Author: Bonnie (SOAM)

Well, I have no idea of why I’m writing this, but it seemed the right thing to do. If you have any comments about my spelling, I’ll just have to say, I’m not an American, I’m from Sweden.

Down to business. I saw in the newspaper, this page of yours. It was an article about women.
Real women if you ask me. I have two children with a woman who’s my previous wife. She has had four children, two before the little angels (and on occasion little demons) we have together.
I remember seeing her trough her pregnancies, she absolutely was the most beautiful I ever saw. She looked like someone who knew everything. It felt like I could ask her anything and she would give an answer.

It seems like the reason you started this blog of yours is how women are portrayed. Women aren’t supposed to be women anymore, but girls. There are in fact a lot of guys/men who prefer real women out there. Maybe someone should sit down with the “great” fashion/media/movie people out there and tell them how things work. None of the little boys or girls they make clothes for, take pictures of and make movies about should have been there to wear or show it, if it weren’t for their mothers (and fathers).

The fellowman.

I had a picture up of when I was about 5 months pregnant with my third child. This picture is me 6 weeks after I had my daughter, I am not very happy with my body, but it was worth it for my 3 beautiful children. I also included a pic of my new baby girl with my son, and one with my oldest daughter.

Previous entry here and updated here.

I always wanted to be a mom. I got pregnant in late June 2006. I also got REALLY big. I am almost 5’7″ and started out weighing 130 lbs and thought I was a little fat in the beginning. Boy was I wrong! hahaha. At the very end of the pregnancy I weighed a whopping 187 lbs. I was MISERABLE! I was so bloated that my lips even swelled up and I suddenly had a slight lisp. I hope that with the next pregnancy I have that I will harness a little self-control with my eating habits. I got pretty crazy for a while there. The problem was that I was so freaking HUNGRY all the time. I could not stay full for the life of me. I tried everything. but I think I ended up gaining so much from the number of meals I was eating daily (and nightly) and not so much from the types of foods I was eating. (although chocolate chip cookies and fat-free milk were definitely an everyday thing). *blushes* Oh well, whatever, I got fat. I am currently 8 months post pregnancy and weight 137. I am working off my last 7 lbs. I have a beautiful baby girl named Amelie Nicole. My stomach is not perfect right now. I am constantly working on it to bring it back in where it should be. it’s a few inches bigger than pre-pregnancy, which is a bummer. but i think it will get back to where it should be eventually. The texture is weird and soft since the skin got a lot of stretch marks, so bikini’s are definitely OUT. But whatever, it could have been worse. At least me and my baby are healthy. First pic is Before pregnancy. Second is the day before c-section. Third is 6 months after birth. Fourth is my beautiful daughter :)

I was in a restaurant this weekend and opened the door to the restroom as another woman was coming out…she was mid-t-shirt-tug…and I saw her Mama tummy as she exited by me. A year ago, I would have thought “ew” or “poor her”, “gross”, “thank god I don’t have stretch marks like that”. But this weekend? After a year of reading this site? I admired her, applauded her, honored her…as I now admire instead of judge myself for my own “faults”. Thank you SO MUCH for this site. At forty, I truly feel I am at my best…emotionally, spiritually AND physically. I know what is important; I have a beautiful 4 year old daughter, an amazing husband, my family, my friends, my health. All of you are wonderful and thank you SO MUCH for the stories and photos you share. And I REALLY admire your photography abilities! It’s so hard to get a shot of yourself!!!

I’m 38, married 15 years, have 3 kids between the ages of 6 and 11. My breasts now sag quite a bit, and it’s hard to see any daylight between my thighs. And sure, my stomach is not flat (no side view in the photo, but from the side, I have a nice mound). But thank God for good bras, and jeans.

I was so excited to get pregnant. I was not married yet, but I was engaged to the man I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. I conceived in February and we got married when I was about 6 months pregnant, in the end of July. I loved being pregnant and showing off my belly, even though it hurt my feelings when people would make comments about how I looked too small to be so far along. I took great care of myself: eating well, never missing even ONE day of prenatal vitamins, and certainly never smoking, drinking, or using any kind of drugs. I experienced some depression toward the end of my pregnancy and postpartum (it didn’t help that I got a really bad haircut at 36 weeks) and because of the medication I was put on I was initially deemed unable to breastfeed. That was VERY disappointing to me. Some of you may say my body bounced back very quickly. It’s true–I never even got stretch marks. But in a big way these things are upsetting to me. Since I don’t have any bodily reminders of having my daughter it makes me sad, especially since I’m not even able to breastfeed (I was eventually approved to do so, but by then she was too used to the bottle). I had to watch my engorgement deflate and my milk dry up. I had to watch my body look as though I had never given birth. This isn’t always a good thing. I love my daughter, Natalie Grace, immensely. Please don’t doubt that. I know SHE is a reminder of the experience. But the truth is, in some ways I miss being pregnant. That was the only time in which my body truly looked like that of a mother (or rather a mother-to-be.) Plus I just miss feeling her inside me and, hence, with me all the time Please appreciate the beauty of the bodies that bore your children and for those of you who could, fed them. It is a tremendous gift and I think you all look beautiful and happy and I wish I could enjoy these first few weeks more instead of feeling so disappointed and sad at times. The first picture is pre-pregnancy, then 14 weeks, 26 weeks, 32 weeks, 37 weeks, 3 days postpartum, and 3 weeks postpartum with Natalie. Good luck to you all.

This is my tummy about seven and a half months pregnant( I didn’t get stretch marks till the last two weeks). The other picture was taken about a month ago so about five months after our boy was born. It doesn’t show my stretch marks properly, they are more visible. They have faded more than I expected since I do scar very easily. Thank you for this web site, it is so nice to see REAL post baby bodies!

At the ripe age of 19 I found out I was pregnant. My pregnancy was problem free and I loved my belly and stretchmarks. Almost a year and a half later I am almost satisfied with how I look. My stretchmarks have faded and I’m slowly regaining my old shape. It’s been hard but I look at my daughter and know that she was worth it :)