Submissions

I love every stretch mark, every every extra pound, every minute of lost sleep, all of it. When I look into my girls eyes and see their unconditional love for me it makes it all worth it!!

I posted on here in December, I think. I was around 30 weeks pregnant in that photo. And now, I am ten days postpartum. I was stated before, I got no new stretch marks. Merely kept the old ones. :)

My first son is three years old. And I pretty much look the same after I had him. I am lucky, I suppose, that it wasn’t worse. But if it was, I don’t believe it would bother me a whole lot.
You see, with the birth of my second son, during delivery, his heart rate dropped to 40–and stayed there. I didn’t allow myself to be terrified. And in truth, the whole labor/delivery is a blur. But in hindsight, I realize that we could have lost him. I would have given anything to save him. I pushed him out in 6 minutes! He went to the NICU for about 30 to 45 minutes, was deemed healthy, and we went home the next day.

And I can safely and boldly say that I am happy with my body.
And my beautiful boys! :)

The first photo is me at 40 weeks. 6 days before I gave birth.
The second is ten days postpartum.

Original entry.

Nursing is such a wonderful thing; he doesn’t mind the strech marks on the boobs!

I went from the flat tummy, nicely shaped breast, no to mention a size 3. to findind out that my whole world was about to change…

9 mos. later, 70 lbs. later, a beautiful baby entered my life, forever changing it, and finally given it some meaning.. Needless to say I wasnt a size 3 anymore! I didnt start dieting, I thought that it would just fall off, lol. thats what I thought…thats not how it works. So, I began to get really depressed about this “new body”. Then, at a normal visit to the baby’s doctor, he said” she must undergo openheart surgery or not live a very long life, were talking months.” My heart sank. I hated this body, that gave me this precious life and she wasnt promised a tomorrow. How could I hate my body that had given me this is blessing?

Now shes 4 years old with a brother thats 16 mos., theyre both full of life! but, with my second pregnancy I learned you cant eat EVERYTHING!I only gained 20 lbs. I embrace every stretch mark and the saggy breasts. I earned thoses marks! I learn this is ME forever and I love myself but, I had to teach myself to do that. I just want women who have just had a baby, who feel hopeless and ugly, to look deep inside, theres the beauty and its on that tummy, those breast thats nursed your baby..

THATS BEAUTY!

let me start by saying that i was nowhere near perfect before i got pregnant with my first son, Gavin, at the young age of 16. I was not fat, but not ‘model’ material. Well, 2 and half years and two babies later, i definately have a belly i do not like. I have felt, up until recently, that i was disgusting, unattractive, fat, saggy, etc….and 19 who feels this way? But then one day i had an epiphany, and now i try to look at myself realistically. i am not a movie star, i am not a model, i am a mother. and although i have tons of stretch marks, scars, saggy skin, saggy boobs, i have the two most wonderful little boys that make up for it, and then some. i just wanted to share some photos of my postpartum belly, although i had my youngest almost 8 months ago, my belly looks as if i just had him yesterday. I hope this gives some other mothers (especially us young ones) some encouragement, and selfesteem.

i started out pregnancy at appx. 100lbs.

I was once a naked canvas. My skin was untouched, smooth and that is what I thought beauty was.

My body yearned to hold life within it, and at the tender age of 18 I was granted that wish.

I saw only beauty in my pregnancy. My body was like a mound of clay; and by the hands of God it was being molded into a sanctuary for a life to grow within its walls.

No longer did I have my defined ballerina body, instead it became wide, soft and chubby. My stretch marks were never a shame or a burden at that time. To me, they were like rose colored ivy weaving and dancing up and down my body; proof that my body was willing to heal after the pulling and stretching of my skin. Yes, they were different, and up until then, I never knew stretch marks existed. All I wanted was a happy and healthy baby, my body now was no longer my own.

It wasn’t until I gave birth that they became a horrific stain upon my life…

I went to the hospital in minor labor only to find out that my precious baby was being strangled by the umbilical cord. He was a strong boy right from the start; on the ultrasound it showed that he was actually trying to pull the cord off his neck, but it was only a matter of time. It was decided that I was to have an immediate c-section. My husband and I were terrified and confused, but hopeful.

As they were preparing me for surgery, one of the nurses blurted out ” Look at all those stretch marks, I never seen that many before”…My mind froze upon her words and immediate shame came upon me. I felt disgusting about myself, why did I let this happen to me.

Thank God that my son was born healthy and happy, despite being a tiny little thing ( 5 pounds, 6 ounces), he was perfect and I forgot about my body. It wasn’t until a month later that I started looking at myself again.

No longer did I hold life, instead I had a horrible bulge and what seemed like deep stretches of shame tattooed all over me. I felt so ugly, and I refused to let anyone( my husband) included see me naked. Why me? There were tons of women like my mother who didn’t have one stretch mark on their bodies, yet I had thousands. No more bathing suits, no more sexy clothes, no more beauty.

The mirror became my truth and my pain. I had to look into ten or more times a day. I would scrub my body over and over again,and I tried everything out on the market to get rid of them. I was so afraid of getting more.

Trying to feel comfortable in my own skin, I would study women like crazy, always trying to find their flaws..and if I knew they had children, I needed to know if they too bore the marks.

I was angry, I was crazy. I was wasting away my life.

Now I have come to terms with them. At times they bother me, but I love them all the same.

It makes my heart melt when my son runs his hands over them and tells me with true honesty that I am beautiful. Yes, I am far from flawless, but I am now truly one with the world . For I like the earth hold the marks of the life I keep. I am no longer the young maiden, so pure; I am the warrior mother, whose armor tells a story of true love.

Updated here.

Thanks – I’m happy to share my pics, especially because I have abdominal tattoos and had a navel piercing and didn’t really know how they would be affected by the pregnancy.

Anyways, I took pics of my belly throughout pregnancy. I have not until today taken a postpartum one, though! I gained 33 lbs and had only stretch marks on my thighs at the end of pregnancy. My midwife commented on my lack of stretch marks during my delivery, actually. But, after the baby, I developed a few stretch marks on my belly, mostly to the left of my belly button.

My navel piercing was a different story. I was able to wear it until 6 months or so, when it began to get caught on table edges when I stood up. I took it out when it turned red. I then developed a huge stretch mark originating from the piercing site. Now I have the mark you see in the pics left.

Tattoos – I have one on my lower abdomen, a rose, and it didn’t really change, I don’t think. I couldn’t actually see it for most of my pregnancy though. The large rose that runs from my right breast down my side became curvier but never seemed stretched. I also have one on my left breast that grew but never looked weird. They all now look completely normal!

I am a first time mother to be, pregnant with twin boys. My sister in law directed me to this site, and I am thankful, because although currently I am stretchmark free, I know that my belly will look nothing like it did before, very soon. I will make sure to post pics when I am bigger and after the delivery!