Pregnant

10 months PP (Anonymous)

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

I had a wonderful and fairly easy pregnancy, but a very hard, long delivery. I wanted an all natural, waterbirth at the birthing center with my midwife. My water broke 2:00am Friday morning and contractions started 45 min. later. By 10:am they were 10 min. apart and my midwife wanted me to come to the birthing center. Things progressed pretty quickly from there and then seemed to come to a halt with me having very strong contractions all Friday night, all of Saturday and Sunday. I couldn’t eat anything because I was throwing it up. By midnight on Sunday after several hours (!) of pushing and nothing happening (my midwife said he was turned face up and tried turning him with no luck) my husband finally stepped in and said we needed to go to a hospital. They had to put me on an IV right away because I had no energy after three days of not eating or sleeping. Then my husband and mom made the decision for me to have an epidural which let me sleep for awhile. Finally after three more hours of pushing I had my beautiful little boy Monday at 12:07pm!!!

It was also a long and rough recovery – my hips where thrown out and I could not walk without help for close to two weeks after. I also tore pretty badly. I felt like a failure, here was my little baby who needed me and I couldn’t even carry him around, or change his diaper, or rock him to sleep!! My husband was my rock during that time, he changed diapers (which he had never done before!!), did the laundry, made meals and took care of both me and the baby without complaining. While I did not end up having the delivery that I wanted, I have the most precious thing I could ever imagine and I wouldn’t trade him for anything!!

I started out at 115 before I was pregnant, gained 45 and now am 130. I still have 15 pounds to go to make it back to my pre-pregnancy weight. I always thought I’d lose it all by 9 months PP, so I’m a little discouraged to be 10 months PP and still have this much more to lose, it just seems stuck there!! But, when I see my little one cruising around and getting into everything it doesn’t bother me so much!! :) Also, I thought I was going to come out with no stretch marks, but they showed up just 1-2 weeks before delivery, on my stomach and thighs. Not to bad though, just a few and pretty light. If anyone has any good tummy tightening exercises they would like to share that would be great!! :) Love this site!!!

~ (Age) 27
~ 1 pregnancy – 1 birth
~ Son, 10 months old, 10 months postpartum
~ 1st picture – Me, 8 months Pregnant (yes, I did get bigger!!!). 2nd picture – My baby boy minutes after birth. 3rd picture – Me, 2 days PP. 4th & 5th pictures – Me, 10 months PP.

From size 0 to 5 (Nancy)

Bonnie (SOAM) Before Pregnancy, Belly, Breasts, Cesarean, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Pregnant, Submissions 11 Comments

Age : 26
Pregnancy : 1
Children : A daughter, Chloé

I learned about this website from a close friend to which I confided my body changes during and after pregnancy. I was relieved to see others with the same problems as me but I figured I’d be back in shape in no time so I didn’t worry too much over it. Here I am, 7 months later, posting my very own story !

I used to be one of those lucky girls who never went on a diet, I could eat whatever I wanted and my weight had been a mere 105 pounds for the last 5 years. I inherited this fantastic body from my mother and she always said to me that for her 2 pregnancies, she put on about 25 pounds and a week after she was back in her old size 25 jeans. I always jokingly told my husband how lucky he was to have a wife that could snap back into shape so we could have lots and lots of kids !

However it went very different for me. I gained 25 pounds in the first 6 months of my pregnancy, which was pretty standard. At 7 months I was put on bed rest and stopped working because I had strong contractions every day and was in and out of the hospital a few times. I ended up gaining another 40 pounds in only 3 months. So me, that was used to be 105 pounds, I was now carrying 165 pounds. On top of that I had oedema so bad you couldn’t even see my ankles. My baby finally arrived at 42 weeks after me being inducted ans a c-section (the irony !!!).

Now I’ve been trying to cope with the aftermath and I feel like my body went trough a war. All I can say is that I now understand what it feels like to be insecure, to suck a tummy in public and dress in medium or large. It takes strong women to be confident in any shape or size, for those out there, I applaud you. You know, I don’t want to sound like I complaint because I know that some women would love to be my actual size, but I think the point for a lot of women is the gap between how were before and how hey are now. For me the road to being confident in my new size has just started.

Pre-pregnancy weight : 105 lbs – size 0
End-of pregnancy weight : 165 lbs
7 months post-pregnancy weight : 130 lbs – size 5

Game Day (Deb)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, Belly, Breast or Body Art, First Pregnancy, Pregnant, Second Pregnancy, Submissions 5 Comments

When she’s out, she can make her own choices. When to eat, when to cry, peas or carrots, Dr. Seuss or Mercer Mayer… which bands to like, which instruments to play, what college to attend, who to marry (or not marry). And yes. One day, the time will come, and she will have to choose whether or not she is a football fan, and which NFL team she will support. But we as parents must always guide our children toward the decisions that are in their best interests. Therefore, I have chosen to interfere while I am able. While she’s on the inside, she swears allegiance to the Who Dat Nation. Happy football season mommas! Geaux Saints.

Age: 36
Kids: 2 (12 years, and 25 weeks in utero)

101909-deb-1

A Mother’s Body at a Young Age (Anonymous)

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

I was 17 when i found out i was pregnant. I was overwhelmed, scared, and excited. I’ve always wanted to be a mom, but i didn’t see me becoming one till i was around 23. But i take it as god gave me a gift of a child because he knew that it would help me. I was getting into some trouble but once i got pregnant it all stopped. I realized i needed to be a mom now i need to be a romodel to this little one. There was people telling me i was to your and i should abort the baby. i refused to listen to them. I feel in love with my child the moment that test said i was pregnant.

In the begging of my pregnancy I was so sick with morning sickness that i almost had to have a home nurse and a IV in my leg. I lost 25lbs I was 155lbs before i got pregnant and i went down to 130lbs then i started to gain weight back at around 6months into my pregnancy. but my baby was healthy and “Its a girl” I ended up getting up to 175 lbs. and i had a healthy 8.0lb and 21.25inch baby. but she pooped inside and that made me stress threw my whole labor but luckily she didn’t swallow any of it. then i hemorrhaged and i lost over 2 liters of blood and i had to have blood transfusion. then when i left the hospital i was 154lbs so i lost all my weight already

first pics is of me the night before i went into labor
second pic is of me the day i got home from the hospital
the third pic is of me now 12 weeks postpartum

Missing my darling daughter, 15.5 weeks postpartum (Jillyn)

Bonnie (SOAM) Before Pregnancy, Belly, Breasts, Breech Baby, Child Loss, Complications in Pregnancy, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Pregnant, Submissions, Update 35 Comments

I have been meaning to take pictures and post on here for quite a while now, but with so much going on, i just haven’t found the inner strength or time.

When i was 20 weeks pregnant with our first child we had our first ultrasound and they found that i didn’t have any amniotic fluid. So a week later i finally had another ultrasound and the specialist fount that our baby had cysts in both their kidneys. He then told us our baby would not live. My husband and i were both devastated, but we decided to continue with the pregnancy and cherish every moment we had left with our child.

When i was about 28.5 weeks pregnant i ended up going to the ER for sever pain in my back. It turned out my kidney was inflamed and my growing uterus was causing it. They told me the only way to solve the problem would be to have our baby. The next day was my husbands college graduation and 2 days after that we were moving so we didn’t induce right away. After we were moved we set up an induction date for 2 weeks later because our 2 year wedding anniversary was going to be a week after we had moved.

They started the induction May 25th 2009 at 8pm when i was 32 weeks pregnant. On May 27th, 2009 at 5:17pm we gave birth to our daughter, Grace Carpi. She was so tiny, so perfect and angelic. The had been a frank breech so her little bum was all bruised, but other than that, she was just amazing. She weighed 2 lbs 14 oz and was 16 inches long. After she was born she tried to take a breath, she tried 6-8 times in the 10 minutes after she was born. But sadly, her lungs were not developed at all, so 10-15 minutes after she was born, she slipped away from us. She never let out a cry, never opened her eyes. The doctor has tried to tell us that she was a stillbirth, but after talking to other professionals and reading medical journals, we feel that our daughter indeed was alive and we will continue to fight for our right of a birth certificate.

I am 5’5″ and was 178 lbs before i was pregnant. I weighed 210-215 at the end of my pregnancy and now, 15.5 weeks postpartum i weigh 204-207 lbs. Because of my depression i feel it will take me a while go get down to my pre-pregnancy weight and even longer to get to my healthy weight (about 130-140 lbs). I got my first stretch mark at either 7w or 11w (i can’t remember) on my inner thigh. I got the ones on my stomach when i was 25 weeks pregnant. I also got more stretch marks on my hips and on my breasts. I went up a cup size during pregnancy, from a B to a C.

The last 15 and 1/2 weeks have been quite an emotional time for my husband and i. Not only did he just graduate from college, we moved, had our wedding adversary, gave birth to our daughter, buried our daughter, had my 22nd birthday, my husband left for orientation for a new job, we had a memorial for our daughter, went to talk to a panel of people at the hospital about receiving a birth certificate, and my husband left for 4 weeks of training for work. And during all of that we were and are still grieving the loss of our little girl. Some say we shouldn’t be a sad because we knew that she was going to die, but that doesn’t matter to us. We still lost our daughter, she still is not with us and we will miss her forever.

I am posting pictures of me before my pregnancy, at 28w 3d, at 32w (with Henna Tattoo from blessing way), pictures of Grace, and then pictures of me 15.5w postpartum and a picture of my first and worst stretch mark on my leg.

Updated here.

Confidence took a blow! (Lizzy)

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

Age:23
Number of pregnancies:1
7 months post partum

Im from South africa,im 5″2 and pre pregnancy weight was 110lbs.
I loved my body.

Then April 2008 i fell pregnant with my first baby,a girl.My body changed but i didnt get stretchmarks,which im very gratefull for,i grew alot,my tummy was huge.
I gained 33 lbs and im currently 139lbs,which im not happy bout.When i look at myself in mirrors i start to bawl.

Theres just no time to exercise now.My husband loves the way i look.

But i dont.I love my daughther to bits though.
How can i make myself feel better bout myself?

Its amazing knowing my girl grew inside me,but cant accept the way i look.

The first pic is me 8 weeks pregnant(its says pre pregnancy but i didnt have a pp pic so i just use this one)

Second one is me 37 weeks pregnant

Third and fourth one is me 7 months pp

New Shape, New Life… (Anonymous)

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

Age: 21
Number of pregnancies and births: 1 live birth
Age of Child/postpartum: 25 months

I had only been graduated from high school for 6 months when I became pregnant with my son at age 18. I was a dancer for 13 years and never was a “stick” per say. I started high school in a size 4 an graduated in a size 12. I had body image issues which led into bulimia and anorexia. I was relieved when my baby bump started growing because I finally had an excuse to be “fat”. I only gained 9 lbs with my pregnancy. I lost a lot in the begining and I ate healthy throughout. When my son was born there was a smaller number immediately on the scale. I have had stretch marks ever since I remember because of such dramatic fluctuations in my weight and I was not surprised to see those little red marks appearing as the months passed. So in addition to a child, I have a belly flap/pooch, stretch marks on my thighs, hips, sides, stomach, arms, boobs, sides of knees, and a weird looking belly button. Over all, I like my body. I currently have 27 lbs to lose and a lot of toning to work on. My goal is to be bikini ready by next summer. I like my stretch marks. I call them “mommy marks”. No, I don’t have a flawless stomach with perfect abs, but I have a stomach of a mother, a nurturer, and a real woman. I would like to have tummy tuck after I birth all of my children, but I would never want all of my stretch marks to be removed (which I believe would be impossible). They are kind of like a trophy for me and if someone else can’t accept them then they can just move on and not look :). I am attaching a few photos.

8 months pregnant
25 months postpartum front
25 months postpartum side
25 months postpartum clothed
me and my son

2 Babies Later (Bryana)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, Postpartum, Pregnant, Second Pregnancy, Submissions, Teen Mom, Update 8 Comments

When I was 17 I found out I was pregnant for the first time. My boyfriend and I were without a doubt scared beyond belief but also very excited about the new adventure we were about to take on. I found out I was pregnant April 2005. I was still in high school, but graduated with my class in June 2005. 6 months later our beautiful baby boy, Rayden, was born. It was a very long labour and delivery, lasting 47 hours. With the help of forceps and the vacuum, our son was born on December 12, 2005 at 2:34pm. He weighed in at 8lbs 14oz and 21 inches long.
Before I found out I was pregnant I was 4’11” and only weighed 120lbs. During my pregnancy I gained a lot of weight. I went from 120lbs to a whopping 198lbs the day of delivery. It took over 2 years to lose the baby weight.
Low and behold, October 13, 2008 I found out I was pregnant again! We were once again very excited. We were more prepared and had a much more steady life at that point. This pregnancy was much different, in every single way. I went from 115lbs to 147lbs the day of delivery. I was more achy and tired, and wanted nothing more than to sleep 9 months straight, however, a 3 year old doesn’t really allow that! But on June 23, 2009 at 6:37am our gorgeous daughter, Cairo, was born. She weighed in at 8lbs 7oz and 21inches after only 7 ½ hours of labour and 3 pushes later.
After this pregnancy though, I lost all the weight within 2 weeks. It literally fell off and all I was doing was sitting on the couch feeding our daughter and tending to our son when needed. This is a complete 180 turn around than with my son.
However, I am now 22 and have the stomach of a 70 year old woman that birthed 10 children. My skin not only sags, but is covered in stretch marks from hip to hip. But really, I have learned to love it. It is my battle wound; my proof of birthing 2 children successfully!

-Age 22
-2 Children:
Rayden Wolfgang Born: Dec 12, 2005
Cairo Sofia Born: June 23, 2009

Updated here, here, here and here.

22 years old, three beautiful kids (Andree)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, Cesarean, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Pregnant, Second Pregnancy, Twins 8 Comments

My story starts about four years ago, when I met the man of my life. Shortly after dating we decided to get married, and start a family of our own. We were wed in August 2006, and then in November 2006 found out that we were expecting a baby! I didn’t gain much weight up until the 6th or 7th month of the pregnancy — it seems like I got massive overnight! I gained a total of 50lbs, and had a very large, pointy belly, and ended up giving birth to a healthy 8lb 8oz baby girl at 42 weeks gestation. My stomach looked pretty bad for a long time, I used to call it my jello-filled fanny pack…. hehe Because I had such a large belly my bellybutton obviously popped out, and never went back in. I guess I am at fault for not working out and whatnot, so my stomach never looked very good after that. Then a year later we decided that we were ready for another baby, and found out in October that we were actually expecting identical twins! To be honest I was very upset upon learning that, I mean, it’s scary when you start thinking about all the complications, risks, etc, that come with bearing twins. I knew I was going to get very large, and be in a lot of physical pain. It was a long and strenuous pregnancy, having to travel twice a month to a specialist, one hour drive from home, one hour drive back home. They had to closely monitor me for gestational diabetes, high blood pressure, and twin-twin transfusion. I had a lot of pain just about everywhere –I grew incredibly large, larger than I ever imagined…. at around 32 weeks gestation I measured 48″ around! The doctors wanted me to make it to 37 weeks gestation, but at 35 weeks I learned from an ultrasound that there was a 17% discordance between the twins, twin A being about 2lb smaller than twin B (twin A also being breech). So the next week, at 36 weeks gestation, I went to my regular obstetrician to schedule a c-section, and at 11:30am that morning I found out I was having a c-section at 6:00pm that night. Everything went very well, although I was completely stressed out, insecure, having all the fears in the world. At 6:05pm our baby boy Jesse was born, followed by his brother Jeffrey at 6:07pm. Jesse (twin A) weighed 6lbs 0oz, and Jeffrey (twin B) weighed 6lb 1oz. It turns out that the ultrasound technician who had performed the ultrasound at week 35 was in training, and didn’t measure things quite right, making us believe that our babies were sick. We are happy that our family is complete, having a girl and two boys. I am hating my postpartum body more than ever now, I have so much excess skin, stretch marks, you name it I have it. And some poor lady at the grocery store asked me when I was due, to then be informed that I’d had twins one month earlier….. hehe I have been a big fan of girdles and shape forming underwear since the birth of our first child. I’m unhappy with the way I look. But I tell myself that all this doesn’t matter. That my body is what has given me all these beautiful babies.

Name : Andree
Age : 22
Pregnancies : 2
Births : 3
Age of kids : 2 year old daughter, and two 3 month old sons.

Picture #1 : Nine days before giving birth to my first child
Picture #2 : A year and a half after giving birth to my first child, and right about when I got pregnant with our twins
Picture #3 : The morning of my c-section for our twins, at 36 weeks gestation
Picture #4 : A week after our twin boys were born by c-section
Picture #5 : My beautiful two year old daughter
Picture #6 : Our adorable three month old twin boys

Wanting accept my body changes (Ashley)

Bonnie (SOAM) Before Pregnancy, Belly, Cesarean, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Pregnant, Submissions, Teen Mom 10 Comments

August 26, 2008 was the day i found out i was pregnant, this day was also my boyfriend’s birthday (what a birthday gift I gave him…hahaha). So I woke up that morning and for some reason I thought maybe I’d take a home pregnancy test because the day before I was worrying since we weren’t using protection. When I saw that positive I was so distraught, very scared and clueless of what to do. I barely turned 18 and my boyfriend was turning 17. Both very young with a big future ahead of us and finding out we we’re expecting wasn’t very easy to accept. We both thought about abortion and I made an appointment, the day came and the doctor told me the baby was too little to be seen in sonogram, I was probably less than 4 weeks and arranged another appointment 2 weeks later. During those 2 weeks so much changed.

I was living with my best friends family. I told my best friend I was pregnant and it was suppose to be a secret. She told her mom and she was against the abortion and talked to me about the choices I could do but abortion wasn’t an option. That day I realized I couldn’t kill the love I’ve made with my boyfriend. I felt very stupid for ever thinking I could abort and felt selfish. There’s a reason why these things happen. I thought to myself that if i would have aborted I would have felt like a coward and would have not owned up to my responsibilities for the actions i made. Each day passed and I was very happy with my choice except thinking of what my body would end up like.

I’ve always been a girl with low self-esteem my height didn’t help (4’11) and knowing that my body would change drastically wasn’t something I liked to accept, all the stretch marks and a big belly. Though days went on and I was happy that I had a real easy pregnancy with no morning sicknesses, I was able to sleep good even to the last day, and still no stretch marks. Until the last month was when I was able to see my stretch marks, they weren’t very visible but I knew they we’re there.

The day my water broke was May 1st and I was nervous, excited, scared, so many mixed emotions I just couldn’t wait to meet my little one I had been carrying inside me for 9 months. I was having trouble during labor. My cervix wasn’t dialating and after 10 hours I only dialated barely 2 centimeters. Doctor told me I had to get a c-section. I was very upset at first because this was not how I planned on how I wanted to give birth. On May 2, 2009 I gave birth to a beautiful healthy daughter named Hailey weighing 7 lbs. and 7 ounces and 18 inches long.

It’s been almost about 4 months since I gave birth and I am very proud and happy young mom. I love being a mother and I am very glad that I didn’t go through with the abortion because I know if I did I would never be able to forgive myself.

Everything is great except one thing. I love daughter so much but I’m still learning to accept my body. So far I’ve learned to accept my stretch marks because I know somehow one way or another my belly had to stretch for new life I was carrying and also because my stretch marks we’re made with love because of my little one. I just don’t like my sagging tummy and I just don’t feel good about my image. I see how many girls my age would dress and I would like to feel good in what I dress in and not worry about how I look or people say. Sometimes it helps when my boyfriend tells me that I shouldn’t worry that he still loves the way I look and my tummy is special because that’s where Hailey came out from. But I guess it’ll take sometime. I’m just glad that I was able to give life because she makes everything so worth it.

below are some pictures

1. Before pregnancy
2. 39 weeks pregnant
3. Hailey’s latest picture
4. 16 weeks postpartum front view
5. side view

Age: 19
Number of pregnancies & birth: 1
Age age of my child: 3 months and 4 weeks