Pregnant

Still Trying to Cope (Victoria)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Pregnant, Submissions, Teen Mom, Update 4 Comments

Im 19 and im still coming to terms that my body changed. I gave birth 21months ago and I thought my body would go back to normal like when my mother gave birth to me but no that didn’t happen. I wasn’t skinny before but a normal weight for my body I just thought that it would be the same but no. My partner tells me i shouldn’t care or worry he loves me no matter what and has told me my tummy has gone down more
But its what i feel.

~Age:19
~Number of pregnancies and births: 1 pregnancy
~The age of your child: 21 months

Photo 1 is me today.
Photo 2 is me pregnant.
Photo 3 the last day I was pregnant.
Photo 4 My pride and joy. Daughter.

Updated here.

Thankful and Blessed but Still Trying to Accept (mummyoftwodarlings)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, Complications in Pregnancy, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Preemie, Pregnant, Second Pregnancy, Submissions 18 Comments

Ok, so I have been visiting this site for over a year now in the hope of it helping me accept and love my post baby body.

I am 30 years old, mother of 2 beautiful children. A daughter aged 3 and a son aged 16 months.

I married my first love in 2004 at around 147 lbs (I am 5ft 6.5). We decided pretty much straight after to start trying for a baby and after 6 months of hoping and praying every month, I finally got that positive result…..and then another…and so on until I’d worked my way through about 20 of the things and finally convinced myself that this was real and I was pregnant!

I had no problems until I reached 30 weeks. I was at work, about to lead a training day for about 20 teachers and I popped to the toilet first. That is when I noticed a few drops of blood. Panic stricken, I was rushed to the nearest hospital. To cut a long story short my darling daughter was delivered by emergency c section at 31 weeks exactly, as I was suffering a major placental abruption and she could have died if she stayed inside me any longer. She weighed 3lbs 7oz and stayed in Special Care Baby Unit for 6 weeks but is now thank God happy, healthy and very entertaining!

As I never got that big by 31 weeks my body pretty much went back to normal afterwards. A year later we decided to try for another, our last baby. I fell pregnant straight away but unfortunately miscarried at about 6 weeks. Fast forward another 6 weeks and I found myself staring at another positive test! Luckily the pregnancy went fairly smoothly and at 37 weeks my waters broke. I had to be induced though as nothing else was happening but despite that, I managed to deliver my son naturally. He has a few tummy problems after birth and stayed in hospital for a week in which time the problems righted themselves. After our daughter’s 6 week stay a week was bearable although I couldn’t wait to get him home!

During the last few weeks of my second pregnancy I developed a few stretch marks on my belly which to be honest I was gutted about. I religiously applied lotions and potions in the hope of avoiding them. I guess I was just that much bigger than first time around as I had carried my son for 6 weeks longer.

After the birth I weighed around 165 lbs, the most I had ever weighed. I lost the excess weight by about 5/6 months pp by joining a slimming group and going to the gym but then I gained about 14 lbs of that back over the next 10 months. I felt horrible about my stretched, saggy post baby belly and the excess weight wasn’t helping either so I rejoined the slimming group and restarted the exercise and here I am, 4 lbs away from my goal weight of 140 lbs and clothed I feel great but when I look at my belly I feel so disappointed.

I wouldn’t change having my children for any model’s body, and having to experience both my babies fight in hospital has made me so thankful for what I have. I am slowly learning to accept my new body and realise that the old one is gone for good. I am never going to look like my baby-less friends but I have something far more precious than their flab free, stretch mark free tummies!

The photos are:
29 weeks pregnant with #1 (2 weeks before she arrived)
36 weeks pregnant with #2 with stretchmarks (a few days before he arrived)
2 Today at 16 months pp with the baby belly I am still trying to accept

STRUGGLING with looking pregnant a year AFTER I had my baby (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Before Pregnancy, Belly, Cesarean, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Pregnant, Submissions, Surgical Scar (Non-Cesarean) 42 Comments

I am now 25 years old. I had my first son in January 2008 when I was 23 years old. I am now 14 months postpartum.

Hey, I had my first baby at 23. A few month before I got pregnant I was 154 pounds. I am quite tall so i was a nice normal size then when i just found out I was pregnant i had put on a bit of weight 180lbs. By 12 weeks ( with morning sickness and everything) I was down to 167lbs and feeling great wasn’t worried about my weight etc. right from the start people thought i was having twins my stomach was HUGE and the rest of me was fairly thin. From 34 weeks i noticed I had put on alot of weight around my face but didn’t think much of it, the rest of me was still normal except for my belly, by this stage HUGE HUGE belly.

Anyhoo I went into labour naturally but ended up having a emergency c section after an hour of pushing as my baby was posterior and quite large. I gave birth to a 9lb 5 oz baby boy he was beautiful. When people came to visit me at hospital towards the end of the first week they started making comments politely about my stomach still quite large and that it hadn’t gone down much. Friends kids started asking me if I had another baby in my stomach and by the 4 week postpartum when I was out shopping a lady asked me ” How long I had to go?” I gave in another month or two and came to the conclusion i had put on soooo much weight during my pregnancy on my stomach and no where else and after the baby was born my stomach kept that pregnant look, it didn’t look like a fat belly it looked like a pregnant one!

The week i gave birth to my son I was 226lbs. I lost a few lbs after the birth but stayed around 204 lbs. for the first 11 months of my sons life, I just couldn’t get motivated. Then I read that if you haven’t lost all your baby weight in the first 10 months you never will.. Rubbish I thought. so I started eating right and just walking 3 times a week from the time my son was 11 1/2 months. By the time my son was 13 months I had lost 28 lbs My son is now 15 months and I am still hovering around that weight and getting ready to push my exercise up a notch to get rid of those extra pounds.

I have a lot of stretch marks, my stomach looks like a prune but hey I’m working on it and feel fantastic with the weight I have lost and so grateful I now look like I have a flabby belly not a pregnant one. lol

Oh also if you notice some scars on my pictures i also had my gallbladder out at around 4 months post.

I hope you all enjoy my photos. I know this website has been fantastic for me in realizing not everyone goes back to a supermodel body after pregnancy.

Timeline (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Before Pregnancy, Belly, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Pregnant, Submissions, Tattoo 8 Comments

Here’s a timeline of photos from my pregnancy from 2 weeks to 38 (I went into labor at 39 weeks 6 days, so no 40 week photo!). The final photo is me now at 5 weeks postpartum. I love the changes that my body went through; the power of a woman’s body just absolutely amazes me! After 13 hours of all-natural labor I brought our beautiful daughter into this world and I wouldn’t change a single bit of it. Every stretch mark, every extra pound, every powerful contraction, and every painful stitch from the tears…They all brought me to the most wonderful thing in my life so far: motherhood.

051109-anon-1

9 Months PP (Rochelle)

Bonnie (SOAM) Before Pregnancy, Belly, Breasts, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Pregnant, Sexual Abuse/Violence, Submissions, Teen Mom 13 Comments

When I was 14 I was raped by my father (who is now in jail for it) and life just seemed to have left me after that. One night I went for a walk to clear my head like almost every night and ran into someone who changed everything. I was only 15 when I got pregnant with my beautiful son. I was afraid but I trusted his father to be by my side. At about 8 months pregnant he had cheated on me which caused the relationship to end. With all the bad times I was facing I cried nearly every night. Every time I cried or just got mad at the world my son would kick and move around as if to let me know someone was there. Even though i got back with his father a couple months after he was born he left to another city so the past seven months i raised him myself. He will be back soon to help though!! I live with my mom on the agreement that I do chores and babysit when needed. Other then that I haven’t went out once on my own since his father moved.
My breasts are now completely covered in stretch marks and have headed south I’m afraid. (I also breastfed & still am!) They were once a very perky 34D. I also got stretch marks on my butt & thighs, but i didn’t get stretch marks on my stomach til the last few weeks. I think that when i decide I’m through with children and a bit older i’ll get a breast lift. I hate the fact I can’t wear the clothes I use to without embarrassment of the stretch marks or that I can’t go braless. I was thinking to maybe try to wear a bikini though after I find some more empowerment. Thankfully I have a high metabolism. 111 lbs prepregnancy, 143 near the end, & currently 103 at 5’3″. Also he was 8lbs & 3oz & I love him more then anything else.
GOODLUCK TO EVERYONE!!!

Age: 16
PP: 9 months
Number of Pregnancies: 1

Pics
1.) Before
2.) Day of Birth
3.) Tummy 9month pp
4.) another tummy
5.) boobs
6.) inner thigh
7.) outer thigh
8.) After (9 month pp)
9.) the most precious gift in the world

I Wish I Could Love My Body (Kayla)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, PPD - Postpartum Depression, Pregnant, Submissions, Update 12 Comments

I was 19 when I found out I was pregnant. I was scared, nervous, and excited all at the same time. Ive never been the thinnest girl walking around, but I didn’t realize how nice my body was, until after I became pregnant. I had an easy pregnancy for the most part. I traveled a lot, to and from Australia where my boyfriend was from. He ended up leaving me when i was 32 weeks pregnant and I had to move back to Canada. My body went through hell and back after he left me. I kept losing weight because I was so depressed and my doctors started to worry about me. I gained all together about 30lbs even though near the end I lost some. I got stretch marks starting at 4 months. No matter what I tried, and how many times a day I put it on, they kept coming. I hated it. My son was born a healthy 6lbs 13oz on November 22, 2008. He was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, and all my worries and stress just floated away the second I saw his face. Being a single mother is the hardest thing I have ever done, and I’m sure Its going to be a struggle everyday for years to come. But when I see my son smile, it takes away all those fears, on that day, that I may have. Everyday when I see the stretch marks, and saggy skin on my belly and my uneven saggy breasts from nursing, I hate myself a little bit more. I wish I could have appreciated my old body, before becoming pregnant. I’m trying to see the beauty in the stretch marks, and the fact I grew an amazing son inside of me for 9 months, but it is hard. I try to tell myself that I am still good looking but the truth is, I cannot stand to look at my self in the mirror most days. I haven’t had a chance to start going to the gym, I don’t have the time. Between trying to take care of him and myself and our busy life, there just isn’t time to fit in a work out. One day, I hope Ill love my body again. Until then, Ill just do what I know I can do best, and that is raise my son to be a loving, caring man.

My age – 20
Number of pregnancies and births – 1
I am 4.5 months postpartum

Updated here, here and here.

Love/Hate Relationship (Anonymous)

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

I’m now 25 and have always had huge body issues…even when I was thin. I always just hated my shape….my squarish hips and the fact that all my weight sits in my tummy/face while my arms and legs sta skinny. I didn’t like trying to be super thin, but if I wasn’t I just looked pregnant. I was jealous of girls who weighed much more but had this great shape. I’ve always had stretch marks and dimples on my butt for some reason. I tried to follow the advice to find a part you love, and that was my boobs. Not too big or small, perfect color and shape.

So when I got pregnant, my biggest fear was losing them and then having nothing i liked. I envisioned myself with big floppy boobs, saggy belly and covered in stretchmarks. During pregnancy, this site was a way to comfort myself but also to be honest had me crying a few times.

I gained 40lbs…most of it the last 6 weeks….that’s when the stretchmarks showed up on my belly and my legs. After I had my baby girl I was oddly pleased with my body…it had more of that shape I’d always envied…but I was so worried what my hubby would think about the stretchmarks. My belly button had been stretched and seems huge now. I’m still nursing, with a few light marks on them, but they feel so big and floppy I hate doing it sometimes….I’m hoping they’ll return to the right size, but scared of what they’ll look like. I dropped to under my pre-preggo weight within 3 months, but its not the same.

My baby girl is about to be 5 months old, and sometimes I feel better than ever about myself…I recently got a naval piercing to celebrate that. but its a love/hate relationship…I also have days where I still see how so much flop is in my belly and breasts, comparing myself to some model/mom friends i have….and think that people must be thinking i look like an apple on a stick, and my face seems squishier than ever. My husband is deployed, so I often send him pics but will take like 100 and weed it down to 2 that make me look good. I turn at an angle so i don’t look so bulky. I know he would never treat me differently, but sometimes I worry what he’ll secretly be thinking when he gets home…..

The first pic is 32 weeks
The second is 38 weeks
3rd is 3-4 weeks postpartum
4th is two months postpartum
Last two of me are 5 months
very last is my baby girl

Young mom Trying to Accept her Postpartum Body (Amanda)

Bonnie (SOAM) Before Pregnancy, Belly, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Pregnant, Second Pregnancy, Submissions, Teen Mom 13 Comments

Hello everyone I am a proud 20 year old mother of two beautiful little girls. Brianna born November 19 2006 at 3:34pm weighing 6 pounds 11.9 ounces and 19.5 inches long, and Savanna born January 15 2009 at 7:52am weighing 7 pounds 11 ounces and 20 inches long. Both my girls came on there due dates, I though that was very cool. I am also happily married to a wonderful, supportive, hard working man. We have been married for a little over 2 years now and have known each other for about 6 years.

Before ever getting pregnant I weighted 120 pounds and was in good shape, I went to the gym 5-6 days a week with my hubby and worked out for about 1-2 hours. That was one thing that we really enjoyed doing together, and I still like working out. I have always had a problem with not accepting my stomach, I always thought it was never flat enough. When I was pregnant with my first daughter around 7-8 months pregnant I started noticing stretch marks. Although there were very few in the beginning, by the time I was 40 weeks (full term) I was covered in them :( I figured I would get them because they say if your mother has them, your most likely to get them yourself. I never though I would get so many though, so that was really hard for me. A while after I had her I was at 125 pounds, can’t remember how long it took me to get there though lol. So although I was only 5 pounds heavier I still couldn’t accept my body, and I know that 125 pounds is a healthy weight for me and not a lot at all. It was really only the loose belly flab and stretch marks that bugged me the most, so my goal then was to tighten and tone my body. I would always say to myself how could I think I had a big belly before, its even worse now. I don’t think I look terrible or anything, but its just tough looking back at my before and after pregnancy pics. Well anyways let me tell you about my second pregnancy, with my second daughter. I only gained 32 pounds during my pregnancy but I was so huge, and I got even more stretch marks :( I was happy for the first 1-2 weeks because I was once again loosing the weight quite fast, but then it just kinda stopped at about 145 pounds. I realize that it has not been very long, and I know that it will take time to get back to my Pre-pregnancy weight, but the waiting is so hard. I started my weight loss journey at 6 weeks postpartum, and I am now 11 weeks postpartum and I have lost 4 pounds so far. I want to keep the weight loss at about 1-2 pounds per week, so that my already loose skin wont become even looser. I surprisingly am not so upset about my stretch marks Right now, but I am more focused on losing the extra 15 pounds of weight that I am left with. I know I am not huge or anything, but I would still like to be close to my pre-pregnancy weight and I want my stomach flatter. So the main thing I am concentraiting on is losing the extra weight, and tightening the loose skin if possible. Well that’s my story, so lets check out the damage. Just want to shout out a quick thanks to everyone who has shared there postpartum bodies, I know im not alone. Congrats to all you wonderful ladies, and I hope you are all enjoying motherhood.

Picture #1 Before any Pregnancy
Picture #2 6 Months (First Pregnancy)
Picture #3 40 weeks (Full Term) First Pregnancy
Picture #4 Postpartum after first pregnancy
Picture #5 Postpartum after first pregnancy (2)
Picture #6 24 weeks (Second Pregnancy)
Picture #7 34 weeks (Second Pregnancy)
Picture #8 39 weeks (Second Pregnancy)
Picture #9 40 weeks (Full Term) Second pregnancy
Picture #10 1 day postpartum after second pregnancy
Picture #11 1 weeks pp after second pregnancy
Picture #12 11 weeks pp (now) after second pregnancy

No Longer Ashamed (Kerry)

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

I am 18 years old and due in 6 days. Before I got pregnant I had the typical, enviable teenage body. I was thin, not a stretch mark to my name, and had abs to die for. I love being pregnant and feeling my little one move inside me, I feel so blessed that I have been given this amazing job to carry another life! I started my pregnancy off at about 130 at 5’8” and have gained almost 60lbs, it’s hard for me to hear EVERYONE tell me I will go right back to my old body just because I was thin before, because frankly I don’t believe them. The prospect of what my body might look like after birth has haunted me since I found out I was expecting. I’ve cried over it and swore I would never wear a swimsuit again. The media is so horrible to us pregnant women, they show us airbrushed models, a body none of us can ever achieve, because it’s not even real! I’m planning a homebirth, and at my last midwife appointment I was told about this site. It has changed my outlook sooooo much! I can’t even begin to describe the peace that’s beginning to come over me about my soon to be post baby body! This is the first time I have taken a picture of my belly and not been embarrassed about my stretchmarks, I began to get them at 36 weeks and have tried to hide them since then. I haven’t once let my thighs be in a shot due to the stretch marks I got either. The right side of my body has much more, I have no clue why. Anyway, Thank you!!! It’s amazing to be able to view my mommy marks in a new light! I will definitely post p.p. pics down the road! :) (Hopefully he/she comes soon! I’ve been getting a lot of contractions today!!!)
1st pic: 12 weeks
2nd pic: 6 months
3rd pic: 39 weeks + 1
4th pic: my little one

Updated here, here and here.

Acceptance, It’s Not All Bad (Minxie)

Bonnie (SOAM) Before Pregnancy, Belly, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, PPD - Postpartum Depression, Pregnant, Submissions, Tattoo, Teen Mom 5 Comments

~Your Age: 21
~Number of pregnancies and births: 1 pregnancy/birth
~The age of your children, or how far postpartum you are: my daughter is 18 months

I hadn’t long turned 19 when I found out I was pregnant. I was absolutely terrified, as me and my partner had only been together 7 months. I felt that I hadn’t achieved anything that I wanted to do before I had children (go to college, get myself a good job, get a nice little house and get married) but nothing ever goes to plan when it comes to me! and there was no way I could ever have a termination. I was scared, but I knew I had to make the most of a ‘bad’ situation.

I started modeling at 18, and I think this had a huge impact on how I saw myself during my pregnancy. I felt huge, didn’t like how my breasts looked when the areola went darker. I just wanted to look the same as I did before, and constantly worried about how I would look after my baby was finished with my body. I’d always had a very low opinion of my body, which is why I started modeling in the first place. It helped a little seeing myself on camera, knowing that I didn’t look quite as bad as I did in my head. Little did I know, during my pregnancy I was suffering quite badly from depression (I’d been suffering from it for many years, but I just hadn’t realized what was wrong with me.) It really ruined my pregnancy for me….any normal mother-to-be would love and embrace their changing, pregnant body…but I just couldn’t wait to get back to normal. My pregnancy wasn’t an easy one anyway, with shocking morning sickness for the first 3 months, and developing Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction (SPD) in the last 2 months which made it too painful to leave the house.

I started developing stretch marks on the top of my thighs at 6 months. They didn’t bother me too much as there were only one or two each side, and they were small and didn’t have much colour. But I started to get them on my stomach a month before my due date, and I was absolutely gutted. I thought I had avoided them, and it was a cruel thing to happen when I was so close to ‘making it’. I cried, and really did start thinking about how much my life was over, just because of a few stretch marks. It seems so silly and disgustingly shallow saying this now, but at the time it really did affect me in a terrible way.

My daughter was born 6/9/07 at 8.14am. I was in labour for 7 and a half hours, and she was born naturally weighing 8lbs 8oz. The birth went really well, no complications and no need for stitches! She was healthy and beautiful, and as soon as I looked at her I knew she was worth every sacrifice. She instantly became my world!

My breasts were fine through pregnancy, right up until I gave birth and my milk came in. I went from a D cup to a FF cup in the space of 3 days. I only breast fed for 2 weeks, and moved to formula and expressed breast milk after that as I wasn’t getting on very well with breast feeding. I don’t believe that I was doing it correctly and was paranoid that my daughter wasn’t getting enough milk. After the milk went, I was left with C cup deflated balloons! at 19 I found it really difficult to come to terms with the fact that I may never be able to wear a bikini on the beach, or wear slightly daring clothes whilst on nights out ever again. I loved my daughter with all my heart, and would of gone through it all again to have her, but that didn’t make me feel any better about how I looked as a woman.

I hit an all time low a few months after. I hated everything about how I looked and who I was, and was really desperate to get what I had back. I cursed myself for hating what I had before pregnancy, as as far as I was concerned, what I have now was much worse! I put on 2 stone in pregnancy, but lost a stone of it after the birth. The last stone I managed to shed through exercise, and I even managed to lose a stone extra. Being a stone lighter than I was before I got pregnant still didn’t help me feel better…what was the point in being slim when I had stretch marks and saggy boobs? I just wanted to curl up and die at times.

When my daughter was 5 months old I was diagnosed with postnatal depression, and was put on meds to help me cope. I loved my daughter so much, but hated myself just as much. I’d become a real mess, and didn’t know who I was anymore or what my purpose in life was. I felt my daughter deserved a better mother than she had…my opinion of myself was at it’s lowest. After a few months on the meds, I really started to feel better. I had a good long look at my life, and got my priorities straight. My daughter was way more important than how I looked, and I really needed to start spending more time having fun with her, and less time worrying about myself. I knew that I was lucky, I had a gorgeous, healthy child who was thriving and coming along brilliantly, and not every parent had been that lucky. I started to feel ashamed of how much I obsessed over how I looked, and started seeing past my imperfections I even started feeling a little bit proud of how I looked! My partner saw how much I’d come along, and offered to pay for breast augmentation surgery, although he didn’t think I needed it. I thought about it long and hard…I knew it was a risk, and maybe a little bit shallow, but why not take the chance to feel a little bit better about yourself? I had my surgery in February 2008. The surgery, combined with my medication and hard work repairing my mental health really lifted my confidence from the floor…I finally felt I had a body to be proud of, stretch marks or no stretch marks (although they’re very faded now, you can only see them in certain lights)!! I started modeling again in May 2008, and although I do have to explain the stretch marks to photographers, most of them are fine with it and find ways to work around it.

My daughter is now 18 months old. I love her so much, and can’t believe I wasted so much time fretting over how I looked instead of having as much fun as possible with her and feeling lucky that I have such a happy, healthy child. But I also realize that I can’t blame myself for it, PND is something that affects alot of women, and it made the first few months of my baby’s life a very dark time for me. I’m doing all I can to make it up to her now :) she is my inspiration for everything I do.

All my pics are completely unedited so you can see what I look like!

Modeling before pregnancy
Stomach before pregnancy
9 months pregnant
Modeling after pregnancy
Stomach after Pregnancy
Me and my little girl Cadey