Cesarean Scar and/or Incision

6 weeks pp (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, Cesarean, Cesarean Scar and/or Incision, Postpartum, Second Pregnancy, Submissions 6 Comments

For those out there who didn’t automatically return to their pre-pregnancy bodies, I wanted to share what time has done for me so far. The pictures that I am sharing are from my second pregnancy. I had stretch marks with the first and the second. I only gained 44 pounds with my first pregnancy and found it pretty easy to loose most of it, with my second, I gained 63 pounds. I am working hard and eating well to loose the weight. I ultimately would like to loose 44 pounds to be at the weight I was when I first met my husband. I am optimistic and very excited for the end results! The first picture I have is from 8 days postpartum, the second is 6 weeks postpartum.






New mommy worried about her new body (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, Cesarean, Cesarean Scar and/or Incision, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Submissions, Update 17 Comments

I’m a new Mommy, I gave birth by cesarean section a little over a week ago and up until now my biggest worry was if my stretch marks would fade but now I’m noticing that my skin is VERY saggy. I am only 20 years old and my tummy looks just as awful as my mom’s after two babies. Is there any chance the skin will bounce back and not sag?



Updated here.

All you can be happy with your bellies! (iraiosc)

Bonnie (SOAM) Before Pregnancy, Belly, Cesarean, Cesarean Scar and/or Incision, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Pregnant, Submissions, Update 21 Comments

6 months ago i had a baby 4’360kg… cessarean of course… before he arrive i have a normal and thin body… with nice skin… the pregnancy was great, all people said that i have a nice and rounded belly… then tima passed and my son don’t wanted get out… he grow and grow… till arrive 42 weeks… Now i have diastasis, hernia, wrinkles, not a big belly… but a frankenstein belly… So, all you can be happy with your bodies after seeing my pics ;) :”(








Updated here and here.

Hurricane Tummy (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, Cesarean, Cesarean Scar and/or Incision, Complications in Pregnancy, First Pregnancy, Gestational Diabetes, Postpartum, Pregnant, Submissions, Toxemia 4 Comments

I am 27 and this was my first pregnancy. My daughter was born 5 weeks early by emergency c-section after I was diagnosed with severe pre-eclampsia after I started blacking out from high blood pressure. Up until that point I had battled many odds with this pregnancy. 2nd trimester bleeding, gestational diabetes, a bells palsy, crippling carpel tunnel, acne all over my back and chest, and morning sickness up until the day she was born. She was breach at the time of the c-section but was otherwise healthy and weighed 5 lbs 11oz.
I don’t really notice or care about the stretch marks, although friends that have seen my tummy looked surprised and shocked before telling me I “look great”. My husband and I have a joke that my tummy looks like the radar map for a hurricane, we find this funny since we live in Miami. I am going to the gym now several times a week and already have my one piece swimsuit picked out to hit the beach this winter. The last pictures are my tummy 5 months post partum.

My First Baby VCC (Angelica)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, Cesarean, Cesarean Scar and/or Incision, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Submissions 5 Comments

I am a 21 year old mother!, my baby just turn 2 months old! i am so happy with my baby i can’t imagine a life without her!.

Everyday i struggle with how my body looks, i’ve never been a skinny person but i am not with overweight. Because i am a new mom i can’t find the time for exercise!, i am just starting to walk around the block!, i have my baby by a cesarean.

I think that this is part of the motherhood experience, we have to learn no accept our body and with the time we can look the way we look before our pregnancy!, and even if we don’t that doesn’t matter! all of our strech marks is a symbol of love for our baby.
here are some pictures of me 2 months pp




Updated here and here.

Irrational Jealousy and Blame (Jessica)

Bonnie (SOAM) Before Pregnancy, Belly, Breasts, Cesarean, Cesarean Scar and/or Incision, First Pregnancy, Piercing, Postpartum, Pregnant, Submissions 28 Comments

I started back at work 5 weeks postpartum and let me tell you…nursing (the profession) and nursing (breastfeeding) don’t go well together! In a 14 hr day I had the chance to pump one (maybe 2) times. It’s not really the “chance” to. I have to make myself stop what I am doing and go. I literally have to choose whether to pump or eat. I do paper work while I pump so I don’t get behind. I told my husband that I hope he likes saggy boobs because what goes up must come down…and being engorged for 5 hrs straight is not helping the matter!

I haven’t really had postpartum depression but I had a good breakdown this week. I will probably sound nuts, but I’m going to share this anyways. Since I’ve had Natalie, 3 of my friends have had babies…2 were born on the same day in fact! All 3 were born vaginally and none of the mommies got stretch marks. Even though I was supposed to be so happy for them, I felt this jealousy deep down inside that I couldn’t control. It then turned into this thought that I wasn’t supposed to be a mother because back in the day (before csections) I would have died in childbirth.

Now, a logical person would be happy for csections because it allowed me and my child to live through a child birth that wouldn’t have taken place. But, no…I continued to feel this negative feeling. Then, I couldn’t help but to think it (the csection) was caused by them inducing me. It was their fault. A logical person would think it’s a good thing that they induced me because my amniotic fluid levels were low. But no…I thought “well, they wouldn’t have even known if they wouldn’t have done that ultrasound at 39 weeks…none of my other friends had one done that late.” I mean, here I am with a perfectly healthy child wishing they wouldn’t have checked my fluid levels! Doesnt that sound pretty much insane?? I mean, I was crying my eyes out.

I can only explain it like this…a man who can’t have children feels like he has no manhood. Part of my womanhood felt like it was taken away when the “took” her out of me. I wanted to push her out and give birth to her. I have yet to say that I gave birth to her. I grew her and nourished her but I wanted to birth her….and my body has the battle scars. It makes me feel like less of a woman, I guess. And yes, maybe next time…but there wouldn’t have been a next time back in the day. (That’s the thinking pattern right now, and I do realize that it’s not optimistic but feelings are feelings).

Here are some photos of me before, during, and after the pregnancy. I’m 7 weeks postpartum.










Updated here and here.

Lillian Grace (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, Breasts, Cesarean, Cesarean Scar and/or Incision, First Pregnancy, Piercing, Postpartum, Submissions 9 Comments

i am a 21 year old mother & wife of a United States Marine, who is currently deployed to Iraq. for deployment number two!! Our Little blessing, Lillian Grace, was born three months into our first deployment together, and because i don’t have a constant (or – let’s be serious, ANY.) means of a man reassuring me, of how i look post-partum, i’ve come to find myself struggling recently with insecurity issues, because of how my body has changed so drastically since giving birth. i am slowly learning by excercise, books, and this wonderful website to embrace the new markings i’ve got from growing a tiny little peanut inside of me, but i have found it to be very hard very hard. i was in labor for 21 hours, and even after i had an epidural, i found the pressure of the baby moving down the birth canal, to be just as uncomfortable as the contractions! after 19 hours of labor, and restlessness, i was taken for an emergency C-section (which was the last thing i wanted!! goodbye abs!!) which turned out for the best. i now have a beautiful baby girl (who got to meet her daddy whenever she was a little over 4 months old!) who weighed in at 8 lbs. 3 oz. and i love every minute of being a mother. i am so happy to share my story, and read everyone else’s. thank you so much for helping me love my body again. God Bless America, and all those who serve at home, and abroad.








Pregnancy and Postpartum Belly Photos (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Before Pregnancy, Belly, Cesarean, Cesarean Scar and/or Incision, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Pregnant, Submissions 22 Comments

I gained 33 pounds during my pregnancy and have lost almost all of it at 8 weeks post partum. I still have what looks like a 4 or 5 month pregnant belly (and don’t fit into my pre-pregnancy pants), with a dark linea negra and stretch marks around and under my belly button and on my hips… I’m still getting used to my new body and hope that the linea negra fades and that with exercise the belly continues to get smaller. I had a c-section (14 staples) and am pleased with how the incision is healing.