Submissions

Hi! I’m not pregnant… yet ;)

it’s something i’m aiming for, but i just wanted to share what someone said that by some miracle completely changed my view of my body.

I was at an old hangout playing music when I overheard a GUY say to one of my friends that he thinks stretchmarks on women are one of the most beautiful things in the world. He said that so many people go out and spend money trying to get tattoos or piercing to try and represent something while at the same time so many women carry these battle scars of growth and maternity. Its something that nature gives women almost like a right of passage to be carried proudly like tribal markings and for this he thinks they are beautiful.

I pretty much cried.

Just wanted to thank you for your wonderful project, coming from a young woman who already has growth scars and will probably get birth scars as well. And wanted to let all the women out there know that at LEAST one man recognizes our marks of womanhood.

Thanks
(i’ll probably be back in the not too distant future with my own photos)

I have been coming back to this website over and over again. The
photos posted here are inspirational and beautiful, and I would be
honored to be a part of it.

My name is Linda. I had a gorgeous baby boy in August of 2005. This is
what I looked like then:

And this is what I look like now, 10 months later:

Thank you.

https://www.sundrymourning.com/2006/07/14/secrets-in-our-skin/

I blog as the Smocklady ( https://www.smocknmama.com ) and I don’t publish our real names because of cyberstalkers. I am currently 37 years old and 21 weeks pregnant with our sixth child. I am keeping a photo set at flickr of my belly (mostly from my point of view). This is the first pregnancy I have even taken pictures of my belly, just my belly. Of course we have pictures of me while pregnant with the other children. I have do not have stretch marks, but my hips spread incredibly with my third pregnancy and my breasts have sagged more after each one (due to years of breastfeeding – and would change that for anything). I don’t like my breasts anymore, once I’ve weaned a child – they look like deflated balloons and they just sag. Thank you so much for doing this. Over the years I’ve been able to fall in love with my body for the blessings that have been given to me as a woman, my womanly figured is thanks to my pregnancies, my children. I am more determined to do better after the birth of this baby about getting in shape again. I can do it and I know I can.
Pre-baby weight with number 1: 102 pounds
Delivery weight with number 1: 127 pounds (37 weeks gestation)
Baby weighed 6 pounds
Postpartum weight with number 1: 107 pounds

Pre-baby weight with number 2: 110 pounds
Delivery weight with number 2: 135 pounds (37 weeks gestation)
Baby weighed 6 pounds, 13 ounces
Postpartum weight with number 2: 117 pounds

Pre-baby weight with number 3: 112 pounds
Delivery weight with number 3: 172 pounds (35 weeks gestation)
Baby weighed 5 pounds, 2 ounces (we contracted Fifth Disease at 15 weeks and both suffered some complications)
Postpartum weight with number 3: 142 pounds

Pre-baby weight with number 4: 117 pounds
Delivery weight with number 4: 154 pounds (40 weeks gestation)
Baby weighed 7 pounds, 2 ounces
Postpartum weight with number 4: 125 pounds

Pre-baby weight with number 5: 117 pounds
Delivery weight with number 5: 156 pounds
Baby weighed 8 pounds, 4 ounces
Postpartum weight with number 5: 132 pounds

Pre-baby weight with number 6: 124 pounds
Weight now: unknown, but I feel fairly good
Baby due: November 21, 2006

My Belly

Again, thank you so much for doing this. You are welcome to post as much or as little as you want.

the SmockLady

This site is amazing. I fell pregnant at 17, I thought I had some of the worst stretch marks in the world, I can now see I’m not alone and my post baby body is totally normal!

At about 37 weeks :

And a year after baby:

Here’s the first:

This is what I thought was a little baby hippo, lol

this is me 7 weeks later, feeling pretty weird, if u must know the truth, lol.But all in all, I think its kind of sexy.

These however will take a bit to get used to—I still cry over them a little. But they were for a good cause–I got my little sweetpea out of the deal.

Im very close to my prepregnancy shape

… and I feel better every day about myself. I have lost the weight because I have a fast metabolism, but I still have billions of body issues. I was moaning about how tubby I was and then I heard about the site. THANK YOU! Lorelei will have a much more confident mommy

This site is wonderful. I had a baby girl 3.5 years ago when I was 20 years old. I gained almost 40 lbs, however for some reason I never took any belly shots. I regret it now, I wish I could look back on them today. I feel awkward sharing my pictures here since I am happy with my post-baby body, but I saw that all pictures are encouraged so I’d love to participate. So here are two pictures of me, one from the front and one from the side. I have no idea how I was so blessed to get my original body shape back. I do have a few light stretch marks on my hip, boobs, and my butt, but they are not too visible with the camera. My boobs definitly used to be a lot perkier, those and my saggy butt are my two biggest body insecurities.

Hi zebra belly,

In my house I’m known as tigerbelly. I really appreciate your website and all the mamas who have posted photos. I’ve never seen a post-pregnancy belly in all its glory before coming to your website (besides mine, of course). It’s so nice to know that the way my body looks is unique and yet, not unique. I am not alone.

These photos are 6 weeks postpartum with my second son and show what a body looks like when you have two pregnancies within a two year period (my boys are 15 months apart).

From the front:

(I?m not brave enough to show my pooch below my underwear just yet.)

From the side (with the glorious reason for the state of my body in the foreground: son #2):
(Keep in mind that since puberty I?ve been a bit thick around the middle.)

And a bizarre side effect from my second pregnancy (a strange tuft of hair):

Thanks,

tiger belly

i stand in front of the mirror, naked.
i cringe at what i see.
my body is worn and torn,
the marks from carrying a child ever present.
my breasts, once perfectly shaped and beautiful
are now large and saggy, repulsive to look at.
my stomach, once flat and smooth,
is now covered with stretch marks, fat, no muscle tone.
i am ashamed.
i will never be beautiful again.

You can read more of Yvonne’s eloquent and powerful thoughts on her post-pregnancy body here and here.

Thank you SO much for this site! My skin had stretched so thin while pregnant that people could literally see my babies’ knuckles & fingernails through me. I have stretch marks across my belly that run all the way around the sides. I have them in my upper arms, around each of my breasts, and down my thighs.

I have learned to accept them. It’s taken years, but I now see each & every one of them as “battle scars” to be worn proudly. I worked HARD and earned every single one of them, and nobody is ever going to make me feel anything but proud of them again. I am a mother of two and this is my belly at 6 years, 5 months postpartum.

Im so thankful you guys made this site!Im 22 and have a 4 month old son.Before i was pregnant i wore a size 2 now i wear a size 6-8.I had no idea what pregnancy did to a body.Im so happy to have my son and cant wait to have another.I had a c-section and am still dealing with the c-section pooch..dealing with the stretchmarks..on my boobs,stomach and legs,and facial weight gain.I gained about 45-50 pounds..i stopped looking once it went over 40.Its hard to feel attractive when i look at my body.BUT im so thankful for my son..he is my joy and my love.These marks may not be beautiful but im proud to have been able to have a baby and if this is what i have to look like to have babies then i dont mind them too much!

15 weeks preggo

37 weeks preggo

4 months postpartum