Belly

Update (Amber)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, Breasts, Postpartum, Submissions, Third Pregnancy, Update 15 Comments

Previous post here.

My third child is now 18 months old and is finally weaned and my breasts have shrunk down to their new size from here on out. Before my pregnancies, my weight was 155 lbs, after my 2nd child weaned my weight was 135 lbs, after the 3rd child weaned, my weight is now 137 lbs. My current BMI is 20, due to the lack of fat my body has left after breastfeeding all 3 of our children (1st: 13mos, 2nd: 15 mos, 3rd: 16 mos). I never tried to lose weight, I just ate healthy, exercised lightly, and took care of my babies naturally.

If you are lose all of your baby weight like I did (and then some), your body takes on another shape – mainly there is extra skin that no longer has fat to fill it and the skin has lost it’s elasticity to snap back into shape. I was wondering if I should get breast implants to fill the skin back out, but after learning that most implants cause major scar tissue and have to be replaced at least every 10 years for the rest of your life – I decided against a boob job. Afterall, the more I looked, the more I saw that this is NORMAL – this is what mothers look like!! Their breasts are saggy, flattened, there is extra skin and you know what – that is just fine because it is a type of beauty that can only be gained from having done an excellent job creating life, selflessly giving of yourself, and I am damn proud of it! I hope my photos will empower you to appreciate your body, however nature has made it, and not feel like you need to conform to the “standard of beauty” that is commercialized.

My Body After Twins (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Submissions, Twins 24 Comments

Everyone told me when I was pregnant that I would never be able to wear a bikini again because being pregnant with twins destroys your stomach. I want to tell you that that is not always the case. People
also said that if your mom has stretch marks you will too. My Mom has stretch marks, but I didn’t get any. I ate well and a lot during my pregnancy and have not had time to step into a gym since they were born. I was back to my pre-pregnancy shape two weeks after giving birth naturally. I eat whatever and however much I want, nurse and take care of my awesome twin boys. I feel very fortunate and love being a Mom!

~Age: 26
~Number of pregnancies and births: One pregnancy, twins
~The age of your children, or how far postpartum you are: In the picture I am 6 months
postpartum with fraternal twin boys.

Really trying to be positive about my body. (Mia)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, Breasts, Child Loss, Cosmetic and/or Reconstructive Surgery, Four or More Pregnancies, Postpartum, Submissions 12 Comments

Im 5ft 7 and have always been a very slim girls to the point where other girls were unkind at school with regards to my weight. My pre-pregnancy weight was under 8 stone.

I fell in love at 17 and we moved in together, got engaged at 18 at was married at 19. Shortly to follow was my first pregnancy. We planned for it and fell lucky after 3 months of ‘trying’. At my 20 week scan we discovered i was having a boy and we were so thrilled and happy. We chose his name then and and i had a normal healthy pregnancy. A week and a half past my due date i went into a very slow labour which took about four days off and on!! looking back i suppose thats pretty normal as my body had never done this before but at the time and being so young i was a little over whelmed. After 2 long hours of pushing i gave birth to a perfectly healthy baby boy at a bouncy 9lbs!!

He was perfect and i breast fed with alot of support from my husband and my mum. My tummy after giving birth was stretched and the belly button area looked strange. Weight wise i got back to pre- pregnancy and after i stopped breastfeeding at 5 months my breasts and nipples looked great, pretty much pre pregnancy, but my stomach really bothered me.

When our son was 6 months old he died of sudden infant death sydrome. It felt like the end of my world, our life and like my heart and soul were irreparably damaged to lose him.

3 weeks after his funeral i found out that i was pregnant. We had conceived days before he had died. We felt this to be a gift from our son to keep us going, and it did.

The following year our daughter was born; a normal pregnancy and birth . . . but a whopping 10 lbs 6. We were so happy to have her but were terrified of losing her, to the point where i almost felt like i was living with the responsibility of keeping her breathing. Having said that we enjoyed her and shes now 5, the most beautiful spirited little girl. But in those early months still grieving for my son and having my daughter i think somewhere a long the line i became a little obsessed with my tummy. It had obviously changed not just from pre – babies but since after having my daughter. Since she was so large and my frame is small the skin on my tummy stretched irreparably leaving me with something i felt that i could not live with. So i threw myself into exercise and rubbing creams in 3-4 times a day. After a few months of this my husband became concerned about me and suggested i talk to the eticGP about my tummy. I did an the GP was unhelpful at best; at worst incredibly un-sympathetc to my situation. So i went to see a plastic surgeon and ended up having a partial tummy tuck. My muscle werent touched but the excess skin was taken away. This left me with a big abdominal scar and false belly button but i felt happy with the results. It says something for my state of mind, because i didnt think beyound that day and getting that skin off my tummy. Did i sit and think ‘am i going to have more children?…No.

A year later and we were broody. When our daughter was 2 and half I gave birth to another little boy. He weighed in at 8 lbs 10. He was another beautiful incredible gift. I breastfed again, this time for 13 months and the month i stopped feeding . . . . i conceived our latest and final addition (my husband has had that special appointment earlier this year at the doctors…)

My tummy did not have the loose skin but my scar was very prominant after having been stretched and my breasts were a huge disapointment. After stopping feeding there were a few months between the feeding hormones going and pregnancy hormones filling them back up. They were not pretty.

We were excited, but nervous how we would cope with 3 so close in age. I was also scared. How would my body be after having four babies? How would my breasts look after another breastfeeding stint?
9 months later and we had a another little boy, or not so little at 9lbs 10!! Again perfect and he has completed our family. I stopped feeding when he was 6 months old. He is one next week. i am 27.

How is my body? Well i have been running and exercising for the past 6 months. Rubbing cream into my tummy, scar and breasts like a derranged woman and eating very healthy foods, in hope against hope that i can maybe feel, dare i say it sexy again. But the truth is that even after all i have been through losing my son, and being sent 3 amazing children i am not happy with my body anymore. I am trying to come to terms with it, and all of its changes but the ways in which its changed I have really struggled with. I find it hard to be intimate with my husband and i have really bad days where i feel so ugly.

Here is my moaning list;

I am covered in silver stretch marks, skin hangs funny on my tummy when i lean forward, my belly button resembles a bum hole! My nipples are 5 times the size they used to be and are showing no signs of getting smaller 6 months after weaning and my breast are stretched mark covered deflated saggy sacks. My weight is just over 8 stone.

I have looked on this site for years and finally thought i will make a post. I am slowly learning to love my new body, because at the end of the day it doesnt really matter as long as i am healthy and have the people i love around me, there isnt much more i need x it just sometimes still gets to me :(

Three Boys (Ashley)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, Postpartum, Pregnant, Submissions, Teen Mom, Third Pregnancy 5 Comments

I’m a 26 yr old mother too soon to be three boys. I weighted 96lbs before I got pregnant at 19 and I’m 4’11. I gained 55lbs with my first son Corbyn who is 6 now and he weighted 7lbs 9 oz and was 20 3/4 in long. After him it took a year but I lost down to 92lbs I didn’t work out it just came off from working and from stress and yes I had skin hanging and stretch marks that stayed from the middle of my calf’s to the top of my breasts and yes everywhere in between there even to my crotch. I had my second son Jake at 24 who now is 2 I weighted 102lbs when I got pregnant with him and gained 44lbs with him he weighted 6lbs 11oz and was 21 3/4 in long. I only lost 20 pounds from his pregnancy and everything was still left from the first pregnancy meaning stretch marks and skin. They both were vaginal deliveries and I have noticed the damage it has made too my body but you know what I wouldn’t change any of it and really the only thing that bothers me every now and again is the extra skin only because its hard to find jeans. I love my boys and its all worth it even the sagging breast :) I’m now 34 weeks pregnant with my third boy and I have gained 20lbs so far due to GD I probably would have gained more but I’m on the GD diet and don’t want to take insulin so I’m sticking too it :) Ladies there is no shame in the way our bodies look we are mothers and that is a beautiful gift some women would give anything to look like us just to have the beautiful baby that comes with it remember that !!!

Defeat and Angels (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Before Pregnancy, Belly, Breasts, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Pregnant, Submissions 34 Comments

Age: 22
Pregnancies/Births: 1/1
Age of child/how far pp: 3 months

I was 21 when I found out I was pregnant, and though it was not planned we could not have been happier. I had always wanted a baby, and now I was going to be a mother! The pregnancy was very easy and I went on to deliver a healthy baby girl at 37 weeks. Though I never had any medical or health problems during my pregnancy I did have self esteem problems. I always had what I considered the perfect body before pregnancy. I was 5’6″ and 115lbs. I was lean and toned, with curvy hips and perfectly round perky breasts. I had 36 inch hips and a 20 inch waist. I loved being able to throw a bikini on and turn heads with no effort. I never had to work for my body, it just was, and I loved it.

Little by little during my pregnancy the weight added up. 5 lbs this month. 7 the next. Until at 37 weeks I topped out at a weight gain of 53 lbs. Every pound was like a punch in the stomach. I hated it. I was watching my figure vanish under the perfect little person that I loved so dearly. I went 36 weeks without a single stretch mark. That was what kept me hopeful the entire time. I knew that if I could avoid stetch marks, then there was a chance I would someday feel pretty again. Then suddenly, almost overnight, they were there. All over my lower stomach. My sides, my thighs and on the back of my knees. I cried harder than I have ever cried before when I saw those horrible streaks across my skin. I delivered one week later.

I am currently 3 months postpartum and having a very hard time accepting my new body. Everything is different. My bone structure has changed, my hips and rib cage are inches wider, my stomach is flabby and not smooth, my skin is textured and uneven. My breasts, which I now hate, went from a B cup to a DD and now sag. I have cried every time I have taken a shower since the day she was born. I cannot look in the mirror when I am naked. Even though my husband will tell me every day that I am beautiful and perfect, I will not let him touch my stomach because I don’t want him to feel my skin. He used to joke that I was his trophy wife, and he wanted to take me every where he could and show me off. I feel like I ruined those dreams for him. I am no longer the trophy wife he married, but I am the woman with the stretch marks who should never be seen in a bathing suit ever again.

I weigh 125 lbs now, only 10 lbs more than before I got pregnant. I have breast fed my baby since the day she was born, and I believe that helped some, but I can not seem to lose the other 10lbs, and I fear that even if I do I will still never fit my old cloths, I will never have smooth soft skin ever again, and I will never be as little as I was. I fear that even though I love my baby and my husband more than life itself, that I will never be able to love my body. I will never have self confidence. I will never feel beautiful or pretty, and sexy is a word that will never be uttered in my direction. Maybe I sound vain and petty? Maybe I do. But these feelings that I live with every day, they do not feel so petty to me. When society has been screaming at you since you were 5 that you must look this way to be beautiful, and the mirror is screaming at you that you will never even be close, it does not feel petty. It feels like defeat.

Even though I feel this way about my body, I am determined to hide it from my daughter. I want to teach her that she does not have to look like the girls in magazines and on the t.v. That she is perfect just as she is. I know this is going to be hard to do when I can not even tell myself that, but I am determined. Afterall, the only thing that keeps me going is the enormous amount of love that I have for my daughter and my husband. I do not think I would be here today without them. They are my world. They are my angels. I live to see the smiles on their faces, and even though I look at myself and feel like I am all used up, I would not change anything, because doing so would mean that I would not have my little family. My little world.

The first two pictures are from before pregnancy, and then three are of the stretch marks and the extra weight at 3 months pp, and the last one is me at 36 weeks.

My Story (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Submissions, Teen Mom 5 Comments

Pregnancies : 1
Age:19.

I had a beautiful baby girl almost three months ago and I am so happy with my life besides one thing…my body. P re-pregnancy I weighed 130 pounds but it looked more like 120 and I am 5’3 I had very toned abs smaller hips and a 34 C bra size. I gained 30 pounds during my pregnancy so that put me at 160 and I was perfectly fine with that. My baby weighed 8lbs 4.4 oz so I was glad that she was healthy. When I said I was perfectly fine with that I mean that I felt good about it except for when it came to my husband. He hardly looked at me once my belly started getting big and if he did look at me it was only at my chest. After my baby I lost all of the weight I gained within 2 weeks and I think that was because of breast feeding. So, I am back down to actually 128 pounds and left with a bra size of in between a D and a DD and stretchmarks on my belly, boobs, butt, and upper thighs. I am so dissatisfied with my stretchmarks and I think it is because my husband doesn’t look at me the same…or is it all in my head? My hips also got wider throughout my pregnancy and haven’t gone down any. I know that some women say stretchmarks are your mommy badge but that’s not the way I feel which is weird because when I see other women with them I think nothing of it. I just hope that I can someday love my body again. Even if I don’t my daughter will always be worth it no matter what.

Be Your Own Kind of Beautiful (Sia)

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

Most recent post here.

age: 18
months pp: 15 months (WOW time sure does fly!)
weight: 96 pounds

Hello again lovely ladies! This is my last update on SOAM, again I would like to say how much this website has helped me through my struggles with my pp body! All of you woman are amazing and wonderful in your own way!

I have finally reached my pre pregnacy weight! Even though my scale says the same weight, my body is still never going to be the same. And I would not have it any other way. My daughter and I have both grown tremendously. I love the life I live and love my body just as much. Being a single mother isnt always easy, but being a mother in general is the greatest gift god has ever given me. Every day is a blessing with my beautiful little girl. I have lost all my baby weight, but I still sag non the less. haha and to my miss fortune, losing the baby weight has made me lose my breasts. I have always had a flat chest but after having Kennedy, I had the boobs I had never had before. Annndddd now they are gone once more :( oh well I guess boobs were never supposed to be in my cards. At least I save 10 bucks on bras by being able to buy them in the little girls section instead of the juniors/womans. Always a bright side to everything!! I am not going to go on a rant, as I have in my past posts. The only message I have from this post is to love your body, not matter what size and shape.I realized how much time I wasted on wishing I was thinner. Because when I look back, I dont think about how much I hated the way I looked, I think about how my daughter has grown and how smart she has become and how beautiful she is growing up to be. Be your own kind of beautiful, because we are all beautiful! Every woman is, wheather they have bared a child or not. Our bodies dont define how beautiful we are. Nor does our weight. WE ARE ALL BEAUTIFUL. Ok so I went on a little rant ;) thanks for reading!!

Sad But Not Giving Up Hope (Anon)

Bonnie (SOAM) African American, Before Pregnancy, Belly, Breasts, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Pregnant, Submissions, Update 7 Comments

I’m writing to you all the from Jamaica. I’m 23 years old and 3 weeks 1 day postpartum. Maybe its too early for me to submit my story since I’ve not yet healed properly, but I just wna share my story.

Also, I must say that I read the stories of other strong beautiful mothers daily. Its very encouraging and helps me to embrace my body. So maybe my story will encourage you. My mother also encourages me a lot. She has 3 of us, when she was my age (23) she was done with kids. She is still suffering with her image and insomnia to this day. But no one knows unless she tells them. When she sees her children, all grown up, she says she’s nevr been happier.

I got pregnant December last year for my boyfriend of 2 yrs, I nevr wanted kids, I love my freedom, and loved my body even more. It made me, me. A confident individual. A bit too confident maybe. Before getting pregnant I was 137 pounds, 182 pounds at 39 weeks. I’m 5’5″. During my pregnancy I worried about stretch marks, the most, I rubbed my belly with olive oil and cocoa butter almost evry day. Initially, I had a small belly, at 6 months my fundal height was 13 inches. In just a few weeks my belly skyrocketed. At first they came on my sides. They were real small, and right before my eyes, they exploded. I thought I cud wrk with tht. But not on my belly please stay away. I also got them on my legs and calves. But not my belly.

I was happy that my chances of escaping stretch marks on my belly. At 38 weeks pregnant my doc said he’d induce me at 39 weeks. My baby’s head was in the birth canal, and could come at anytime, I lived abt 45 mins from the hospital, he didn’t want any accidents, so thts the reason I was induced.

I got home from my 38 week check up, laying in bed, my mom expressed shock, she saw lines on my belly, one more week to go, and they had to show up there ugly selves. I cried that night. I was crushed. Depressed. My mother comforted me, told me wen I have my baby I’ll appreciate it. I started having nightmares, because I was so deep in thought tht my bf may not want me any more. He nver liked big girls. I told him how I felt, told him my nightmares. He told me id be fine and should not worry. When he saw the marks, he laughed and asked me if that was really why I was behaving like that. It made me smile. He even bought me oils and creams tht would help get them off. I’ve not seen any improvements yet, but its just been 3 weeks. 6 days after giving birth I weighed 165 pounds.
My boyfreind tells me to be patient, and tht I’ll be fine. Even though my body won’t go back to normal, I’m now a mother, so I’ll hv a body thts considered normal for my new role in life.

I had a problem free pregnancy, smooth delivery. Painful, but worth evry second, I thank God.
I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy weighing 8 pounds 4 ounces on the 9th of september, 10 days before my 23rd bday, the 19-9. I love him so much, he has made me appreciate life so much more, he makes me smile evryday. I’m happy I have him. And evry one says he looks just like me.
I promise to keep u posted.

The first 3 pics: pre preggo
4th: day after delivery
5th: 10 days after delivery
6th: 11 days after delivery
7th: side stretch marks
8th: full body
9 & 10th: 2 weeks 3 days after delivery, belly up close
11th: my sweetie pie
12 &13: 38 & 39 weeks

Updated here.

The beauty of my twin shaped body. (Stephanie M)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Pregnant, Submissions, Teen Mom, Twins 7 Comments

This was my first pregnancy and I was 19. I had complication after complication. First I ended up in the hospital at 8 weeks because they thought I was miscarrying, only to find out I had been blessed with not one baby, but two! Now before 19, I was a runner and in shape. I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect body if I tried (sorry if that sounds like bragging..), and when I found out I was pregnant, I was terrified. In my mind I was going to be the size of a house with one baby growing in my belly, so what would two do to me?! But then I just started to grow, normally. I didn’t get too big too fast, or so I thought (looking back at the pictures I really did.. haha). But I was so sick throughout the entire pregnancy that because I would step on the scale and have lost weight, I didn’t really notice. As time went by, at around 20 weeks, I started to notice that my normal clothes didn’t fit anymore, but hey – that was normal. Then by 25 weeks, my maternity clothes didn’t fit anymore. By the time I was 30+ weeks, I wasn’t going outside much because I was so big it was hard to move around, so I just stayed in and wore PJ pants and night gowns all the time. My strangest memory was going out at Christmas time, which was 12 weeks before I had my boys, and buying a shirt that was sized 2X, and two weeks later, I didn’t have a hope or prayer that it would fit me. So, skipping the last few weeks until I was 36 weeks pregnant. It was about 2am and I was in the worst pain I have ever felt in my life. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t breathe, I was pretty well not functioning. So off to the hospital we went. After a few hours of testing, I found out that I was severely anemic, and if I didn’t get a blood transfusion right away, I could die during my c-section. (For those of you who don’t know much about anemia, your blood iron levels [hemoglobin] are supposed to be around 140-150, mine was at 68. When you go into a surgery it drops down 20-30 more, and around the 40 mark is where you drop into a coma. Oh yea, super fun hey?) So that was 3 days spent in the hospital, but then I was good, I was ready to go. And I felt great! So two and a half weeks later, on March 16th, 2011 (just 3 days after my 20th birthday), I went in at 6am to be prepped and have my boys. At this point I was still super disappointed I had to do the c-section and didn’t get to do it natural, because I was told I could have gotten back to a workout routine sooner with a natural birth.. but oh well, it had to happen for their safety and hey, I still had breast feeding to help me lose weight! Well, that didn’t work out either.Come to find out that because of my anemia and a few complications with the surgery, I was left unable to breast feed. So there went that idea. But I made it through all of that, and I had two gorgeous little men to show for it. Dominic Gerald Michael Peddle-McLeod born at 8:40am at 6pounds 9ounces, and James Ronald Alexander Peddle-McLeod born at 8:41am at 7pounds 14ounces.

Now, I am 6 1/2 months PP, and still working on getting this body back to normal. Some days are a sad struggle, wishing I was what I used to be, but then I remember what came out of it, and I’m alright again.

picture order.
1 – 12 weeks pregnant.
2 – 18 weeks pregnant.
3 – 26 weeks pregnant.
4 – 37 weeks pregnant.
5 – 38 weeks pregnant.
6 – about 8 hours after birth, my two boys.
7 – my boys now, at 6 months.
8 – me now at 6 months PP.

Learning to Love My Pregnant Body (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, First Pregnancy, Pregnant, Submissions 6 Comments

Age: 24
1st pregnancy; 25 weeks along

I’ve always been naturally skinny. I guess you could blame good genetics. I’m almost 5’9″ and have always weighed anywhere from 124-128. As of right now I am 25 weeks pregnant and I’ve already gained 22 pounds! (150 lbs) I am having such a hard time loving this temporary but new body of mine. I always thought that I would be so cute pregnant…all belly! Well that is not the case! My butt, hips, & thighs have expanded just as much as my belly has. I had to stop wearing shorts at around 13 weeks because my once smooth butt and thighs now have dimples galore! I feel like I am not able to 100% enjoy my pregnancy because I’m so worried about how I look now, what I’ll look like towards the end, & if I’ll be able to get my body back after my son is born. I think about it everyday and I know that may make me seem shallow or vain/conceited but I want to be able to look in the mirror and be happy with what I see! I want my husband to be attracted to me. Finding this website has truly been a gift. Although I am still not completely happy with my growing body my outlook as truly changed. I’m starting to understand that this body that I despise so much is giving me my greatest gift ever and that I should embrace it and know that it will all be worth it. I admire all of the strong, beautiful women on this site & would love to receive more advice and words of wisdom because I know that things are just gonna get better from here!!