Belly

STRUGGLING with looking pregnant a year AFTER I had my baby (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Before Pregnancy, Belly, Cesarean, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Pregnant, Submissions, Surgical Scar (Non-Cesarean) 42 Comments

I am now 25 years old. I had my first son in January 2008 when I was 23 years old. I am now 14 months postpartum.

Hey, I had my first baby at 23. A few month before I got pregnant I was 154 pounds. I am quite tall so i was a nice normal size then when i just found out I was pregnant i had put on a bit of weight 180lbs. By 12 weeks ( with morning sickness and everything) I was down to 167lbs and feeling great wasn’t worried about my weight etc. right from the start people thought i was having twins my stomach was HUGE and the rest of me was fairly thin. From 34 weeks i noticed I had put on alot of weight around my face but didn’t think much of it, the rest of me was still normal except for my belly, by this stage HUGE HUGE belly.

Anyhoo I went into labour naturally but ended up having a emergency c section after an hour of pushing as my baby was posterior and quite large. I gave birth to a 9lb 5 oz baby boy he was beautiful. When people came to visit me at hospital towards the end of the first week they started making comments politely about my stomach still quite large and that it hadn’t gone down much. Friends kids started asking me if I had another baby in my stomach and by the 4 week postpartum when I was out shopping a lady asked me ” How long I had to go?” I gave in another month or two and came to the conclusion i had put on soooo much weight during my pregnancy on my stomach and no where else and after the baby was born my stomach kept that pregnant look, it didn’t look like a fat belly it looked like a pregnant one!

The week i gave birth to my son I was 226lbs. I lost a few lbs after the birth but stayed around 204 lbs. for the first 11 months of my sons life, I just couldn’t get motivated. Then I read that if you haven’t lost all your baby weight in the first 10 months you never will.. Rubbish I thought. so I started eating right and just walking 3 times a week from the time my son was 11 1/2 months. By the time my son was 13 months I had lost 28 lbs My son is now 15 months and I am still hovering around that weight and getting ready to push my exercise up a notch to get rid of those extra pounds.

I have a lot of stretch marks, my stomach looks like a prune but hey I’m working on it and feel fantastic with the weight I have lost and so grateful I now look like I have a flabby belly not a pregnant one. lol

Oh also if you notice some scars on my pictures i also had my gallbladder out at around 4 months post.

I hope you all enjoy my photos. I know this website has been fantastic for me in realizing not everyone goes back to a supermodel body after pregnancy.

Timeline (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Before Pregnancy, Belly, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Pregnant, Submissions, Tattoo 8 Comments

Here’s a timeline of photos from my pregnancy from 2 weeks to 38 (I went into labor at 39 weeks 6 days, so no 40 week photo!). The final photo is me now at 5 weeks postpartum. I love the changes that my body went through; the power of a woman’s body just absolutely amazes me! After 13 hours of all-natural labor I brought our beautiful daughter into this world and I wouldn’t change a single bit of it. Every stretch mark, every extra pound, every powerful contraction, and every painful stitch from the tears…They all brought me to the most wonderful thing in my life so far: motherhood.

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9 Months PP (Rochelle)

Bonnie (SOAM) Before Pregnancy, Belly, Breasts, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Pregnant, Sexual Abuse/Violence, Submissions, Teen Mom 13 Comments

When I was 14 I was raped by my father (who is now in jail for it) and life just seemed to have left me after that. One night I went for a walk to clear my head like almost every night and ran into someone who changed everything. I was only 15 when I got pregnant with my beautiful son. I was afraid but I trusted his father to be by my side. At about 8 months pregnant he had cheated on me which caused the relationship to end. With all the bad times I was facing I cried nearly every night. Every time I cried or just got mad at the world my son would kick and move around as if to let me know someone was there. Even though i got back with his father a couple months after he was born he left to another city so the past seven months i raised him myself. He will be back soon to help though!! I live with my mom on the agreement that I do chores and babysit when needed. Other then that I haven’t went out once on my own since his father moved.
My breasts are now completely covered in stretch marks and have headed south I’m afraid. (I also breastfed & still am!) They were once a very perky 34D. I also got stretch marks on my butt & thighs, but i didn’t get stretch marks on my stomach til the last few weeks. I think that when i decide I’m through with children and a bit older i’ll get a breast lift. I hate the fact I can’t wear the clothes I use to without embarrassment of the stretch marks or that I can’t go braless. I was thinking to maybe try to wear a bikini though after I find some more empowerment. Thankfully I have a high metabolism. 111 lbs prepregnancy, 143 near the end, & currently 103 at 5’3″. Also he was 8lbs & 3oz & I love him more then anything else.
GOODLUCK TO EVERYONE!!!

Age: 16
PP: 9 months
Number of Pregnancies: 1

Pics
1.) Before
2.) Day of Birth
3.) Tummy 9month pp
4.) another tummy
5.) boobs
6.) inner thigh
7.) outer thigh
8.) After (9 month pp)
9.) the most precious gift in the world

1 Month After Delivering a Baby (Brittney)

Bonnie (SOAM) Before Pregnancy, Belly, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Submissions, Teen Mom 23 Comments

Brittney
1 month after delivering a baby
Still trying to accept my body
My age: 19
# of pregnancies: 1

I’m a 19 year old mother and absolutely hate my new body! Before becoming pregnant I was a size 00 and I weighed 100 lbs! I am so depressed! I totally regret eating as much as I did while I was pregnant, and like the healthiest thing I ate was a cookie! If I knew what I didn’t know during pregnancy I’d do it all over again! I wouldn’t have gained as much weight as I did! I think that’s why I ruined my body! During pregnancy I gained 62lbs! I’m down to 129lbs and it’s been since March 2nd. I automatically thought I would go back to my size after having my baby. Little did i know I was wrong. I’m only 19 years old and I have stretch marks that cover my stomach. I will no longer be able to wear shirts that show my stomach or a bikini. I want laser surgery or whatever anything to get rid of them. I hate being body continuous. I’ve never been like this before! The pictures in the bikini and the yellow shirt by the car is before I had my little girl and the pictures in the black, and hoodie are after baby and yellow shirt and there’s a picture of what my stomach looks like :(

I Wish I Could Love My Body (Kayla)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, PPD - Postpartum Depression, Pregnant, Submissions, Update 12 Comments

I was 19 when I found out I was pregnant. I was scared, nervous, and excited all at the same time. Ive never been the thinnest girl walking around, but I didn’t realize how nice my body was, until after I became pregnant. I had an easy pregnancy for the most part. I traveled a lot, to and from Australia where my boyfriend was from. He ended up leaving me when i was 32 weeks pregnant and I had to move back to Canada. My body went through hell and back after he left me. I kept losing weight because I was so depressed and my doctors started to worry about me. I gained all together about 30lbs even though near the end I lost some. I got stretch marks starting at 4 months. No matter what I tried, and how many times a day I put it on, they kept coming. I hated it. My son was born a healthy 6lbs 13oz on November 22, 2008. He was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, and all my worries and stress just floated away the second I saw his face. Being a single mother is the hardest thing I have ever done, and I’m sure Its going to be a struggle everyday for years to come. But when I see my son smile, it takes away all those fears, on that day, that I may have. Everyday when I see the stretch marks, and saggy skin on my belly and my uneven saggy breasts from nursing, I hate myself a little bit more. I wish I could have appreciated my old body, before becoming pregnant. I’m trying to see the beauty in the stretch marks, and the fact I grew an amazing son inside of me for 9 months, but it is hard. I try to tell myself that I am still good looking but the truth is, I cannot stand to look at my self in the mirror most days. I haven’t had a chance to start going to the gym, I don’t have the time. Between trying to take care of him and myself and our busy life, there just isn’t time to fit in a work out. One day, I hope Ill love my body again. Until then, Ill just do what I know I can do best, and that is raise my son to be a loving, caring man.

My age – 20
Number of pregnancies and births – 1
I am 4.5 months postpartum

Updated here, here and here.

When did it ever feel like my body? (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, Breasts, First Pregnancy, Mom over 30, Postpartum, Submissions 4 Comments

Thinking about it today, I never felt my body was mine. I have kept losing weight and putting it back on ever since I can remember. 2 years after postpartum I am about 75 kilos, and that’s much less than I was before. It feels more like my body today than it used to before I had my son. I guess motherhood has been very empowering, but I have only just started feeling my body is mine again recently. I don’t really look at my body in mirrors so this is a weird experience.

I am still breastfeeding my child and so I think of my breasts in a different light. After feeling they were there to attract, they’ve been drank out for nearly 2 years. At first it felt as if my body wasn’t mine at all, it was just performing all these things for my child. Today it feels like my breasts. They are used but it is my choice and they look a bit different from before. But that’s ok.

I really enjoyed reading the stories on the website. And I do find the women on it beautiful.

Love/Hate Relationship (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, Breasts, First Pregnancy, Piercing, Postpartum, Pregnant, Submissions 11 Comments

I’m now 25 and have always had huge body issues…even when I was thin. I always just hated my shape….my squarish hips and the fact that all my weight sits in my tummy/face while my arms and legs sta skinny. I didn’t like trying to be super thin, but if I wasn’t I just looked pregnant. I was jealous of girls who weighed much more but had this great shape. I’ve always had stretch marks and dimples on my butt for some reason. I tried to follow the advice to find a part you love, and that was my boobs. Not too big or small, perfect color and shape.

So when I got pregnant, my biggest fear was losing them and then having nothing i liked. I envisioned myself with big floppy boobs, saggy belly and covered in stretchmarks. During pregnancy, this site was a way to comfort myself but also to be honest had me crying a few times.

I gained 40lbs…most of it the last 6 weeks….that’s when the stretchmarks showed up on my belly and my legs. After I had my baby girl I was oddly pleased with my body…it had more of that shape I’d always envied…but I was so worried what my hubby would think about the stretchmarks. My belly button had been stretched and seems huge now. I’m still nursing, with a few light marks on them, but they feel so big and floppy I hate doing it sometimes….I’m hoping they’ll return to the right size, but scared of what they’ll look like. I dropped to under my pre-preggo weight within 3 months, but its not the same.

My baby girl is about to be 5 months old, and sometimes I feel better than ever about myself…I recently got a naval piercing to celebrate that. but its a love/hate relationship…I also have days where I still see how so much flop is in my belly and breasts, comparing myself to some model/mom friends i have….and think that people must be thinking i look like an apple on a stick, and my face seems squishier than ever. My husband is deployed, so I often send him pics but will take like 100 and weed it down to 2 that make me look good. I turn at an angle so i don’t look so bulky. I know he would never treat me differently, but sometimes I worry what he’ll secretly be thinking when he gets home…..

The first pic is 32 weeks
The second is 38 weeks
3rd is 3-4 weeks postpartum
4th is two months postpartum
Last two of me are 5 months
very last is my baby girl

Lopsided Breasts and Hernia (Jay-Jay)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, Breastfeeding, Breasts, First Pregnancy, Hernia, Mom over 30, Postpartum, Submissions 17 Comments

In the first pictures I was 31 years old and 10 months postpartum. My breasts are anyways uneven but they looked particularly funny after a one-sided breastfeeding. You can see my deformed bellybutton in the background. I didn’t know what the large lump under the skin an inch above my bellybutton was, but thanks to comments on this site, I went to the doctor and it turned out to indeed be a hernia! (Thank you!!) A year later I had it surgically fixed. I was told it was a “pregnancy hernia,” in that my baby was very big and my muscles were excessively weakened by the pregnancy. The doctor told me if I had worn a belt in the end of my pregnancy to give my tummy extra support, and if I hadn’t lifted so much after the birth, then I could have avoided it. I consider my new scar as part of my pregnancy wounds along with the lopsided breasts and stretch marks and saggy skin. I don’t mind because I know that almost every woman I pass in the street has marks of her own hidden just under her shirt.

Young mom Trying to Accept her Postpartum Body (Amanda)

Bonnie (SOAM) Before Pregnancy, Belly, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Pregnant, Second Pregnancy, Submissions, Teen Mom 13 Comments

Hello everyone I am a proud 20 year old mother of two beautiful little girls. Brianna born November 19 2006 at 3:34pm weighing 6 pounds 11.9 ounces and 19.5 inches long, and Savanna born January 15 2009 at 7:52am weighing 7 pounds 11 ounces and 20 inches long. Both my girls came on there due dates, I though that was very cool. I am also happily married to a wonderful, supportive, hard working man. We have been married for a little over 2 years now and have known each other for about 6 years.

Before ever getting pregnant I weighted 120 pounds and was in good shape, I went to the gym 5-6 days a week with my hubby and worked out for about 1-2 hours. That was one thing that we really enjoyed doing together, and I still like working out. I have always had a problem with not accepting my stomach, I always thought it was never flat enough. When I was pregnant with my first daughter around 7-8 months pregnant I started noticing stretch marks. Although there were very few in the beginning, by the time I was 40 weeks (full term) I was covered in them :( I figured I would get them because they say if your mother has them, your most likely to get them yourself. I never though I would get so many though, so that was really hard for me. A while after I had her I was at 125 pounds, can’t remember how long it took me to get there though lol. So although I was only 5 pounds heavier I still couldn’t accept my body, and I know that 125 pounds is a healthy weight for me and not a lot at all. It was really only the loose belly flab and stretch marks that bugged me the most, so my goal then was to tighten and tone my body. I would always say to myself how could I think I had a big belly before, its even worse now. I don’t think I look terrible or anything, but its just tough looking back at my before and after pregnancy pics. Well anyways let me tell you about my second pregnancy, with my second daughter. I only gained 32 pounds during my pregnancy but I was so huge, and I got even more stretch marks :( I was happy for the first 1-2 weeks because I was once again loosing the weight quite fast, but then it just kinda stopped at about 145 pounds. I realize that it has not been very long, and I know that it will take time to get back to my Pre-pregnancy weight, but the waiting is so hard. I started my weight loss journey at 6 weeks postpartum, and I am now 11 weeks postpartum and I have lost 4 pounds so far. I want to keep the weight loss at about 1-2 pounds per week, so that my already loose skin wont become even looser. I surprisingly am not so upset about my stretch marks Right now, but I am more focused on losing the extra 15 pounds of weight that I am left with. I know I am not huge or anything, but I would still like to be close to my pre-pregnancy weight and I want my stomach flatter. So the main thing I am concentraiting on is losing the extra weight, and tightening the loose skin if possible. Well that’s my story, so lets check out the damage. Just want to shout out a quick thanks to everyone who has shared there postpartum bodies, I know im not alone. Congrats to all you wonderful ladies, and I hope you are all enjoying motherhood.

Picture #1 Before any Pregnancy
Picture #2 6 Months (First Pregnancy)
Picture #3 40 weeks (Full Term) First Pregnancy
Picture #4 Postpartum after first pregnancy
Picture #5 Postpartum after first pregnancy (2)
Picture #6 24 weeks (Second Pregnancy)
Picture #7 34 weeks (Second Pregnancy)
Picture #8 39 weeks (Second Pregnancy)
Picture #9 40 weeks (Full Term) Second pregnancy
Picture #10 1 day postpartum after second pregnancy
Picture #11 1 weeks pp after second pregnancy
Picture #12 11 weeks pp (now) after second pregnancy

Two Years On (Ruth)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, First Pregnancy, Mom over 30, Plus-Sized Mom, Postpartum, Submissions 12 Comments

I’m 32 (today!) and my son (my first and so far only child) is just about to turn two.

I put on four stone with my pregnancy, and despite various diets (and full-term breastfeeding) I have still not managed to lose it all. I’m starting to come to terms with the idea that this might just be my body now. My stomach is riddled with stretch marks which are now silvery in tone. They’re on my hips, too. It’s really wobbly and flabby and I’ve stopped wearing anything with a tight waistband. At the same time, however, I do feel more “feminine” than before. Maybe it’s because I prefer dresses now, as they skim over the flab and are more comfortable. I’m not sure I wanted to feel “feminine” particularly, but it’s happened, and I can’t say I mind too much.

I’m now at the stage where I’m wondering whether to try to lose more weight, or to come to terms with my body the way it is.

What do you think?

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