Author: Bonnie (SOAM)

Hello everyone!! I just want to say that I am so glad I found this site. I was so self conscious about my body until I found this site and realized I’m not the only one with a not so “perfect” body after giving birth. I was down on myself for awhile for not being any smaller after 3 years. I am 22 years old. Had my son at 19 years old. He weighed in at 6lbs 10oz. I was 115 lbs before I got pregnant and gained a total of 33 lbs. Right now my current weight is 130 and my goal is 120. My stretch marks have faded… There still there just light in color. You have to look real close at my belly to see them. Anyways, I love this site and it has helped me see that what my body looks like doesn’t matter. It carried my son for 9 months and the marks, flab and saggy boobs are just a reminder of once having a life grow inside of me and feeding my son! These are a few pictures of me now. My son wanted to be in every picture of course. :)

you probably all think this is boring.. but i got through 37 weeks of a twin pregnancy, gave birth to the first naturally, no drugs, and the second emergency C-sec 45 minutes later. identical boys. i suffered with the weight, melted in the heat, had no sleep for the last 3 months or so… and came out the other end smiling. as soon as i saw them, it was all worth it! my body is as close to normal as its going to get, and i feel happy with it, i like my jelly belly, it has carried 3 perfect babies in there.. my boobs sag, but i dont care, i am still feeding my boys with them now, nearly a year later. i have more grey hair.. more wrinkles, a weak bladder.. but look at my boys… and my body did it all!!!

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I had my first child at 19. I was trim, fit, but curvy. I weighed all of 135lbs when I got pregnant with my first child, and am 5’5″. My breasts were a perky 36B/C, and I didn’t even require a bra. My belly was never flat, regardless of working out and being in shape. I had that wonderfully feminine pooch. I hated my body. I thought I was fat, my breasts too small. I was miserable and unhappy with the way I looked. After my first, it took me well over a year to lose the weight. Even though I was back down to 135lbs, I was still a full pants size bigger. I chalked it up to my hips spreading and got over it. I still felt huge though. After my second child at 21, my bod never went back, and I continued to weigh about what I did when I gave birth to my first. The upswing, I finally had breasts!! Now I had to wear a bra all the time. Clearly this was not quite what I’d had in mind, not quite the blessing I thought it would be. It was four and half years later before i had my third. I didn’t gain much with him, which was good because I was already uncomfortably larger than I ever wanted to be. My breasts were GIGANTIC when I was nursing him. They never went away when I weened him. My fourth and final baby was born 17mos after my third. He was a bit of a surprise. I had had c-sections with all three other children. With my fourth, the doctor had to a classic vertical incision because I had so much scar tissue under and around my bikini cut of my previous three. I looked like the Bride of Frankenstein. It was/is beautiful. Thick keloidic scaring not only from my belly button to pubic bone, but also from hip to hip. Luckily I was able to make it go down some with vitamin E. I was distressed with the newest scar because any illusion that I would some day lose the weight and be able to wear a bikini again, was finally gone. I would never be that hot young woman that I never realized I was until it was gone. My belly sags down and hangs over, my breasts are large and full and heavy, I have stretch marks in odd places, my hips are fatty, my rear is now misshapen. But that’s ok, because my sons tell me I’m beautiful every day. And my oldest daughter, now nearly 12, was picked on at school. Not having much to tease her about as she’s smart, beautiful, and genuinely nice, a boy decided to tease her by telling her her mom was fat. She came home distressed about this and when I told I didn’t care what an 11 yr old boy thought of me she said “Well, I mean, it’s not like you’re going to have the body of a super-model, you’ve had four kids!!” My work is done, I’ve taught her well.

I love your website, and I would like to share a few photo’s of me one is of me 33 weeks pregnant with my 4th baby girl. The other is of me at the begging of this pregnancy. I have a lot of stretch marks, They are all old ones.I will add some postpartum pic after Elora is born.
I am in a very confident place in my life as I divorced my abusive husband of 5 years, and went back to college. Finding myself again after being told how no one would want me, because of how ugly and unworthy I had become from having my 3 children has not been easy.

My boyfriend loves my body, he loves my mind and he loves my kids. I am trully blessed to have the love of a real man. I feel very beautifull while having our child. I hope that other women can realise that beauty is confidence.

I gave birth to my son early last year. I have been a competitive runner for years, and continued to run until my third trimester. I have always valued keeping myself in shape, and I was terrified that I would hate my post-baby body. I gained about thirty pounds during my pregnancy, and it took about 4 months to shed it. I am now back to running my pre-pregnancy distances, and am in better shape than ever. However, I have one stubborn patch of fat and loose skin right under my bellybutton. You know what? I love it! It is a reminder of what my body created, and I welcome the change! The pictures are a before and after. Sorry for the editing… I am a little shy.