Author: Bonnie (SOAM)

here are some photos of me during my fourth pregnancy, i was in approx. my seventh month in 06. some were obviously taken by myself and the others were taken by my hubby for one of my college art projects. i am 30 years old. i started having babies at age 17 and now have a girl age 13, and 3 boys ages 8, 5, and 14 months! this pregnancy was with baby boy sequoyah, born at home, an awesome birth, 2/18/07, weighing 7lbs. 11 oz. i will try to get some new photos of what i look like nowadays to share with all you beautiful mamas (and papas, and those who may be mamas or papas one day!) out there and thanks so much for all who have posted. i believe we are truly changing our consciousness in such a positively empowering way!!! go mamas!!

Previous entry here.

I am now 11mos PP after my second child and my views have changed so much in the last year, I have learned to love my stretchmarks and my body, and to stop trying to appear perfect and striving to be like the fictional perfect mothers in the media. I have found real happiness now and this site is one of the reasons so thankyou all so much! I think you are all really beautiful:)

First..I love all of you women who have posted your beautiful selves on here! I worked up the courage to put up my photo!! I look at all of you and see such raw beauty. Maybe when this is up on the site, I’ll feel beautiful by association! Struggling with body image for so long, it’s a wild thing trying to accept such a dramatic change to your self. After a really sad and lonely pregnancy, I had a big healthy baby boy! 9 pounds 6 ounces. He is four months old as I type this.. I still reach down and pat my tummy. It’s hard to get used to not having someone in there. I am in awe.I must say. I MADE this amazing creature! With a strength I did not know I had, I pushed him into this reality. I feel stronger than before. I love him.And Though I cry sometimes over my sagging stomach and purple marks,sigh when I catch a glimpse of my reflection,tear when I see an old photo of a younger nymph-like me..I don’t want to know a world without this child in it.

I gave birth to my gorgeous baby girl on April 24, 2008. I gained 60 lbs in this pregnancy strictly by eating whatever my heart desired (nutella, ice cream and candy overload) :). I have 44 lbs that I need to get rid of in order to reach my pre-pregnancy weight of 128 lbs. I have days when I hate my new body and the way I look, but it has only been 2 weeks and I cannot expect any magic. It will be a long and hard road to go back into shape and look as my old self. But even with all these stretchmarks and all the extra weight, I would never ever change one thing, because in the end I have my princess whom I adore.

I blacked out my face from the following pictures only because I am a bartender and do not want people to see what lies under the clothes. I am very proud of my post pregnancy body. I have many many strech marks from breasts, to belly, butt, thighs, even knees. When I was 19 I found out I was pregnant with my daughter, young and scared I was a little nervous about the whole idea. But I got used to it, what I am still not used to is finding out at 19 I had conjestive heart failure. I have had it now for 11 years and I am doing a lot better but not quite as good as I would like to be. My daughter was born with SVT so her heart rate was 360 at the time of delivery. I gained the least of all my pregnancies with her a massive 70 pounds. I had fluid EVERYWHERE 15 lbs in my lungs and my legs were so big (that is where the strech marks came from). When you sit and think about what you body has gone through you have to be amazed that you even came through. I have had two other children since then and I my youngest at the time the pictures were taken was only 20 months old.

Hi everyone I wanted to share my my storie and some photos with other mothers. Iam a proud mommy of two beautiful daughters ages 7 and 2 and a half. I now have our third on the way! I wanted to share my photos with other mommies! Iam okay with my body I have learned to love it my husband tells me how beautiful Iam all the time! My sm,on my body are a reminder of my children and what my body went threw to make two perfect humans! I wear them proudly! my girls are awesome! cant wait for baby #3, the only thing I dont care for on my body is my breast are not where they use to be when my bra comes off, other then that hey I cant complain! Iam a little scared though for this 3rd one I hope my body bounces back like the last two times! Dont get me wrong ladies I worked my booty of to get to where Iam no it has taken me two and a half years! I just lost all the weight and back to my normal size give or take five pounds couldnt wait for that swim suit this summer and BAM! my surprise came which Iam okay with Iam so excited and can not wait to meet my new bundle of joy!

I became pregnant when I was 19. I was scared,terrified all the bad thoughts crossed my mind. I was really scared but I wasnt alone. My amazing boyfriend and now fiance supported me 100% He told me I was beautiful everyday and that meant the world to me. I gave birth april 26,2007 to a beautiful healthy baby boy but was left with what I thought was disgusting saggy stretch marked skin. I felt terrible about my body. My fiance told me that I was still beautiful and to this day he loves to rub my tummy. He says its soft and he likes it. HE also likes that I am a thicker girl. Pre pregnancy I only wieghed 113-114. It took me a while to get use to this new body but now I consider them love marks. It took love to create this wonderful life. My son means everything to me and if to have him I have to have some “love” marks then so be it. I think all women should be proud of there body no matter what shape and size that is why this site is so wonderful!

I Love My Little Girl To Death But At Only 17 I Hate How My Body Looks….Im A Single Mommy And I Feel Like I Will Never Find A Guy Who Will Like My Body…. ~*K*~

I am so thankful to have been shown this site. I knew my body would change after having my first child, but I had no idea how much! I do not have many friends and am a stay-at-home mom, so I really had no one to discuss my worries with other than my family. My sister directed me to this site and told me how it helped her out. Now, I finally have the courage to share my story. I am about to turn thirty this month and had always dreamed of having children before I turned thirty. So, even though my marriage has definitely had problems, I decided that it was time. I was 118 lbs. when I got married in 2003, but was up to 155 lbs. when I got pregnant. When I went in the hospital to be induced, I was 210 lbs. That is a lot of weight on a 5′ frame. In the end, it was all worth it because I now have a beautiful baby boy. I have always had a muscular physique and am definitely eager to get back in shape. I had no idea how much energy that breastfeeding and taking care of a baby takes out of you, though. My son is now six months old and I am struggling to get back in shape after a c-section. I am down to 185 lbs now. I have definitely become less vain. No more $200 trips to the salon and dressing up to run to the store. Hell, I am lucky to get a shower! My husband hasn’t touched me since I conceived my son, so it is hard to look at my body and see myself as sexy, but I am trying. I just take it day by day.

I posted my pregnant and postpartum pics previously here. In January 2008 I discovered that I am one of a small percentage of lucky moms who get pregnant while using the LAM method of birth control. My daughter was only 4 months old when we conceived, exclusively breastfed and my period had not returned. I fit all the criteria for LAM but I guess God had other plans! The first few months were scary – I was so worried about having babies just 13 months apart. But now I am just eager to greet the newest member of our family. After three girls we are expecting a boy in the first part of September 2008. Here is my belly at 20 weeks.