Pregnant

My Dream Came True (SCS)

Bonnie (SOAM) Before Pregnancy, Belly, Breasts, Butt, Cesarean, Child Loss, First Pregnancy, Plus-Sized Mom, Postpartum, Pregnant, Second Pregnancy, Submissions, Update 20 Comments

Age: 29
Number of pregnancies: 2
Births: 1
Childs age: 2yrs

First I want to say I love this site. I just wish this site had more true plus size women. So I am posting my pics. I have always wanted children but was told I would probably have trouble getting pregnant due to an upturned cervix. I always told myself that if I never got pregnant before age 27 that I didn’t want any. I felt any after I would be too old. After seeing the movie facing the giants, I finally said, “ok God, if I never have any children I will be fine.” And I gave up on my dream. In March of 2007 I found out I was pregnant. I was thrilled, especially when I turn 27 in July, it was rather funny.

I had a wonderful pregnancy, my feet got swollen but other than that it was perfect. I went to all the classes, read all the books. Of course the 2 things I didn’t read on was cesareans and bottle feeding. I knew I was going to do it natural and breastfeed. At exactly 40 weeks, I went into labor on Monday November 12th 2007. I had been waking up during the night but I wasn’t sure what from. When my boyfriend woke up at 6 to get ready for work, I still didn’t realize what was happening. It wasn’t until he left that I realized what was happening every 30 minutes. At 7:30 I called him telling him to come home I was 10 minutes apart. by the time he got home at 9 I was 7 minutes apart. He laughed at me all the way to the hospital. I remember just trying to breathe. nothing special just breathe. oh it hurt. By the time I got to the hospital I was 5 minutes apart. An hour later they broke my water and I was 2 minutes apart. by 12:30 I couldn’t take anymore I finally got an epidural. at 2 the docs came in and said the baby’s heart rate dropped and they started prepping me for a cesarean. I broke down and cried. At 2:24 my sweet little boy was born. So there was one thing I wasn’t prepared for. Then I tried breast feeding my son, on the day I was suppose to leave the hospital the nurse told me I would have to bottle feed my son. I cried yet again. My milk never came in, even after a week of having my son, nothing. So here I was with watermelon boobs (granted I was always had huge boobs) and they were completely worthless to me. I couldn’t even feed my baby.

Almost 2 years later and I want another child. About a month ago I found out I was pregnant again. I was so happy. On Monday November 2nd I lost my baby. Right now I am numb. I cried a lot that Monday but so far I haven’t been able to mourn like I should.

All in all I’m ok with my body. I am at least 50lbs more than I want to be. My stretch marks don’t bother me because I had them before I got pregnant, so I knew I’d get them. What bothers me most is my double chin and I have no clue how to get rid of that. the pics of me are from 2006 before I got pregnant, my belly pic at 37 weeks, and me at 22months pp right before I found out I was pregnant again.

Updated here.

It’s not easy the third time around, when your 38 years old! (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Before Pregnancy, Belly, Breasts, Cesarean, Complications in Pregnancy, Mom over 30, Piercing, Postpartum, Preemie, Pregnant, Submissions, Third Pregnancy 31 Comments

When I found out I was pregnant in May of 2008 I was thrilled! I was 37 years old, and by husband was 49. We both have children from previous marriages. I had a 15 year old son, and a 12 year old son, and my stepson was 9 years old.

We had just celebrated our 5 year anniversary in Las Vegas, and…Well, what happens in Vegas didnt stay there! We were not using any form of birth control, and hadnt for 5 1/2 years. We initially had wanted to try to have a baby, but after 3 years of it not happening, we assumed it wouldnt. I thought it was for the best anyway, because I have VERY difficult pregnancies, and felt it was a blessing I had been able to carry my two sons as long as I had. Both of my boys were born early, at 31, and 33 weeks. They were 4lbs 3 oz, and 4 lbs12 oz at birth.

I have what is called a dildelphys uterus, wich actually means I have two completely seperate uterus, and they are each half the size of a normal uterus, making me go into labor early. The first time I went into labor it was at 29 weeks, and I was in the hospital till my son was born 2 weeks later. With my second pregnancy I started having contractions once at 23 weeks, and then badly at 26 weeks, and had to be on bedrest and on a home monitor & trebutaline pump till 33 weeks, going in and out of the hospital several times for short stays, till they just couldnt stop the labor any longer.

Early on with this pregnancy I found out that this baby was in the “left” uterus, when both of my boys had been in the “right” uterus. This was bad, because the doctors beleive that with each pregnancy the uterus stretches a little more, and since this one was brand new, we didnt know if maybe it was smaller & I wouldnt be able to carry as long. Everything was unknown all over again.

I could tell early on, at about 16 weeks that things were going to be tough, because that is when I started noticing contractions. I was constantly drinking tons of water & laying down till it seemed things would settle down. My doctor was more optomistic then I, and I think he and my husband ( not having gone through this with me before) all thought I was over reacting or imagining things.

I found out in September 09 I was having a girl, and was THRILLED. it was the answer to my prayers! I had been told during my first pregnancy that my son was a girl ( Oops! YES…ultra sound techs make mistakes, and I had THREE ultra sounds in late pregnancy & no one caught the error!) so I had been so shocked when I had a boy, I had thought for years I would only have my two sons. I was also happy it was a girl because they always say girls do better when born prematurely, and I needed all the help we could get!

I only got to be overjoyed for a few weeks before the contractions kicked in pretty badly. At a routine exam at 21 weeks I told the doctor after an uneventful visit that before I left I wanted to hook up to their monitor & check for contractions because I kept feeling an odd tightening sensation in my abdomen . He allowed me to do so, and seemed like he was just doing it to give me peace of mind. After 15 minutes of monitoring & insane contractions showing, he looked pale & sent me immedialty to the hospital, where I was given shots of trebutaline and after about 8 hours was allowed to go home. The next day I got my trebutaline pump & home monitor again. I was on total bedrest from 21 weeks, and only allowed up for doctors visits, to shower & use the bathroom. It was tough going through that, but thankfully since my other kids were older they were somewhat able to help out, and we all managed ok. At 26 weeks I started bleeding quite badly & rushed to the hospital, to stay for 2 weeks while they tried to figure out what was going on. They guessed it was placenta abruption, though there were no signs of an abruption on the ultra sounds. I was so scared going back home that something terrible would happen & I woiuldnt get to the hospital on time, and after that I was not ever tempted to get up again or do anything but lay around. Needless to say, 2 1/2 months of inactivity turned my once nice muscle to mush, and I gained 40 pounds during my pregnancy, much of it at the end because I was just laying around eating non-stop. I wanted to make my baby big & strong & ate tons of everything healthy, and quite a bit of some not so healthy stuff!

The day I turned 33 weeks I was celebrating because the next day would be the longest I had ever carried a pregnancy. When I went to the bathroom there was the teeniest amount of spotting, and I couldnt believe it could happen to the day it had before! My husband took me to the hospital to be monitored, but I wasnt having many contractions, so after a few hours they were ready to send me home. Suddenly my daughters heart took a dive, and several nurses rushed in & gave me oxygen. They thought maybe she had just been on the cord, but said I should spend the night so they could continue to monitor the baby to make sure it didnt happen again.

It was the longest day and night ever! My babies heart continued to slow to 50 beats a minute several times, causing chaos with the nurses making me roll back & forth & get up on my hands and knees trying to move the baby off of the cord. They made me use a bedpan because every time I got up to use the restroom when I came back & hooked up her heart beat was dropping. I had to be on oxygen all night. At midnight they came in & explained that if it happened one more time they were going to do a crash c-section & told me how they would put a tube down my throat to put me out & that the baby would be out within 2 minutes. I was so scared! My husband had gone home to the other kids, and the nurses promised if they took me to surgery they would call him immedialty.

Strangely enough once they said “if it happens one more time” I had no other issues. That is, till 8:00 am. My husband had just gotten there & was with me when it started. They didnt rush me to surgery like I expected, but rather called my doctor & kept trying to figure out what to do. It happend about 4 more times before the “big one”. The last time the babies heart didnt come back up, and about 7 nurses ran into the room. They were ripping my clothes off & putting a new gown on me, and tossing me from one gurney to another, and before I knew what was happening I was whisked down the hall. Thankfully they didnt have to put me out, so I was awake & aware the moment my daughter was born via c-section at 12:00 on 12-16-2008. She was beautiful & cried like a regular newborn at birth. She was 4 pounds 7 ounces, and so healthy all she needed was a few puffs of oxygen at birth. She was never placed in an incubator, and was in my room with me the last 2 days of my 4 day stay in the hospital. EVERYONE said she had to be more then 33 weeks along, but me and my doctor knew better, because he had done ultasounds at 5, 6 & 8 weeks, and said there is no way she was further along. He also said he had never seen a baby so premature do this well immedialty. She came home 5 days after she was born, and did not need an apnea monitor. It was amazing.

So….That’s the long story…it makes me so happy just thinking about it. What doesnt make me happy is the battle I have had since trying to loose that 40 pounds I put on!
I am 5’10 so I didnt look huge pregnant, and did not get any stretch marks. That is the positive. The negative is that my skin, being 38 years old is stretched out pretty bady & not returning to normal! It has taken so much longer to loose the weight this time too. I work out like a mad women, and do bootcamp classes 2 times a week, plus tons of cardio, and worked out for 3 1/2 months with a trainer as well. Sometimes at 3-4 months post partum I would get up at 2:30 an, feed the baby, put her back to bed & go to Golds gym & work out from 3:30 am to 5:00, then come home & go back to bed!

I couldnt stand the way I looked, and the feel of my skin sagging on my belly was awful. It didnt feel like I was inside my own body, but somebody elses nasty
stretched out fat body. It was tuff! I am still not sure why or how I went to the gym like that in the middle of the night! It all seemed like I was dreaming while I did it. Once I got down to 8 pounds to my prepregancy weight it was easier to live with myself, and I stopped THAT insanity…though I still work out 4-5 days a week.

I am 11 months post partum now, and still have 4 pounds to loose. The loose skin is still pretty bad on my abdomen, but I guess I can live with it. I went to a surgeon who told me he would suggest a tummy tuck, not just lipo, because of all of the extra skin I have. I have to believe that I am still slowly returning to normal, and a hip to hip scar would be so much more horrible then my c-section scar! I don’t mind it, because It reminds me of the moment my daughter was born.

So….I am 38 years old,
Mom of 3..ages 16, 14 & 11 months.
5′ 10 and 134 lbs.

I know it was all worth it, and certainly don’t mind working hard to “get my body back”, but I see now that what I was doing so soon after the birth of my baby was obsesive.

I just want to be happy with my daughter & not be so focused on something as shallow as what my belly will look like in a bikini…or trying to keep up with the other 20 somethings I know who have all bounced back faster & more easily.

The pictures I attached are of me at 30 weeks, before pregnancy, 32 weeks, and now, 11 months pp.

The new body that my son gave me (“Anonymous”)

Bonnie (SOAM) Before Pregnancy, Belly, Breasts, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Pregnant, Submissions, Teen Mom 14 Comments

Age: 18
1 pregnancy, 1 birth
6 weeks postpartum
Teen mom

Me and my sons father were together for 8 months when I knew he was the one I wanted to spend my life with, despite our age difference (I was 16 he was 21) we were madly in love with each other. He never pressured me into doing anything that I wasn’t comfortable with. When I was good and ready, I chose for him to be the one I gave my love to. We used protection maybe 5 times and after that it was just very uncomfortable and painful I never got use to them (condoms). My parents and his parents have a good history together practically best friends but one day when I didn’t come home, I was kicked out of my home, but he was there with open arms as were his parents. Our parents talked and even though it was hard my mother let her last baby leave the nest. Me and my parents are very close and we have unconditional endless love for each other. Ok back to us…we lived with his parents for a short time and then moved into a place of our own. We had unprotected sex for a whole year until we decided to have a baby :) January of 2009 I took 3 pregnancy test and all three were positive, we were both so happy and overwhelmed we didn’t hesitate to spread the news. Both our parents were filled with joy and supported us all the way. I delivered a beautiful baby boy September 2009, I had a great delivery with no complications what so ever. I had no idea what it felt to be a mother until they brought my little man and I held him for the first time, it was love at first site yet again. Before I was pregnant I weighed 150 pounds I’m 5’9 so I didn’t look bad at all but for the whole year that me and my boyfriend lived together I went from 150 to 185 :( sad i know. I still didn’t look so bad and I actually liked the way I looked at 185, for the first time I was actually kinda curvy. The day of delivery I weighed over 250 pounds I wasn’t so surprised since I ate everything in site when I was pregnant. I left the hospital probably about 15 pounds lighter and with a belly full of stretch marks, today I’m 6 weeks postpartum and 200 pounds so I lost a couple pounds yay :) I thank this site for helping me cope with my new body, us women have such a special power, we bring breathing, crying, kicking, screaming life into this world and we should be proud. Here are a few pictures of me before pregnancy during and after. I’ve also included a picture of my uneven boobs that look awful but I would go through this all over again just to see my beautiful son every day. Thank you every one and god bless :)

BabyFire (Judith)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, First Pregnancy, Pregnant, Submissions 4 Comments

These entries are from my blog. The first was written shortly after realising I was (unexpectedly) pregnant. The second right at the end of the pregnancy, that heavy and huge phase. The third a few weeks after birth.

The photographs were taken by Colleen Sevitz, and are used with permission. I was 34 weeks pregnant at the time.

BabyFire is a boy and is my first, and only, child. I am 28 years old and live in South Africa.

-Judith

Flesh and Bone

Since the beginning, it has been this way. We are entwined. And not separate at all, but I will send you these thoughts as if we were, my body. Separate. Not bonded, spirit and flesh.

If we, as I may or may not believe, choose our physical parents on this earth then perchance we also choose our physical bodies. To teach and learn. Lessons of abstract learnt through the physicality of flesh.

If this is so, or if I shall speculate for now that this is so, then I choose you, my body, to teach me these things.

The perfect parts of you, to teach me the power of the feminine beauty and the less than perfect to keep my feet where they belong on the earth, to weld me to practicality too. The shapeliness of form to enjoy the miracle of uninhibited sexual pleasure and display, and the flawed to remind me of still being spirit too.

How I have abused this body… Run razor blades over it. Ingested pills and powders. Drowned my stomach with good wines and with less honourable spirits. Let others touch and caress and view this body. For my pleasure. For theirs. On memorable occasion for monetary gain. Or simply because I was there and they were there, and we could.

Yet on my flipped (double- sided) side, how I have experienced pleasure in this body. Alone. With one, with two, more. In public, in private, in night and in day. Danced and loved and stroked and cherished. Worshipped and degraded in equal measure, oft at the same time, reveling in the contrast.

This skin which has known all these pleasures and sins, now it tells a new story. I watch it swell and stretch. I look at these scars of mine, the self inflicted and the careless – these stories woven up and down my body for anybody to see, my tattooed canvas, my life’s voice and phases captured and silenced, crushed up and painted upon the surfaces – and anticipate the new stories being written upon it minute by minute. The biological scars of loosening and stretching tissue and sagging muscle and a life born through it.

I trace my fingers over my swollen belly, my heavy breasts – pale as milk with their roadmap of blue veins. Over hips gently pivoting outwards and settling in for their coming labour. Back curving and hollowing to counteract this new weight. To support. Thighs suddenly chunky and womanly, no longer the hint of boyishness of before.

I am beautiful. With my stories plain to see, to anybody who cares to look, written upon my face and body.

Pregnant Body

I am in love with my pregnant body. It is fascinating to watch yourself change and evolve so gradually. How I will feel afterwards once BabyFire sheds the cocoon I don’t know, but I cannot bring myself to be even a tiny bit stressed about that just yet.

I am savouring each one of these days on my path up to the final day. Savouring the movements and the jiggling and the extra weight, even the little aches and restless nights.

It is so very fleeting, this state. The very nature of it is temporary and it highlights the fleetingness and transience of life. Week by week, day by day, it is an evolution and a reminder that nothing stays the same forever.

Shedding the Cocoon

now I watch the process reverse. reverse and morph into the next phase of nurturing Fire.

the full generous stomach deflating day by day, uterus contracting with a tangible ache until I can no longer feel that little hard ball under my belly button. my skin slowly pulling back to the faint memory of the shape it once was. skin remembers its original form, but it’s a sketchy memory and I can already see that in some places it has forgotten completely and has had to become something new.

as the belly retreats day by day, my breasts seem to compensate by rushing out, the skin stretching and swelling until I can’t believe it can stretch any more. thin purple lines start radiating from each nipple, fast becoming silvery sunbursts. the heft of flesh that little bit lower than before, that little bit closer to the earth than before, and this seems true of all of me. a little bit closer to the earth than before.

cheekbones, hip bones and shoulder bones push their way up and out and through as the extra padding falls away and I look almost familiar to myself again. almost, but not quite.

I mourn a little for what was, the tautness of my old refection. yet, at the same time realise that the new vehicle is better suited to the journey. I have had to let go of a fair amount of mental vanities while travelling down this road, it seems only fitting that some of the physical went along with them.

There is Hope, I am Proof (Jessica)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Pregnant, Second Pregnancy, Submissions, Update 5 Comments

Original entries here and here.

This is my 3rd post. I am currently pregnant with #2 (25 weeks) I want to show you that there is hope and I am proof. I am including some previous pictures and some current pictures of my stretchmarks, because so many people tell you “they will fade”, “give it time” and you just don’t want to hear it. Here is the proof! I hope this reaches the right person.

~Age: 24
~Number of pregnancies and births: 2 pregnancies, 1 birth so far due 3/2010
~The age of your children, or how far postpartum you are: 16 months postpartum and 6.5 months pregnant

Loving who I am now (Hannah)

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

Age: 29 years old
1 Pregnancy, 1 Child
Photos: 1,2,3 are 18months PP and 4 is a before pregger and 8mo pregger photo

I have a son named Ellis. Ellis was born last May by an unplanned C-section. He is now 18 months old. I had a pretty rough pregnancy. I was in school full-time at Mills College and I was working part-time with preschoolers. While I was pregnant, I completed all of the requirements to graduate, wrote a 25 page thesis, and walked in commencement 6 days after giving birth to Ellis. Whew~

During pregnancy, I gained 100pds+! Just to give you an idea… I weighed 120pds pre-preggers and by the time he was born, I was weighing in at 220-230pds! I had REALLY high blood pressure and one doctor told me I had the most worst case of edema he had ever seen! Needless to say… my once tight and taut body has become an oasis for stretch marks, flabby skin, and just all-together blah-ness~

I didn’t have the confidence or the energy to venture out into the world as the strong mommy warrior I envisioned to be and hoped I would be. Instead I had a long recovery from the unplanned surgery and loathed what I had become. At 27 years old I thought I had the whole world figured out… well, maybe just my world. I thought I knew who I was, what I went through and overcame, I thought… and felt like I just knew me. The package.

After my baby boy was born, I totally lost all sense of who I was and I realized that I no longer possessed the “knowing” of what in essence was me. I was a new person. Reborn. I was a mommy now. Although I loved this being that came from my womb, I resented the fact that in return, I received things that I did want more of… scars, stretch marks, fat, serious responsibilities…

Now a little over a year has passed and I am coming to terms with the new identity I’ve had to establish in being the mother to my child and I am happy to say… I do in fact love myself again… okay, maybe like. I still struggle with issues that I’ve struggled with all my life. Weight issues, insecurities… aarrrggghhh! One day I will overcome.

Mother of two, 4 months PP (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, Postpartum, Pregnant, Second Pregnancy, Submissions 7 Comments

~Age: 22
~Number of pregnancies and births: 2 Pregnancies and births
~The age of your children, or how far postpartum you are: 3 Year old and 4 month old

At the age of 18, i had just ended a one year relationship and was looking forward to just being young and enjoying myself. Five weeks after saying goodbye to my boyfriend, i found out i was pregnant with his child. He didn’t stick around. Before i got pregnant i was 116 pounds, I always hated my body. I never wore a bikini in public, i always wore a shirt and shorts over top so no-one could see my belly. Looking back at photos now tho, i realise how stupid i was to think i was fat. I went 8 months of pregnancy without getting a single stretch mark. At he start of month 9… they came in everywhere…. Belly, boobs, thighs, bum. I hated them! I gave birth to my beautiful baby girl a month after my 19th birthday. I went straight back into my pre pregnancy clothes. I didn’t have a car, so i walked everywhere i needed to go. Three months after having my daughter i was back to my pre pregnany weight. One year after giving birth, my stretch marks were faded down to silver lines. At one year PP i felt better about my body than i ever had before, and on the days when i did have a ‘bad body image day’ i’d just look at my baby girl,and feel so much better.

When my daughter was 13 months old I met a guy. A month after meeting we started dating. He loved my daughter (and my body.) Only 8 months after getting together, i became pregnant. In those 8 months though, i managed to go from 116 pounds to 132. I wasn’t really bothered with my weight gain. My belly was still relatively flat and i was happy. My second daughter was born in July 2009. I was overdue by 2 weeks with her. I’m now 4 months PP and i have huge purple stretch marks down the sides of my belly, i also have stretch marks on my belly, bum, boobs, and the backs of my knees. It’s not so much the stretch marks that bother me, but more so the extra skin. After my first baby, it tightened right back… this time, it just hangs there. I now (at 4 months PP) weigh 138 pounds. I’m definitly not in love with my body, but i don’t hate it. I’d much prefer my two gorgeous girls to a perfect body any day.

First one is me 42 weeks pregnant with my second child, in hospital about to be induced, second and third is me 9 weeks PP after my second child. I havn’t taken any recent photos… but i also have improved any since 9 weeks PP.

8 Months PP and love my new body! (Elissa)

Bonnie (SOAM) Before Pregnancy, Belly, Cesarean, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Pregnant, Submissions, Update 30 Comments

My story starts off with trying for 3 years to have a child with my husband and when I finally gave up I had concieved, YAY! I started my weight at 5’6″ 136 pounds. I was a 36-C and had a beautiful body… I had morning sickness until I was 7 months pregnant, EVERY SINGLE DAY! I had very good weight gain until I hit 6 months and and all the sudden I exploded. I can tell you how depressing that can be when people constantly tell you how beautiful you are and how amazing your body is. The attention just wasn’t there anymore and I think all of us can agree that when we took our clothes off and saw our hips, legs, tummy, arms, chins, cheeks and even our toes get bigger it was just depressing! I mostly want to tell you my story because I want everyone to know that it can be done, it’s hard but it can be done…

I had a hard pregnancy being sick for 7 months and then after that was all over I had horrible contractions that kept me from being very active by the time I was finished with my morning sickness. I started having pains in my lower stomach and come to find out I was going into preterm labor. That is a very scary thing to have to go through and they suggested I stay in bed for 5 weeks, untill I hit the 37 week point. They did an ultrasound and told me that either I hid my baby well or she was very small…I had a thought in my head even though no one told me to do so but figured if they were telling me earlier in my pregnancy that the more I gained the bigger the baby would be. So I ATE AND ATE AND ATE AND ATE hoping that if my baby arrived early she would have some extra weight on her. My daughter was born at 38 weeks and 3 days via emergency c-section. She was an extremely healthy, beautiful, alert 7 pound 10.8 oz baby girl…before we went in I had weighed an amazing 196 pounds I lost 17 pounds at her birth and I stayed at 178 pounds for about 6 weeks. I decided this wasn’t working for me and I WAS going to lose the weight because I had a bunch of skinny sisters joking around with me calling me fatty because that’s just the kind of family we are. I wanted to prove to them I could do it and I started to eat healthy, I cut out all liquids other than water. Juice was my big problem, I never realized how many calories were in a cup of juice and I had literally been drinking 92 oz a day. Breastfeeding was making me thirsty!!! If I couldn’t eat and I forgot to eat due to hacing to feed the baby, change the baby, give the baby my full attention I stopped losing weight…You have to eat in order to lose your baby weight. I use to forget to eat before I had her and I would drop weight like crazy but now I have to make an effort to eat 3 small healthy meals a day with two healthy snacks in order to lose anything. My daughter loves to go on walks, it’s her “alone time” and that doesn’t bother me because I get some what of a workout doing it. I am not a fanatic about working out and I do it now to get my muscle tone back, but it’s about 10-15 minutes a day lifting 5 pounds weights and strapping the 5 pounds to my legs and doing leg lifts.

I want to tell you that I have lost 56 pounds and my daughter will be 8 months tomorrow. My breast due to breastfeeding are still bigger than they would have been but that will go away when I am done. I encourage those of you that can to breastfeed because not only is it the best thing for your child but it burns 500 calories a day. I don’t care what people say it does or it doesn’t…When my daughter would go through her growth spurts I would lose a ton of weight and my uterus would shrink a lot. Every month I made an extra effort not to give into my period cravings and every month during that time I dropped 5 pounds. I have not lost weight like other women do, a pound a week, no…It takes me a whole month of eating well and waiting for my period to come and go to drop the 5 pounds and within that week, every day I will drop a pound a day. I also can tell you I had a horrible csection scar and it is fading drastically with the cream I cover it in over night…It’s from bath and body works it is called, “Lay it on thick” I did not get a ton of stretch marks but I did get some and the ones I got I put this cream on and it took them away, you can barely see them. I also used it while I was pregnant and I believe that is the reason I didn’t get any of them. I hope this story helps others who are sturggling because I was there. It’s taken me 8 long months of eating right to come this close. I still have 5 pounds left and while I realize my body will never be as tight as it was I love every minute of what I’ve got. My body carried a life and was able to create a life that has made mine so much better. For all you mothers who don’t know what you’ve done, you are amazing and you’re beautiful no matter what! Good luck to everyone and congrats on the lives that you’ve created!!

I hope you all enjoy the pictures, as you can see through them I got to be quite big and now I’m back to the old me, so don’t get down, it will come off, for some of you easily for others like me, it will take a little bit of work but you can do it!

Updated here and here.

Needing an Ego Stroke (Sarah)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, Butt, Cesarean, Cesarean Scar and/or Incision, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Pregnant, Submissions 42 Comments

Age:20 Age at birth:19
1 pregnacy 1 birth by c section
postpartum: 12 weeks

I met my husband at a fatal car accident. I was first on scene as a forensic photographer and he showed up as a firefighter. We became pregnant 3 weeks after by surprise. Our son was a first night encounter baby. I was a very small person. I started out as 99 lbs and was a total gym rat. I took pride in seeing how far i could push my body to the limit. I never was sick during the pregnancy but i was unable to do any physical activity. As the months passed I watched my once toned body grow and my skin rip. I gained 32 pounds during my pregnancy. At 41 weeks the doctor induced me where i waited for the baby to come for 18 hours. After a hour of pushing that was going no where, my body was exhusted and was giving up. I ended up having a emergency C-section after 20 hours of labor all together. My beautiful baby was born, not all pretty like normal c section babies cuz i had pushed so hard. but he was the most perfect baby. I ended up getting a massive infection in the hospital and gained more weight to a toal of 140. 5 days later i was allowed to go home with my new son. I was horrified at what the mass of my body looked like after. I had stretch marks on my butt and my breasts and where my belly ring had been tore. My once butt now nicely blends into my thighs. Since the birth of my son i have gone through finding out about three semi affairs my husband had with three girls and my self esteem is at a all time low. I feel like a young mommy that has a mommy body and a nice purple scar from hip to hip and stretch marks. I am trying really hard to accept my body and not being able to workout as hard as i would like due to the pain still, is discouraging. i know i will never be the same as i used to be and one day hope i can accept and love the new skin i am in. I have dropped my weight and am now to 102lbs but along with weight i have lost all form of tone.

pictures:41 weeks, hour before being induced
me and my son
my son
the rest, my body now

Mummy of one and one to come with major self esteem issues (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, Breasts, Pregnant, Second Pregnancy, Submissions, Teen Mom 38 Comments

Im 19, i had my child on the 5th novemer 2008 she is now almost 12 months old
I am currently pregnant im 21 weeks

Iv always had self esteem issues mainly because i had to try match up to me perfect sister! she is skinny beautiful and very talented and i was just the chub kid my dads side of my family loves me very very much but my mums side not so sure i feel like i have to be a certain standard to gain there love which is pretty sad. I feel intimidated when i am around them the only time i click with my mum is when shes drinking. And my sister well we never get on shes too good to be speeking to me She was Ms Queen Bee in primary school and high school and she still is and shes 22!!.

Thats where my confidence really dropped didn’t help i got called fat as a kid and throughout high school so i started turning to drinking and smoking pot and ciggies to try fit in and that made it worse i got my self quite a name. The only reason why i would get a chance with guys is because of my breasts in my bra they looked nice and perky i am a DD even when not pregnant, but with out a bra they go south. Very South so i have never showed anyone so you guys are the first people to ever see my boobs!.

Up untill this day i dispise the body i live in i hate it everything about i hate i can’t even look at myself in the mirror with out bawling into tears i try and accept but i can’t i don’t want to feel that way about my self but i can’t help it. Pregnancy didn’t really change what i looked like just a few stretch marks and extra baggage.

my dad always told me i was beautiful and god loved me the way i are but it just goes in one ear and out the other like i crindge when my bf sez im a sexy mumma and im perfect i hate it it drives me nuts!! i always say stop telling me im beautiful and perfect when im not i know what i am so don’t tell me different he gets quite annoyed because of my confidence issues but he doesn’t know anything about it since his skinny and muscely its like OMG i feel so left out from the world guys take one look at me and laugh or give me a look like omg what is that. I hate it i don’t want my kids growing up knowing there mummy hates her self iv tried loosing weight hundreds of time but i can’t. What the heck is going to happin to my body after the 2nd baby! ??? its bad enough now as it is.

I can’t explain how i feel about my self to anyone untill i came across this site:)
but it really does make me sick looking at my body naked
Im a Christian i do everything a christian is to do i sponsor’d a child i donate to charity i live by God but i just can’t accept ‘Me’ i’v tried preying but nothing happins.