i have a dear friend who started an awesome blog. all about the different shapes mother's come in. i'd love for you all to check it out and participate if you're willing. please feel free to pass this link along. http://shapeofamother.blogspot.com/
That is really sweet It actually was a shock at first to see it, not as a bad thing, definately, but because you look on tv all the time or something and see those entertainment tonight shows showing pictures of mom's after having babies and having a rock hard, flawless bellies. http://www.nellyfurtado.com/video/ this is just one example! I read or heard somewhere that she had a baby about a year ago or something, and now her tummy in a rock. Sorry, but I don't like the thought of leaving Leane to go to the gym 7 days a week for hours at a time just to have what hollywood sets the standard for a nice belly. I have a definate mommy tummy, and at first I was ashamed of it, especially since my mom was constantly telling me that Cody was never going to find me attractive again unless I got back down to 130 pounds and fixed that stomach of mine. Or that I need to learn to look good for my man, and that I was failing as a wife. Or that anything he told me about looking good was a lie and that I could see the truth in the mirror. But Cody has finally nailed it into my head that he loves my body just the way it is. He has stressed to me that he doesn't want one of those rock hard women, he wants a comfortable girl he can cuddle up with. I like what he said a few months ago after seeing I think it was Hedi Klum on tv: "moms are supposed to be soft and coumfy (sp?)" That made me feel like a weight had been taken off my shoulders.
Thanks for sharing, this is really sweet. Babies change everything, and a mami-tammy should be regarded as a sign of merit, and not as negative side effect. I remember a documentary about some African tribe, where it was considered beautiful for a women, how pregnancy and nursing changes a women's body.
I also just remembered a comercial I see on TV all the time. It's for that coco butter stuff or something like that. It goes, "pregnancy is a beautiful thing, but it can also leave behind ugly stretchmarks." When I heard that, I got mad. I was thinking, "who are you to say that they're ugly!?"
I love my stretch marks. So what if I can't ever wear a bikini?! I have two beautiful babies and my stretch marks are something I am so proud of! I carried and birthed two babies. I have SERIOUS stretch marks, too. I mean my tummy is ONLY stretch marks all the way up to my boobs, there isn't one inch of "regular" skin left. Danny calls them "boo boos" LOLWhich is another reason I love breastfeeding - my boobs are bigger than my tummy .
I don't want any children, but this is a very empowering blog, and very good for you to have shared with us. Thank you!
know what? I just went and bought a bikini! I have stretch marks, not as many as you by the sounds of it , but enough that when I was pregnant, the lower half of my belly was just purple and that was it. But I really didn't care. It covers most of them, and I still have a decent body shape, so the bikini doesn't look bad, but I figured, "why should I feel like I shouldn't wear a nice swimsuit just because I had a baby? Funny enough, I feel MORE confident in that swim suit now than any bathing suits I wore before I had Leane! I like what my OB said about them when I went for my 6 week check up..."they're beauty marks."
LOL kirstyn - I probably have more stretch marks than everyone here combined. I've lost almost all of my "baby weight" so with clothes on, I look like everyone else. But when the shirt comes off -WHOA!!!!!! LOL
Thank you SO much for sharing this! One of the "side effects" I have is an inability for my skin to stretch the way it "should." 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. And they never went to a barely-there color like I was told they would; 6 years later every single one of them is still a deep reddish purple. Each of my pregnancies brought their own set too, and when I finally got the nerve up to ask a doctor about them he said "yes, you have the worst case of stretchmarks I have ever seen... in 28 years at this job!" I think that was the worst thing I could have heard, and it took me years to see see them as anything other than scary & ugly. I have learned to accept them. One "set" of stretchmarks I actually like. I call it my sunset. It rises up & encircles my belly-button area like the rays of a sun. And the rest of 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. love, mom
I am NOT going to post pics of all of mine, but for those of you that feel yours are so huge... here's a pic of my belly You can see my sunrise, and all of the looong fingers that creep up from never mind how far down. And no, my bellybutton isn't normal. I had an outie & it was "pushed in & sewed up" when I was 8 years old. love, mom
Aww, thanks It's been a long uphill battle to see my belly as anything other than large & scary, but I'm finally there. I did submit the pic and a brief description. That was worth contributing to love, mom
