Teen Mom

19 years old struggling to accept my new body. (Meg)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, Children with Health Complications, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Submissions, Teen Mom 4 Comments

I found out I was pregnant at 18. I was actually thrilled, even though the father and I had only been together for a short three months. I had a wonderful beginning to my pregnancy. I loved watching my belly grow, and eating whatever I felt like. (I always did anyways.) I was 120 lbs before pregnancy, and I gained exactly 35 lbs on the day of delivery. I’m now back at 128, not bad, but I’d like to lose more. At 21 weeks of pregnancy, something I had never considered a possibility, happened. My daughter was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect. Actually, three. She has a single ventricle defect, luckily she has the right ventricle, which does most of the work, and is way easier to remedy than hypo-plastic left heart syndrome. Also, transposed arteries, meaning the two major arteries are reversed. And lastly, she has two large holes in her right ventricle, which are actually blessings in disguise. They keep the arteries open. She’s the strongest most beautiful person I’ve ever met. I am very blessed to have her, and I know this. She has beaten every odd the doctors thought she wouldn’t. I just wish I could be half as proud of the body she left me with as I am of her. I wish I would have known that the body I had before pregnancy was beautiful, and taken advantage of that. And as soon as I started to feel that my pregnant body was beautiful, my pregnancy became overwhelmingly stressful. After a long 36 hours of labor after being induced, she was born c-section. I got to see my Ava Elaine for about 30 seconds before they whisked her away to the NICU. She’s had her first of three surgeries, the next right around the corner, and she’s doing amazing! The pictures shown below are of me at almost 4 months postpartum. As you can see, I have an umbilical hernia, and I’ve had it since birth. I will be having surgery to fix that soon, and hope it helps the shape of my tummy a little. Right now it looks like a deformed brain.

9 Months PP (Rochelle)

Bonnie (SOAM) Before Pregnancy, Belly, Breasts, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Pregnant, Sexual Abuse/Violence, Submissions, Teen Mom 13 Comments

When I was 14 I was raped by my father (who is now in jail for it) and life just seemed to have left me after that. One night I went for a walk to clear my head like almost every night and ran into someone who changed everything. I was only 15 when I got pregnant with my beautiful son. I was afraid but I trusted his father to be by my side. At about 8 months pregnant he had cheated on me which caused the relationship to end. With all the bad times I was facing I cried nearly every night. Every time I cried or just got mad at the world my son would kick and move around as if to let me know someone was there. Even though i got back with his father a couple months after he was born he left to another city so the past seven months i raised him myself. He will be back soon to help though!! I live with my mom on the agreement that I do chores and babysit when needed. Other then that I haven’t went out once on my own since his father moved.
My breasts are now completely covered in stretch marks and have headed south I’m afraid. (I also breastfed & still am!) They were once a very perky 34D. I also got stretch marks on my butt & thighs, but i didn’t get stretch marks on my stomach til the last few weeks. I think that when i decide I’m through with children and a bit older i’ll get a breast lift. I hate the fact I can’t wear the clothes I use to without embarrassment of the stretch marks or that I can’t go braless. I was thinking to maybe try to wear a bikini though after I find some more empowerment. Thankfully I have a high metabolism. 111 lbs prepregnancy, 143 near the end, & currently 103 at 5’3″. Also he was 8lbs & 3oz & I love him more then anything else.
GOODLUCK TO EVERYONE!!!

Age: 16
PP: 9 months
Number of Pregnancies: 1

Pics
1.) Before
2.) Day of Birth
3.) Tummy 9month pp
4.) another tummy
5.) boobs
6.) inner thigh
7.) outer thigh
8.) After (9 month pp)
9.) the most precious gift in the world

1 Month After Delivering a Baby (Brittney)

Bonnie (SOAM) Before Pregnancy, Belly, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Submissions, Teen Mom 23 Comments

Brittney
1 month after delivering a baby
Still trying to accept my body
My age: 19
# of pregnancies: 1

I’m a 19 year old mother and absolutely hate my new body! Before becoming pregnant I was a size 00 and I weighed 100 lbs! I am so depressed! I totally regret eating as much as I did while I was pregnant, and like the healthiest thing I ate was a cookie! If I knew what I didn’t know during pregnancy I’d do it all over again! I wouldn’t have gained as much weight as I did! I think that’s why I ruined my body! During pregnancy I gained 62lbs! I’m down to 129lbs and it’s been since March 2nd. I automatically thought I would go back to my size after having my baby. Little did i know I was wrong. I’m only 19 years old and I have stretch marks that cover my stomach. I will no longer be able to wear shirts that show my stomach or a bikini. I want laser surgery or whatever anything to get rid of them. I hate being body continuous. I’ve never been like this before! The pictures in the bikini and the yellow shirt by the car is before I had my little girl and the pictures in the black, and hoodie are after baby and yellow shirt and there’s a picture of what my stomach looks like :(

Young mom Trying to Accept her Postpartum Body (Amanda)

Bonnie (SOAM) Before Pregnancy, Belly, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Pregnant, Second Pregnancy, Submissions, Teen Mom 13 Comments

Hello everyone I am a proud 20 year old mother of two beautiful little girls. Brianna born November 19 2006 at 3:34pm weighing 6 pounds 11.9 ounces and 19.5 inches long, and Savanna born January 15 2009 at 7:52am weighing 7 pounds 11 ounces and 20 inches long. Both my girls came on there due dates, I though that was very cool. I am also happily married to a wonderful, supportive, hard working man. We have been married for a little over 2 years now and have known each other for about 6 years.

Before ever getting pregnant I weighted 120 pounds and was in good shape, I went to the gym 5-6 days a week with my hubby and worked out for about 1-2 hours. That was one thing that we really enjoyed doing together, and I still like working out. I have always had a problem with not accepting my stomach, I always thought it was never flat enough. When I was pregnant with my first daughter around 7-8 months pregnant I started noticing stretch marks. Although there were very few in the beginning, by the time I was 40 weeks (full term) I was covered in them :( I figured I would get them because they say if your mother has them, your most likely to get them yourself. I never though I would get so many though, so that was really hard for me. A while after I had her I was at 125 pounds, can’t remember how long it took me to get there though lol. So although I was only 5 pounds heavier I still couldn’t accept my body, and I know that 125 pounds is a healthy weight for me and not a lot at all. It was really only the loose belly flab and stretch marks that bugged me the most, so my goal then was to tighten and tone my body. I would always say to myself how could I think I had a big belly before, its even worse now. I don’t think I look terrible or anything, but its just tough looking back at my before and after pregnancy pics. Well anyways let me tell you about my second pregnancy, with my second daughter. I only gained 32 pounds during my pregnancy but I was so huge, and I got even more stretch marks :( I was happy for the first 1-2 weeks because I was once again loosing the weight quite fast, but then it just kinda stopped at about 145 pounds. I realize that it has not been very long, and I know that it will take time to get back to my Pre-pregnancy weight, but the waiting is so hard. I started my weight loss journey at 6 weeks postpartum, and I am now 11 weeks postpartum and I have lost 4 pounds so far. I want to keep the weight loss at about 1-2 pounds per week, so that my already loose skin wont become even looser. I surprisingly am not so upset about my stretch marks Right now, but I am more focused on losing the extra 15 pounds of weight that I am left with. I know I am not huge or anything, but I would still like to be close to my pre-pregnancy weight and I want my stomach flatter. So the main thing I am concentraiting on is losing the extra weight, and tightening the loose skin if possible. Well that’s my story, so lets check out the damage. Just want to shout out a quick thanks to everyone who has shared there postpartum bodies, I know im not alone. Congrats to all you wonderful ladies, and I hope you are all enjoying motherhood.

Picture #1 Before any Pregnancy
Picture #2 6 Months (First Pregnancy)
Picture #3 40 weeks (Full Term) First Pregnancy
Picture #4 Postpartum after first pregnancy
Picture #5 Postpartum after first pregnancy (2)
Picture #6 24 weeks (Second Pregnancy)
Picture #7 34 weeks (Second Pregnancy)
Picture #8 39 weeks (Second Pregnancy)
Picture #9 40 weeks (Full Term) Second pregnancy
Picture #10 1 day postpartum after second pregnancy
Picture #11 1 weeks pp after second pregnancy
Picture #12 11 weeks pp (now) after second pregnancy

No Longer Ashamed (Kerry)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, First Pregnancy, Pregnant, Submissions, Teen Mom, Update 8 Comments

I am 18 years old and due in 6 days. Before I got pregnant I had the typical, enviable teenage body. I was thin, not a stretch mark to my name, and had abs to die for. I love being pregnant and feeling my little one move inside me, I feel so blessed that I have been given this amazing job to carry another life! I started my pregnancy off at about 130 at 5’8” and have gained almost 60lbs, it’s hard for me to hear EVERYONE tell me I will go right back to my old body just because I was thin before, because frankly I don’t believe them. The prospect of what my body might look like after birth has haunted me since I found out I was expecting. I’ve cried over it and swore I would never wear a swimsuit again. The media is so horrible to us pregnant women, they show us airbrushed models, a body none of us can ever achieve, because it’s not even real! I’m planning a homebirth, and at my last midwife appointment I was told about this site. It has changed my outlook sooooo much! I can’t even begin to describe the peace that’s beginning to come over me about my soon to be post baby body! This is the first time I have taken a picture of my belly and not been embarrassed about my stretchmarks, I began to get them at 36 weeks and have tried to hide them since then. I haven’t once let my thighs be in a shot due to the stretch marks I got either. The right side of my body has much more, I have no clue why. Anyway, Thank you!!! It’s amazing to be able to view my mommy marks in a new light! I will definitely post p.p. pics down the road! :) (Hopefully he/she comes soon! I’ve been getting a lot of contractions today!!!)
1st pic: 12 weeks
2nd pic: 6 months
3rd pic: 39 weeks + 1
4th pic: my little one

Updated here, here and here.

Acceptance, It’s Not All Bad (Minxie)

Bonnie (SOAM) Before Pregnancy, Belly, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, PPD - Postpartum Depression, Pregnant, Submissions, Tattoo, Teen Mom 5 Comments

~Your Age: 21
~Number of pregnancies and births: 1 pregnancy/birth
~The age of your children, or how far postpartum you are: my daughter is 18 months

I hadn’t long turned 19 when I found out I was pregnant. I was absolutely terrified, as me and my partner had only been together 7 months. I felt that I hadn’t achieved anything that I wanted to do before I had children (go to college, get myself a good job, get a nice little house and get married) but nothing ever goes to plan when it comes to me! and there was no way I could ever have a termination. I was scared, but I knew I had to make the most of a ‘bad’ situation.

I started modeling at 18, and I think this had a huge impact on how I saw myself during my pregnancy. I felt huge, didn’t like how my breasts looked when the areola went darker. I just wanted to look the same as I did before, and constantly worried about how I would look after my baby was finished with my body. I’d always had a very low opinion of my body, which is why I started modeling in the first place. It helped a little seeing myself on camera, knowing that I didn’t look quite as bad as I did in my head. Little did I know, during my pregnancy I was suffering quite badly from depression (I’d been suffering from it for many years, but I just hadn’t realized what was wrong with me.) It really ruined my pregnancy for me….any normal mother-to-be would love and embrace their changing, pregnant body…but I just couldn’t wait to get back to normal. My pregnancy wasn’t an easy one anyway, with shocking morning sickness for the first 3 months, and developing Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction (SPD) in the last 2 months which made it too painful to leave the house.

I started developing stretch marks on the top of my thighs at 6 months. They didn’t bother me too much as there were only one or two each side, and they were small and didn’t have much colour. But I started to get them on my stomach a month before my due date, and I was absolutely gutted. I thought I had avoided them, and it was a cruel thing to happen when I was so close to ‘making it’. I cried, and really did start thinking about how much my life was over, just because of a few stretch marks. It seems so silly and disgustingly shallow saying this now, but at the time it really did affect me in a terrible way.

My daughter was born 6/9/07 at 8.14am. I was in labour for 7 and a half hours, and she was born naturally weighing 8lbs 8oz. The birth went really well, no complications and no need for stitches! She was healthy and beautiful, and as soon as I looked at her I knew she was worth every sacrifice. She instantly became my world!

My breasts were fine through pregnancy, right up until I gave birth and my milk came in. I went from a D cup to a FF cup in the space of 3 days. I only breast fed for 2 weeks, and moved to formula and expressed breast milk after that as I wasn’t getting on very well with breast feeding. I don’t believe that I was doing it correctly and was paranoid that my daughter wasn’t getting enough milk. After the milk went, I was left with C cup deflated balloons! at 19 I found it really difficult to come to terms with the fact that I may never be able to wear a bikini on the beach, or wear slightly daring clothes whilst on nights out ever again. I loved my daughter with all my heart, and would of gone through it all again to have her, but that didn’t make me feel any better about how I looked as a woman.

I hit an all time low a few months after. I hated everything about how I looked and who I was, and was really desperate to get what I had back. I cursed myself for hating what I had before pregnancy, as as far as I was concerned, what I have now was much worse! I put on 2 stone in pregnancy, but lost a stone of it after the birth. The last stone I managed to shed through exercise, and I even managed to lose a stone extra. Being a stone lighter than I was before I got pregnant still didn’t help me feel better…what was the point in being slim when I had stretch marks and saggy boobs? I just wanted to curl up and die at times.

When my daughter was 5 months old I was diagnosed with postnatal depression, and was put on meds to help me cope. I loved my daughter so much, but hated myself just as much. I’d become a real mess, and didn’t know who I was anymore or what my purpose in life was. I felt my daughter deserved a better mother than she had…my opinion of myself was at it’s lowest. After a few months on the meds, I really started to feel better. I had a good long look at my life, and got my priorities straight. My daughter was way more important than how I looked, and I really needed to start spending more time having fun with her, and less time worrying about myself. I knew that I was lucky, I had a gorgeous, healthy child who was thriving and coming along brilliantly, and not every parent had been that lucky. I started to feel ashamed of how much I obsessed over how I looked, and started seeing past my imperfections I even started feeling a little bit proud of how I looked! My partner saw how much I’d come along, and offered to pay for breast augmentation surgery, although he didn’t think I needed it. I thought about it long and hard…I knew it was a risk, and maybe a little bit shallow, but why not take the chance to feel a little bit better about yourself? I had my surgery in February 2008. The surgery, combined with my medication and hard work repairing my mental health really lifted my confidence from the floor…I finally felt I had a body to be proud of, stretch marks or no stretch marks (although they’re very faded now, you can only see them in certain lights)!! I started modeling again in May 2008, and although I do have to explain the stretch marks to photographers, most of them are fine with it and find ways to work around it.

My daughter is now 18 months old. I love her so much, and can’t believe I wasted so much time fretting over how I looked instead of having as much fun as possible with her and feeling lucky that I have such a happy, healthy child. But I also realize that I can’t blame myself for it, PND is something that affects alot of women, and it made the first few months of my baby’s life a very dark time for me. I’m doing all I can to make it up to her now :) she is my inspiration for everything I do.

All my pics are completely unedited so you can see what I look like!

Modeling before pregnancy
Stomach before pregnancy
9 months pregnant
Modeling after pregnancy
Stomach after Pregnancy
Me and my little girl Cadey

My Story (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, First Pregnancy, Legs, Postpartum, Submissions, Teen Mom 7 Comments

(btw my english is not perfect, I live in mexico, but I really love this site and finally I decided to send some photos and share my story, I’m sure that I’ll have some mistakes, so sorry for that)
I’m 19 years old, and I have a 2 year old amazing son. I have to accept that I am young and not mature enough to take care of a child, but he is so incredible that I just love him, he is the only one that make me smile everyday and now I can’t imagine my life with out him.
The father is ..just, I even can call that person a father cause he don’t act as one. I can say he “try” just the day that my baby was born and that was pretty much it. After that he continue being an alcoholic and drug addict that hit me almost everyday. I wasn’t brave enough to tell somebody what was happening until he sent me to the hospital for the 3rd time my mom knew that something wasn’t right and the fake stories about my “accidents” were really stupid, thank God she save us. With out her I’ll be probably dead. At the time diego was 8 months old.
Now I’m used to my body but I’m not ready to show it to the world I just hate the idea of not wearing a bikini anymore and I fell so uncomfortable when I wear dresses or short skirts but luckily for me I have a new boyfriend that loves just the way I am. Now for the first time in years I fell really happy, I love my baby more and more everyday and I totally trust my boyfriend, I know him since I was 13 he has always been my best friend, and he was always been here for me and for Diego.

Am I Really Going to Be a Mommy Again?

Bonnie (SOAM) Child Loss, No Photos (Story Only), Submissions, Teen Mom, Third Pregnancy 7 Comments

When I was 18 I had my first baby girl. It was my first pregnancy I was a very mature 18 year old and very ready for my daughter. My pregnancy was great no problems or complaints I delivered my daughter Destiny at 39 weeks She was born at 10:11 am on May 14th 2000 wich happened to be Mothers Day that year. She was absolutely beautiful she weighed 8lb12 oz and was 21 inches in length she had the chubbiest cheeks and a full head on black hear. Destiny was “healthy” at birth and came home with me. We spent 7 wonderful weeks at home I breast fed and she ate and gained weight appropriately she went to her five day and one month doctor visit. She was perfectly normal and very alert the nurse even thought she was 5 months not 5 weeks she talked with the doctor the whole visit cooing and smiling. Just two weeks later on July 3rd Destiny woke up with a swollen eye lid I immediately thought conjunctivitis and then I noticed her breathing was more like panting. I took her immediately to the hospital where they told me she was very sick and had cancer. They rushed us to Boston Childrens Hospital.There I found out it was leukimia, we fought for her all day. Destiny passed away at 1:37 am July 4th hardest day of my life. Not a day goes by that I don’t think of my little angel Destiny. Over time it has gotten a lot easier and now 9 years later I am expecting my 2nd baby girl, I am so happy I could cry. I am 21 weeks along and so far everthing looks great. I just can’t help feeling that this isn’t real and in just 18 weeks and 3 days I will deliever my 2nd baby. I have been feeling my little one move around for over a month and she is getting stronger by the day. I just feel like this is a dream I don’t believe it am I realy going to have a baby. Is she going to be healthy. I had one other pregnancy in may of ’08 and i misscarried at six or 7 weeks so after the two losses I just have so many doubts, Is this normal?I know I am going to love her. I really just don’t believe I am going to get to be a mommy again.

No Longer a Size 0 (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Before Pregnancy, Belly, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Submissions, Teen Mom 13 Comments

I’m a 17 year old mother and have barely came to terms with my new body. Before becoming pregnant I was a size 0 and I weighed only 100lbs It has been 9 months after having my daughter and it has been a very depressing long road. I have done many things to help me loose weight, although I have lost some I’m still unsatisfied with my body. I always had been known as the skinny girl with big boobs. I automatically thought I would go back to my size after having my baby. Little did i know I was wrong. Upon having my daughter I gained nearly 50 lbs!Now, I weigh about 130 and although I’m still unhappy with my body i have come to terms with the fact that I will no longer be able to wear a size 0 pair of jeans. I’m only 17 years old and I have stretch marks that cover my stomach. I will no longer be able to wear shirts that show my stomach or a bikini maybe in a couple of years once they fade a little bit. I’m determined to loose that extra weight and get my stomach back to being flat and not flabby. This website helped me realize that I’m not the only person out there going through this.

Still Working to Accept My Body (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Before Pregnancy, Belly, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Submissions, Teen Mom 6 Comments

I had my daughter when I was 19 years old. She just turned three last week and I am still struggling to lose the weight I gained from my pregnancy. I had gestational diabetes and I gained nearly 75lbs during my pregnancy. I have no real motivation to lose the weight mostly because I’m scared of how my body will look when I do and partially because my husband says he loves me just the way I am. This site has helped me to realize that if I want to lose the baby fat I need to learn to see the beauty in myself first. The before picture of my stomach was taken my freshman year of college(about 6 months before I got pregnant). At the time I weighed 130lbs. Currently, I’m 22 and I weigh 205lbs. After taking these pictures I think that I’ve realized I don’t look as bad as I thought I did. I really love this site. It’s a good feeling to realize that there’s other people out there like you.