6 months pregnant with our son Syami.
Unborn Love (Anonymous)
Submissions
Anonymous
i am the mother of two beautiful little girls, three years old and seven months old. the later i am still breast feeding, so my breasts always seem different shapes. i have small breasts and will be sad when breastfeeding is over and they become even smaller than what i started out with. it has been nice to have enjoyed nice cleavage for awhile again. watching this website has given me a new found confidence. i feel much better about myself and ever changing body.
Trying to see myself within myself. (Anonymous)
I am 32 weeks pregnanct with my second child and have struggled to feel beautiful throughout this pregnancy. I am far away from home, and though I have a few close women friends out here, I am missing the warm envelope of my loving “village” back home. I have fought with myself for 7 months trying to see myself as beautiful, and I finally decided to make myself feel that way. So, with the help of a camera and many hours playing with photoshop filters, I created these. I did not photoshop out any of my buldges, or reduce the shape of my thighs, I simply let myself play with color and light, to create some art out of this second pregnancy. Thank you for providing a place where women can express themselves.
(Please do not use these images without permission of the artist)
Anonymous
this photo was taken when my daughter was 18months old
Anonymous
This is me right now. My 3rd baby is nearly 6 months old and my body is shot to hell. My first two gave me stretch marks, but my third, a big bouncing boy, was so big he required a cesarian, which has left me with a nice scar and an embarassing flap. I know I can work off the fat (eventually!) but the flap will always be with me.
Pregnancy (Anonymous)
These are my pregnancies both at 38 weeks. The first I started out the cute skinny pregnant girl and ballooning up 75 lbs, my 9lb8oz baby girl was born via c section. 8 months later I was pregnant again, this time I only gained 46 lbs, second baby girl was 8lbs15oz…
Mommy Pix (Anonymous)
The reason I’m writing is to maybe understand a little bit more. I’m a mom of four that very recently gave birth 10 days ago, and through out my entire pregnancy , people would ask, ” aww this is your 1st etc” . When it was explained that it was my fourth , i woud get questions like ” is this your last one now” how old are you”? are you gonna have any more?” dont you think your too young for this many kids”?. Never once was I asked how they were or if the pregnancy was well.. Why is it that most people especially women are sooo judgmental against pregnancy. Why is it so wrong to have more than one? and why must i have to feel ashamed for creating such beauiful life, for thats what pregnancy is right? LIFE? When did society istill shame in women for CREATING. Just to prove most wrong because frankly it was fun to do , I would just state that yes I may look young but did you ask my age? yes, im married even though you assumed that Im not. I do have a bachelors degree not that its your business, but I do and am very capable of supporting them all. giving the assumption that I cant. Is it jealousy or just society, but I’ll be damned if Im gonna feel ashamed for creating my family, for im nothing but proud….and LOVE every second of it.
The first picture is that of myself 40weeks pregnant ready to give birth within 3 days. My baby ended up being a c-section due to being breech. This is my fourth baby. The 2nd picture is the after math of that of the c-section and let me tell you its not a pretty site. I’m not sure how long Im gonna be self conscience of this lovely belly.. I was so proud when I was pregnant but now im just plain unsure of it, maybe it just hasnt been enough time…
Struggling (Anonymous)
After giving birth to 2 wonderful children,I am in the midst of an eating disorder. I long to love and accept my feminine form. It’s difficult when we are constantly bombarded with media images of women with large perky breasts, tiny waists, and small hips. My goal is to learn to love my body, and I will give my children the tools they need to love themselves.
Mikaela
The first time I visited The Shape of a Mother, there were only a few submissions, and I thought, “I have to do this.” It’s taken me several months to *finally* do it, but here I am, thanks to all the amazing moms who’ve already posted :)
Before I really had the chance to even consider whether or not I wanted children, I became pregnant. We were high school sweethearts, together for almost four years and engaged. I was 18, he was 19, and we were living together, far away from home. I don’t remember much about being pregnant, other than *loving* it. I’ve never in my life ever felt so beautiful than I did during those nine months. Even when I was working double shifts and throwing up in a trash can at my desk, I was absolutely joyous over my belly.
Being so young, my body weight and shape went right back to where I started almost immediately. However, the nearly 40 pounds I gained left me with many stretch marks; all over my tummy, on the tops of my thighs and on my breasts. I never had a stretch mark in my life before then and I thought they were just the wildest things.
I’ve always been self-conscience of my body, always very modest, and so these scars didn’t really change the way I dressed or undressed or displayed myself. I hadn’t owned a bathing suit in years, I never wore belly-bearing tops and I never undressed in front of my boyfriend. As much as my modesty has been a burden, I believe it also really helped me adjust to my new appearance. I’d always had a private, intimate relationship with my body – getting to know it with these unusual stretch marks wasn’t difficult.
I do love them. Seeing them, I am reminded of just how clueless I was ten years ago when I got pregnant. What were we thinking?! 2,500 miles away from home, barely making it on our own, living it up every weekend, no car, still kids ourselves… It’s amazing that we were allowed to have a child!
Like most mommas, I now know that I was intended to give birth to my son; I know the world was simply not complete without him. He is an amazing, thoughtful, creative, cuddly, nonstop, tackling, building, drawing, high-energy, high-impact, collection of skateboarding legs, basketball playing arms and long hair. He’s my monster. My number one man, my light, my heart and my soul. And every time I brush a hand across my stomach and feel one of my deep stretch marks, or catch a glimpse of them on my breasts, the edges of them poking out the top of my shirt, or notice them on my thighs when I change at the gym, I am reminded of him, and I feel proud and insanely touched by the fact that I am a mom. A mom – wow!
Now that I’ve had the time and experience to consider parenthood, I know that had I not become pregnant then, I never would have. Sustainability, economics, consumerism, politics and just plain fright play major roles in my decision to *not* have any more children. Thank goodness I was too young and stupid ten years ago to know any better! As difficult as being a very young, and eventually a single mom, has been, I feel like parenthood was the universe’s gift to me – the only way I could become a mother, was to let it happen before I could even think about it. Thank god it did :)
20 Week Belly (Anonymous)
This is a picture taken of my 20 weeks pregnant belly. I have one little girl already who is almost 4 and that’s where the stretchmarks come from. I used to be moderately ashamed of them, but since being pregnant with this child and looking at all the bumps online, I realize that I should not feel shame! I should feel pride that we, as women, have the honor to carry those battle scars! Men (used to ONLY men)go to war and come back with horrific scars and show them to people with pride. While women do not get purple hearts for their heroism, they do get to look at the life they made every day and men only have painful memories….. Wear your marks proudly ladies! We are at war with people who think our bodies are not perfect because of the “flaws” pregnancy puts upon us! I say what thing is there that is more beautiful that the temple of a mother’s body?!
