Teen Mom

First Baby at 19… (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, First Pregnancy, Pregnant, Submissions, Teen Mom 9 Comments

First Baby at 19, worried if everything will go back the way it was

im 38 weeks pregnant with my first baby and couldnt be more excited to meet my baby girl. 2 days ago i noticed my first stretch marks… i must have cried for about an hour. i feel very lucky to have gotten them only in the last 2-3 weeks but im worried if they will fade, if i’ll ever feel sexy again, and if i will feel self concious about them everytime i look in the mirror. I’ve seen alot worse stretch marks and they’re probley not as bad as i think they are but it just sucks….. im sure though when i have my baby girl in my arms it will all be worth it. coment and tell me what you think, if you think they will fade, and if they’re as horrible as i think they are or if i’m just over-reacting to nothing… thanks.









3 Weeks Postpartum, First Pregnancy (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Before Pregnancy, Belly, First Pregnancy, Hips, Piercing, Postpartum, Pregnant, Submissions, Teen Mom 20 Comments

Hi i am 16 and my son is 3 week old. When i found out i was pregnant i weighed 118, at the end of my pregnancy i was 170, Now i am back down to 140. I am almost happy with the way my belly looks, it looks a lot better than i thought it was going to. My belly size is almost back to the size it was before. But i still have loose skin when i sit down, and when i wear tight jeans my hips look pretty big. The other thing i am still working on is my stretch marks. I got them very bad. Also even tho my belly is almost back to the size it used to be, i am now in size 9 as i was in size 5 before pregnancy. Even tho i am a teen mom please don’t judge me. I know there are some girls who don’t know who the babys father is, or they don’t support their child at all. Well i am NOT one of those teens at all. I have been with the same guy 3 years. I took very good care of my self during my pregnancy, and now i have a healthy beautiful baby boy. I got lucky and i have a lot of help from my parents and my boyfriends parents. Every one is really supportive of us. I wouldn’t change anything for the world!!










(Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Back, Belly, Breastfeeding, First Pregnancy, Hips, Postpartum, Submissions, Teen Mom 11 Comments

I had my baby before I could legally drive a car. Now, as a senior in high school, I’m supposed to be worrying about Homecoming and dates, but none of that is even close to as important to me as my daughter is. Before I found this site, the only references to post-baby bodies I could find were “Look at Christina Aguilera’s Svelt After Pregnancy Body” and the like. It is so empowering to see normal women’s beautiful vessels after the birth of their children. Thank you so much.










Me after 3 (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, Postpartum, Submissions, Teen Mom, Third Pregnancy 4 Comments

at age 18 i was 98lbs then i find out i was pregnant at age 19 i had a beautiful lil boy after giving birth i was up to 200lbs,it took a long time for my to lose weight i got back down to 120 then at age 22 i find out again i was going to have another baby that took me up to 165 went down to 115 and once again i was pregnant at 24 i had her in march 2006 and this is what my body looks like…….but my boyfriend excepts it and he loves me so thats all i need!!!





Coping With Body Changes at 18 (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, Breasts, First Pregnancy, Poetry, Postpartum, Submissions, Teen Mom 32 Comments

I am an 18 year old mommy of a beautiful baby girl. I got pregnant when I was 17 and weighed about 140 pounds. I didn’t really gain any weight until right at the end and gained a total of 35 pounds. I always thought that it would be easy for me to get back to my pre-pregnancy shape after Zoey was born because I have always had such a fast metabolism, but she is now 6 months old and I weigh about 168. It’s really hard for me knowing that there are so many gorgeous girls out there that are my age and have great bodies. Thankfully, I have my husband, the father of my baby, here by my side. He is always trying to make me feel better about my body, but it is just so hard, when for 17 years, I’m used to something completely different. Reading all your stories on this website has helped me realize that even though I look way different than I did before, I have something more special than any of those “other girls” do…a beautiful, happy family. It’s also helped me realize that I am not some kind of weirdo for having stretch marks and extra skin. It is a part of life, and everyday I try to remember that I am beautiful, whether it shows on the outside or not. I just want to thank everyone for sharing because it has given me the confidence to do the same…The first couple of pictures show the stretch marks I have on my hips and breasts and I also have some on my back as you can see in the other picture. It doesn’t look like much but I have a ton of marks on my thighs that I didn’t include pictures of. Also I just would like to include a poem I wrote about a month and a half ago. It’s entitled, I am ME.

I am ME
I may not be the most beautiful woman on the outside,
but I try to be on the inside.
I may not have the slimmest tummy,
the perfect breasts,
the most toned legs,
or the greatest butt,
but I do have a BIG heart.
I may not wear the most fashionable clothes or even the best fitting clothes for that matter,
and I may not have the most gorgeous hair,
but I am beautiful when I wear my daughter on my hip.
I may have stretch marks, fat and extra skin,
but these are my battle scars.
They show my strength, my courage, and my faith.
Without them I would be nothing compared to what I am today.
I am ME.








emotional teen mom (Erin)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, Breasts, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Submissions, Teen Mom, Update 16 Comments

My name is Erin im 17 years old and have a beautiful baby girl jade star she is four months old i have had many problems though out my life to start growing up my parents were drug addicts they arent anymore but it was a hard time in my life my grandma passed away when i was 14 and left to us my mentally disabled aunt and uncle they have fragile x known to most people as special ed this ment we had to move our three bedroom one bath house was too small for six peopl let alone eight so we moved and took them in right after my parents gave up their nasty habit they had a few slip ups but they have been clean for nearly two years right after we moved i had to join the independent studies program to help take care of my aunt and uncle this meant school only once a week and bing the only person in the class i was a very social person and this was very hard for me the summer of that year my dad got a better paying job which meant my mom could quit and i could go back to school that summer my sister “came out” she was a lesbian not a big surprise also that summer i met the most amzing guy i have ever me before him i was sooo innocent all that changed after 2 months with him i lost my virginity in the bback of his truck not the smartest thing i ever did but i dont regrete one minuet of it immediatly after that i got on birth control my mom warned me that she got pregnant while on the pill but i didnt listen i was my own person parents are stupid oooh boy was i wrong after being together one year and never missing a day on the pill i found out i was pregnant my parents were soooo happy his not soo happy his mom and dad and stepmom all told me to get an abortion this i going to mess up his life well i dont believe in abortions to many people in my family have had miscarriages and still births even babies born healthy later to die of sids i was a born mom i had always had the mother instinct no way i could ever give away a baby trough out my pregnancy i was treated badly by his family my parents told me not to worry about anything they woould pay for everything and we could live here we wouldnt have to get jobs just finish high school even with this support i remained depressed body image was very important to me i wasnt big at all but i felt huge i weighed 110 before and gained like 50 lbs i was really small untill a few weeks before she was born i had no stretch marks on my stomach which was the main thing i ws concerned about then the day she was bor everyone came to see her in the hospital ther was 20 or soo people crammed into one room so i was off to take a shower while in the shower i looked at my stomach hoping to be joyed with no stretch marks but oddly i was covered i fell to the ground of the shower balling i couldnt believe I got stretch marks on my stomach i was horrrified all i could do was cry after everything i had gone through to not get them all the lotion i lathered on that the smell made me throw up over i had used and no results i heard everyone in the room happy and cheerful and no one knew what i was going through then my baby started crying i snapped out of it and got out my baby is the mast important thing of all to me now 4 months later i am still horrified with my bady and i am planning on getting a huge tatoo over my belly i am ashamed of them how come some people get them and others dont and why did i have to be the some people how can people be ok with sagging skin and red marks all over their body i want my old body back dont get me wrong i would never take back the events in my life or my beautiful baby girl nothing in the word woulld get m to give her up but im oly 17 i shouldnt ook like this i should be pretty in a bikiny not covering myself in clothing can anyone give me advise on how i can feel better about myself here i am 6 months preggo








Updated here.

Second Pregnancy, Teen Pregnancy (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) African American, Belly, Postpartum, Pregnant, Second Pregnancy, Submissions, Teen Mom 5 Comments

Having kids was the best thing that happened to me. Looking in the mirror was the worst! I develop acne and the worst stretch marks ever. I have seen alot of your pictures and still i feel like i’m the worst. My first child was at the age of 16,and the second one 17. CRAZY right? But anyway things truly happen for a reason so I wasn’t worried at all. I just thought that if I just work a little bit harder, it would be ok. BOY DID I WORK…STILL WORKING! I had little to no family or friends to help me, all I had was my boyfriend and I.So we did what we had to do, and now i’m proud to that we graduated high school,in college, and have good jobs. We both love spending time with the kids, so we made up a time out the day strictly for the family and nothing else.Many people in our lives never thought we would make this far, plus we’re both African Americans so statistics say the same. I have a beautiful baby girl and a toddler boy I LOVE THEM TO DEATH. I’m really proud to say I have “The Shape of a Mother.”





18 Months post, not even close to pre-pregnancy (Regina)

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

I became pregnant with my daughter a month before my 17th birthday. I had always struggled with my weight and when i was 15 completely starved myself for 3 months. i love 50 pounds. and kept it all off. I was a size 9-11 and weighed 158 pounds when i got pregnant. By the time i delivered i had gained 47 pounds, weighing 205. i lost 20 in delivery. i am 18 months post and i have lost 5 more pounds on top of that. i weigh 180 pounds. i am between a size 18-15. I have lots of very thick, short stretch marks and extra skin and cellulite. but i’m starting to accept it and get over the fact that i am not a super model at heart. And she’s worth every pound.








Updated here and here.

Mikaela

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

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 :)

www.mdmintake.blogspot.com

Beauty Scars of a Mother (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Submissions, Surgical Scar (Non-Cesarean), Teen Mom 3 Comments

I stumbled upon your “myspace” and I was hooked, I think it’s wonderful that mothers all over the world are opening up and showing the truth about what most real women look like.

I had my son at the age of 19 and I was so paranoid about getting stretch marks, of course my worst fear came to pass. I remember the first time I saw my son and I knew that he was worth it all, he was perfect and beautiful!

But I started to go down a destructive path of self hate I couldn’t look at myself naked, it would disgust me, and I would cry. It got so bad that I couldn’t have sex unless the lights were out and I had a shirt on, for over two years after my son was born I couldn’t have an orgasm because the sight of me or even the idea of what I looked like would turn me off. At the time I was also in an emotionally and physiologically abusive marriage, after we got separated and the whole dating world opened to me… well my self destructive pattern got worse. It was easy for me to attract a guy, but I thought that as soon as they saw my tummy they would be disgusted, just like I was.
I heard about some scrubs to remove stretch marks, and I would spend hours in the shower scrubbing till my skin was raw and some times would bleed, but I didn’t care, I hated myself too much to care.

I know this sounds horrible, because I love my son and I don’t resent having him, he is every thing to me, the reason I live, he is what pushes me to be succeed, it’s because of him I had the strength to put myself thru college as a single mom working full time and with out the support of any family. (I’m from Spain and my family lives over there) But what I experienced is the raw truth, and it’s not pretty and no mother should feel the need to self mutilate in order to feel whole again.

I have to say that my son is now 8 years old, and I eventually got over most of those issues. While it still bothers me I have come to realize that there are more important things in life then my tummy! I feel that openly talking about this and taking a picture is good for me, it’s thereputic! I look at my son and see this amazing smart caring child and he is a product of my body and soul and while I don’t flaunt my tummy to the whole world … inside I bear my scars with pride!