First Child (Anonymous)

Even before I became pregnant, I visited this site. Seeing the photos and reading the stories got me excited about what I hoped was to come, and gave me courage to face that fact that I was about to embark on a journey that would, in all probability, change my body forever. Sharing my story and photos is a little way of saying thanks. My pregnancy was on the easy side I’d say. I never exercised, but as I live in a “walking city”, my day to day life keeps me in reasonable shape. I cut back a bit while pregnant (more taxis when I was hauling groceries, for example), but mostly kept to my normal routine. My eating habits changed a bit though. As a former vegetarian, I still tend towards vegetables and high fiber, but I found myself wanting (and eating) burgers and pastry on a weekly basis. I don’t think it was over the top, but it was a change for sure. By the end, I think my portion size had doubled as well. I was ALWAYS hungry. No reflux or end of term sickness for me, just give me more food please, and cake at the end! My ,main focus was on trying to eat a balanced diet; I didn’t pay much attention to fat content or calorie count. That was easy at first, because I was gaining well under the curve for the first 6-7 months. But when the third trimester hit, I packed on about half of my weight! It was scary, actually, because it was so sudden. I rubbed coco butter into my belly and breasts every day and night of my pregnancy, despite the fact that I really beleive stretch marks are genetic and there isn’t much we can do one way or the other. It smelled nice and felt like a small luxury though, so I kept it up. These photos are of me the week I got a positive, at 35 weeks, 40 weeks (the one where I’m dressed–the midwife had said “probably today” so I was packing and taking my last photo–oof course the birth wasn’t until 41.5 weeks!) and today, one month and four days after giving birth to a 3.3kilo / 7 lb 2oz baby boy. I’ve also included one of the two little strech marks I ended up with. They’re small and light and even if I sound strange saying so, I like them. They’re a mark my baby left on me to show where he lived for 9 months and I’ll always have them to remember how little he once was. I’m 30 years old and 5 foot 4. I began my pregnancy at 54 kilos/119 lbs and ended it at 68 kilos/150 lbs. My eating habits are back to normal (well, except I never get to eat anything while it’s hot anymore!) and I am 57 kilos / 125 llbs.