The Shape of a Mother

My name is Lissa, and I have admired this site for sometime now and have finally gotten up the nerve to send in my photos and story. I am at the point in my life where I can say “This is my body, and it is beautiful”. I have had 3 pregnancies, but only birthed 2 babies. I have nursed for ..about 27 months total. I will never be a size 3 again, but I would not really want to be. I am proud of my curves. I love knowing that my body has become a woman’s body. It is flawed and therefore perfect.

This is my very soft belly that my children absolutely adore stroking.

The extra skin you only see when I sit.

Me standing.

My body nourishing the next generation.

Every mother’s body is beautiful, hell, every woman’s body is beautiful! We are soft curves and warm places to nestle. We are the fount of life and milk. We are soft hair and sweet voices. We are curved smiles and breasts that sway invitingly.

Be proud of your body, revel in the form that is uniquely female. Do not hide your curves and be
ashamed. Be proud, know that through our bodies, the next generation comes to fruitation.

My last baby. I’ve been taking alot of pictures. This is me May 5th, 39 weeks pregnant.

This is my stomach, one year after having my daughter, it still looks the same… I wonder what kind of change I really expected?

I am a 27 year old mommy to 5 that are 7, 4, 3, 3, and 7 months. I worried with my first pregnancy that I would never be beautiful again. I worried with my second pregnancy that I was right. I worried with the twins’ pregnancy that my husband would believe it too. And I knew with my last pregnancy that I was perpetuating a lie. My breasts sag because they nourish my chidren. My belly is embossed with ribbons of silver because my babes have graced me with riches, and my hips are padded so that my monkeys can travel there. My hands are calloused from kneading my husband’s aching shoulders and my feet are swollen from pacing the halls when my little ones are ill. My body screams WOMAN! I am not a pin-up, and am thankful for that. For those women have believed the lie themselves – or they have not found the joys I have. Either way, I am thankful for my WOMANLY body, and would not trade it for a full and perky rack, or a tight and silver-free 6-pack any day. https://wonderfullymadebelliesandbabies.blogspot.com/

Updated here.

This is a picture of my 3rd child nursing. I never had the opportunity to breastfeed my first two and since this is my last baby I’m especially proud!

Pre-pregnancy I was not happy with my weight. I hovered around 180lbs for about a couple of years regardless of whether or not I completely looked like it. When I became pregnant I found a reason to not be ashamed of my body and now I love showing off how I look, as much as I’m terrrified at how I’ll look afterwards.

In the range of bodies in this site, I would say that I fall solidly in the middle. Not skinny, but not big either. I am 35, and I have the standard stretch marks on my breasts, hips, and thighs, but my C-section scar has faded considerably over the last 2 years. I am more comfortable with my body now than 10 years ago when I was much smaller. All in all, I don’t think my life would change that much even if I lose that last 10 pounds, and my body will go to hell sooner or later so at least I have something wonderful to show for it. I am actually considering having a 5th right now!! We all get frustrated now and then after seeing all the magazines, but this site always balances me.

First of all, thank you for this site! I fell in love with it the minute i saw your picture on the main page. That picture is just gorgeous! Well I am a mom to 6 gorgeous children. However, only 4 are with me, one whom is adopted. I got pregnant with my first child shortly before i turned 20. I have NEVER heard of scretched marks, let alone seen any! When i started seeing these “lines” on my belly on my second trimester, I was totally panicked (and grossed out) I cried and cried and cried, mostly because i was mad i had never heard of them before. It was totally unexpected, and i was mad at society to not expose this truth more. I had them on my breast, on my belly, and very large and deep one around my vagina. My son was born and those marks because so secondary, i stopped worrying about them. I was 110 pounds when i got pregnant, and was 165 when i delivered. I managed to get down to 140 pounds. I was disgusted by the look of my jello/ stripped belly, but decided to stop worryign about it. I breastfed on demand, and even tho i didnt had my period yet, i found out i was 15 weeks pregnant when he was only 5 months old! Few weeks later, i found out there were twins!! I was so happy. Unfortunetly, i went into preterm labor and had placenta abruption at 7 months pregnant and gave birth to a still born daughter and her sister died 5 hours after birth. I was totally broken. I had gained 40 pounds, totally deformed my body with this twin pregnancy, and had to go home empty hand. I remember thinking I would never complain about my body again after delivering and bringing home a healthy baby… My marks were now a constant reminder of my dead children instead of a miraculous blessing. 3 months later, i became pregnant again. To my surprise, i only gained 25 pounds, delivered a 9 pounds baby boy. He had shoulder dyslaxia and almost died. He now has processing (brain) issues due to lack of oxygen at birth, but he is a wonderful healthy boy. I felt blessed he made it thru. My stretch marks faded a lot, and even tho my belly NEVER was flat again, I felt I looked ok for having had 4 babies in 2 years. My weight never went lower than 140 pounds, in fact, i gained 10 pounds in the next 3 years. I got pregnant again when my youngest boy was 3. This pregnancy really took a toll on my body… I totally suspected it was a girl because my body shape was so so different than with my boys. I grew butt, hips, boobs, to twice the size they were. I “only” gained 30 pounds, but was still 180 when i delivered. I was 175 pounds when i brought her back to the hospital, and never lost a pound! I had never heard of a woman being basically the same weight she was at delivery after 6 months! I started to work out, 5 times a week. Very intense work outs. I started to have breakfast, somehing i never did, and eat more protein. I gained 35 pounds and went down to 140 pounds. Now… if i excersice… i manage to be about 150 pounds, but my belly is very expanded… i am a size 10-12, huge E breasts and basically not the girl i was just 8 years ago before i was a mother. I dont like my body… but i have to remidn myself that i had 5 babies and my body is beautiful for what it created. The first picture is of me after my 4th baby, and the last pictures are of me now, after having my baby girl, who changed my body the most. I do have a lot of stretch marks, but they are of my skin color now so they never show on pictures, but they show plenty in the day light… i wear long shirt all the time to cover my flab and those marks, but im getting to not care anymore. By the way, i have seen all the pictures on here and you are all beautiful. I never thought i’d post “my” pictures like this before…. NOT of my belly. I do wish the pictures showed how “bad” it looks… i only have a webcam right now and its not showing my “motherly shape” as well as real life does. haha

Shame. This word is so strongly associated with a woman’s body image. We feel shame for being shapely, scarred, and stretched. Exposing a belly that is not toned, not tanned, and not tiny is a bold and incredible thing to do. It exposes the lie we tell ourselves: that a part of us is unacceptable or unwanted. During my second pregnancy, my midwife caught site of my appendectomy scar on my belly and the large stretch mark coming from it. “That’s a shame” she said. Actually, ma’am, no it’s not, thank you very much. Pride. I feel pride for that appendectomy scar because I lived to tell the tale, proud of that huge stretch mark because that was from my daughter, and proud for all of the other marks because that tells the story of my son. As I was taking pictures of my belly, I began to feel transformed and sexy. I saw my belly and I wanted my belly. It no longer feels like a dirty secret to me. What a joyful thing to feel! Thank you to all of the women sharing a part of themselves here. Our belly’s deserve some credit and it’s about time we give ’em a break! They’ve been through enough.