I was always the skinny girl. I weighed 105lbs when I graduated high school. I was a size 3 when I got pregnant with my first son. I got huge, and got a ton of stretch marks.I had a c-section with him, and when my first son was 3 months old, I got pregnant with my second son. I had a scheduled c-section with him. So 2 c-sections less than a year apart. Not only did I have that horrible sag, but I got wide. I’ve got stretch marks on my legs, my butt, my stomach, a few on my boobs, and even one on my right calf! They are everywhere. Needless to say…I hated myself. Part of me regretted having babies so young and wished I had enjoyed my body more. I really thought I would bounce right back. I didn’t. I thought my belly was rare. I really thought I was the only one with a stomach this bad. Then an online friend shared this site, and it was like a whole new world opened up. No one posts pictures of themselves like this normally. So to finally see I wasn’t alone, and that I was normal, was such a sigh of relief. I feel bad of course, and I wish we could all have our old bodies back! But I want to thank those of you that have contributed, because it helped me, and gave me a sense of belonging, and feeling “normal”. I love this site, and I love what it does. What a great thing, for us mothers to come together and share something that haunts a lot of us, but we aren’t normally free to talk about.
In my opinion you look gorgeous! You obviously lost a lot of weight. Your belly is covered in stretch marks (whose isn’t? mine sure is) but it’s so FLAT! Great job mommy! You look awesome!!!
Trust me, your stomach looks excatly like mine – you are not alone! I too struggle with it sometimes, i am 24, but when you look at your babiy (i have 9 mth old twins) you know it is all worth it! I just get the magic knickers out occassionalY! Love the PJ’s gorgeous girl! x
I think you’re absolutely amazing having 2 babies 1 year apart! I have no idea the amount of energy, patience and commitment that would take, but they must love each other so much and bring you so much joy! Your body is a testament to that – having gone through two major surgeries in one year. Wow. I just wanted to tell you that you are an inspiration to all of us young mothers out there trying to deal with our own body image issues. I felt the same way when I had my daughter. Everyone was amazed at how I had “bounced back” – but like you I still don’t feel right in my own body. I guess it’s all just part of being a mother – learning to love ourselves and our children all at the same time.
Do you have a blog? Just wanted to ask.
I think you look great! I just wanted to write you again. I had something to say but it just fell out of my head lol. Oh yeah I wanted to tell you that it’s hard sometimes when we realize that we don’t look like fake women… you know Barbies, celebrities (with trainers, plastic surgery, etc.) but then it’s so much easier when we realize that we are NORMAL and look like 99.9 percent of the world. It’s ok to look human. It’s more than ok. I think that if everyone on earth were nudists we would realize how strange the people we often idolize really look!!!
I also was very thin size 2 and was under the impression that stretch mark creams work and that my tummy, butt and well every thing else would just bounce back but it’s not and in having trouble dealing with it but seeing how amazing your tummy looks gives me hope. Thank you