5 Weeks PP 2nd Baby (Shannon)

Original entry here.

i had liam april 10 via cesarean at 11:53, 7 lbs 15 oz, 19 in. he is very healthy, although i am still so scared to lose him. it has been a very emotional month…the 1 year anniversary since connor passed was may 1st. i miss him so much, he would have loved his little brother! i know he is in heaven watching over us and making his baby brother smile! liam is amazing and i love him just as i love connor. i will be posting my body at another time…but that is not what matters right now, it gave me the 2 greatest boys ever!

pics:
connor
me the night before i had liam
liam at birth
liams 2nd walk and my connor shirt
liam and mommy 1 month pp

Updated here, here, here and here.

Still Trying to Accept my “Shape” (Anonymous)

I am 25 years old. I had my second baby 8.5 months ago. I look at my body and think “wow i don’t look as BAD as i thought i would after my second but I look nothing like I did 5 years ago haha.” Then again, I haven’t stopped breastfeeding yet…So, I don’t know what my breasts will look like. Sometimes it makes me sad to think about what they might look like but I know I am doing the best for my baby. I do have a hard time looking at myself in photos because I think I look so much bigger than I have ever. Maybe time will make it a little better but I dont know. I honestly feel exhausted and have not started working out so not loosing weight is my own fault. I get really hungry also because I am breastfeeding and the extra weight will not come off!! Well here are my photos, not sucking in or anything – gut out and everything! I think I still look 5 months pregnant and I have back rolls! I guess that’s the shape of a mother :)

~Your Age: 25
~Number of pregnancies and births: 2
~The age of your children, or how far postpartum you are: 3 years old & 8.5 months baby

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I’ve Learned a TON at Twenty-One (Abby)

Most people my age are changing their majors in college, because they decided they don’t really like Art History as much as they thought they would.
They know exactly how many beers they can drink and probably still drive home.
They still are secretly thrilled that Mom can’t tell them what to eat or the “appropriate” way for someone that age to dress.
But not I.
I have been married almost four years, have experienced what “Two under two” really means, and yes – I relish the fact that I would rather sit at home watching Madagascar 2 then go to the club.

I met the man of my dreams when I was 17, married him within five months, and got pregnant in our first year. I was 5’3, and 125 pounds (super muscular too; I was a dancer).

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I gained at least SIXTY pounds by the end.

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And nobody told me that might happen. I never lost enough to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. I tried so hard to have the self esteem I once did, but those around me were determined to bring me down. One of my friends felt the need to tell me that “a few crunches would tighten that tummy right up.” Thanks, skinny friend of mine. People close to me thought it was a good idea to enlighten me as to why I “gained so much EXTRA weight.” Apparently, they thought it was just me being a cow while pregnant. Okay, maybe that last part is a teensy bit true.
My amazing and beautiful daughter made me forget about the things that used to matter to me. Like: how I look in a bikini; is that girl staring at me because she is jealous of my awesome boobs; can I buy that in a size small…. These things magically got away from me while I was busy raising my baby. Also, she started walking at 7 months old, so I didn’t have much time to sit and think anyways. Bless her little heart.

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I got pregnant again when she was ten months old, and I was 150 pounds. And I decided I was happy with that.

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I only gained 30 pounds the second time around.

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When my baby boy was born, my tummy seemed to recede much faster. Maybe it was because I was chasing around my 1.5 year old. Who knows.

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I felt myself getting happier about my body so much sooner. Everything has fallen into place for me now – I spend my time worrying about toy recalls, wondering if my girl can still fit her fat head into the 12 month shirt, when my boy will decide that boobies are not enough and that he wants some real food, and how my toddler wakes up several times a night but my infant sleeps at least 8 hours straight.
It really helps that my husband is realistic – he knows exactly what a body is going to look like after a baby. And he tells me everyday that I am just as beautiful as I have ever been (except now and then he says I am just a little bit more beautiful…. he is such a wily one). I stare at myself in the mirror all the time and say, “You are one hot momma!”
And not because I am flawless. But because I know what makes me attractive to the people who matter; the fact that I am doing a great job raising my children.

I know my body isn’t perfect now. But it wasn’t perfect when I was skinny either. My life, on the other hand, feels about as close to perfect as it can get. At least until we have our other four children.

Me, four months after baby #2

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My Baby Bellies (Kelly)

I can not believe that I have accidentally found this wonderful website – a breath of fresh air!! Thank you so much for dispelling the myth that we all go straight back to our post baby bodies, it is such a relief to see that others know this fact and accept it. Why should we go back to that body anyway, we are different, more important people; we are mothers!!

I had my first child when I was 23, and I did not have too much trouble losing the 23 kg I put on during that pregnancy. I was lucky, only a few stretch marks on my breasts. However with my second child, while I put on less weight, I had a bigger baby, I got heaps of stretch marks, and a lovely saggy tummy that just won’t budge.

I see pictures in magazines of celebrities who lose all their weight in like 4 weeks, and have wonderful flat stomachs – it just makes me feel horrid. I always though that women (and their partners) need to know the truth; if you can be prepared for the complete transformation that you go through, I’m certain that we would be able to accept and possible even love, our post-baby bodies.

First pregnancy, 40 weeks. 38 weeks pregnant with Luci, my second child, born via c-section then following morning weighing 8lb 7oz.

C-Section Scar (serenebabe)

(Originally posted 4.28.09 at her blog.)

I hate the doctor who did the c-section to get Althea out. My midwives suggested it’s possible I make scar tissue well and that an incision close to my first c-section wasn’t an option. Maybe that’s true. I still hate that doctor. First of all, she never even told me when the surgery was starting. Seems only courteous to say, “We’re starting the procedure” or some such indication.

Then, rationality aside, I blame her for the ridiculously high incision. Wide, too. Sure, it will heal thinner and less obvious. But, it will never get lower or less wide.

In honor of TMI Tuesday (a weekly holiday I celebrate with Stephanie H. on Facebook) I’m going to share photos of the fucked up scar and the older and less fucked up scar.

Here’s the first incision that I don’t mind, about 6 years old.

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Certainly TMI because if you look closely I think some pubes are showing (on this and maybe each of them, I think). Not ideal, but I doubt a little hair ever hurt anyone. The thing is, this incision is *right* at the line of my pubic hair. The photo makes it seem like there’s space but, really, it’s about on top of the hair line. Barely visible when I’m naked.

Now, here’s the second incision from almost three weeks ago.

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Sure, it’s healing well. And, it will look different in another few weeks. But, do you see how close it is to my belly button? WTF? I can’t imagine there’s any reason for that thing to be so high up.(not sure why it’s rotated funny)

This photo shows them both.

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And, of course, you can see the slowly receding stretch marks. The badges of motherhood. If the higher up marks are any indication, these lower ones will fade almost entirely away. If I was vain enough I would have waited until the skin wrinkles (from my pajama pants) had faded away. But, here I am, in all my glory.

It’s what a real woman looks like. A real woman who was cut by a fucking asshole surgeon.

22 year old mother of 4 under the age of 2! (Tabitha)

I got pregnant with spontaneous triplets when i was 20. I had them two months early on july 1st 2007. At 21 i got pregnant again with my last baby and it was only one! He is now two months old and growing wonderfully! He had to be 3 weeks early because of my previous c-section. They had to cut a J incision to get my oldest triplets head out so i had a higher risk of rupturing my uterus if i had gone into labor with my newest child. When my husband and i got pregnant with Brennan i hadnt lost the weight or the skin from the triplets. Ive never been happy with my body until i got pregnant. I wish sometimes i could always look and feel that way i loved my body with a big baby bump even though i was so huge. now that we had our 4th child i had to get my tubes tied. We are in the military and I dont know if i could handle being pregnant again and tring to take care of 4 babies at the same time. With the last pregnancy i was alone my husband and just been deployed to iraq. Luckily he was able to come home before Brennans c-section. I am definately in love with my children and i cant imagine being without them. they make everyday different for me and super exciting. I had a lot of people tell me “god bless you” or “im sorry” when they see me out with my kids. I guess they have no idea how much fun it is to have multiples. Yes there are hard times the good always out weighs the bad. With my body i wish i could be like some of the younger girls who have one baby and go right back to the way they were before they had a baby, but of course having had 4 babies in 2 years the chances of that werent there. I look at myself and shrug but i know that i made wonderful babies and would never take it back. My husband loves every part of me and sometimes i wonder why but i know its because he appreciates what i did to have our children. I wish i could look like a normal 22 year old but then again what “normal” 22 year old has put their body through this? It makes me smile also sometimes when i see the tattoo on my belly and how messed up it is becuase then i remember how wonderful i felt while i was pregnant and how much im going to miss going through it again. But now i get to enjoy my babies and watch them grow and i can finally run around with them and not be out of breath. I could have never pictured my life like this but i guess thats the way god works everything is a surprise and he gave me the best surprise ever! The picture of my belly is 2 months PP from my last son. The names of my children are Riley Chloe and Aiden and our youngest is Brennan!

age: 22
2 pregnancies 2 months PP

Triplets age 2
Brennan 2 months
triplet pregnancy, second pregnancy, four children

Updated here.

2nd Pregnancy and still loving it – 21 weeks preggo (Rachel)

Previous entry can be seen here.

Here I am at 21 weeks with our second child. I would be happy to keep you guys posted on this pregnancy with progression pic submissions from this point out but I just don’t want to steal space from others. I’d like to invite all to shoot me an email to chat at rachelsigfried@yahoo.com.

Updated here.

3 1/2 Years Postpartum with Second Baby (Monique)

name: monique
Age:24, had first baby at 16 and second at 20
Children: 2 little girls 6 and 3 almost 3 and a half years post parterm

First off i found this site along time ago but didnt ever think i would get the guts to send anything. but i now love my body just the way it is.

I got pregnant at 16 with my first daughter who is now 6 and amazing i had her at 17 after a really short pregnancy she was born at 33 weeks and weighed only 5 lbs but looking at her now you would never guess the bean pole was ever a preemie. i was a size 3 when i got pregnant with her and after words shrunk to a zero from breast feeding i was fortunate with her to get only one stretch mark that wasn’t even noticeable. i got pregnant at 20 with my second daughter and had a horrible pregnancy plagued with kidney problems and other health problem i was in the icu for almost a month while pregnant and they thought they would have to deliver her at 26 weeks via c section but i wouldn’t allow that. i ballooned while pregnant with her gaining 75 lbs on my very little body i did carry her to term as a matter of fact two weeks later then term but i wasn’t so lucky on losing the weight that time i lost only like 30 lbs and my husband did nothing but criticize my weight and all the stretch marks i got. but 3 years late im done all the pregnancy weight and now im at what i weighed when i got pregnant with my first daughter. granet i lost all the weight because i was going through a divorce but i am now in a healthy relationship and my boyfriend loves my body extra skin and stretch marks and all he tells me i should be proud of them because i have two beautiful and healthy daughters and i am proud. i hope to have more kids someday and even if i get more stretch marks i will still love my body no matter what. thank you for this site it helped a lot in accepting me the way i am.

Thankful and Blessed but Still Trying to Accept (mummyoftwodarlings)

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

Young mom Trying to Accept her Postpartum Body (Amanda)

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