Second Pregnancy

I’m Still Coming to Terms (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, Postpartum, Second Pregnancy, Submissions 4 Comments

These photos are of me 6 mo pp with #2. I was 170# pre-pregnancy. I gained 65 with #1. When my first daughter was 15 mo I got pregnant again. This time I gained 35 lbs. I currently weigh 198#s. My belly is sagging and full of stretch marks. When I look at my beautiful girls I don’t care what my stomach looks like. Then I look in the mirror and I am unhappy with what I see. My husband is supportive and tells me he still finds me sexy. I have a hard time believing him sometimes. I am working on my self image and hope to come to terms with my new body soon.






Almost a Year Later (Tee)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, Breasts, Legs, Second Pregnancy, Submissions, Update 3 Comments

Almost a year later after baby no. 2 and I still have yet to lose another 12 lbs before I am back to my old self. Motherhood can really take a toll on some peoples bodies, like myself and some escape with the faintest trace that they ever even carried a baby in their bellies. What a blessing! One of lifes small mysteries I suppose. Anyhow I would not change the outcome of the horrific changes my body underwent if it meant not having my lil ones, they were worth every deep, long, stretchmark, lose skin and saddle bags! I have stechmarks all the way from the back of my knees up my inner, front, and outer thighs, and every inch of my abs from the button down is covered with them, my hips have big, deep, long ones as well. Oh and my breast have the little water balloon effect going on (super droopy). But despite all that my hubbie still calls me sexy and loves all of me, the good, bad, and the ugly. What a blessing! Anyways I love, love, love this site. And despite my struggles with loving myself, this site makes it a little easier in knowing that I’m not alone!



Updated here.

Long Hard Road (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, Breasts, Cesarean, Postpartum, Second Pregnancy, Submissions, Teen Mom, VBAC 10 Comments

I’ve never been perfect. I know this. But for most of my life I’ve been satisfied with my body. As a teenager I had a wonderful body in my opinion. No, I never fit into those size 0 jeans, but I was curvy, had a pretty flat stomach, and all of this was done with no effort. I could pig out all day for weeks on end and end up losing 5lbs. I adored my 36-26-36 hourglass figure.

I got pregnant with my son when I was 18. I absolutely loved it, but my body didn’t. My sedentary lifestyle wasn’t cutting it anymore and I gained a total of 60lbs before all was said and done. I managed to make it until my 8th month before the stretchmarks started coming, but when they did they came on full force. Suddenly I was covered all across my stomach, my hips, my butt, my thighs, and even on the back of my knees and calves. It was horrendous! After having my son I felt anything BUT sexy. And it didn’t help that I had him by c-section, so my confidence in my body was already shot down because I didn’t even feel like a woman anymore.

I lost a little of the weight but the stretchmarks remained behind as reminders of the wonderful little boy I carried for 9 months. Over time I gained more confidence and soon the stretchmarks faded from red to silver. But my body was still foreign to me and I’ve never felt quite comfortable in my own skin since…

Then almost 2 years later we decide to have another child. I kept my weight gain at a good 38lbs, only got a few more stretchmarks, and for the most part was happy that my body wasn’t falling apart again on me. I had a wonderful successful natural VBAC and regained the confidence in my body and how it worked. I wasn’t broken anymore.

But even that lift in spirits over the mechanics of my body still can’t override my dissatisfaction in the way I look. I keep telling myself that I’ve just given birth 2 months ago. That my body is a result of the beautiful children I’ve brought into this world. That I am beautiful. But every time I look in the mirror I see differently. I see the sagging breasts that have nourished my kids. I see the stretched out, saggy, loose, scarred stomach. I’m no longer that 36-26-36 I used to be. Now I’m 39-39-42. I’m fighting a war with myself. I’ll never be like I used to be and that’s fine with me. But I need to be comfortable at least. I can’t go on afraid to be sexual with my husband or avoiding mirrors when I change clothes. This has to stop.

So I’m traveling down a long hard road on a journey to find myself and the confidence that I used to have in my body. I’m not sure where or when I’ll find it, but I’m working on getting healthier and into shape. One day I’ll finally feel like me again and I can’t wait until that day comes….







3 Years Later and Still This?? (Angele)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, Postpartum, Second Pregnancy, Submissions, Update 6 Comments

Hi everyone, I am 28 years old. I had my first daughter when I was 20. I was 130lbs pre-baby and I gained 38 lbs in 38 weeks and 4 days of pregnancy. I lost most of that weight and was back into a size 7. I became pregnant with my second daughter at the age of 25; starting weight was 140lbs and I gained a massive 58 lbs which brought me up to 198lbs at delivery. Well, not as lucky with my second as my first. I stretched out very large, I carried all in the front. My daughters are now 7 years old and 3 years old, and I still have the left over of my pregnancy…I have seen specialists and doctors on how best to deal with my stomach.. only solution.. is a tummy tuck.. so we are saving for plastic surgery. A whopping 9 000$ to just feel normal..just to feel as tough my stomach isnt a foreign object on my body….I just want to be able to wear clothes without having to tuck my belly into my jeans! This site was a Godsend to me, I finally felt like I wasn’t alone, and thought..wow, these gorgeous women have similar bellies, maybe showing mine, might help another mom dealing with her insecurties also. Thank you for reading.. Just a note..I am doing this for me, and myself only. My husband doesnt seem to see the belly and stretch marks.. he still sees me as me..the me before our babies.




Updated here and here.

7wks PP, 2nd child, 1st C-sec, 29yrs old (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, Breasts, Butt, Cesarean, Postpartum, Second Pregnancy, Submissions, Tattoo 22 Comments

I started this pregnancy at 120 lbs and delivered at 150. I lost 20 lbs right away and have 10 more to go. My 1st pregnancy was 10 years ago and I weighed 90 lbs (underweight). I gained 40 lbs and snapped right back into shape (a healthier weight of 105ish). This time I am 10 years older, started out heavier and had a c-section. Taking this pictures made me realize I need to work way harder to get this weight off. I don’t look as bad in the mirror as I do in these pics. I’ve always had trouble gauging the true size of my own body. Let’s just say after seeing these pics I have A LOT more motivation to get skinny!






My Miracle Baby (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, Child Loss, Complications in Pregnancy, NICU, Preemie, Pregnant, Second Pregnancy, Submissions 3 Comments

I started college in the fall of 2007 where I met my wonderful fiance and my life was going really great. I started dating him in August of 2007 and became pregnant in September. I panicked and sought out to my roommates to figure out what to do. One of them suggested to take vitamin c every hour because it supposedly caused a woman to miscarry. I was so very desperate and so unprepared that I decided to do it. I ended up losing the baby and I never told anyone else besides those girls about that experience. I was devastated, but quickly got back to doing well in school and trying my best to abstain from sex. I was hurting so much inside that it made me physically ill thinking about what I had done. I didn’t understand why on earth I would do something like that to an innocent being. It proved to be one of the many challenges that semester. I ended up getting mono, and my boyfriend broke up with me which was more than I could handle. About two weeks later, we got back together and everything seemed fine. Our relationship had a pretty rocky start and by february 2008, I was pregnant again. I was thinking of the horrible decision I had made before and I promised myself not to ever do something like that again. I decided to keep my baby and my fiance stood by my side every step of the way. It was not easy, but I was determined to get through it. I had a huge support system from my family, my fiance, and my fiance’s family. I was 140lbs when I got pregnant and the day before I had my daughter I was 187. I had never weighed that much in my entire life. I missed being 140lbs because that was the time when I felt amazing about myself! I want that back so badly!

I was due November 14, 2008 with my daughter, but had her October 9th due to complications with toxemia. My b/p was 160/110 and the protein level of my urine reached 7,000 from 1,200 three days prior. I couldn’t believe it! I was 34weeks 6days when she was born. She weighed 4lbs 13ounces and was 18in long. She was in the NICU for 13 days before I got to bring her home. It was the hardest thing I ever had to go through. I spent every day in the hospital with her and held her for as long as I could. I didn’t even get to see her until 2 days postpartum. I cried when I was discharged and I could not bring my little baby home with me.

I think back to my miscarriage and while I feel the deepest regret for what I had done, I can’t help but feel thankful too that if I had gone through with the first pregnancy, then I would not have my beautiful baby girl.

She is now a healthy 2 month old. She is the most amazing person in the world and I love her so much.

Funny story about her name…I LOVE Jon and Kate Plus 8, and I was so drugged up(heavy meds after a c-section lol!!) when the birth recorder came by to get her name that I named my daughter after 2 of Jon and Kate Gosselin’s kids…Madelyn Alexis Faith.

Hahaha.
Oops!
Well, Madelyn was picked out waaay before I saw the show so that is okay :)

I do not have any belly pictures on this computer, but I do have some pre-pregnancy pictures, hospital pictures, and some pictures of Madelyn!




Anonymous

Bonnie (SOAM) Adoption, Belly, Postpartum, Second Pregnancy, Submissions 14 Comments

i’ve been visiting this site for nearly two years now and, since the beginning, i’ve wanted to submit my story. i am a 30 year old mother to two sons, aged 3 and 18 months. we are currently expecting our third baby, through international adoption. my husband and i were married in june of 2004, and two months later we found out that we were pregnant with our first child. i was, on my wedding day, *thinner* than i’d ever been since high school, weighing about 135 pounds at 5’7″. very quickly, in pregnancy, (many thanks to emotional eating coupled with milkshakes, and peanut butter m&ms) i gained nearly 80 pounds. somehow, i thought that all of my pregnancy weight would just “melt away.” my lowest weight between baby number 1 and baby number 2 was 152 pounds. now, a year and a half after the birth of our second child, i weigh about 13 more pounds than i did the day we were married, when i was at my *thinnest.* today, i am stronger than ever before. in may, i completed my first half marathon (something i NEVER could have done when i weighed 135 pounds.) i’ve run over 500 miles in the past year. i’m currently training for another 13.1 mile race, and i’m working towards a 200 mile, 10 person relay. while i don’t absolutely love the body that i see in the mirror every single day (especially not its stretch marked tummy or “pancake-y” breasts) i stand in awe of what it has accomplished; my body carried two strong, healthy baby boys to 41 weeks and 2 days (each!), it endured two natural childbirths (the first one totaling about 20 hours, with nearly 4 hours of drug free pushing!), it’s nourished and sustained and comforted and carried and protected two amazing little boys who are in love with every single inch of their mama. and, it’s being loved now, by my husband, like it’s thinner self never would have dreamed possible. (my body truly is a wonderland.) as i wait, now, for my third child to come home to us, i realize that there is so much more to the shape of a mother than her outstretched stomach, her rippled thighs, her c-section scar or her wrangled belly button. what’s more important are the marks left, the changes made, inside of her. while i may not be showing, my heart is fully expecting.





I am what I am – a mom (Rachel)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, Postpartum, Second Pregnancy, Submissions, Teen Mom 2 Comments

Well here goes nothing… My name is Rachel I’m about to be 21 I have 2 wonderful kids A boy that is 3 and a girl 1. I had my son when I was 17 ( yes i was married and got married at 16 ) and i hated my body after I had him and made me feel even worse on the inside when I had to stop breast feeding my son.. he was allergic to my milk and when my breast milk dried up Osaw all I never wanted to see small raisin like boobies….and then my Husband who had been in Iraq got his 2 weeks leave and I never took off my clothing with out the room being pitch black… but in afew months time I went back down from 166lbs to my 120lbs self and that made me happy!
Two years later we made another baby she is now one and im 130lbs and have grown to love my body breast in all… I am who I am a MOM !!! and i love all that comes with it even the slobber kisses an dthe sleepless nights and the dirty nappys.. Muah love to all you other moms you are all beautiful!



Mother of Two (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, Cesarean, Cesarean Scar and/or Incision, Postpartum, Second Pregnancy, Submissions, Tattoo 2 Comments

I recently just had my second child, a precious little girl a couple weeks ago. After I had my first child in 2006, I submitted photos to this site. Now after my second I am sending updated ones. With both pregnancies I gained 30lbs, starting out each time around 130. I am currently down to 145, but it is harder this time to lose the weight. I had a csection with both, so my scar is pretty obvious, but I’m ok with that. I think of it as a “smiley face” where my children came out of. I want to say thanks for this website, it is so amazing!