartum, Second Pregnancy, Submissions, Update 6 Comments

Hi everyone, I am 28 years old. I had my first daughter when I was 20. I was 130lbs pre-baby and I gained 38 lbs in 38 weeks and 4 days of pregnancy. I lost most of that weight and was back into a size 7. I became pregnant with my second daughter at the age of 25; starting weight was 140lbs and I gained a massive 58 lbs which brought me up to 198lbs at delivery. Well, not as lucky with my second as my first. I stretched out very large, I carried all in the front. My daughters are now 7 years old and 3 years old, and I still have the left over of my pregnancy…I have seen specialists and doctors on how best to deal with my stomach.. only solution.. is a tummy tuck.. so we are saving for plastic surgery. A whopping 9 000$ to just feel normal..just to feel as tough my stomach isnt a foreign object on my body….I just want to be able to wear clothes without having to tuck my belly into my jeans! This site was a Godsend to me, I finally felt like I wasn’t alone, and thought..wow, these gorgeous women have similar bellies, maybe showing mine, might help another mom dealing with her insecurties also. Thank you for reading.. Just a note..I am doing this for me, and myself only. My husband doesnt seem to see the belly and stretch marks.. he still sees me as me..the me before our babies.




Updated here and here.

SMA: We Can Do This! (Submitted Anonymously)

Bonnie (SOAM) Activism, Children with Health Complications 0 Comment

I came across this postcard on post secret

As a Mother, it made me cry. I would not ever pretend to understand the pain that must come with being told your child will not make it past 2. I cannot pretend to understand the strength it must take to get through the day.. But I do understand what it is to love your child and to want to watch your child grow up strong and healthy, to have a full life. I saw this post last Sunday and it made me think that maybe, just maybe, by taking 2 minutes of the day to sign this petition I could help. Every child counts, every child deserves a chance. Please take a moment of your time and sign this petition, take a moment to search Spinal muscular atrophy, find out about these children. The marks they leave on the world in such a small amount of time..

SMA Petition

My Body (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, Cesarean, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Pregnant, Submissions 4 Comments

This is my body during and after my first pregnancy. I am happy with my body now, i finally grew some boobs and i love them, i adjusted to having stretch marks, considering the ones from puberty had just faded, and my tubby belly is no tubbier than it was before. my son is now almost 8 months old and the stretch marks are beginning to fade, and my scar from my cesarean is fading too.


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33 Weeks Pregnant (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, First Pregnancy, Pregnant, Submissions 8 Comments

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



God’s Gifts (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, Breasts, Butt, Postpartum, Pregnant, Submissions, Tattoo, Teen Mom, Third Pregnancy 23 Comments

I’m 23 now. I currently weigh 165 lbs. I hated my body 5 years ago when I weighed a whopping … ready for it … 115 pounds and stood 5’9″ tall. Yeah. A lot has happened in 5 years. Three babies, one marriage, and tons of God’s AMAZING grace later I am stronger and happier than I have ever been. I have gone up and down with my weight throughout the years. My attitude toward my body was ALWAYS a negative one, until I got pregnant with my third child. Matthew was a “whoopsie”! He will be 5 in January. Noah was planned and will be 2 in a week. And Cadence was a “not-planned-not-prevented” when Noah was 8 months and she just turned 6 months old. I breastfed Noah until he was 6 months (he quit on me after I started him on solids) and I am exclusively breastfeeding Cadence until she’s closer to a year old (she has gained exactly 9 pounds in 6 months so the doctor recommended it). I love being a mother even if at first I honestly did NOT want to be. I believe now that this is God’s calling for my life. My body may not look perfect to everyone else. But it carried LIFE for crying out loud. Three of them in fact. God gave me the gift to carry life inside this imperfect body, and to Him it IS perfect, so to me it is perfect. Every curve, dimple, stretch mark, and flabby place. Confidence really IS everything. Me pregnant with Cadence Me today at 6 1/2 months PP My family!










Mum at 16, Learning to love my new body (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Before Pregnancy, Belly, Cesarean, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Pregnant, Submissions, Teen Mom 10 Comments

I Fell Pregnant Febuary 2008, at the age of 15. I never once considered abortion or adoption, I decided too keep my baby once i found out. The father had mixed emotions but is now a proud father, I gave birth too a beautiful baby girl 5 days after my 16th on the 17th nov 08. She was an emergency c-section baby due too her doing her first poop “Meconium” In my stomach, Her heart rate was dropping with every contraction. And i was way too tense. I Thought i got away with no stretch marks until i hit 34 weeks.. And suddenly they appeared. I Must admit i dont have that many. And im quite pleased with how i look now (1 month after), I am amazed with the shape of my body, How smililar it looks, The stretch marks do put me down a bit, But im getting over it.. Here are some of my pictures.





Appendix Removal During Pregnancy (Fiona)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, Complications in Pregnancy, First Pregnancy, Pregnant, Submissions, Surgical Scar (Non-Cesarean), Update 69 Comments

Im sending this to you, because when i went through it i had very little resources on the web to draw on, and at the time i found it quite emotionally taxing and hard, and felt quite alone… When i was 26 weeks pregnant i had some upper right quadrant abdominal pain, and i thought nothing of it! Round ligament pain perhaps? I didnt do anything, however about 24 hours later i was in agony, vomiting and writhing on my bathroom floor! My husband called the hospital and we went to A and E, where i was diagnosed with appendicitus, which occurs in roughly 0.1% of all pregnancies, and is the most common cause of surgery in pregnant women. The next morning i underwent an emergency surgery to remove the appendix, however due to the pregnancy i had to remain awake, during what is major stomach surgery – it involves an 8 inch incision, and then removing your large and small intestine in order to find the inflammed appendix, which could rupture at any time! I was awake the whole time, and baby was kicking all the way through! There is a high risk of preterm labour also, so after the operation i spent 10 days in ICU being monitored. During this time, i remained on an an epidural for pain relief (however in terms of pain medication i was given less than an average appendix removal op!) Also i had terrible pain because of excess air within my stomach after the operation… but was able to have my stitches removed about a week after the operation, and was back on my feet (although slowly!) by 2 weeks! The biggest ongoing problem is the stretching of the scar tissue as my pregnancy continued to progress. It was initially very neat and tidy (i was lucky enough to have no infection) but has become quite lumpy and raised as i’ve got bigger … however i hope it will return to normal after the birth! I just wanted to post my story as proof that everything can go ok in an appendix removal during pregnancy! Im currently 36 weeks and baby looks fine! Thanks!




Updated here.