Author: Bonnie (SOAM)

Hi, I was 20 when I found out I was pregnant, I had never really worried about my body although it was far from perfect. I stumbled across this website when I was searching after I noticed my 1st stretch mark at 34 weeks. I started to worry about what I would look like after I had my son and I have to say this website helped. I realised there was no “ideal” way to look after a pregnancy and everyone was different. I thoroughly enjoyed my pregnancy from start to finish it was a wonderful experience and I will definatly be having many more! I got developed really bad eczema at 12 weeks pregnant that lasted until about 36 weeks, I was all over my face of all places and I was more self concious about that than anything else! I was induced at 12 days overdue on a wednesday morning, and unfortunatly was allergic to the gel they used… so I had severe pains and constant sickness by the next afternoon and really though I was in labour only to be told it was just a reaction and I was only 3cm dilated! I thought I would never cope with real labour after this and began to panic! My partner and mother were on side to help me, and my partner was allowed to stay in a private room with me that evening… at around 1 o’clock in the morning my waters broke… and what a shock that was!! I didn’t have my son until 2.08am on saturday morning by emergency cesarean. I was fully dilated and pushing… having had only gas and air as pain relief before they realised he was stuck and I would have to have an emcs. Not the best experience as I had really wanted to be the first person to hold him and feed his straight away but nevertheless it was a wonderfull experience and as soon as I held my son for the first time and breastfed him it all felt so natural! Unfortunatly for Matthew, he was bruised and had a cut on his nose from where he had been stuck in the birth canal and his head was blistered from where they used the suction cap for a few days, but he is now 7 and a half months old and so beautiful, I look at him everyday and remind myself how lucky I am to have him. As for my body that is always an after thought. I have a partner who supports me 100% and loves my womanly figuire, and I love my stretch marks, they are a reminder of the wonderful 9 months I spent carrying my son!

I got pregnant at age 22 with my baby girl. I am now 23 with the most beautiful angel ever.

i posted here before, i love this site. i am a single mommy of 3 children, my oldest is 11 yrs old, my youngest almost 6 months old. i can’t believe how time flies!! 2 pic one of me and the baby, and one of her nursing

(Previous entries here and here.)

my name is magali i’m 22 years old and a mother of 5 childrens ages are 6,5,4,16 months an a 9 weeks baby girl!! i love my childrens but obviously my body has gone thru a lot of trauma!! its ok i have 5 kids and i dont have to complaint but is difficult when you want to use pretty outfit and it just dont fit, i’m weighning now 153 pounds and i feel so fat~!

Hello, I want to THANK YOU for your blog, I actually stumbled across it when I was researching what the heck these bumps on my nipples were! I seriously thought I was the only one that had this tummy! Although I have yet to see a tummy as bad as mine (I still have a few months of posts to read through). I am the proud mother of 3. Before my first I was a tiny 100 pound teen. Baby #1 was born when I was 17 and weighed 8 pounds 15 ounces Baby #2 was born when I was 19 and weighed 9 pounds 8 ounces Baby #3 was born when I was 21 and weighed 8 pounds 13 ounces While I was pregnant with Baby One I noticed a bump next to my belly button and was told it was a umbilical hernia. I still have it and it doesn’t hurt me, it’s just ugly. My belly button never went back in but it’s all hidden by the large amount of extra skin I have. After my third was born I consulted my doctor about my tummy and was told that my stomach muscles tore in half and were on repairable with surgery (abdominoplasty/tummy tuck). I hope to someday have that fixed but that also means no more babies so I am waiting until we decide what we want to do for our family. I get very depressed about my body and cry often when I see myself in the mirror, I can’t even change in front of my husband because I don’t want him to see…. I would never change a thing because being a mother to these beautiful children is more important. Thanks for taking the time to read my story, your site is helping me heal and I hope I can get over this and someday be more comfortable in front of my husband. Photo one show how the extra skin lays when I am laying down. Photo two shows my “belly button” and the hernia above it. Photo three is a front on view of my tummy when I am standing.

Previous entry here.

I have always been insecure about my body, even when I was in the best shape of my life. People always called me fat, for whatever reason they had and I never realized that I wasn’t or how good I really looked. Since I put on some weight when I was pregnant that has yet to come off, I don’t look nearly as good as I used to, and no one has called me fat anymore. It’s funny how people work. I don’t think about my body so much anymore, my boyfriend is very supportive of my looks, and I’m not looking to attract anyone else. I am happy with our little family and the family of sag and stretch marks that live on my belly. Here are some pictures of me, 2 years pre-preg, 1 year pre-preg, 1 month pre-preg, 8 months pregnant, 2 weeks PP, 1 month PP, and now, 5 months PP

12 years ago I started on my journey of motherhood. I now have 3 children and a body that has a few imperfections. Until I found this site, I never really took pride in it. Now I look at it and I realize that this body brought life to 3 beautiful kids. I love the shape of my body and my husband really loves it. In fact, I asked him to take these photos and he could concentrate on the picture taking. He wanted to get started on baby #4.

I was 18 when i had my daughter. i gained over 75lbs. My daughter was born at 9lbs 5oz. i’m having a very hard time accepting my PP body. my husband keeps telling me that my body is beautiful, but i don’t believe him. i lost all the baby weight within 4 months. i don’t have issues with the stretch marks or my weight, it’s the saggy skin.