Author: Bonnie (SOAM)

i have posted her before, i believe at about 4 months post partum. just a quick recap, i gained just about 50 pounds while i was pregnant and gave birth at 38 weeks via c-section due to complications during labor. i ate like a pig while i was pregnant. my pre-pregnancy weight was 140 give or take a few pounds, i’m 5’6″ and wore a size 6 or 8(s/m) depending on the clothes. i didn’t lose a pound of pregnancy weight for at least a few weeks….i actually gained a couple pounds while i was in the hospital, i left weighing about 187-190. I was very discouraged because weeks later I was still flubbery and huge and hadn’t dropped more than one or two pounds…my son was 6lbs 6 oz…but that 6 pounds didn’t wanna leave me! I had always eaten a (mainly) healthy vegetarian diet and worked out 3-5 times a week, until I got morning sickness….then I stopped working out all together and for a few weeks straight, about the only thing I could stomach was milkshakes….they were delicious…but caught up quick. I gained most of my pregnancy weight in the first and early second trimester, when you’re NOT supposed too….the rest of my pregnancy I gained the 1-2 punds a week or less that you are supposed to gain…but I couldn’t undue the damage. I can’t tell you exactly how much I gained in what time period…but I do know that at my doctors appt when I was 10 weeks pregnant (found out very soon, right around 3-4 weeks I knew I was pregnant), I had already gained 6 pounds! Anyway, I worked out a lot just before I was cleared to by the doctor, which was a mistake, cause it really hurt/pulled at my incision area….so that set me back a little. I started dieting almost immediately after giving birth….another bad idea….I believe if I had eating better right after, I might have lost weight quicker…I didn’t give my body any time to recooperate. I was down to about 155ish by about 16 weeks PP. Right now at just about 7 months, I am at 143. SOME of my old clothes fit me, but the pants are pretty tight. I gained most of my weight in my hips and butt. And overall, my body is different. I had tight abs before, which I expected to be looser…but I didn’t expect it to take so long. My thighs are still pretty sizeable and much more flabby, despite working out like I used too…and I have some lower back fat, which never used to be there. I also get a little roll over my pants when I sit down and sometimes when I don’t…which I didn’t have before. I mean I was no super model before, THATS FOR SURE….but I didn’t appreciate my body enough…I was always trying to make it better….and now, all I wish, is that I could have it back! It’s worth it though, because I have a wonderful boyfriend who loves me and thinks I’m beautiful and an even more wonderful son who is big and healthy and ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS…..so when I look at my thighs and my soft tummy and my back fat….I think that it was just a small price to pay to have such a wonderful little boy. I’m starting to feel more confident slowly….but it’s an uphill struggle. Whenever I eat something that’s not a diet food…I kick myself and look in the mirror at my gut and my back fat….but then I look at my son again and it puts everything back into perspective. Sorry I’m so long-winded. :) Here are some pictures of me now and one of me a couple days before delivery.

Hey everyone! I had posted some pix of myself a while back of what I looked like after a tummy tuck and breast reduction, but I wanted to add some pregnancy pix to the site. Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures of my body right after I had given birth. I really wish I had taken some. I was too ashamed of how I looked back then, but this site has really helped me to understand just how beautiful we mamas are! The first pix are at 14 weeks and the second ones are at 29. I was pretty uncomfortable at that point!

Original entry here.

This is me 3 weeks pp with my second child. I got a lot more stretchmarks this time round despite enthusiastic application of biooil and cocoa butter, which is proof that these creams are a complete waste of time and money! My stomach has no tone wahtsoever and my skin is a lot looser too although its only noticable when lying on my back. I also included a picture of my son and daughter, just to remind myself and others what I achieved and that the stretchmarks are so worth it!

After giving birth to my first son, my self image changed drastically. I no longer worried about what others thought of my looks. I gained a confidence that I hope to never loose. While pregnant with my second son I enjoyed my body changes, swells, growth to a round blossom of life. My older son had a great time with my belly… With stripes up to the point where my breasts lay, I am proud to have a belly that illustrates my birth history: May 18, 2004 – 9 lbs. 14 oz. – natural December 5, 2006 – 10 lbs. 10 oz. – natural

I am posting for a second time on this site. I first posted when my oldest daughter, now 19 months old was 7 months old, right when I became pregnant again. My youngest daughter is now 4 and a half months old and my girls are the light of my life. I am only 22 years old, and have two children under two, both csections. I cannot come on here and say I love my body, because I don’t. I love my girls, and would not trade them for anything, but I miss what I use to look like. Now my stomach is covered in stretch marks and I am plauged by sagging skin…but I grew life and gave birth to the two most important things: my daughters. I was a size 0 prepregnancy, and gained about 35-40 pounds per child. I have lost it easily but my body will never be the same. I will one day be okay with that, with time. I am now about a size 4. I applaud all of the women on here with such high regards of themselves. It is wonderful and I hope my girls will grow up thinking size isn’t what makes you who you are. The first picture is me nearly due with my second daughter, The second picture is me 6 weeks postpartum, the next two are now. Four months after delivering by csection my second baby girl, my baby Lily and my princess Mackenzie Grace

My first post to Shape of a Mother is here. Now, three months later, and another chapter has been written, blotted, and dried, I have marked myself lovely.

I had been planning for a very long time to get a tattoo. This Saturday, my husband and I got me inked at last. The first three photos are of my ‘new body’ at 10 months postpartum after my 5th child (three singletons and a set of twins). The last photo is of my tattoo. The Hebrew in the center is “My Beloved” – which is symbolic of three things: it is one of the names of God – as He made me ‘fearfully and wonderfully, My husband is my lover, my beloved, and finally, my body. I truly am in love with the skin I am in. And it is high time too!

My name is Marie.

I was a mum at 18, and again at 21. Being slim before pregnancy and proud of my body, my confidence went downhill when I got the stretchmarks. I came across this site and suddenly didn’t feel like an anomaly. So I’m sharing, because I look at these other pictures and see that they are beautiful. I’ve wasted far too much time hating this body.

I breastfed my second daughter for almost 2 years, but pregnancy didn’t have too much of an effect on my boobs, except to line them. It’s not the most flattering angle for them. This was taken today, 51/2 years after my second birth.

This one is not as clear, but is from about 3 years ago.

and boobs.

(originally sumbitted 7/9/07)

My name is Amanda. I want to share my brief story and pictures to everyone.

I became pregnant January of 2006 at the ripe age of eighteen years old. My ex boyfriend and I were very in love, but well you know how that story goes. Needless to say he isn’t in our life anymore, and it really is for the best.

My daughter Sofia Marie was born on October 17, 2006. I was barely nineteen when she was born. She is almost nine months old now. I cannot believe how fast time has flown by. In three months she will be a year old!

I was very thin when I became pregnant. I probably weighed about 115 pounds at 5ft 6in. I gained about fifty-seven pounds over those nine months. I have lost a lot of weight but not enough for me to be completely satisfied. I weigh in right now at 130 pounds. I wouldn’t mind losing another fifteen to twenty pounds. I have struggled with eating disorders and issues with my weight for many years. I struggle daily with my weight and size. I know it is something that I will probably struggle with for a while. I also dance ballet quite intensely so its hard not to look at the emaciated girls that surround me daily and compare myself to them. I remind myself that they haven’t given birth. It still doesn’t make it hurt any less.

As for the strech mark department I got off fairly easy. My stomach doesn’t have any. The ones on my breasts were really bad, but they have faded now. I have a few on my inner thighs.

This was me in my four pack glory. I will never have that definition ever again

Shortly before my daughter was born…

This is about eight months post partum.