Update

Only 9 days postpartum, but discouraged… (Renee)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Submissions, Tattoo, Toxemia, Update 11 Comments

I gained 65 pounds with my son. It’s not that I was overeating; quite the opposite was true. I started uncontrollably gaining weight (sometimes 7-9 lbs a week) and finally the doctor caught on. I had pre-eclampsia. Needless to say, all that extra water stretch my skin out something bad. On July 12, I gave birth to my son (after a 3 hour labor). Now, 9 days post, I am 31 lbs lighter but still discouraged. I know I should be patient but I am so scared that my husband will leave me soon just because I don’t look right…. Right before I got pregnant, I was desperately trying to lose weight that some meds had made me gain. Now, I don’t know if I’ll accomplish it…I can’t stand to look at myself.

~Age: 25
~Number of pregnancies and births: 1
~The age of your children, or how far postpartum you are: 9 days postpartum

Updated here.

22 Weeks, Second Post (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Before Pregnancy, Belly, Eating Disorder, First Pregnancy, Pregnant, Submissions, Tattoo, Update 12 Comments

Original entry here.

Age: 22
First Pregnancy

My last post was at 16 weeks. I’ve been reading the other stories on here and decided to post again. For those who read my last post, I’ve been battling an eating disorder since I was 10; my issue with weight gain has followed me throughout this pregnancy. Specifically, when my doctor says he’d be a “little concerned” if I hadn’t gained any more weight by my 22-wk appointment (scheduled this week), my first thought is “OK, a challenge!”

And I’ve spent the last six weeks doing everything I can to stay at the 163lbs I was at my last appointment. I tried to be healthy while still avoiding any additional weight gain… although I know that sounds like an oxymoron. I weighed myself today and I’m 166 at 5′ 7″ I’m doing my best to have a fit and active pregnancy; I walk every day, try to eat healthy, and very rarely have sugar– I’m still struggling with being okay with an extra pound or two, though. Maybe that extra pound is in my bra now– I went from a small B to a C. Yikes.

To be honest, I think I’d be more okay with the weight gain if I looked more pregnant. I spent too much pre-pregnancy time working my abs though, lol. Interesting point of view, huh? I wonder when I’ll “POP” and start looking obviously pregnant (since next week I enter my sixth month). Right now I still feel like I look thick, not pregnant. Here’s hoping that changes soon! Thanks for the support everyone!

First pic: 2 months pre-pregnancy stomach (145lbs)
Second pic: 18 weeks pregnant
Third pic: 21.5 weeks pregnant (covered)
Fourth pic: 21.5 weeks pregnant (belly bared)

Updated here and here.

No Longer Hiding (vsmama)

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

Age: 27
Previous entries here and here.

1 pregnancy; 1 birth
3 years 1.5 months postpartum

I made it a goal to feel sexier when my son reached 3 years of age and I wore a dress! A short dress at that! lol Everyone commented on how beautiful I looked and oddly, for awhile there I was embarrassed by the compliments because after hiding in clothes, hiding in my home, and no longer taking pictures of myself, this attention felt new.

I gave away every zip up hoodie and sweatpants, every over-sized clothing so I would STOP hiding. I began buying clothes that fit better and flattered my new body. The body that I’ve come to see as beautiful from the beginning of my progress. And now I am turning 28 shortly and I am more than satisfied with my self image. I can tell my confidence and love for myself shows when I smile, as well as in pictures, because I have my ‘glow’ back. I no longer have body pains at night and am still in no rush to be pre-preg size. I know I am going at a great pace and staying healthy, eating healthy, and pretty much just living and enjoying my family. Thank you SOAM. All the support from this community has given me a new definition of woman and beautiful.

First pic: June 5, 2010
Second and third: taken this morning July 15, 2010

15 Months PP Update (Shannon)

Bonnie (SOAM) Before Pregnancy, Belly, Cesarean, Child Loss, Postpartum, Second Pregnancy, Submissions, Update 8 Comments

Previous entries:
Missing my baby boy and expecting my second.
5 Weeks PP Second Baby
2.5 Months PP – Second Cesarean in 2.5 Years
6 Months PP Update

Age: 24
Pregnancies: 2
Births: 2 via cesarean
PP: 4 years in September and 15 months

So, I am now 15 months pp with Liam. Wow, this has been a long and hard journey to accept my body. I am finally starting to accept it! Connor would be 4 in September…time flies! I ended my pregnancy with Liam at 177 (I am 5’2″), and I am now 122. I only have 7 pounds before I am pre Connor weight…but I have a lot of toning to do. My husband and I are doing P90X. We do not do it every day, but even the
days we don’t do it, I still work out. I LOVE weight training! I only use 3 and 20 pound hand weights (because that is all I have!). I do all of my arm work with the 3 pound weights, and leg work with the
20 pound weights. I also have a band I use for pull ups! I feel myself getting stronger (although my sweet tooth kills me…I had 4 cookies for breakfast!). I used to cry about my body almost every day. I am shamed I did that…I have been through such harder stuff…but I still cried over my body…how dumb is that? I am still soft, loose, saggy, and stretched…but I love me! I tried on a bikini for the first time in 4 years and liked it! I am not brave enough to wear it yet, but I decided I will wear it on Connor’s 4th
birthday.

Anyway…Liam is doing great! He just started walking about a month ago…and he is now starting to walk more than crawl! I am still nursing him, he refuses any type of cup…any advice on that would be great!

Good luck Mama’s…we are all beautiful. The more we flaunt our bodies in bikinis, the more people will accept it! Let’s try to be brave and do it :)

Pictures:
pre babies
me now (15 months pp)
my weight loss journey

Updated here.

Trying to come to terms with my new body. (Vi’s Mama)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, Breasts, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Submissions, Teen Mom, Update 20 Comments

I had my daughter when i was sixteen. Before my pregnancy i was a mere 95 Ibs. I wore a size 32 B. I didn’t appreciate my body at all. During my pregnancy i used lotion, vitamin E oil, Shea Butter…I bought pretty much every “stretch mark” cream available, but none of it seemed to work. At one point during my pregnancy it literally looked like tigers had scratched my breasts to shreds. They were covered in thick angry red lines. I was so embarrassed by my body. I remember when i was eight months pregnant i was lifting my backpack up in the school hallway and a classmate happened to see the stretch marks surrounding my belly button. She looked at me in disgust and said “God, i hope that doesn’t happen to me if i get pregnant.” During my pregnancy with Vi i developed a herniated belly button. After she was born i had it corrected, but the surgery left a scar underneath my belly button. I breast fed Vi until she was eight months old and began biting. I absolutely loved the experience, but it’s been really hard for me to accept my saggy breasts. I am now eighteen and my daughter is 15 months, a lot of my stretch marks have faded, but i still feel too uncomfortable to wear a bathing suit in public. I hear my friends complain about their unscathed bodies and it drives me crazy. I am so grateful for this site. After reading some of the entries i have finally begun to feel pride about my scars. I gave birth naturally to a beautiful 6 Ib, 14 ounce baby. She is my world and i would give up a flat stomach and perky breasts for her any day!! Sincerely, Vi’s Mama.

Updated here.

From Girl to Woman (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Before Pregnancy, Belly, Breasts, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Pregnant, Submissions, Update 2 Comments

28
ten months post body

i posted just only today also talking about my belli and my job .

i wanted to share this amazing transformation with you mummas i am absoluty amazed at how the body grows and changes , i mean really the pic speak for them selfs !!!!! i am learning to love there new transformation,,its going to take some time , this is apart of my healing.

pic 1 and 2 pre pregancy
pic 3 ,,8 weeks pregant ,,pic 4 16 weeks pregant ,,pic 5 and 6, 32 weeks pregant ,, pic 7 40 weeks pregant,, pic 8 two weeks after having my baby , pic 9 and 10,, ten months after baby ..

I Can’t Stand to Look in the Mirror (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, Breasts, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Second Pregnancy, Submissions, Update 45 Comments

~Age: 20
~Number of pregnancies and births: 2 pregnancies 2 births
~The age of your children, or how far postpartum you are: 22 months and 3 months

I had my first baby at 18 and my second at 20. Before I fell pregnant I had a fantastic body – although I never appreciated it. Now, I can’t stand to look at myself in the mirror. I’m suffering quite badly from post partum depression but have sought treatment and I am now on anti depressants. Most days, I can’t leave the house. I hate myself for being so vain and preoccupied with the way that I look – I should feel proud of myself for what my body has achieved, but it’s a struggle to look at it that way. I’m currently 3 months pp after my second baby, and have so far shed my weight from that pregnancy, but still have about 8 lbs to go before I reach my goal weight (the weight I was before I fell pregnant with my first child.) Even though I weigh 127 lbs, my body shape has changed. I hate my wide hips, and all the loose skin – I’ve got a permanent ‘muffin top.’

My husband has never been one for compliments, but I wish for once he would just say that I look okay, or that he thinks I am beautiful. Feeling that I look ugly to him is probably what gets me down the most. Our sex life is non-existent, not that I don’t offer, but he’s just not interested. He says it’s not because of the way I look, that he’s just tired, etc, but I don’t believe him.

I wish I could be confident, and accepting of the way that I am. Right now, I am focusing on getting my mind healthy and being a loving mother to my two amazing children but the way that I look is a constant weight on my shoulders.

(1st picture 5 months pp with first baby the rest are me today, at 3 months pp after second baby)

Updated here.

Australian Ex-Professional Dancer Battles with Post Baby Body (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Before Pregnancy, Belly, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Pregnant, Submissions, Update 26 Comments

28
one child
ten months post body
65-kg before pregnancy
95 peak pregnancy
75-kg to date,

i use to dance professionally in burlesque and cabaret-bars , having my whole job revolve around my body and my own sense of sexuality i was always great shape , having to keep toned by having a active and a healthy life style.

when deciding to have a family i had no idea what the consequences were to be upon my body , i had the idea to keep working afterward ( of course with a healthy time of to share with my baby) but i find my self with a incurably saggy belle and a thousand strong deep stretch marks , i will always have to wear a corset now if i decide to go back to work,, during my pregnancy i ate all hearted !! i ate lamb shanks , mash potato , i though to my self i am growing a baby i may as well give her all the food she needs !! or was that food for me ?? during my dancing i had to watch what i ate, it was plenty of small frequent low carb nutritious-meals , to keep my figure , so needed in the high class of exotic dancing,, i had a lot of water retention and the blue marks appeared-around week 34 and at my peak of pregnancy i had put on a whopping 30-kg but gosh those cup cakes never tasted so good !!! best yr. of my life !!!

i have lost the weight but now i am left with the saggy left over skin.

sometimes i wonder weather the skin stretched so much because i put on so much weight and it was all my own fault, but then i have two friends that were tiny ( like myself) before falling pregnant and have bellies-like my own ( very saggy and wrinkly , so i think its a mix of heritor ( my mother had the same thing ) weight gain , and skin elastic ,my daughter was two weeks over due and i was huge … my skin stretched to impossible lengths it was like i was carrying twins , ( see pic below in labour )

so i find my self kinda in a state of shock , my body has changed so quickly in just one and a half yrs. , been put through so much strain, ( created the most amazing thing in return ) but sometimes i feels hard letting go of my own body image and excepting the change .

it some times does not feel like my body, i am uncomfortable in my sexuality for the first time in my life , and find my self not wanting to share my self with my lover , i feel ashamed with the change , i am trying to love and except ,, but its not easy …

my breasts are much fuller and saggy now , i personally feel quite at peace with them in my own private life , but the thought of returning to work now and showing my breast sounds terrifying to me,, but my belli is a different matter , i am so disgusted by it i cannot even look at it ,i always am having to wear a corset , to be honest i think i just may never dance again ,, which honestly is devastating ,,, i love what i do and love bringing joy and humor to people through my shows ,, my savings were extremely healthy and i always had strong work ethics and was am proud of what it do ,i was never ready to give up dancing,, i feel like my successful business was taken away from me .

if i was GIVEN 20 thousand dollars for a breast enhancement and tummy tuck would i do it ?? YES
would i pay 20 thousand from my OWN savings for the operations ,,, NO

my hard earn money would go to my family , not myself . but god i would love to win the lotto !!!

in retrospect if i had of know back then of what i do now of my change in body i would never want it any other way ,, the joy of mother hood far out ways the way i am feeling about my body ,, one strechmark for every smiles from my baby girl ,, now that a good exchange :) , i am trying to move on and heal through this , thats why i want to say a big thank-you to all you other moms who have shared there story, you are all apart of my healing .

i am struggling to keep positive

Second entry here.

Almost There! (Anonymous)

Bonnie (SOAM) Belly, First Pregnancy, Postpartum, Submissions, Update 7 Comments

Original entry here.

Hi again everyone, at the time of my first submission I was about 146 lbs and just hating life altogether. I am now 130 lbs and a bit happier but still have a long way to go. I am still having trouble facing myself in the mirror and it sometimes prevents me from going to work or out of the house at all. I’m thinking I might seek help for this because I honestly feel miserable most of the time… improving physically has helped in a small way though :)

My daughter is almost 3 now and she is the happiest little girl ever, so I am very thankful for that. I just wanted to thank everyone for the support, without it I probably wouldn’t have made it this far. I know I don’t look all that different but I feel healthier so that’s a start! I’m hoping to be at my pre-pregnancy weight by the end of summer… so 2 more months to go to lose 15 or so pounds! I hope I can do it.

I will post another update when and if I make it. Bye for now.

Thank You, Babies (Bryana)

Bonnie (SOAM) Positive Body Image/Words of Enouragement, Submissions, Third Pregnancy, Update 2 Comments

These are my previous posts:
2 Babies Later
Update
Second Update
Love Youself, Mama, Then Love Everything Else

Age: 22
# of Pregnancies: 3
# of Births: 2
-Rayden 8lbs 4oz 21 inches Dec 12, 2005
-Cairo Sofia 8lbs 7oz 21 inches June 23, 2009
How far PP: 12 Months

This is technically my 4th update, but my 5th post. It is officially 1 year post partum from having my last child, as of June 23rd. It’s definitely an accomplishment but also a moment of realization. I am no longer going to have babies in my house! I have done what my body was designed to do for 2 beautiful children, and now I can go on with watching them grow and become beautiful and amazing people. This brings me more joy than I can put into words. They are gorgeous and brilliant children that I am thankful for every day, every single day.

But now onto myself and the accomplishments I have personally gained. I have learnt to love my body, whether it is “flawed” or not. I love my body. It is beautiful and shows what hard work I
have put into having my children (BIG children at that, especially for my tiny stature of 4’11”!). After my first child, Rayden, now 4 ½ years old, I hated my body. I hated what pregnancy had done to my body and I didn’t dare look at myself nude. However, I was only 18 when he was born. Image was everything and the “right” image were those portrayed through magazines and such.

But once becoming pregnant with my 2nd and last child, Cairo Sofia, 1 year as of June 23, I all of a sudden adored my body. I loved looking at myself knowing I had another child growing inside of me. I would trace my stretch marks and embrace my loose skin. For whatever reason, I had a realization that my body was Beautiful. It is amazing and can do remarkable things that seem so bizarre.

Now that I look at myself at the 1 Year Milestone, I love myself even more. I love myself from the inside out. I am beautiful. My children are beautiful. And I would like to thank them for helping me to see true beauty. Thank you for allowing me to accept myself, “flaws” and all, but no longer view them as “flaws”. Because if it weren’t for the “flaws” you 2 beautiful children would not be here, gracing my life every day!

Thank You Babies!

Updated here.