Author: Bonnie (SOAM)

I was 38 when I had my baby last September (I?m 39 now). I put on a lot of water weight, which came off easily, and about 20 pounds of non-water weight, which hasn?t budged. (I?m at 216 now. I was at almost 250 when I had my baby.)

I have been dieting and working out (weights 3x/week, cardio 2x/week) and I wish I could say it was making a difference. The weights have been upped twice now as I get stronger so you?d think you could see it in my body. Nope. The shots below are front and side shots taken today (10 months and 2 weeks PP) both with my gut sucked in and letting it hang loose. If you look really carefully (i.e., squint), you can see a hint of muscle starting in my upper abdomen? maybe.

I hated my body before I had my baby and that hasn?t changed. I can?t really say I hate it more though, so I guess that?s something. And, you know what?, I don?t hate the stretch marks. They don?t bother me at all. Not one iota. It?s all that belly flibbidyblopping around that I hate, the fat that lops over my c-section scar and the pendulous arms, the thighs so large that thunder quakes with fear at the thought.

I am only getting the courage to share these as so many of the people that post here are still so beautifully slender and feel so badly about themselves. I wanted to put these up so that other women my size (XL/2XL at the moment) know they aren?t alone either.

Despite hating my body, I?d do it again in a heartbeat. It took us over 3 years to conceive my daughter; we?ve been trying again since the 6 week PP mark. Hopefully, it won?t take 3 years this time.

Hi, I’m Andrea. I’m 29 years old. I am so glad I found this site; it’s incredibly empowering.

I was around 150 pounds when I became pregnant last year and packed on 50 pounds during my pregnancy. Here is a photo of me at 36 weeks:

I knew about cocoa butter and other remedies to help with the stretch marks but really didn’t do anything about them once they began to appear. I didn’t really start to gain weight until my third trimester — and I think I put on 10 pounds in my last two weeks alone.

Here is a picture of my stomach now, six months after I had my wonderful daughter. She had to be induced after 41 weeks, but she was perfect in every way when she arrived.

I also have stretch marks on my breasts — they went up three bra sizes, and I fear that when I stop breastfeeding they will remain this size.

I lost most of the weight in the first two months while breastfeeding. My daughter is just starting to transition to solids. I figure I am about 10 pounds heavier than I was when I conceived.

I don’t consider my body to be ugly, but I’ve had no interest in sex since the baby was born (and for the majority of my pregnancy). I guess this is because I don’t feel like my body is truly my own anymore. I still nurse before and after work, and pump during the day. It’s the biggest postpartum issue I have.

I am so thankful for this site and to share my story with women everywhere.

My name is Ravea, Im 21 and I have one daughter who is 22 months old. I hated my belly but looking back,I’m so happy I took these pictures and I miss the belly!

Here is me at 8 weeks when I found out I was pregnant!

Me at 13 weeks

Me at 16 weeks

Me at 25 weeks

Me at 29 weeks

Me at 34 weeks

Me and my daughter 1 yr PP (didn’t think to take any others of my body after) I think I bounced back pretty quick, thanks to breastfeeding!

ETA more of her story…
I met the love of my life when I was 16, at that time I was taking care of a 1 yr old little boy (who I had since I was 15 -he was 3 weeks old) I always knew mothering was the reason I was put here. Well, even thought I shouldn’t have, he and I started trying for us our own baby (thank God I didn’t get pregnant then) I took in a few other babies during that time. 2 1/2 yrs. later, still nothing! I was currently still taking care of the little boy who was then 3 and had his sister was living with us who was 3 months old (had her since 2 weeks old) Well in 03 I decided to get on birth control to maybe help regulate everything since I rarely had periods. I got off in Oct 03 and tried like crazy to get pregnant (by then I was 19, on our own and VERY ready! Well Dec. I got my period (late but it was there) I was so depressed I quit. Thinking maybe I’m just meant to take care of these others. Well In Jan. when I got no period I thought well this is normal me so didn’t think twice. In Feb. I got sick, nausea for 2 weeks (didn’t put 2 and 2 together) Well I went to the Dr. and he did blood work and Feb. 12, 04 I got the call! I was pregnant!! Finally!! Well The pregnancy was great! I gained a lot in the beginning , thinking I had to eat. No complications what so ever. I was worried since I wasn’t full term Id go early and I was born with problems so I was terrified ( I worry a lot) I walked a lot in the end and started dilating at 35 weeks, by 39 weeks I was 4 cm and the Dr. asked if I wanted to be induced. Me wanting my baby in my arms I said YES! Well everything started out great! the baby’s head was very high though. Well I went in and had little 10 mins. of contractions and asked for my epidural which I didn’t feel at all! seemed to be going good I was going a cm every hr (head was still high) well I got to 9 cm and stayed there. Then came the shakes, the fever& the nausea…..and I was at 9 for 3 hrs! The head was still in the same spot it was in at my Dr. visit! I was 17 hrs into labor and felt terrible! Well they decided to do a C-section. Everything went good! Its a girl! 7 lbs 5 oz 19 in long! Healthy as can be (with a little fever) Well while I was being stitched up…. I started to bleed…bad. So the Dr. hurried and opened me back up and it was my uterus, it wouldn’t contract back. They worked on me for 2 hrs, trying everything! My organs began shutting down and veins collapsing making it hard to pump blood back into me. They had no choice, I needed a hysterectomy! I was only 19:( In recovery since my veins collapsed I needed a central line :( Wasn’t so bad…. Well I finally got to meet my little girl!! Due to the trauma I guess nothing had come for me to nurse her! I cup fed her formula for 2 days, still trying to breast feed & not giving her much formula, just enough to keep her going. I was discharged after 3 days and she stayed in. I got to stay with her since we were nursing. Well trying to nurse, She would fuss and Id cup feed expressed milk. On the last day we were in an L.C came in and put my breast in my baby’s mouth and showed me I wasn’t doing it right and we been smooth sailing ever since! Still nursing 22 months later! The hysterectomy thing does bother me sometimes, I want more children, but on days Kirstyn is more then 2 handfuls I think it was a blessing in disguise! Thanks for letting me share my story!

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of interviewing with Misty Harris, who wrote this article which is appearing in several Canadian newspapers today.

Both of my parents are genetically beautiful people. My father was an athelete, and my mother was a knockout. I did not grow up knowing about diets or poor body image, it was just the opposite for me. I was always a thin child and teen. At the age of 10 I “grew” my first stretch marks on my hips. I remember showing my Mom, and then showing my Grandmother who was a nurse. The both agreed that I was experiencing the first signs of “womanhood” and assured me that it was completely normal.

Since I can remember, I wanted to become a mother.

When I first married my husband at the age of 23, I had (what America would consider) a “perfect” body. I was thin with perky breasts, a tight tummy, and lean muscular limbs. Our first pregnancy was with identical twins. I grew a slight belly and my breasts swelled a tad, but by the 4th month, we lost our babies. My body returned to it’s normal state with no evidence of any pregnancy, which kind of saddened me. Months later we became pregnant with our first live child. I was 125lbs. when she was concieved. I delivered her in my 8th month, weighing in at 210lbs.. Amazingly the only stretch marks I grew during that pregnancy were in the calves of my legs and some on my thighs- not a single mark on my large belly! My breasts, however, were changed forever. Going from a 34B, to a 38DD was an amazing process. I could barely stuff my nipple into my preemie’s mouth! Fourteen months later, we concieved our second child. I was 145lbs. at that time, and still nursing. I only gained 30lbs. this time around, but my belly was stretched to its limit by week 41. Our natural birth went off without a hitch and I delivered a healthy 7lber. With that pregnancy, by the 9th month, I noticed stretch marks growing around my flat naval. My thighs also grew a new family of stretch marks, as well as my bum. I felt as if I was bursting at the seams. Here is a picture taken during our labor with that baby:

That was over 4 years ago. I breastfed that baby until this past year, which is when I dropped most of my weight. Now we prepare to concieve again this coming year.
It has taken me a long time to learn to love my postpartum body. Now that I don’t have “babies” anymore, I see my stretch marks not as scars but as reminders. They each tell a story. My belly might not ever be the 6-pack it once was 10 years ago, but it has housed many babies- those that have passed on, as well as those that have “stuck”. So, here is my belly now. A bit jiggly, and speckled with stripes (and exploratory surgery scars), but still feminine to me!

I’ve had so many awesome people willing to help me design the new site today! At this point I’ve got someone willing to help me now at the moment and if, for some reason, that falls through, I will contact one of you who e-mailed me.

Thanks again! It’s so wonderful to know there are so many people out there willing to help!

I’ve got the webspace secured for the move to a better site but I’m hung up on one little detail…

I have done VERY basic web design before, but what with blogging software and etc now I just don’t have the time or energy to put into learning how to design the new site.

I am hoping that someone here could possibly help me. I imagine it will be pretty basic.

At this point I’m not sure what I can pay. I have some limited funds, but nowhere near what I’d pay if I hired someone out of the book.

Please send me an email if you think you could possibly help me!

Thanks!

When I was pregnant with my son I was 19 years old and weighed about 120 pounds. I ended up loosing weight with him in the beginning and gaining it plus some. At the end of the pregnancy I weighed 190 pounds. I lost the weight within days of having him and was back down to my pre pregnancy weight.

With my daughter at 32 years old. I weighed 135 pounds before becoming pregnant with her. At the end of pregnancy I weighed 200 pounds.

This is what I looked like when I was just 4 weeks pregnant with her.

This is what I looked like at 20 weeks. Most of the stretch marks you see are from my son. However, as the pregnancy went on I got tons of new ones and scar tissue from my daugther

Here I am at 29 weeks +

5 days before due date. You can’t see the stetch marks under the painting but they are there. Deep red ones.

This is what my belly looks like now at almost one month PP.

For the first few weeks I could not feel any muscle in my belly area. It was all squishy and weird feeling. However, now 3 weeks out I can flex and move muscle in my belly area again. My belly button is still really far out.

2 days after having my daughter I was out on a walk with my husband and daughter. A woman saw me and asked how old my little girl was. I said two days… She then got a very strange look and said what’s with your belly? I replied.. My daugher is 2 days old. It hasn’t been that long. She then said Oh did you have a C-section or something!? My reply.. “Ahh no… I guess it’s just how my body is now”. She thought I was pregnant and my daughter was older! She’s not the only one who tells me I look like I’m still pregnant! I’ve heard these comments a few times in the last few weeks. These comment started to make me feel bad about my body. Like it was yucky and something was wrong with it.

However, After stopping by the site The Shape of a Mother I felt better about my body and did not feel alone. It’s nice to have a site like this out there to show what real women are like…and hopefully those who made comments to me will see it too someday!

I’ve come to realize in just a few short days that my body is nothing to be ashamed of or embarrassed of. This body created two beautiful healthy children and continues to nourish one of them. And that is beautiful!

Lisa (Mama to a beautiful boy and a newborn baby girl!)

I love looking at all the photos and reading the stories from other moms. I feel like its a “home” for me. I have always loved being a mother, but have not always been proud of what it did to my body. I had my first baby when I was 18 and 10 years later I was giving birth to my 4th. I have been pregnant 7 times, 4 live births and 3 miscarriages. My last baby was born May of 2005, and I have had two miscarriages since then. The last occuring this past week. You can still see my linea nigra in the pictures. I have tried to hide my stomach and stretch marks from everyone, now Im putting it out there for everyone to see. Ive carried 7 babies in this belly, some for only a short time, but Im proud of what my body has done.

If you are around, can you drop me an e-mail, please?