First Pregnancy

Update – 3 Months After Delivering a Baby Boy (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Submissions, Update 12 Comments

I sent an entry in April and just wanted to send a little update.

Since my last entry I have been working out about 3 times a week and trying to eat healthy. My boy is growing so much and amazes me everyday! He is now 8 months old and just learned how to pull himself up into standing position. Being a mom is definitely the best job in the whole world!

The first 2 pictures are of me at 6 months post partum and the second picture is me now at just about 8 months post partum. :)

Updated here.

Twin Skin at 21 Months (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Submissions, Twins 21 Comments

I found out I was pregnant when I was 20. It was with the love of my life, so we were both excited, and afraid.

We found out it was twins at 9 weeks.

I went to 39 weeks, and had a c-section after 36 hours of labor.

It is now 21 months after my pregnancy.

I have dieted, used creams, and done everything besides surgery to try to fix my stomach.

I love my babies, but hate my stomach. I am just 22 years old, and my body is ruined. I love that some women can be positive, but I just can’t.

My boyfriend (my daughters father) is supportive, and still loves me, and still thinks im beautiful, but I just don’t…

Before having children I would have never considered having surgery, but I really think that I may, if I can get the money together.

(Although it would only be if there is an abundance of $$ because my daughters and their needs will ALWAYS come first haha)

le sigh.

090909-anon-1

My Slow Road of Weight Loss (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Before Pregnancy, Belly, Cesarean, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Pregnant, Submissions 3 Comments

I gave birth to my beautiful son in February 2009 & have slowly lost all but 15 lbs of my baby weight. I have been staying accountable with my diet & exercise by logging everything online at a free weight loss support group. While I am not 110% body confident, I no longer stress about it b/c I have such a beautiful gift because of it. I used to be very pre-occupied with how my body looked, now I am simply happy to eat & exercise to be healthy, not to be the skinniest of all of my friends.

~Age: 29
~Number of pregnancies and births: 1 pregnancy & 1 birth
~The age of your children, or how far postpartum you are: 5 months PP

My photos are 5 weeks pregnant, 40 weeks pregnant, 4 weeks PP, 8 weeks PP, 12 weeks PP & 24 weeks PP

I Thought I Would be Hideous (Alesia)

Bonnie (SOAM) Before Pregnancy, Belly, Cesarean, Cesarean Scar and/or Incision, Complications During or After Birth, Complications in Pregnancy, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Pregnant, Submissions 12 Comments

as many of the stories i read on here during my pregnancy have said, i thought i was going to look hideous, i of course to was worried about the streach marks, saggy skin, disformed belly button, and all the other things you hear that come along with being a mother, i was terrified. and of course i, just like everyone else, was very body conscience before getting pregnant. but after going through a horrible ordeal,of being pre eclaptic, a 102 temp, b/p of 118/100, an irregular heart beat, fluid in my lungs, one collapsing, and being airlifted to a totally different hospital than my baby to be put in ICU and not even getting to see my son his first 5 days of life, i look at my body and its not all that bad. i gained somewhere close to 50 pounds during my pregnancy the last 20 i gained in the 3 weeks before i had my baby. i am back down to my pre pregnancy weithg of 135, granted i did get streatch marks the night before the morning i went in to labor.or atleast thats when i noticed them. they did end up on the top of my thighs as well, from me being pumped full of so much fluid during labor.( i didnt even lose any wight after birth, i actually gained 2 pounds after being in labor for 13 hrs), granted my belly button isnt disformed but it does look different since i had my baby, and though there isnt saggy skin per say, it is squisher than it once was, and i have one of those brown lines that might not go away. it could be much worse, i could not have my son at all, either way… we all age, and the skin we have today, will go away eventually and be nothing more than a memory
postpartum: 7 weeks
first pic: the day i found out i was pregnant
next: my tummy while pregnant, at 35 weeks
other 3, me today, the last one showing my wonderful c-section scar

What 6 Months of Weight Training Can Do! (Ashley)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Submissions, Update 62 Comments

You can read my full story in my 1st entry, but to sum things up: I was always pretty fit and a healthy weight but gained 60lbs during my pregnancy. Three months after giving birth I suffered from severe ankle injuries which left me pretty much unable to walk for 6 months. While I lost all the weight by 6 month PP I still felt jiggly and soft. I was able to start working out 9 months pp. I had a lot of muscle atrophy especially in my legs.

I have now had 6 months in the gym and I wanted to share “What 6 months of weight training” can do for a woman! I don’t like cardio so I haven’t done any other then going on walks pretty regularly. I lift weights for an hour a day 5 days a week. A lot of women are afraid to lift “heavy” weights, I want to show them that they won’t look like men if they pick up more the a 10lb weight! I’m TRYING to gain muscle and it’s not easy!

So to try to put things in prospective here are my “stats”:
Height: 5’9.5″
Weight: ~138-140lbs
Estimated One Rep Max Lifts:
Bench Press: 156lbs
Squat: 168lbs
Dead Lift: 168lbs
Leg Press: 600+lbs

I can do 30+ military style push-ups, only 4 military pull-ups (working on bringing that up), I can do 3 sets of 10 dips with my body weight, I’m doing bicep curls with 25 to 30lb dumbbells, etc.

I still want to get stronger but I’m pretty proud of how far I’ve come in 6 months! I think I lift pretty heavy and I sure don’t think I look “too big or manly” lol. Hopefully this will inspire some other mama’s to pick up the weights too!

-1st 2 pics: My progress, the 1st pic is 8wks pp, the second is 6 months later (I had lost the weight but not made it to the gym), 3rd pic is 6 months after the 2nd with 6 months of weight lifting (15mo pp).
-The 3rd pic is of my ab progress with 1yr between photos.
-The 4th Pic is of my ab progress with 6 months between (after I’d lost the weight to after 6 months in the gym).
-The 5th pic is my back.
-The 6th pic is back/shoulders/arms flexed.
-The 7th is front/shoulders/arms flexed.
-The 8th pic is of my legs flexed.
-AND the last one’s just for fun.

~Age: 27
~Number of pregnancies and births: 1
~The age of your children and how far postpartum you are: 16 months (15 months in the last pictures)

Updated here.

Update (Roxy)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Submissions, Update 7 Comments

Previous entry here.

hey ive posted my story when I was 1month pp and my selfesteem was very low because my pregnancy left me in a pretty bad shape, but Ive worked my self up. Ive been doing a lot of exercise, running, walking etc,and I have noticed that I have improved alot. My stretch marks are still there but I have tried a lot of diferent lotions and they have fade away a lot. The skin ripped looks better and after 7months I feel sexy again.

The pictures are me when I was 1moth pp and 8months pp (now) and my little princess.

Breasts, Acceptance (Autumn)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, Breasts, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Submissions, Teen Mom, Update 13 Comments

My name is Autumn, I’m 21 (22 in September), and almost 4 years postpartum.
I’ve posted here 3 or 4 times before, mainly with updates. This time I wanted to share my postpartum breasts (my belly is included, too!).

(Previous entries here, here and here.)

I’ve always been extremely insecure about my breasts, when I was a teenager I used to cry almost every time I looked in the mirror and I’d avoid the mirror until I had to shower, because I was so ashamed of my breasts. Thinking back, I don’t understand what I was seeing that was so awful and realizing they were actually quite pretty back then, made me realize I may not be seeing them in the correct light nowadays. I’ve been on a mission recently to feel as little shame about my body as humanly possible. I’m sick of devouring myself in insecurity. I’ve come to accept each of my body parts in their own time, I’ve been okay with my tummy, legs, butt, etc for awhile now. But I just could shake off the insecurities about my breasts, and seeing the breasts in the media (mainly movies that my husband watches, mainstream movies that tend to have breasts) really did not help me in coming to terms with them. So I started Googling natural breasts and was very pleasantly surprised at the amount of breasts that resembled mine and the fact that the super perky perfect ones didn’t completely monopolize the search. They were there, but I didn’t feel threatened by them with how many other breasts weren’t super perfect (but were still very attractive!). Over the last couple of weeks I’ve found acceptance for myself as a package and I’ve never felt so good. It’s a wonderful feeling not being down on myself every second of the day. So I figured since this site has helped me immensely in coming to terms with my body and seeing that I am attractive, in spite of what the media tells us, I would add these photos to show I’m no longer ashamed!

Updated here.

Two Blessings (Jess)

Bonnie (SOAM) Before Pregnancy, Belly, Child Loss, Complications in Pregnancy, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Pregnant, Submissions, Twins 17 Comments

Age: 24
Pregnancies: 1
Children: 2

I was told round 20 years old that I would not be able to have children. Then at 23 I had some further complications and the Dr’s did a surgery to remove massive growths on my ovaries and told me it was a long shot, but if I wanted to try and have children now was the time. Within two months I was pregnant. I went in at 8 weeks with heavy bleeding and tissue… I thought I had miscarried, they did an immediate ultrasound and said “There is heartbeat A, and there is heartbeat B…” My husbands mouth dropped and I just laughed. Come to find out I had had a miscarriage (I was preggo with triplets) but still had two healthy heartbeats! We were ecstatic! The first 20 weeks my pregnancy were great, I was working out, had only gained about 16lbs and really looked good (so I thought) then I went in and my world changed… I was diagnosed with an incompetant cervix and was told I was funnelled out to about 2mm of cervix left… I was put on strict bedrest. Needless to say week after week I kept trucking along. At 28 weeks they told me 2 weeks longer of pregnancy would be a miracle… at 30 weeks I was thinned to .7mm and dialted to 2 cm… still pregnant and still had two healthy babies! At 35 weeks I went into preterm labor and was dialted to 5cm and completely thinned out, but my contractions stopped and I was sent home… at 37 weeks I had no change… I had now gained 70lbs and had more water retention than most had ever seen in the hospital (so they say) Finally at 38 weeks and one day they started me on pitocin and after 5 hours only dilating to a 7 they broke my water and gave me my epi and 11 hours I pushed out our little girl and 52 minutes later I pushed out our boy… they were a healthy 6lbs each! We were told we would never have children and now have two beautiful babies… now back to me!

I had a really hard time gaining weight, I was 140lbs prepregnancy, but with only 18% body fat, I have always been active and have worked out my whole life and try hard to stay at a healthy size 6… I gained 70lbs and had bad bleeding for 3 months after my pregnancy… I only lost 40lbs the first 4.5months post pregnancy… finally I was given the okay to start working out again, I was no longer in my size 6’s but more in a size 11/12… I have been working out for 2.5 months and have lost an additional 15lbs… I still have 15 to go, but I am feeling better about my body and my progress. Our babies are healthy and happy and everytime I get down on myself about how awful I look, I just look at their beautiful smiles and tell myself that it’s a miracle I was able to bring them to this earth and that my body will one day be acceptable… my husband loves me more than before and still finds me sexy (he tells me this often!) Thank you for this site, I feel so lucky to share my experience and feel a little better about being a woman…

The first picture is pre-pregnancy at 138lbs
The second picture is me a day before delivering
The third-fifth are my 7 months PP pictures at 160lbs
and the final are my gorgeous babies

Michaela Marks (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, First Pregnancy, Hips, Postpartum, Submissions, Update 7 Comments

I’ve been visiting this site on and off over the past year. I happened upon it one day when I was trying to see if there was anyone else out there who was struggling with body changes, due to pregnancy, on the web.

How much more perfect can you get than this site?! This site has really helped me realize that I’m actually quite normal in how my body looks post pregnancy. I have a lot of stretchmarks … that’s the only thing I don’t like about my body. But, over the past year, I’ve gained encouragement by reading other people’s stories … especially those who are proud of their marks. I want to be too. I am striving everyday to get to the point where if someone saw my marks in a derogatory way I’d be able to say … “What about them? … You got a problem … you don’t need to look”! :)

In fact … I often call them “Michaela Marks” because that’s my daughter’s name. She left me cute little marks to remind me of when she was in my tummy. When I’m old, gray, no longer able to have children and vanity is considered for what it is … nothing more than a smokescreen … I’m going to love being able to see these marks on my tummy and hips. They represent love- Michaela is the love of my life.

I posted on here right after my daughter was born, 15 months ago, but wasn’t quite ready to share pictures. However, since I’ve gained so much encouragement by looking at other people’s pictures, I thought it was only fair to share some of my own. Hopefully it will encourage someone else to know that they are normal and not alone in their body changes.

I just stopped breast feeding too … and let me tell you … the boobs aren’t what they used to be! I’m 34 and look like I’m 12 in that department. It’s kind of funny though! That doesn’t bother me too much.

I really hope that this site becomes more and more popular so that people in our society can become more and more realistic, and through that less critical, about post pregnancy bodies. There’s so much going on in this world – why do we waste so much time worrying about our physical appearance anyway? Although I’m guilty of it myself … it’s a very selfish thing to be consumed by don’t you think?

So here’s some snaps of me! The Michaela Marks, depending on the light, are sometimes more prominent than in these shots.

Updated here.

1 1/2 Years PP After Twins (Fraternal Twin Mommy)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, Cesarean, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Pregnant, Submissions, Twins 18 Comments

Previous entry here.

Age during delivery: 32
Current age: almost 34
Number of pregnancies: 1
Age of twins: 1 1/2

I posted a short blurb a while ago about my experience, but I didn’t really get to elaborate on my story because I’m pretty sure one of my boys needed my attention at the time! At 8w3d I found out I was pregnant with twins. I remember the U/S tech saying to me “I have something special to tell you! It’s twins!” Joy was not the first thing that came to me. The first thing I blurted out was, “Oh god. I’m definitely going to have stretch marks now!” I didn’t escape getting them, but they are very faint. I got them 1 1/2 weeks before I had my c-sec! I was up for two night worrying about them. Lame, I know. I worked out the entire time during my pregnancy and gained 25 pounds. I’m only 5’2 and started out at 104 pounds so 25 extra pounds on my frame was a lot..and my back..my poor back! Ouch. At 33 weeks I went into what they thought was pre-term labor and was sent to the hospital for over night observation. Up until then, I had no problems. I would have a contraction and Baby B’s heartrate would drop very low. This happened a couple of times and the doctors and nurses thought that he was pulling on the umbilical cord. Little prankster! :) At 37 weeks the doctors decided that I have a c-section because the placenta was wearing out. One baby was breech, so I could not have a natural birth. I’m actually fine with having a c-section. It’s what I wanted. Little did I know how painful recovery was going to be! Both my boys were born at healthy weights (for twins) at 5.13 and 4.12 and they went home with me. I’m still working on my body and have just started doing transverse abdominal exercises to flatten/tighten the lower half of my abs. I did get slight muscle seperation so getting my abs back is going to be a challenge. I don’t know why I’m just NOW (1 1/2 years later!) working on my abs. I’m still VERY self conscious about my stomach and I hate my stretch marks but I’m learning to accept them. I even threw out all my bikinis! I’d love to have a 3rd baby, but I’m scared to death as to what it put my body through. It’s been a constant struggle. I am back down to my prepregnancy weight of 104, but I’m still a work in progress…mentally.

1st pic- 1 1/2 years PP
2nd pic- 1/2 years PP
3rd pic- New Years and about 35 weeks (sorry about the face..haha I was very uncomfy!)
4th pic- Mother’s Day 2009
5th Pic- My boys at 18 months