Submissions

When I got pg with my first baby I weighed 108 pounds and was a former long distance runner. I was proud of my body. I gained an unbelieveable 65 pounds. After I started pumping milk for my baby (she never learned to latch right) I went from an A to a D cup. In the next nine months after her birth I lost all but 4 of those pounds, and all of the breast tissue, and they looked like deflated balloons for awhile. But my skin was still young, I had some major tummy stretch marks but I still had a flat tummy, and that’s all that matters under clothes, right?

Enter the 30’s and baby number two. I only gained about 45 with her, but I was on bedrest and not active at all. Those abs that separated with first baby separated even more with the second. My skin is not as young. More stretch marks. Okay so I did get some hips with baby #2, at least a wee bit of a hint of hips. And a butt. Never had that before. Now at 2.5 years beyond the birth of baby #2 I am only 12 pounds heavier now than I was before I had any kids at all. But my body is oh so different. My arms are fatter, my butt is bigger, and my hips have expanded. I cannot even begin to fit into the same size 6 shorts. I look back at old photos of myself and wonder who that was, and if she appreciated her thin-ness as much as I appreciate the priveledge of becoming a mother.

I am not ashamed of my body. I am, on most days, secure with it now. If I can find clothes that flatter me, I’m happy. I have stretch marks. I have flabby skin. If I lose another 12 pounds and become thin as a stick again, I will still have flabby skin. Some of us get the great skin and some don’t. Oh well.

Quite frankly, I’m damned proud of those stretch marks. I earned them. I think they are, in their own way, beautiful. When I’m 80 years old I will still be able to trace my finger on my tummy and know exactly where my babies curled up within me. Time will never take that privilege away from me.

Here are some photos:

This is my tummy at 4 and 5 week pregnant with baby #2. Looking pretty good huh?

Front view 6 weeks pregnant with #2, old stretch marks from #1

Front view at 25 weeks pg with #2,old stretch marks coming in handy! I didn’t get new ones until last month with #2.

Top view at 30 weeks with #2, separated abs and baby pushing against my belly

Current photos of my belly, 2 years after giving birth to baby#2.

what a wonderful site! Wear your strechmarks as proud medals to show what you have been thru!

I thought i would share my favourtie pics, I am 21 and mother to 2 beautiful girls.

belly at 37 weeks with number 1 (one week before i gave birth)

I dont have any birthing pics from when i had Lily (number 1 babe) as i was uncomfortable with the way i looked as i went from 57kgs to 92kgs which to me was a huge leap.

37 weeks preg with number 2 (charli)

Lily at 16 months asleep on my belly… love this foto so much i blew it up and have it on my wall

birthing number 2

Meeting my daughter Charli for the first time

I havent taken any fotos of my belly since having my girls, mainly because i feel a lil sad at how bad my boobs sag now and the mummy pouch which altho i carry proudly i am still not comfortable with.

I wanna leave this post by saying to all you mummys that you all ahve beautiful bodys!

This is a picture of me nursing my 7 month old daughter. I have been nursing for four years and my breasts have gone from a somewhat perky d cup to a saggy dd.

I miss my old breasts, but when I think of the mutilation required to “restore” them to their former perkiness I want to cry. I can’t do that to my breasts. They are beautiful in their own unconventional way.

would love to share my flabby, saggy, wrinkly belly with the world. :) I recently gave birth to twins and my belly will never be the same.

Here’s a brief background story:
My oldest child is 3 1/2 now and was born vaginally in the hospital. Gained 50 lbs in pregnancy and lost it all immediately after birth.
My second child was born via c-section after risking out of our planned homebirth. He weighed just over 11 lbs at birth. Gained 50 lbs and lost 40 of it within days of birth and then 15 more within 3-4 months.
My third pregnancy was shocking… we were expecting twins! I gained 80 lbs and the girls were 7 lbs, 6 oz each. I lost 65 lbs in less than a week after birth. 2 months later I still have 15 to go…. I never got any stretch marks with the first 2 children but the twin pregnancy really made me look wrinkly and deflated. I have a huge flap of extra skin that hangs over my c-section scar.

My twins’ birth story is here:
Twin HBAC
if anyone is interested.

3 months after c-section w/ Baby #2

1 year after c-section (Baby #2)

39 weeks pregnant with twins

2 months after birth of twins (HBAC!)

I posted my story and pictures a few days ago, but I wanted to come back and say how motivating this site has been for me. I have decided to do a series of water colors to demonstrate the power of the woman’s body. This is the first in the series and each one will be different, just like every woman is beautifully different. Thank you for this amazing site and the strength I have felt from it.

“Beauty of a Curve #1”

My son and I fell asleep after our nightly feeding when he was about 3 months old. I just love this picture because he looks so peaceful, but it’s not really one of those pictures that you can add to the family photo album.

What a MAGNIFICENT site you have here. I am thrilled you have this place for the beautiful and luscious women out there – no matter what they look like. Your site makes Dove’s “Campaign for Real Beauty” look minuscule.

As a midwife, I see the beauty of stretch marks every day (besides looking at my own and my partner’s).

I’ve worked a great deal of my birth career with migrant Hispanic women and while I didn’t grow up speaking Spanish, I learned as an adult and am fairly fluent. However, subtle mistakes sometimes brought laughs or out and out confusion.

Touching women’s bellies (a distinct honor and privilege), I tell them how beautiful their stretch marks are. The word for “stretch marks” in Spanish is “estrillas” (es-tree-y-ah-s). The word for “stars” is “estrellas” (es-tray-y-ah-s). Over and over, I mixed them up, telling women how beautiful the “stars” were on their bellies. They would laugh and I, embarrassed, loved that they had an image of something sparkling on their abdomens.

Thank you again and I will encourage my clients to take photos of their bellies and consider sending them in to you. Thank you for your wonderful idea and blog.

Navelgazing Midwife

This is me at 36 weeks pregnant with my 4th and 5th babies . yes i had twins . i have 5 kids under 5 years old. i went from 156 lbs and delivered at 236 lbs. YIKES..this is how i looked at the end

here i am as of this am. dont mind the funky tan.. i dont let my tummy see the light of day

my children are.
Girl 11/27/00 she was 8.2lbs 21in full term
girl 06/04/03 she was 8.7lbs 22in 3 weeks early
girl 06/23/04 she was 7.15lbs 19in 2 days late.
boy 12/06/05 he was 6lbs 19in 3.5 weeks early
girl 12/06/05 she was 6.4lbs 19in 3.5 weeks early

This is the best site I’ve seen in a long time. I was always super thin ad accepting my post-mommy body has been hard at times but this site makes me proud.

This is 36 weeks along with my second baby.

This is 2 hours after he was born.

Today, 2.5 years after our second baby.

I gained 76 pounds with my first and 29 with the second.
Not totally bounced back yet and doubt I ever will be, but as I get a little older this matters less and less.