Belly

18 Months post, not even close to pre-pregnancy (Regina)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Submissions, Teen Mom, Update 6 Comments

I became pregnant with my daughter a month before my 17th birthday. I had always struggled with my weight and when i was 15 completely starved myself for 3 months. i love 50 pounds. and kept it all off. I was a size 9-11 and weighed 158 pounds when i got pregnant. By the time i delivered i had gained 47 pounds, weighing 205. i lost 20 in delivery. i am 18 months post and i have lost 5 more pounds on top of that. i weigh 180 pounds. i am between a size 18-15. I have lots of very thick, short stretch marks and extra skin and cellulite. but i’m starting to accept it and get over the fact that i am not a super model at heart. And she’s worth every pound.








Updated here and here.

Post-partum belly after 16 months (Tsi K.)

Bonnie (SOAM) African American, Belly, Cesarean, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Pregnant, Submissions, Update 29 Comments

I haven’t seen too many African-American women post on this site so I decided to add my own voice. I have struggled with my fair share of eating disorders and body image issues, but now that I have a young daughter, I am acutely aware of how I view myself, and of the messages I want to send to her. I gained 50lbs during my pregnancy, and the first picture was taken when I was 9 months pregnant. My daughter is now 16 months old, and the next two pictures are how I look today. I have a few stretch marks on either side of my hips and under my breasts. Doing pilates both before I got pregnant and after I gave birth, really helped me get back into shape. Thank you for this beautiful site, and thank you to all the women who have had the courage to share their amazing stories!





Updated here and here.

10 Years Later (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) 5+ Years Postpartum, Belly, First Pregnancy, Mom over 30, Postpartum, Submissions, Update 6 Comments

I gave birth to my first and only child ten years ago- a son named Zachary. He’s awesome. He plays the violin and pokemon and likes Science, but hates hurricanes and tornados, and plays music really loud and runs around the house to it. I love him more than sunshine, moonlight, good coffee, snow days, and all other excellent things in the world. My favorite Zac quote so far is, “Humans are wierd because we try so hard to pretend we’re not animals.” I’ll be 35 this year, and I don’t think I’ll have more kids. Ten years ago, I decided to get pregnant, got pregnant, had the boy, and life’s been a blast with him. But now… see, a friend of mine just found out she was pregnant and she brought me back… day dreaming about my own pregnancy… and I ended up here. I love this site, and I love all of your pictures. If I decide to have another baby this year, consider yourselves partly responsible. Here are my pictures. One of my poochy tummy, some back fat which I earned during pregnancy and will never shed, some silvery stretch marks which are faded but still show up pretty good, and finally, the boy.






Updated here.

stretchmarked legs (Autumn)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, First Pregnancy, Legs, Submissions, Update 9 Comments

i posted here in july of last year, here’s the link to that post: https://theshapeofamother.com/2006/07/autumn/

the first picture is of the stretchmarks i got on the back of my legs during my pregnancy. i had a hard time getting photos of them(cause of my posistion haha) but i did get one shot. both of my legs look like this from the back and the stretchmarks travel down to my calves, but those are harder to see since they’ve faded to white. the second picture is my stomach as of now-18 months post partum. my stretchmarks have faded and i swear get lighter by the second.


leg2.jpg

Updated here, here and here.

My mommy body (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, Breasts, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Submissions, Update 5 Comments

Here I am 4months pp. I love this site. I actually stripped myself & my son down & ran into the bedroom to take pics to add. I didn’t gain a pound until 6months. Then I gained 40. I had too much fluid around my son, adding to my stretched belly & a very short waist. I’m only 5’1″! My breasts are a bit deflated, but not much different than before. I was a 36F before pg, not sure what I am now. They didn’t really grow during pregnancy, thank god. I’m beginning to come to terms with my new “mommy body” thanks in part to this wonderful project!!

Updated here.

Mikaela

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Submissions, Teen Mom 6 Comments

The first time I visited The Shape of a Mother, there were only a few submissions, and I thought, “I have to do this.” It’s taken me several months to *finally* do it, but here I am, thanks to all the amazing moms who’ve already posted :)

Before I really had the chance to even consider whether or not I wanted children, I became pregnant. We were high school sweethearts, together for almost four years and engaged. I was 18, he was 19, and we were living together, far away from home. I don’t remember much about being pregnant, other than *loving* it. I’ve never in my life ever felt so beautiful than I did during those nine months. Even when I was working double shifts and throwing up in a trash can at my desk, I was absolutely joyous over my belly.

Being so young, my body weight and shape went right back to where I started almost immediately. However, the nearly 40 pounds I gained left me with many stretch marks; all over my tummy, on the tops of my thighs and on my breasts. I never had a stretch mark in my life before then and I thought they were just the wildest things.

I’ve always been self-conscience of my body, always very modest, and so these scars didn’t really change the way I dressed or undressed or displayed myself. I hadn’t owned a bathing suit in years, I never wore belly-bearing tops and I never undressed in front of my boyfriend. As much as my modesty has been a burden, I believe it also really helped me adjust to my new appearance. I’d always had a private, intimate relationship with my body – getting to know it with these unusual stretch marks wasn’t difficult.

I do love them. Seeing them, I am reminded of just how clueless I was ten years ago when I got pregnant. What were we thinking?! 2,500 miles away from home, barely making it on our own, living it up every weekend, no car, still kids ourselves… It’s amazing that we were allowed to have a child!

Like most mommas, I now know that I was intended to give birth to my son; I know the world was simply not complete without him. He is an amazing, thoughtful, creative, cuddly, nonstop, tackling, building, drawing, high-energy, high-impact, collection of skateboarding legs, basketball playing arms and long hair. He’s my monster. My number one man, my light, my heart and my soul. And every time I brush a hand across my stomach and feel one of my deep stretch marks, or catch a glimpse of them on my breasts, the edges of them poking out the top of my shirt, or notice them on my thighs when I change at the gym, I am reminded of him, and I feel proud and insanely touched by the fact that I am a mom. A mom – wow!

Now that I’ve had the time and experience to consider parenthood, I know that had I not become pregnant then, I never would have. Sustainability, economics, consumerism, politics and just plain fright play major roles in my decision to *not* have any more children. Thank goodness I was too young and stupid ten years ago to know any better! As difficult as being a very young, and eventually a single mom, has been, I feel like parenthood was the universe’s gift to me – the only way I could become a mother, was to let it happen before I could even think about it. Thank god it did :)

www.mdmintake.blogspot.com

20 Week Belly (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, Postpartum, Pregnant, Second Pregnancy, Submissions 3 Comments

This is a picture taken of my 20 weeks pregnant belly. I have one little girl already who is almost 4 and that’s where the stretchmarks come from. I used to be moderately ashamed of them, but since being pregnant with this child and looking at all the bumps online, I realize that I should not feel shame! I should feel pride that we, as women, have the honor to carry those battle scars! Men (used to ONLY men)go to war and come back with horrific scars and show them to people with pride. While women do not get purple hearts for their heroism, they do get to look at the life they made every day and men only have painful memories….. Wear your marks proudly ladies! We are at war with people who think our bodies are not perfect because of the “flaws” pregnancy puts upon us! I say what thing is there that is more beautiful that the temple of a mother’s body?!

Beauty Scars of a Mother (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Submissions, Surgical Scar (Non-Cesarean), Teen Mom 3 Comments

I stumbled upon your “myspace” and I was hooked, I think it’s wonderful that mothers all over the world are opening up and showing the truth about what most real women look like.

I had my son at the age of 19 and I was so paranoid about getting stretch marks, of course my worst fear came to pass. I remember the first time I saw my son and I knew that he was worth it all, he was perfect and beautiful!

But I started to go down a destructive path of self hate I couldn’t look at myself naked, it would disgust me, and I would cry. It got so bad that I couldn’t have sex unless the lights were out and I had a shirt on, for over two years after my son was born I couldn’t have an orgasm because the sight of me or even the idea of what I looked like would turn me off. At the time I was also in an emotionally and physiologically abusive marriage, after we got separated and the whole dating world opened to me… well my self destructive pattern got worse. It was easy for me to attract a guy, but I thought that as soon as they saw my tummy they would be disgusted, just like I was.
I heard about some scrubs to remove stretch marks, and I would spend hours in the shower scrubbing till my skin was raw and some times would bleed, but I didn’t care, I hated myself too much to care.

I know this sounds horrible, because I love my son and I don’t resent having him, he is every thing to me, the reason I live, he is what pushes me to be succeed, it’s because of him I had the strength to put myself thru college as a single mom working full time and with out the support of any family. (I’m from Spain and my family lives over there) But what I experienced is the raw truth, and it’s not pretty and no mother should feel the need to self mutilate in order to feel whole again.

I have to say that my son is now 8 years old, and I eventually got over most of those issues. While it still bothers me I have come to realize that there are more important things in life then my tummy! I feel that openly talking about this and taking a picture is good for me, it’s thereputic! I look at my son and see this amazing smart caring child and he is a product of my body and soul and while I don’t flaunt my tummy to the whole world … inside I bear my scars with pride!