Submissions

I was so excited to get pregnant. I was not married yet, but I was engaged to the man I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. I conceived in February and we got married when I was about 6 months pregnant, in the end of July. I loved being pregnant and showing off my belly, even though it hurt my feelings when people would make comments about how I looked too small to be so far along. I took great care of myself: eating well, never missing even ONE day of prenatal vitamins, and certainly never smoking, drinking, or using any kind of drugs. I experienced some depression toward the end of my pregnancy and postpartum (it didn’t help that I got a really bad haircut at 36 weeks) and because of the medication I was put on I was initially deemed unable to breastfeed. That was VERY disappointing to me. Some of you may say my body bounced back very quickly. It’s true–I never even got stretch marks. But in a big way these things are upsetting to me. Since I don’t have any bodily reminders of having my daughter it makes me sad, especially since I’m not even able to breastfeed (I was eventually approved to do so, but by then she was too used to the bottle). I had to watch my engorgement deflate and my milk dry up. I had to watch my body look as though I had never given birth. This isn’t always a good thing. I love my daughter, Natalie Grace, immensely. Please don’t doubt that. I know SHE is a reminder of the experience. But the truth is, in some ways I miss being pregnant. That was the only time in which my body truly looked like that of a mother (or rather a mother-to-be.) Plus I just miss feeling her inside me and, hence, with me all the time Please appreciate the beauty of the bodies that bore your children and for those of you who could, fed them. It is a tremendous gift and I think you all look beautiful and happy and I wish I could enjoy these first few weeks more instead of feeling so disappointed and sad at times. The first picture is pre-pregnancy, then 14 weeks, 26 weeks, 32 weeks, 37 weeks, 3 days postpartum, and 3 weeks postpartum with Natalie. Good luck to you all.

This is my tummy about seven and a half months pregnant( I didn’t get stretch marks till the last two weeks). The other picture was taken about a month ago so about five months after our boy was born. It doesn’t show my stretch marks properly, they are more visible. They have faded more than I expected since I do scar very easily. Thank you for this web site, it is so nice to see REAL post baby bodies!

At the ripe age of 19 I found out I was pregnant. My pregnancy was problem free and I loved my belly and stretchmarks. Almost a year and a half later I am almost satisfied with how I look. My stretchmarks have faded and I’m slowly regaining my old shape. It’s been hard but I look at my daughter and know that she was worth it :)

My son is my light. He is everything to me. He makes me so happy; sometimes I just look at him & cry. He was due May 27th, & born on June 8th by ceserean. He weighed 11 lbs. 8 oz. I had a c-section because of his size, & because even almost 2 weeks past his due date, no progress towards labor had occured. I’d not dialated, had zero contractions, he had not even turned or dropped. My doctor did attempt to break my waters but couldn’t. Even if we’d induced, I probably would’ve needed a c-section anyway. Now I absolutely hate my body. It is so ugly. I wonder if I will ever be pretty again? I feel so young to have destroyed my body. I’m only 22. I have a saggy, wrinkly belly, covered with stretchmarks. I also have stretchmarks on my very lopsided breasts, on my thighs, hips, & even calves. NOTHING fits. I want my body back. I worry about being such a selfish mother that is so upset by my ugly body when I have the most precious & beautiful thing in the world because of it. Taking these pictures & showing them is really hard for me to do. Here’s what I look like now:

I have no photo to submit and I don’t have any children of my own as of yet, but I just wanted to say that I think that motherhood is one of the most amazing things that a woman’s body can do. It is horrific that society has made “beauty” so important that anyone who can’t live up to those standards is made to feel so shamed and ugly. I am a firm believer in women’s rights and that women should have careers, however the true “purpose” of our bodies is to make babies and feed them. It is the most incredible and beautiful miracle that I know of. Our bodies are able to give life to a new person and feed that person from ourselves. It is too bad that our culture lost the veneration of childbirth and mother hood that so many of the ancient cultures practiced. Every woman who has labored to bring a new life into this world should see her self as the truly wonderous miracle that she is and her body as the amazing vehicle that allows the human race to continue. I think you are all the most beautiful and strong women I have ever seen.

I am a mother of a still born son 29.4 weeks gestation. It’s been almost 2 years and I can’t get over him. He was 2 pounds 9 ounces, 14 and 3/4 long. He was so beautiful and I loved him. It’s been very hard on my 7 year old daughter. The umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck and I had a hematoma blood clot 80% of my placenta. I miss him every single day that goes by I don’t think I’ll ever get over him. I have so many pictures of him. The day that happened was the worst day of my life. I was so hurt and mad and in pain that I don’t think I coule be able to have another baby. I would be too scared that it would happen again. But I know God took him for a reason and he has a special place for him.

I posted once before when I was 5 months post partum here. Now one year has passed to the day. Today my beautiful daughter is one year old! I can’t tell you how much I love and adore her. Right now she lays on daddy’s tummy and naps! My darling! Well, in the time since I posted last, I am still breastfeeding and I am aiming for 2 years now because this first year has been a breeze! My body hasn’t changed much–maybe my breasts have shrunk, though! The day I delivered I weighed 160 lbs. Today I weigh 125-128, depending on the day. And I still haven’t had my period yet! Woo hoo! :) I have included photos I took just a few minutes ago in the restroom, including front, side, and the dreaded dimply bottom. One of my breasts is lopsided because I nursed on my right side last (just as in my previous post, one is bigger b/c of nursing). Thank you for this site! I’ve shared it with countless friends of mine. It is an inspiration and a reason to be proud of everything our bodies do!

Updated here.

I don’t have any watermelon-belly photos to share, as they were destroyed by flooding. Pre-pregnancy(ies) I weighed 103lbs, and gained over 30lbs each of three times- all in the belly. One time, a stranger in a maternity store even laughed at my shape. The marks and extra skin left cannot be ditched through any number of crunches, or with any magic cream. But because you have created this site, I can now see that the body changes of a mother, all mothers, are normal. What you’ve created here is a huge gift to mothers and to a community that might expect us to look different. Thank you. The three greatest blessings I ever received are in their teens now, and I am expecting my first grandchild within the year. And here is the current shape of things, the first time I’ve bared my belly in public in many years.

From the earliest memories I have of my mother, I can always remember her telling me how beautiful and smart I was.
Nevertheless, I grew up to become a very awkward, chubby, and self-conscious pre-teen.. I had huge issues with the way I looked, and no matter what my mother said, it never changed the way I saw myself in the mirror.
I began telling myself, “She’s wrong. I’m not beautiful.. I’m so far from perfect.”
My pre-teen years went by, along with the even more awkward teenage years, and became less and less important, as my mother always said they would.. and she was right, as usual.. and I finally grew up, found a man, and became pregnant with my first child, a little girl.
I became closer with my mother through those months, apologizing for everything I had said, and didn’t mean… for now, I was going to mother a daughter.. and couldn’t fathom how it would make me feel.
I told her, “I’m sorry I didn’t listen, when you told me I was perfect, it means more to me now…”
She replied, with “I never told you that you were perfect.. I said you were beautiful. I would never want you to be perfect, perfect is boring.”

Those words have stuck with me over the past few years… my daughter is now a beautiful, energetic 5 year old with an amazing 2 year old brother.
I’m doing my best to pass on the wisdom that my mother gave to me.. even if it takes her 10 , or 15 years to realize what it means… I don’t want her to reach desperately for the impossible, perfection. I want her to find beauty in imperfection.. because that kind of beauty is original.. it has a story, a past, and it’s anything but boring. :)

My daughter is now 1 year old. I was induced a week early because I was constantly dizzy and they didn’t know why. So I started the induction on a Thursday with a gel on my cervix and my labor mildly started that evening. I was admitted Friday morning and they broke my water at 11:00am and started pitocin. I ended up having her at 4:45 Saturday morning via c-section because I was unprogresing with the dialation. I had no idea this could happen. I made it a little past 9cm , and then the pressure from her head on it for so long caused swelling and I went back to 7 cm. I was fighting the push. I ended up having the c-section. I was so scared for that but it was easier than I expected. Until afterwards. It was hard to heal from and really painful. But I had no complications. I am proud of myself for everything I went through and we are now ttc #2. Everything is worth it in the end! I love my daughter and now I have this scar to show for what I went through. Although some days I dispise it and wish it were gone I have to except that it is a part of me forever… This site has helped me to realize that. And I also have a stretched hole above my belly button from a belly ring… another thing I wish would dissappear but never will. As much as I hate it, my daughter is worth it all.