I had my beautiful baby boy in October 2010, ventouse delivery on his due date! I became absolutely massive as my pregnancy progressed with swelling in every part of my body. I think I was 52 inches around the waist the last time I measured my stomach when pregnant. I gained around 30 kg’s with my pregnancy and my little boy was an ounce short of 9 lb’s.
He has been breastfed since birth and is now 18 months old and still an avid nursling (which I love!) with no signs of readiness to stop any time soon. I know that my boobs are wonky from pregnancy (although I didn’t realise how badly until this picture was taken) and that I’m still quite large around the middle with the saggy skin and stretch marks to boot.
We live with my parents who constantly tell me how fat I am (I was a skinny teen) which brings me down a heck of a lot. We are not financially stable enough for me to afford gym and with an 18 month old toddler running around you’d think I would lose weight a lot quicker! But being very close to my pre-pregnancy size, seeing this site and discovering how normal I am will give me the strength to ignore the nasty comments about my weight. I KNOW I’m not fat but it still tears me up a little to hear my own parents telling me what an elephant I am and comparing me to other people post pregnancy. I also have a merina iud fitted that makes it hard to lose weight but thanks to breastfeeding I’m not gaining weight either.
We have all done such a beautiful thing with our bodies that we should consider the after effects as battle scars from going through such intense and traumatic changes. And just as the battle scars of soldiers, we should wear them proudly and without fear.
Well done ladies, you’ve all made me feel so much better.
Xxx
24, 1 pregnancy, 1 child Sebastian 18 months old