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My name is Regina. I became pregnant with my first daughter when I was 16 years old. I planned on giving her up for adoption for the first 5 months of the pregnancy but in the end I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Her father and I were married when I was 32 weeks pregnant. We were both 17 years old. 9 weeks later, on January 9, 2006, 8 days late, my baby girl was born. She was 8 pounds 8 ounces and 19 inches long. I started out the pregnancy at 158 pounds and a size 9-11. During the pregnancy I gained 47 pounds! Topping out at 205 pounds. I lost 20 pounds in delivery. My beautiful daughter gave me larger hips, larger breasts, lots of fat and a tummy full of stretch marks. I must say though I LOVE my stretch marks. I was never afraid to get them and did nothing to prevent them. I think they are beautiful. They mean so much to me. They mark a time in my life that is precious to me: the 9 months that I carried my princess inside of me. Over the next 2 years I managed to not lose a single pound. I did manage to tone my way down from a size 20 to a size 15. I was big, and soft but my shape was nice and I liked my body. On January 24, 2008, when I was 19 years old, my husband and I were surprised to find that we were expecting another baby. I was determined not to gain as much weight and to keep my body in shape. Well, with the exhaustion of taking care of my 2 year old and being pregnant I never managed to work out, though I did go for an hour walk everyday with her. By the end I had gained only 18 pounds! I weighed 204 pounds on the day I delivered. One thing that I was absolutely ecstatic about was the size of my belly. With my first, even when I was overdue people couldn’t always tell I was pregnant. But this time I was huge. I started showing at about 11 weeks and by the time I delivered I was a HOUSE! I absolutely LOVED my belly and my body! My 2nd daughter was born 8 days late on October 5, 2008. She was 8 pounds 10 ounces and 20 inches long. I lost all the weight from the pregnancy in delivery. But my hips have grown a few INCHES and my old stretch marks grew a bit longer, but no new ones. Even though I am my pre-pregnancy weight of 186 pounds, I am about 2 sizes above my pre-pregnancy size. I am now 6 weeks post partum. I am breastfeeding and starting a weight loss program. Since this is my last baby I’m going to work hard to get a decent body back without fear of losing it again to another pregnancy. I found this website when I was about 15 months post partum and fell in love with it. I have accepted my body so much more because of it. It has done amazing things. It has survived 2 teen pregnancies, a blotched epidural that caused permanent nerve damage in my lower half, a 100% natural delivery and now it is surviving breastfeeding. I would like to be thinner, but until then I love having a little chub for my children to rest when we are cuddling. The 1st picture is of me when I was 16 before I got pregnant. The 2nd is of my 9 months pregnant with my first. The 3rd and 4th are of me 24 months after my first. The 5th is me 9 months pregnant with my second. The 6th is of me now. And the 7th is the reason I wake up in the morning, Melora Abigail, 34 months and Amelia Grace, 6 weeks.
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