Hi. I am a young parent of 2 sets of twins. I am 10 months postpartum with my recent set and my other two boys are 9. I need to loose around 2 stone but can’t find the motivation. Wonder will my belly get worse with weight loss or better.
Your Age: 21, almost 22 Number of pregnancies and births: 2/2
Age of Children: Oldest son is almost 2, youngest son is 6 months old
Hi, I’m Darlene. I have two beautiful sons, Malikai (almost 2) and Jude (6 mos.). I love both of my babies and I don’t know where my life would be heading if I wasn’t blessed with them.
I gained over fifty lbs with each pregnancy. Malikai weighed 9 lbs when he was born and Jude was 7 lbs 12 oz. I did tear with Malikai but I don’t know how badly I tore.
My breasts sag (I’m currently exclusively pumping for Jude ever since he started refusing to nurse), I have stretch marks literally everywhere, I have a flabby belly, and I think my vagina looks very unattractive. Scar tissue also makes sex painful at times, and I don’t get/stay wet like I should since I’m breastfeeding.
Now on my vaginal opening and somewhat on the urethral opening, there are skin tags or scar tissue. Keep in mind that both of my babies were born vaginally, no complications.
Is there anything I can do to improve the appearance of my labia and vaginal area? I know that kegel exercises won’t help with appearance, just interior muscle tone.
(Since the photos are quite personal, I am linking to them rather than posting them directly.)
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My name is Roxanne, I’m 26 years old from east Tn. I have two children 9year old son and 7 year old daughter, and have recently lost two babies with my boyfriend of one year. I’ve had a hard time learning to love myself. I was in a 10 year relationship to a true piece of crap and now that I have found the man of my dreams I often have self esteem issues. He says he loves my mom bod and loves me for who I am not just my looks. Some days are better than other’s but I never thought I’d share these photos. But I love me, naked or not!!
I was just 18 when I got unplanned pregnant with my first child. At the beginning of pregnancy I was a tiny 110lbs six pack belly girl, but by the end I was round everywhere at 175lbs.
I used cream because of my fear of stretch marks but it turned out I had an alergic reaction to the cream that made me wake up scratching my belly and it being fire red. Needless to say by the end of the pregnancy my belly was one giant fireball of stretch marks.
My legs also ended up with plenty of stretch marks due the swelling in the legs, funny thing is I never thought I would have to worry about my legs.
I nearly had any breast at the beginning of pregnancy with my a cup that nearly was filled in, by the end of pregnancy I had a c cup. Also much bigger and big red nasty stretch marks around my boobs. Now 8 years later the stretch marks on my boobs are still red.
Birth was no joke either. I was 41 weeks pregnant when I got induced, after 32 long ours I finally was able to push.
After 4 hours of pushing the doctors said I needed a emergency c-section but the doctor who was on call for that was an hour away. So I had to sit there on pain and fear for an hour till they put me on the operation table.
Once they started to cut I was freaking out yelling at them “I can feel it I can feel it” so they had to put me to sleep.
(Looking back I’m sure I didn’t feel anything, but during that moment it sure felt that way in my mind)
My baby girl was 2 hours old before I woke the first time and can somewhat remember it. I didn’t get to hear her first cry, hold her first or give her a kiss before so many others did.
Mather fact I was still so drugged up I have a hard time remembering holding her for the first time.
As that wasn’t enough I lost so much blood during the c-section that my body went into shock a day later and I needed a blood transfusion.
All of that lead to a very distant relationship to my daughter, it’s sad but true that I didn’t start building a relationship with her until she was 4. She is 8 now and we still have to work on our relationship ship. It saddens me that it’s so obvious that there was a big cap between us and that it left invisible scares for the both of us.
After I had her I didn’t ever wanted any kids anymore. I hated the idea of labor.
And my body was so ugly to me. I was a size 3 before I had her and a 13 after I had her. I was so depressed I didn’t loose any wight at all.
When she turned 3 me and her dad split up. He went to Korea for the army and I stayed back with a child I couldn’t even connect with, one day I had a brake down and I send her to my parents.
Looking back that’s the best thing I could have done for the both of us.
In that time I did stupid things but I also started to find myself. I learned that I can love myself again, I started to be more active and the weight went down.
I myself joined the army and became for the first time in my life independent.
I was able to take care of my child again, and so I did :)
7 years after I had her I married my husband and we had another daughter, and now we are expecting another one.
Yes I have issues with my wight but it’s not as bad as it used to be. It doesn’t stop me from loving myself like it it did before.
I have a new body but I am also a new person, I am a mom and I love everything that I brings with it. Including my body and mind!
Love yourself more one day at a time :)
Included a picture of my now pregnant belly with all the marks.
I’m 20 years old with two beautiful baby boys, but I can’t stand my body. I can’t even look at it. Before pregnancy I was self conscious about my body but in reality it was pretty perfect.. 5’5 132lbs, 34C breasts, wide hips and flat stomach. I’ve always had self image issues and I don’t know where it stemmed from… Little did I know what my body would look like in the years to come.
I got pregnant with my first son at 17 from a man I was with for 4 years (I met him when I was very young) with that pregnancy I gained about 40lbs. I got my first stretch mark by no surprise considering that fact that it runs strongly in my genes, my mom and grandma have stretch marks ripping across their stomachs. But I was still in denial. “What is this line on my hip? It can’t be a stretch mark, is it a varicose vein? Nobody gets stretch marks on their hips.” At about 30 weeks there was no hiding the sad truth, I had already gained stretch marks that ripped over my once magazine cover ready body. I had stretch marks on my thighs, my breasts, my stomach, hips and back (yes my back).
My son was born at 36 weeks when my water spontaneously broke. Other than some feeding problems my son was born healthy. My breasts engorged to no return however, they were unmeasurable. Well past a 42DD. So when my milk dried up, it left me with two sad saggy excuses for breasts. I didn’t even want to touch them. I felt like I was in the body of someone much much older than me and I hated it… They were uneven, my nipples were dark and pliable… They felt like two empty socks filled with sand. That’s the only way I can explain it and trust me they remained that way.
To my surprise though despite the breasts I now hated, I had lost the pregnancy weight rather fast over the rest of my body, I wasn’t doing anything special and I wasn’t nursing. I shed 40lbs in just weeks.. I then continued to lose weight with a combination of staying busy and not eating as much as I had before pregnancy. I dropped down to the skinniest I had ever been when my son was about 6 months old. Because I could easily hide my breasts and my stretch marks I was pretty confident and proud of my mom bod. When my son was 7 months old I met the love of my life who accepted me and my son, he was fully prepared to be the father figure to him and even planned to put his name on the birth certificate. When I was with him I continued to see progress in my body. He accepted me. He made me feel sexy, he kissed my tummy and always told me how beautiful I am- boobs and all. We got engaged pretty fast, about 5 months into our relationship. But I didn’t care, he was perfect to me and my son. We were together about 10 months when I fell pregnant and although he was scared and I was scared, we were so very happy. We found out we were having a boy and he thought it was sexy that I was carrying his child, I loved it- but I knew soon my body was going to plummet down to that nasty, saggy, wrinkly state once I had given birth. Hearing horror stories of how much harder it is to get your body back the second time around worried me to no end.
But something horrible happened. It’s hard for me to talk about but I need to share my story, maybe for my own closure. When I was 7 months pregnant my fiancé, the love of my life, the biological father to the beautiful baby boy in my tummy and the soon to be adoptive father of my older son… He passed away. He was only 23. It was a tragic accident and he was in the hospital for 1 1/2 weeks. He slowly declined as far as his reflexes and eventually the doctor preformed tests and told me he was brain dead. He was an organ donor so they artificially kept his body alive for 4 days. I was at the hospital every second of every day. At 7 months pregnant I quickly dropped 12 lbs in 12 days. I didn’t eat. I slept next to him. I put his hand on my belly. I kissed him and knew it would be the last time I felt him. I prayed, I cried, I lost it. But what kept me going was knowing I had a piece of him inside me. The nurses were so very worried about me. They tried so hard to get me to eat for the health of my baby but I just couldn’t. I’ve never been so sick in my life. I felt cheated and ripped off. It wasn’t fair that he wouldn’t get to meet his son. We were so close- I was due in two months. I quickly became jealous and bitter toward all the happy pregnant couples and the women who got to see the father of their child’s reaction to meeting their kids… After his funeral I started to eat again. But I didn’t care how much weight I gained. I didn’t care about the stretch marks or my breasts sagging. I knew I had to bring his baby into the world by myself and it would be all we have left of him. I didn’t care if I got stretch marks up to my neck, I didn’t care if my breasts sagged to my knees or if I gained hundreds of pounds I just didn’t care. I just felt blessed that I had his baby in me. I don’t know how I would’ve taken it if he hadn’t left anything behind. I knew my fiancés legacy lived on inside me and I would soon get to see a part of him face to face. Overall I gained 43lbs with my second, gained more stretch marks, my breasts got worse. My stomach is saggy. I’m about 3 pant sizes bigger. My belly bottom is blown out, wrinkly and dark. I’ve only lost 23lbs out of the 43 that I gained. When I see pictures of myself I cringe. I don’t see how anyone could love this body. And the fact that I’m going through it alone is 100x worse. My youngest boy is only 3 weeks old and you know what? He’s a spitting image of his father. I even named him after his father. He’s perfect. I feel so bad for him my heart hurts that he will never get to meet his dad. And that pain is so much more than any emotional pain I’ve ever had over my self image. I know I have a long time to go as far as letting my body heal- but I can tell this time around I’m not ever going to feel comfortable in my body again.
I may not have a great body- but what I do have is two PERFECT children, one of which is the product of a miracle. Both of which will never judge me for my body. After losing my fiancé I am so very lonely. I don’t have anybody here to tell me how beautiful I am or kiss my tummy like he did. I don’t get the pleasure to see his reaction when looking at his son who looks exactly like him. He was so excited about his first biological born son.
But I will never be truly alone because I have my children. They will never look a me differently for having stretch marks and a saggy body. They won’t care that their young mom has the body of someone three times her age. One thing that sticks with me when I look at my body in the mirror today is my fiancé telling me before he passed, that he didn’t care if I didn’t shed a single pound after pregnancy and he would love me no matter what. And I know he is looking down on me, being a guardian angel for his kids, kissing his boys foreheads and holding them, and his spirit is kissing my stretch marks and caressing my saggy stomach.
Hi there,
I am going to start at the beginning. Well I had always wanted to be a mother I had my first baby at the age of 22. I didn’t plan it and it took me and my partner of three years by surprise.
I had a beautiful boy 11 years ago weighing 9lb 9oz. It was an induced labour and i ended up with a 3rd degree tear into my bottom and over 50 stitches. Times were hard. It would seem that the healing process was more than I could bear and I suffered with post natal depression for 2 years afterwards.
I was too scared to try again for another baby for 7 years because I kept having flash backs to my first labour.
We had a lot of love to give and after 3 years trying to conceive and and operation to help with fertility we were blessed to have a beautiful 9lb 2oz girl.
We decided to try again for another baby and 6 months ago we had a boy 8lb 11oz.
I have always had low confidence my belly in particular has upset me over the years. It hangs especially if I am on all fours or over the top of clothes. I have been working out 3 times a week for the past 3 months to try and lose weight but I know that loose skin is forever a part of my journey and the journey many of us take to become a mother.
I think being a Mother is one of the most unselfish things a person can do. I am learning that my body is an amazing thing. It nourished and grew three beautiful babies. It is the only body I have and as I look around I see more and more people like me.
In some ways we are all warriors. We are braver than I knew possible and have all earned our stretch marks loose skin and wobbly bits. For every time you dont like your stretched belly there would be someone else who would give anything to be a parent regardless of how they look, someone who wishes they could be a mother as well.
I would have never dreamed of showing my tummy or lifting my shirt in public but if this helps just one other person with their journey to self acceptance then it was all worth it. It is ok to not like what you see in the mirror at times we all feel like that but dont lose sight of the person you are on the inside. Youre a mother and probably a damn good one be proud!
My photo is 6 months post partum after baby #3 x
This photo represents the power of positive social media. Anyone who knows me, knows how insecure I am about my tummy. No bikinis, long tops, loose yoga vests…the list goes on. Two huge babies left me with serious stretch marks and no muscle tone. I’ve been incredibly self-conscious for years since my beautiful children were born…the youngest is now 12! Why do we let unreal images of perfection define how we feel about our bodies. We’re all perfect exactly as we are. The marks, scars, loose skin, tummy rolls, ample hips don’t define us. They show us that we lived. This belly was home for two incredible humans and I would never change a thing. I’m so bored of obsessing over it, hating it, hiding it. Life is far too short. Time to move on. Without doubt this has been the hardest post I have ever shared but also the most personally transformative. Thank you @kathrynbudig and @yogajournal. So here goes to being brave, being real and owning my body.
I feel like I need to show this photo my myself to learn to love myself. I don’t know who to, but this seems like a good place to start :)
I was 83kgs before pregnancy, and. Now am 80kgs, so that’s a plus, but the stretch marks are a minus. They’re ugly and sometimes painful. I wish I was one of the lucky ones who avoided them, but I’m prone to them.
That’s how I have felt every day until today, I have made a promise to myself to learn to love what I have been left with. I can always loose weight if that bothers me, which it does a little… But I’ll always be stuck with the stretcheis so I may as well love them right? Every time I look at them I will remind myself why I have them, my precious little boy who I love to the ends of the earth!
He has brought me more happiness that I could ever want, and for that I’m so thankful. I’m thankful that my body was able to home him until he was ready for this world, that it grew to accommodate his tiny body!!
I’m so blessed to be able to do what so many others can’t, who desperately want it, just as I did. I think about all the women who would trade their fit toned stretch mark free bodies just to have a little baby to call their own, but can’t fall pregnant, or have kids for whatever reason…
I owe it to them, at the very least to rock my stretch marks!
Some people will still think they’re hideous, and whisper and snigger behind my back if I wear a bikini on the beach… Even some friends will whisper and talk about me. But who gives a sh*t!! My husband loves me more than ever, my son loves his mummy, and I’m soooo happy with my life!!
I’m not rich, actually we struggle most weeks to cover the bills, we can’t go out all the time so we spend a lot of time at home, together, and that makes me happy. :)
Sorry about the novel.
I just had to put it down in words…
This is 1st pregnancy
8month post baby
I’m 23
Natural birth
Age-25
Name-Megan
1 pregnancy
25 months postpartum
When I took these postpartum photos six weeks after I had my son, I told myself that I was still beautiful, that my body had just accomplished a huge feat and that my stretch marks were a reminder of the amazing thing my body had done by bringing my son into the world…and all of those things are true! But I truly felt down about my body. I was not used to having a big, squishy belly. And the stretch marks were so purple! And all over my stomach!
But time passed and now my son is two years old. Two wonderful, life altering, challenging, joyful years. And the stretch marks have faded! They’re still there of course , and they always will be, but now they’re just white lines and not even noticeable in pictures. Losing the weight didn’t take much. I eat healthy about 80% of the time, I eat reasonable portion sizes, and I exercise about three days a week.
Now I’m gearing up for a second pregnancy and the rollercoaster will start all over again but I couldn’t be more excited because I know that my body is capable of creating and sustaining life and also capable of repairing itself.
Pictures: 6 weeks PP, 25 months PP, my son, age 2.
Today’s post pulled from Instagram:
This is what a shape of another looks about 4 weeks post-c-section. I have a ways to go especially in that low abdominal area right above my incision… But I’m proud of my body for the 9 months I’ve carried each of my healthy boys for. Our bodies are truly amazing! (Left is 38 weeks pregnant)
