Miracles Happen (SCS)

Previous post here.

age 30
number of pregnancies 4 and births 2
age of children 3 ½ and 5 weeks how far pp 5 weeks

First I wanna apologize for the long post, I wanted to say a lot. As everyone says, I love this site. I think I’ve read every entry on it. I posted in 2009 after my first miscarriage. My body has changed since then. In March of 2011 I suffered another miscarriage. It hurt a lot but I finally decided I was very happy with only have one child and I didn’t really want to have anymore. I did however want to know why I was having miscarriages. In June I finally had my appointment and I was very disappointed with the “Doctor” who seen me. My appointment was on a Wednesday and I told the doctor I was a week late for my period. I know my body ever since I started keeping track of my periods I’ve always been 28 days at 10am. Yep I was that predictable. Well, after the miscarriages I was 26 days. So when I told the doctor she blew me off by saying I haven’t had my period because I gained so much weight. I weighed 250lbs when I seen her, I had been stuck at that weight for almost 2 years by then. Well, at least she did do some blood tests only she didn’t test for me to be pregnant. On Friday I got a call saying I had a slow thyroid and that is why I was extremely tired and I gained so much weight and couldn’t lose anything regardless of how much I cute back and ate healthy or exercised. So I went to get the prescription but decided since it was almost the end of the day I would start them on Saturday. Well, Saturday morning I decided to take a pregnancy test, just to see what it said and I was sure surprised. I walked right out of the bathroom and showed my boyfriend. This I wish I would’ve waited because with all my pregnancies I had a really cute way to tell him. He didn’t show any kind of reaction I think mostly due to the worry I would lose this one too. So I called the hospital up to make sure it was ok to still take the medicine and they said yes to keep taking it. That Monday I called my family doctor to make an appointment so they can confirm it and I made an appointment with the obgyn. At the two appointments I was so scared they would tell me sorry but you aren’t pregnant so I cried every time they confirmed it.

every doctors visit from then on, I cried when I heard the babys heartbeat. My first born went to all my doc appoints and was even there to see the ultrasounds. So when I started my pregnancy I was 250lbs, I went down some then didn’t gain any until my 5 month. In total I only gained 8lbs by the time I had the baby. I weighted 258lbs when I went in for the scheduled csection on feb 23, 2011. The csection went well, other than me being extremely sick after due to the meds they had to give me to calm me down after they took the baby out since I couldnt breathe, I had a terrible cold and was breathing through my mouth through the whole operation since my nose was stuffed up and it went dry. I couldnt breathe or even have any spit in my mouth to wet my throat.

at my 2 week appointment when I stepped on the scale I weighted 231lbs. I was so excited to see I had lost so much. I have since got down to 224lbs which is what I am in the pictures below. The pregnancy picture I was probably about 258lbs since it was so close to when I had the baby. I am happy to say I am content with my body. I do want to lose some weight only due to the fact that I cant afford any new clothes and all my other clothes are only a size or two smaller. Im currently in size 18 and some of my nice clothes are size 16 or 14. So that isnt too far to go. However, I guess im content with my body because I’ve been hit with ppd. I cry all the time especially is I don’t get enough sleep, I don’t feel close to my newborn and really don’t want to hold him at all. Plus we are dealing with trying to survive on my boyfriend only having a part time job, but God will get us through this as He always has.

The last thing I want to say is that as I’ve read the different entries on this site it saddens me to see that most of the people who complain about the way they look, I see them and wonder WTH, you look great. And I noticed that a majority of the people who accept themselves are like me larger women. Either way everyone has their own issues thanks to all the media and the pressure to be skinny. Children are a blessing that a lot of woman will never be able to have. They would trade their great body for the chance to carry a baby. Just know regardless of your body, you were blessed and trusted with the greatest gift of all—a beautiful baby.

Young Mom to Two Gifts (Kathryn)

I had my sons close together my oldest will be 2 in June 6/16/09 3:16pm 6 pounds 6 ounces 21 inches long! My pregnancy with him was horrible I was nauseous from 6 weeks up until I delivered at 39w 2d I threw up frequently but really didn’t loose much weight oddly. I had him at 18 I weighed 154 I had been that size since I was 14. Day of delivery I was 167 or 169 at my 6w check up I was 154 but my pants didn’t fit because my fat moved around didn’t really bother me that much. When my oldest was 6 months I found out I was pregnant again!! I was happy that my first born would have a pal to play with. My second pregnancy was wonderful up to 35-36 weeks I was nauseous the normal 8w-12w. I never vomited with him and a wonderful pain free birth and he was born on my 20th birthday Sept 9th 2010. He was 6 pounds 6 ounces 19 inches long 10:51am I actually got to breastfeed him for a week up until we found out that he had a dairy/soy allergy and reflux. I was fine to quit nursing I was in so much pain from it because my milk came in. I recovered from his birth fine and was out driving the next day didn’t even use my pain meds. At my 6 week check up I was 150 something but now I am 173 and have a whole mess of stretch marks they don’t bother me what bothers me is the flabby fat my stomach and thighs are the worst but I don’t diet and I don’t eat healthy and I’m not really active but that’s about to change when I start work in June! I am thinking about buying a Wii fit I heard positive things about it. When it really gets to me I just look at my youngest and he gives me a huge smile and I know he loves me so its worth the extra 23 pounds to have 2 gifts in my life.

Age:20
Number of pregnancies and births: 2 pregnancies 2 births
The age of your children, or how far postpartum you are: my oldest 2 in June youngest 6 1/2 months
I am 6 1/2 months pp

1st one is me at 36 weeks with my second.2nd one is the day my 2nd was born.3rd one is 24 hours after having my first and the last one is my oldest at 21 months

The Rewards of Patience (Amanda)

My husband and I have been together for almost nine years, and married for nearly seven. Having children was one of the first things that we talked about when we first met. I naively assumed that it would be easy, being that both sides of my family are very prolific. How wrong I was.

Our first loss occurred in March of 2004. I wasn’t even sure that I was pregnant. I just knew that I was ten days late (my cycle is like clockwork) and I started bleeding. A visit to the doctor confirmed that I had been about six weeks pregnant.

The second loss occurred nearly a year to the date later. I was late, took a test, got a positive, and started bleeding the next day.

The third loss happened in July of 2005, just four months after the second one. I carried this pregnancy for four days beyond my missed period.

The fourth loss…I got a positive, after trying one time, in September of 2008. Even though I cringed every time I went to the bathroom, expecting blood, there was none. Everything was going great. I heard the heartbeat and saw the baby in several ultrasounds, and I’d never felt better. I was growing and glowing. Then on December 11 (the day after my birthday), we went for our sixteen week checkup. They put the doppler on my belly, and we were excited to hear our baby’s heartbeat. There was nothing but silence in the room. They decided to take me to ultrasound to see what they could find out. As soon as they put the probe on my belly, I knew. I looked at the screen and my baby was there, but so still. I looked at the doctor and said, “My baby’s dead, right?” She apologized and told me that yes, it looked like the baby had quit growing at twelve weeks. I didn’t understand. I couldn’t keep a pregnancy before that…now this one kept going for a month after it should have. They called it a missed miscarriage. I had a D & C the following morning.

Loss number five was the following July. Once again, positive test, and then the bleeding started the next day.

Now the tests started in earnest. Nobody could find anything wrong. The good news was that I could get pregnant, and quite easily at that. We just had to find out how to keep me pregnant. My regular endocrinologist sent me to a reproductive endocrinologist, and they diagnosed me with a luteal phase defect…a progesterone deficiency. That’s IT? Don’t get me wrong, I was happy that the condition was treatable, but seriously, that’s something that should have been caught YEARS previous. Anyway, I was prescribed progesterone suppositories, to be used for the fourteen days following ovulation, and until twelve weeks if I fell pregnant. The low progesterone was making my uterine lining incompetent, and that’s why the fertilized eggs weren’t “sticking,” so to speak. I started the suppositories in November of 2009, and those were supposed to bulk up the uterine lining, making it nice and nutritious for a fertilized egg to stick to. I took an ovulation predictor on March 23, and it was positive. We hoped for the best. All the while, we were in the process of buying our first house. Now, I’m the kind of person who may as well have bought stock in pregnancy tests and ovulation predictors, and I can’t stand to have them laying around, unused. On April 7, we closed on our house. On April 8, I noticed that I had an unused digital test. It was only a day before my period was due, and I hadn’t had any symptoms or anything, but I thought what the heck. Usually, when I’d take a pregnancy test, I’d sit on the floor, hyperventilating and shaking, waiting for the lines to show up or waiting for the word “pregnant” to show up. This time, though, I took my time, finished going to the bathroom, zipped up, and glanced casually at the test sitting on the bathroom counter. There it was…a big fat PREGNANT. Ultrasounds to confirm a gestational sac and, ten days later, a heartbeat, all confirmed that things were fantastic.

I started wearing maternity jeans at seven weeks. I really did start to show that fast. I had many people ask me if I was carrying multiples, and I can’t say that the thought didn’t cross my mind. Our twenty week anatomy scan came and went, with the tech and the doctors remarking how perfect our baby was and how everything was measuring right on schedule. They gave me a due date of December 17…one week after my birthday. And every day, I grew bigger and bigger. Seriously. I was huge. Enormous. I gained 52 pounds, probably because the baby had me eating hot fudge caramel sundaes and drinking gallons of milk every night. (I hate milk, by the way.) Around thirty weeks, I was so big that I was already having trouble breathing. And walking. And getting out of the bath tub. And shaving…everywhere. But my roly poly little baby was kicking and punching away, all day, every day. And all night. I never got morning sickness (though everybody who was around me in the first few months of pregnancy got it for me…including my grandmother, who hadn’t thrown up in fifteen years. My father and my husband were sick, too. It’s called couvade. I thought it was hilarious.) I had no heartburn, no glucose troubles, nothing. As a matter of fact, it was like pregnancy fixed everything for me. I had bad acne before I got pregnant. It completely went away. I had terrible anxiety. During pregnancy, it was gone. And I was the opposite of constipated, which was awesome, because I had always been a once-a-weeker, if I was lucky.

Months went on and I grew and grew. I was afraid, like any pregnant woman, of the body changes that could and would happen. It made me feel ungrateful and horrible, though, when I thought about wearing a two-piece this coming summer, and wondered if I would be able to. I mean, we had struggled with having a baby for the better part of six years. What kind of jerk was I, worrying about what the baby was doing to my body? I should have been focusing on what I was doing to the baby’s body, and that was being its support system, the reason my baby was alive. So I did. But I won’t lie…every day, I asked my husband if I had gotten any stretchmarks on my belly yet. I was sure that it was only a matter of time. After all, someone can’t grow as huge as I did and not have a few battle scars. But I never got any at all, except two on my breasts (which turned into two hundred when I started nursing). I chalk that up to good genetics. Neither my mother nor either of my grandmothers got them on their bellies, so I guess I’m just stretchy.

We planned on a completely natural birth, attended by midwives, but I ended up having to be induced because they suspected he was big and I was a week overdue. I progressed quickly, with no epidural, but when they broke my water and found meconium, the contractions became unbearable and they advised me to get the epidural so they could speed things along. I got to ten centimeters in nine hours, but the baby wouldn’t drop down. The doctor said that she could crank up the pitocin all night, but he probably wasn’t going to get through my skinny little pelvis, so we decided on a C-section just to have it over with. It was Christmas Eve, anyway.

Once I was in surgery and the baby was coming out, I heard cries of “Oh my god, how beautiful!” and “It’s a boy!” They started trying to guess how much he weighed. I heard somebody say “Nine pounds six ounces,” and I laughed out loud. There was no way a baby that big just came out of my body. But the scale told a much more horrifying and impressive number…ten pounds and twelve ounces. Really?? No way!!! That was more of a shock than anything else in this entire experience. As the doctor was stitching me up, she said, “Well, your belly is gone now.”

I’m now 15 weeks and 4 days postpartum. These pictures were taken when I was 10 weeks and 5 days postpartum. The pregnancy photos are of my belly at 39w5d (black sweatpants) and 40w6d (teal tanktop, looking way past rough). I’ve also included a picture of my (not so) little guy, who is everything I’ve ever dreamed of and more. The white background is him at two weeks, there is one of him nursing, and the other is him at 9 weeks. The one in the paisley tank top is me before I got pregnant, and I’ve included a recent one of both of us, taken on March 31.

Believe it or not, I like my scar. You’d think that since it’s a reminder of how botched our birth plan ended up being, that it would signal failure to me. Actually, I think the opposite. I got to experience contractions and hard natural labor, contractions with an epidural, and a surgical birth. I got to experience a little bit of everything in Julian’s birth. My mother isn’t here anymore, but I have a scar just like she did. I came into the world through her belly, and it’s sort of appropriate, I suppose, that her grandson came into the world the day after her birthday (he was born on Christmas Eve, she on the 23rd, the day I was induced) via the same route that her daughter did. I refuse to look at my scar as a sign of failure on my part to not birth my son the way I had planned. He was huge! I don’t think he would have come out vaginally if I had stayed in labor for a week, and certainly not without me needing a few hundred stitches. I’m glad it happened the way it did. I weighed 142 when I got pregnant, and when I delivered, I was close to 200, and probably over it by the time they pumped me full of fluids. I’m back down to 155 now, but honestly, I don’t care if I don’t lose another pound. The weight that has come off (other than nearly twenty pounds of baby, placenta, water, and all that stuff) came off because of the breastfeeding, I think, because I haven’t done anything. It’s too cold to go running, and I don’t want to leave this perfect little creature anyway. It seems like pregnancy has redistributed my extra weight into sexy places that I never had it before. I’ve always had skinny hips, no butt, and no waist. I was always kind of straight up and down. Now I’m curvy. None of my pre-pregnancy clothes fit me yet. My thighs are a little meatier and I still have some extra skin. I don’t have any stretch marks, but my skin certainly stretched, and my pants won’t button over it even if I can manage to get them past my newly acquired thunder thighs. Yeah, as the weather gets warmer, more of the weight will probably drop off, but I’m happy the way I am. My body, this body that I thought would NEVER carry a baby to term, went above and beyond this time. I grew him on the inside and I continue to nourish him on the outside. It turns out that I was pretty good at this baby growing business, after all.

I think that we focus too much on the physical “shape” of a mother. What about the ways in which we transform emotionally? What is our “shape” once the empty areas have been filled in with the senses of accomplishment and pride and unfathomable, bottomless love that come along with having a child? Where there was a dull and aching void, now there is the warm fulfillment of wishes granted, of dreams brought to life. If our bodies have been changed, we should see those changes not only as humble sacrifices, but the same way as we view our emotional experience…to love someone more than you love yourself, your emotions have to go through a tremendous amount of expansion or stretching. Just as our bodies twisted out of the American society’s “ideal” shape, so did our lives, in ways more complicated, hard, and beautiful than I could ever have imagined. And if you’re truly honest with yourself, at the end of the day, what would you rather have? I’ll take the physical reminders that I grew a life inside me every single time as opposed to the emptiness and the sense that something was lacking that filled me before I had my son.

Age 28
6 pregnancies, one birth
15 weeks 4 days pp today, 10 weeks 5 days in the pictures

I have a website with chronological pictures of my belly here.

Birth is a privilege and every scar is a testament of what we’ve been through and it’s made us who we are (Simone)

I went through my first pregnancy comparing my damaged body to all the other women I believed came out of it completely unscathed! It seemed like just about everyone had a washboard unblemished stomach just weeks after giving birth.

It took me a long time to accept my post pregnancy body and to realise it wasn’t nearly as unattractive as I believed it was. In fact, while the father of my boys failed to appreciate my post pregnancy body and our marriage didn’t last, I have gone on to date some stunning (and younger) men who have never had a problem with my post pregnancy stomach! I was recently told by an old (now pregnant) colleague that my ability to attract young hot men was an inspiration to mothers everywhere! I agree. I’m still looking for a man who is the whole package (not just a Personal Trainer or an Ironman – seriously) but quite simply, my post pregnancy body has been no inhibitor. I take excellent care of my body by leading an active and healthy lifestyle and I am grateful every day for the privilege of having my two boys.

I may choose to have a tummy tuck one day, I may not – I simply know it is no longer required for me to feel good about myself, attractive and to be grateful for what I have.

~Age: 36
~Number of pregnancies and births: 2 boys
~The age of your children, or how far postpartum you are: aged 10 and 2

To Love Thyself (Jessa)

Age: 23
Number of pregnancies and births: 2 pregnancies, 2 births
Age of children: almost 3, 8 months

I have never loved my body. I was a skinny child, but I never paid attention to my body at that age. By the time I actually became ‘self-aware’ and started nit-picking about my appearance, I had gained some ‘fluff.’ In high school I was 5’3’’ and weighed between 125-130 lbs. I thought I was fat. HA! I stopped eating for a couple months, but my self-image only played a small part in that. Most of it was the depression. The starving dropped my weight to 120. Still chunky for my height and age. When I started eating again (do to my now husband’s encouragement), I gained weight like I was moving to the Arctic and needed the body fat of a whale to survive the cold.

On my wedding day, at 19 years of age, I weighed 140 lbs. Three months later we got pregnant and over the course of that pregnancy, during my second year of college (yay for stress!) I gained 42 lbs. I’m not going to tell you how often I cried because I was only a stone’s throw away from weighing 200 lbs. Really didn’t help my depression any. That first year postpartum was rough. By the time I finally got to a place of acceptance with my new mommy body my daughter was 15 months old, and we found out we were expecting our second child. It was a bit of a roller-coaster, but overall I loved my pregnant body. I loved how firm my stomach was when it had been much like a water bed before. I loved how the second time around I never got a single stretch mark, where my belly was riddled with stretch marks from my first pregnancy. At 40 weeks pregnant I had gained 31 lbs for a total weigh in of 185 lbs.

My youngest daughter was born cesarean section. On top of flabby skin, silver stretch marks over my stomach, boobs, hips and thighs, I have the c-section scar. But I’m okay with all that. My husband finds me more beautiful today, having grown his two children in my womb, than he did when he first fell in love with me. His cat calls, winks and pick up lines are all encouraging to say the least.

I am 8 months postpartum. I weigh roughly 155 lbs. I get asked if I am pregnant at least once a month. But I wouldn’t trade that for anything, because I got two of the most amazing little girls out of it. My jello-like tummy, silver stripes and c-section scar are my battle wounds. I am an Amazonian worrier. I am a mother.

Photos attached are
1. 40 weeks pregnant with my youngest
2. 4 weeks postpartum
3. 8 months postpartum (shirt up)
4. 8 months postpartum with my almost 3 year old (shirt down)

Updated here.

The Beauty of Natural Childbirth to a First Time Mother (Anonymous)

Age: 22
Number of Births: 1
Age of my child: 8 months

The first time I found out I was pregnant I was scared but excited and looking forward to bringing a new addition into the household. Unfortunately, I miscarried in the first trimester. I was completely devastated and for months it was the only thing I focused on. My husband and I went on to get married a month after the miscarriage and after a few months I was able to get back to my normal self. That was when the magic happened! I found out the day after Halloween of 2009 that my husband and I were expecting again. I was nervous the first few months that I would lose this baby as well, but the pregnancy went perfectly. I gained a total of 26 pounds taking me from my original 127 to 153 when I gave birth. We both wanted me to give birth naturally because we personally feel that it was the best choice for me. We watched lots of videos like The Business of Being Born and read up on many articles on the internet. I became very comfortable with the idea of a natural birth. The rest of my pregnancy was a breeze. The only stretch marks I received were a few small ones on the sides of my breasts, I only had about 4 weeks of morning sickness in the beginning ( although it felt like an eternity ha ha). My husband walked with me every evening to get some fresh air and exercise, and I had no swelling of the hands or feet. Finally, the day came for my daughter to be born. I was 38 weeks and my water broke at roughly 2:40am in the morning. We packed up a few things and made it to the hospital by 3:00am. Once I got settled in the room I started having very strong contractions. I knew that labor was going to go quick. I wanted to give in a few times and opt out of the natural birth my husband and I had planned because the pain became unbearable, but my husband was wonderful and talked me through it. Also, when the nurse checked me it was too late. I was 8cm and very close to giving birth. A few painful contractions and some pushes and an episiotomy later I gave birth to a beautiful 6lb 12oz baby girl at 5:10am. I feel in love with her right away and apparently bawled my eyes out (so hubby says). I breastfed her right away and still do to this day, although I do supplement baby foods as well. I think the breastfeeding really helped to shrink my tummy back up. I took pics of my postpartum from about 1 week post to 6 months post. It’s amazing how your body changes! But with some healthy eating and a great workout plan like what I’m doing….you are sure to get your sexy back ;)

I now weigh 120 lbs…7 pounds less than my pre-pregnancy weight

Pictures as followed:
#1 Pre-pregnancy
#2 30 wks Pregnant
#3 38 wks Pregnant
#4 At the hospital with contractions
#5 My daughter at one day old
#6 1 wk Post Pregnancy
#7 2 wks Post Pregnancy
#8 3 wks Post Pregnancy
#9 6 months Post Pregnancy side view
#10 6 months Post Pregnancy front view
#11 My little girl at 7 months
#12 My little girl and I at 8 months

27 with 2 kids, 1 c-section and dealing with the scar left behind (Marie P.)

I am currently 27 and 3 months and 1 week post c-section. I have 2 children a 5 year old and now a 3 month old. My son was a c-section and needless to say I, like other women have had struggles with my new body and scarring. Our bodies not only change but they permanently stay unusual in our eyes. And we have to find it within us somewhere to accept it. Before my 5 year old I was very active running every day. So I guess you can say I was in very much in shape. During my first pregnancy I was also active. I was working all the way until I popped and even during my pregnancy I ran up until I was 4 months and took yoga classes. My pre-weight was 110 and at the end of my pregnancy I was 142. I delivered her vaginally with no complications. And short after 2 weeks in having her I was eager to hit the track and start running again. my eagerness caused me to hemorrhage for a 1 month. So I forced myself to stay put for a month. Once I healed and followed doctors orders I hit the track. about 4 months later I was 110 again and my body was prob in the best shape ever, even before my daughter was born. Hard work paid off then. Opting to grace my husband with a son I got pregnant at 26 (having kept in mind that my 1st pregnancy was smooth sailing). After just 3 months into pregnancy, i gained a few pounds and fast. My starting weight was 118. By my 4th month I was 125 and feeling very sick. I was always sleepy and tired and very noxious daily. This pregnancy was definitely different. Needless to say I was not able to work out during this pregnancy. About my 7th month and 8th month of pregnancy I was finally able to walk on the treadmill 3 times a week with much back ache though. My son of course at 37 weeks was footling breech and they had scheduled me to do what they call a version. Where they manually try to turn the baby while in your womb from the outside. This procedure lasted 35 minutes and was very painful for me. After a failed attempt to turn him the doc felt I should go home and we would schedule a c-section. Until the PA found me to be 4 cm dilated. With my son’s foot lodged into my pelvis bone the doctor felt best i had a c-section that day since i was so far dilated. As we got everything prepared to have a baby, another doctor took the shift and felt he could be successful in turning the baby manually to save me having to be cut open. Although I felt like we should just go as planned the doctor was more convincing then I was. So we tried once more for this version. During this process the doctor caused my son to go in distress (meaning having bowel movements in the womb) which then called for an emergency c-section rather then scheduled. The OR was not prepared for a c-section. The nurses had not set up for this and the doctor and nurses were yelling at each other. My husband was called in late into the OR as he was walking in my son was being yanked out. He wasn’t breathing at first but he was revived and his leg was unfortunately broken. I was heart broken but i am so blessed to have him here and thankful that he is ok now. The result of my c-section is my beautiful son who endured alot his first seconds of life. With all that happened my recovery from all this was definitely a hard and long one. the pain was nothing like Ive experienced. But because of how eager I am to be fit, I had in my mind that I was going to start working out 2 weeks pp. Well that didnt happen as planned. My pain lasted longer then 2 weeks. So I wanted to wait another week. I had read all this internet stories about women who had ran as little as 3 weeks pp. So I thought I would be one of them. Well my caring husband would not let me and forbid me from working out before 6 weeks. So having no choice other then waiting I looked daily at my scar and breast that began to slowly sag. The more I looked at my scar the more depressed I got. I applied mederma cream and gel faithfully in hopes that in just 6 weeks the scar would go away. Ladies, it doesn’t work like that. After my 6 week pp I hit the gym thinking I could jog cause I was in shape prior. Nope! It hurt like hell to jog. So for about 1month I kept it at walk and gradually turned it into a jog by Feb. (if you use a trimming belt to suppress your incision area, it helps alot) By the end of Feb. I was able to run again. And by March 1st I was able to run at my peak and without my trimming belt. Im having regular workout sessions as before and I feel great. Until I undress. I know I should see my scar as a trophy scar but I dont. My trophy is my son being here and thats the best trophy out there. My scar is just a new flaw that I have. I got a few stretch marks but they disappear in about a year. (as they did with my daughter) My breast are very run down and I plan on getting them re-done. My husband is very supportive and tries so hard to reassure me that it doesnt mean anything to him and he doesn’t care a bout a stupid scar because he loves me and he is deeply attracted to me. But some ladies will agree that in the society we live in to day. What and how you look is often judge before your personality. Which is very sad. But this is my body and its just something Im not and will never get use to seeing. My ending pregnancy weight at 37 weeks was 152. I am now 3 months and 1 week post c-section and weighing 117. I have 7 more pounds to lose but this time around its been harder then before. For those trying to lose weight after a csection. Follow doctors orders and listen to your body. The after effects like the scarring and the stretch marks are something us women have to deal with that no one will ever understand how it could make us feel. Whether its a lot of stretch marks or 1 stretch mark or horrible incision or sagging breast or prune belly. We have to find ways to accept our bodies… and that is what im trying to do No ones said it would be easy and I am learning that as I go. I know some people have worse and some have it lightly but this is me and what I can stand. And it just doesnt sit well with me.

I have included photos:
1 photo of me before i got pregnant with my daughter
1 during my pregnancy with her
1 after the 1st pregnancy weight loss
1 before my pregnancy with my son
2 during my sons pregnancy
3 of my c section scar
1 of my cankles :)
3 of my body now
1 of my son and his trauma
1 of my scar at 3months 1week

My Journey to Motherhood (Carmel)

These photos were taken by my supportive and amazing husband Nathan. The photos are at 34 weeks, 39 weeks and the day of Arthur’s Birth.

I had a wonderful pregnancy. Even though I am a large woman I felt amazing when I was pregnant. The fact I had a life, our little miracle, growing inside me negated any body issue I previously had.

The Tuesday before I was due to give birth (we were due on the Friday) I had the urge to always wee. I went to the hospital for a check up and was told that it was possibly a urinary tract infection. The next day I lost my plug and saw a stand in OB as mine was on holidays. She said that I was 1cm dilated and not infection was present. She thought I would most probably give birth on Saturday. That night at 4am my waters broke and the realization that those Braxton hicks were actual contractions. My husband was fantastic packing the car and calling the hospital whilst I had one last relaxing shower, brushed my teeth and got dressed. Once there we were informed that I was 4 cm dilated. Things progressed quickly however because my son has so much hair the midwifes, doctors and OB could not get the monitor on his head nor could they feel which way he was facing. At 10am I was fully dilated and started to push. I pushed for over an hour without Arthur descending into the canal. The OB and midwifes strongly suggested an emergency c section. At 12.52pm my son was pulled out via c section. An amazing day!

~Age: 24 when I gave birth, now 25
~Number of pregnancies and births: 1,1
~The age of your children, or how far postpartum you are: Arthur is 7 ½ months, 7 ½ months PP

Accepting Change (Anonymous)

Age: 26
Number of pregnancies 3, Number of births: 2
Kids ages: 10 and 4 months
4 months postpartum

I was 16 when I had my daughter. Before I had gotten pregnant I was 116 lbs. Quickly after I gave birth, I returned to 116 lbs. I got a few stretch marks and dealt with it. It took years for me to be comfortable in my skin but I was glad that I was able to overcome it. Fast forward 10 year later, I gave birth to my son during my 39th week (my weight peaked at 154 lbs). It was a quick, but grueling labor. My son was born weighing 6 lbs 15 oz (my daughter was 6 lbs 6 oz) so he was kind of small. I remember the day I came home from the
hospital and I had a friend come by to see the baby. First thing she said when I opened the door for her was “You sure you don’t have another one still in there?”

As a new mom I wanted to cry, but I sucked it up. After she left I came to the realization that this weight loss progress isn’t going to be easy. Before I had my son I was 5’2 in height and about 124 lbs. Now at 4 months postpartum I am 130 lbs. I know some people might not think that it isn’t that much, but it
is still a change. Lose skin, stretch marks, uneven breast is what I am dealing with now. For the past few weeks exercise has been my best friend. At times I feel like giving up, maybe cause I am not getting the results as fast as I would like them. I have also started to count calories. That takes a lot of self
control because I still have the appetite of a pregnant woman….I WANT TO EAT EVERYTHING =)

I feel very fortunate that I have a wonderful man in my life. Sometimes I feel ashamed to be naked in front of him. Surprisingly, he doesn’t mind my flaws. He’s always touching and rubbing my stomach. I think as women we are self conscious about our appearance, and I blame the media for that. Beauty comes in
all different shapes & sizes though…..we are all beautiful because we were created by God!

I stumbled across this website through a google search, but I am so glad I found it. I appreciate each and every one of your stories. As moms, we go through many sacrifices but each one of them are worth it. I feel privileged and honored that God chose me to carry HIS kids.

First pic- A month before I got pregnant with my son
Second pic- Me and my daughter, dressed for my baby shower, I was 7 ½ months
pregnant with my son
Third pic- Last picture I took while pregnant with my son
Fourth/fifth pics- 3 weeks post partum
Sixth/seventh/eighth pics- 4 months post partum (The eighth one my stretch marks
are really visible)
Ninth pic- my babies =)

My Story (Anonymous)

I have always been worried about the day I would find out I was pregnant. Not because I didn’t want a baby or a joy in my life but I had always felt insecure about my weight. I come from a family where weight was a big issue and both me and my brother were little fat kids growing up. In high school, I changed that and lost 80 pounds and felt wonderful. I met my husband and we dated. Throughout our relationship, he had never had to worry about weight but I did and I failed. I ballooned back up from stress, a sit down job, and falling back into habits. I am 6’0 tall and I was down to 209 (which was skinny for me) and now pregnant at 260 pounds. We got married 7 months ago and I am now 4 months pregnant. I am so glad that the “nightmares” I had about pregnancy and weight gain are steady for now. Knowing my mom had gained 70 pounds in a pregnancy scared me. I have actually taken this opportunity to get healthier with foods and not being able to eat a whole lot now has allowed me to loose 13 pounds (of course not by choice). I am to the point where I am getting depressed about my body even more since my belly is pulling forward more and that has always been an insecurity anyways. My clothes are limited now and it is hard to be a plus sized pregnant woman. As if I didn’t already have a hard time shopping for clothes, now it’s even more selected in what I can buy. My husband is one who keeps me going because he has never judged me or made fun of me and especially now, emotionally, any little thing can make or brake me. I would love to share photos but I can only tell I have a “baby bump” when I am laying down so maybe in my further months I would love to share. I am trying to make the best of this and give myself the opportunity to prep myself and my family for a better and healthier life style. It may sound odd, but I think I have gained a motivation to do better with my health now that I am pregnant and I would love to finish my weight loss goal and this time, FINISH. I am hoping my little baby will be my inspiration.