Author: Bonnie (SOAM)

I found out I was pregnant when I was 18 almost 19. I was so scared, at first I was thinking about getting an abortion, but I thought about it.. And I really could not do it. So I decided to keep it. Those 9 months were the longest 9 months I have ever experienced. I had frequent bladder infections. Was in the hospital for a kidney infection. And I gained a lot of weight. I had finally gotten down to my goal body size and I was so proud, and then, BAM my weight shot back up. I was huge. Luckily now that my son is about 5 months old, I am shedding the weight. My stomach is saggy and covered with stretch marks. But, I have grown to love them. They show my journey. And if anyone sees my stomach, they will know, I have had a child. And, on top of weight, and everything else I had to get a c-section. But, once again just another mark that shows my journey. I am so proud of who I have become. I have just turned 20, and in this past year I have changed who I am inside and out. My boyfriend and i are still together. And adore our son. And not for one second have I regretted keeping him. I lost a lot of friends, but I gained the love of my life. And these 5 months have flown by. And that is all I really need.

Hi. Im Paige. I was 15 when i got pregnant. My son is now a year old. Im quite surprised how my life has turned out. NEVER would i have told you id be the “pregnant girl” in high school. Hell, i wasnt even allowed to talk to boys. But, things happen. Ive only been with one person, and me and him are still together. Its been about two and a half years :] I honestly dont know what id do without him :] He is everything. I love my family but in MY case it wasnt the best thing for me to live with my mother. Right now, me and my husband are in the process of purchasing our first house. Who would have thought that me, a junior in high school would be buying a house! well anyway, just wanted to share a bit.

I’m an 18 year old (19 in March), a high school graduate readying for college, and a first time mother in a long term relationship with a college graduate. Before my pregnancy I weighed 130lbs, just about, and by the end of my pregnancy I weighed 190 on the dot. 60lbs, WOW. I did not over eat and was active throughout my pregnancy, but gained a lot of weight due to excess fluid retention and other factors. In fact, my legs, ankles, hands, and face appeared larger to me for so long that I forgot just how skinny I really was before I got pregnant. (After the pregnancy when I shed it in all of those areas I felt tiny. I didn’t look like a sausage anymore!!) You’ll see I have many MANY pictures, some where I’ve taken only the belly rather than the rest of me, but for personal reasons, some are older than others… I don’t have much of a story. We were (surprisingly) happy, despite my age. Our daughter was born at about 41 weeks, my labor was induced, I had an epidural, and a vaginal delivery with an episiotomy -which is SO annoying to still be *recovering* from after going on three weeks… I delivered a healthy 8lb 3oz, 19 1/2 in baby girl, named Kaylee Marie. She was due on the 4th originally (my twin sister gave birth to her son at 26 weeks gestation on that day, ironically, but he’s doing wonderfully!) then I was due the 8th, and gave birth on the 15th of January, which so happens to be the day after her fathers birthday, and our anniversary. =P What a special day! We call her our little “hapa” baby, because she’s Eurasian American. -Due to her mixed European heritage on my side of the family, and Asian on her fathers side. Race does not matter, but there’s no issue in sharing mixed culture, and I hope that it will something she will be proud of, rather than shamed by when she grows up. She’s a beautiful little girl, and despite the pain of childbirth, she was entirely worth it =) Now to work off this belly… =P I actually lost 30lbs within the first week and a half, which is half of what I gained! Amazing… I chose to breastfeed but also use formula occasionally, but feel guilty mixing her up on the two, so I try to breast feed (and pump) as often as possible. I’m not sure there’s much else I can say about myself, my pregnancy, or my daughter at the time being, but here are some photos =)

I’ve always loved my body. Sure, there were always those times when I felt I needed to lose a few pounds, but I usually tried to focus on my health and how I felt rather than a number on the scale. I am a curvy 5’7″ and weighed 166lbs at the start of my first pregnancy last year. I gained about 30lbs over those nine months, and I absolutely loved being pregnant. I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy in October, 2007 after less than 24 hours of painless, drug-free labor.

I thought that stretch marks would be the one thing that I would hate about pregnancy, hoping that since my mother never got them, I wouldn’t either. So when they began appearing late in the 3rd trimester, I admit I was a little sad. But after my son was born, I noticed that the marks on my lower belly had formed the shape of a crown, and I was in awe of them, in awe of my whole body. I’m probably the only woman around who hopes her stretch marks never fade. I love my body even more now for what it has proven it can do, for creating and nourishing this precious new life, and I wear my crown with pride.

Ok, so I’m 18 years old, my boyfriend is only two days older than me and we are so in love. I’ve know for about 3 months already that I was pregnant but the tests kept coming up negative. It wasn’t until just a few weeks ago that the tests finally came back positive. At first my boyfriend was really mad and I was shocked and scared. We didn’t know how we were gonna tell our families. My mom already knew, she could tell cuz I was getting fat, had been eating/sleeping a lot more than usual, moody, etc…etc…and she was cool with it, cuz she was my age when she got pregnant with me. But another thing…the main thing we were scared about…we don’t have a place of our own, I get literally 0 hours at the job I have and we barely have enough money to take care of ourselves, let alone a baby. But after a lil’ while we were really excited about the baby. My mom had already started buying us stuff and our families took it way better than we expected. Well last week I was bleeding and cramping so my mom took me to the hospital and they told me I had a misscarriage. I was devistated, I was really looking forward to having this baby…and when I called my boyfriend he started crying cuz he was excited too. This has been the worst week for me. I’m always crying/stressed out, every lil’ thing pisses me off, I can barely eat anymore, I’m just sooo depressed, I don’t even wanna leave my house. I’m slowly starting to get better and today was the best day I’ve had so far. But everytime I hear about someone getting pregnant or one of my friends who was already pregnant talking about their baby or anything like that it makes me really sad and all I can think is ‘that was supposed to be ME’ I’m not exactly sure how far along I was. Different doctors told me different things. One doctor told me 2 weeks, one said 6 weeks and another one told me about 2 or 3 months. I’d have to go with 2 or 3 months though cuz I know my body and it just wasn’t right for the past few months. My body was changing soo much, I’m not sure exactly how to explain it…but my mom and boyfriend had even noticed the change during these past few months…plus, I was already getting biig (and no, it wasn’t just cuz of the baby…it was also cuz I was hungry 24/7 and had been eating like a pig lol) I’m not posting this for pitty. I just wanted to share my story and see if anyone else relates to this, to maybe help me through or something? I’m posting pics. of what I looked like while I was pregnant. Oh and I’ve never had a flat stomach, but it also never stuck out as far as it was in this first pic… the first pic. was taken about 2 months ago the second one was taken on New Years and the third one was taken about 2 or 3 weeks ago

My name is Jessica. What you probably cant see to well in these pictures are the stretch marks that go from right below my belly button all the way down. My thighs also look like a cat clawed them in the front. I am now pregnant with my second, and will take more pictures to send, My loose skin and stretch marks are pretty well hidden normally, nobody knows that if I got into a bikini then it would be obvious that I am a Mom :)

My stretch marks are not many or deep, but I love them. I really do. I love the way they feel, I think they look interesting – full of meaning and character, and I love being reminded that my many, long prayers for a child were answered by God in such an amazing way. I love my daughter and I love every mark that she has left on my life. I look forward to being stretched in new ways as I continue to grow as a mother and as a woman.

My name is Tiffany and I am 20 years old. I had my first baby on December 8th, 2007. Throughout my pregnancy, people kept telling me how small I looked and you would *think* I would be flattered but it is just as annoying as hearing that you’re huge! Due to constant comments like “Girl, you need to eat more!”, I was sure my baby would be tiny. At almost 38 weeks, I delivered my daughter vaginally via induction and she weighed about 6 and a half pounds, 19 inches long. Pre-pregnant I weighed 124, at the end I weighed 158, and now I weigh 135. I’m still working on getting back (actually, lower) than my pre-pregnancy weight but I think that I look damn good and I am happy with my appearance. Half of the beauty, I believe, is actually feeling beautiful. This first picture is me when I was 15 weeks pregnant, the second is when I am 32 weeks pregnant, next is 36 weeks, and last is 2 weeks post-partum which I am now 8 pounds less than but I haven’t taken any more recent ones.