Author: Bonnie (SOAM)

I am 23 years old and have a beautiful 5 month old daughter. Before pregnancy, I weighed 124 pounds (I am 5’5”) and was generally happy with my body, although I have always been self-conscious of my hips and legs. During pregnancy, I loved my belly but got worried when my legs started getting bigger along with my waistline. I only gained about 8 pounds until my 6th month of pregnancy, but by the time I gave birth (at 38 weeks) I had gained 46.5 pounds, putting me at 170.5 pounds. After giving birth, I lost about 30 pounds in the first 3 weeks but have been “stuck” at around 140 pounds since. My post-partum feelings about my body are mixed. I know that, as a woman, I have been blessed with the ability to carry and birth a child, and I love my daughter more than anything in the world. I am, however, extremely self-conscious about my legs and bum, which seem to be where all my extra weight is being carried. Before pregnancy, the one part of my body that I really took pride in was my flat stomach, and now that that’s gone too, I feel like my young body isn’t so young anymore. My husband is the most wonderful man and he tells me every day how beautiful I am and how much he loves me, but I can’t help feeling a little guilty that he cannot enjoy his wife’s pre-pregnancy body anymore. I tell him not to look at my legs while I’m changing, and I cover my behind as I’m walking away from him. I also tend to compare my body to other women my age, which makes me feel worse because there aren’t a lot of girls in their early twenties who have had kids. I used to be a size 5, and now I’m a size 10 and still wearing some of my maternity clothes. That definitely doesn’t make me feel good about my body sometimes. I hope that I will learn to be proud of my body no matter what the circumstance, and this website has certainly helped me in starting to make that transition. The first picture is of me pre-pregnancy. The second picture is me at 34 weeks pregnant. The third and fourth are of my stomach and breasts 5 months post-partum (I am breastfeeding which is why I always have lop-sided breasts!). The fifth and sixth pictures are of the stretch marks on my breasts and inner thighs (I haven’t met anyone else who got stretch marks on their legs from pregnancy). I also got slight stretch marks on my hips and above my bum, but they didn’t photograph well.

Updated here.

One thing about my pregnancy I always loved was my belly. I loved rubbing it knowing my baby was there, keeping me company. I am now the proud mom of a little girl, born in November. I gained 50 lbs during my pregnancy and I’ve lost 45 of it through exercise, good nutrition and luck! I am somewhat self-conscious of my “new” body, but my c-section scar reminds me that my daughter was nurtured by me, grew inside me, which is an absolutely phenomenol feeling.

Two pictures, one at 12 weeks and one at 25. I have a few stretchmarks from last pregnancy but I am happy with them. My daughter is 18 months old now. I didn’t get any saggy skin last time and I am really hoping that this time will be the same, although any amount of sagginess is worth it for a beautiful child

After 2 babies and a lot of weight issues, I have finally learned to embrace my curves and my poochy belly that I feel will always be with me. It reminds me now of the precious life that was once inside and when I look it now I feel an aching to place another life inside, I no longer feel disgust.

Five days after I gave birth I weighed less than when I conceived. Now, over two years later, I weigh almost as much as I did right before I gave birth. I eat a really healthy organic, whole foods diet and exercise regularly but can’t shake the weight. It’s so depresssing for me, especially since the pants I am wearing in this pic (not maternity) are now tight on me. The last two months of my pregnancy the fat on my hips and thighs just melted off, it was amazing. Now it’s back, more of it than ever. I know I am not obese, I just want to fit back into my pre-pregnancy clothes. I was not skinny, just average, and I want to get that back… I do have an amazing daughter and I wouldn’t trade that for anything, but I would like to feel happier about the way my body looks. I did manage to make it all the way through without stretch marks, though, and I was HUGE. I am 5’1″ and am very short-waisted so my baby could only go OUT and out she went. The last two months of my pregnancy people’s eyes popped out when they saw me, I was even bumped up to first class flying home from a trip. The nude pic was taken when I was about 7 months pregnant, I am and will probably always be sad about how few pics were taken of me during my pregnancy, and I’m not planning to have any more babies. But I was visiting my mom and she asked if she could take some. I’m so glad she did. I wish there were more of the end, though, it is truly amazing to me how big I got!

One thing about my body that’s better than before is my nipples, they were always inverted and I was worried about breastfeeding. I was jealous of the other women in my family, mine just didn’t look right to me. But a month or two into my pregnancy they popped out and have stayed that way. I love it!

(Originally written on March 9)

I am due tomorrow! This is my first baby and I’m 20 years old. During my pregnancy i have gained 30Kg and my body will probably never be the way it was before, but i don’t mind as i will have a beautiful baby to show for it.

Updated here!

I have 3 kids and I think my body is still great, although I do work on it. My stomach is harder than before kids. My only problem is my breasts are no longer symmetrical!

I never felt good about my body until I became pregnant. Although I was very young and very scared, my pregnancy made me feel complete. My body changed and I began to feel…beautiful. I felt like my life had meaning and purpose. I was only 18, but I had to make myself a woman worthy of being this tiny person’s mother. I gained 30 lbs during my first pregnancy and within 10 days of her birth it was gone. I liked to run my fingers across my stretchmarks and remember the glorious belly that once housed my precious daughter. 13 months later I met the man that would become my husband. We got married a short time later and he adopted my daughter, I also became a step-mother to his little girl. We conceived our son during our honeymoon. I gained 36 lbs during my second pregnancy. The weight didn’t come off as easily afterwards, but eventually I got back to my pre-pregnancy weight. I am now 23 years old. I am happily married with 3 amazing children. Once my youngest child started looking more like a little boy and less like a baby, I began to appreciate my stretchmarks. Not long after my son stopped nursing, he started asking to use the potty and wear underwear. Although the signs of babyhood are fading and my babies are growing up, I can still see the marks on my belly that they left behind. When my daughter asked me, “Mama, what are those things on your belly?”, I answered her with a smile, “Those are called stretchmarks and I got them when you grew inside me.”