Seeking Moms Who Love Their Post-baby Bodies for Magazine Article

Hi K.,
I applaud the focus of your article! We should all love our post-baby bodies more because of what they represent, but unfortunately most of us don't. Hopefully your article will help others feel more positive and confident about their post pregnancy look.

I am 36 years old, and have a wonderful almost 6 month old daughter, and every day I stand in front of the mirror briefly and suck in the remaining baby-belly that I have from my pregnancy, to remember what my flat tummy used to look like. So, I guess I'm not in the "LOVING my body" camp. I had always been one of those very thin, flat all over women and frankly didn't love my body before (TOO flat). I lost all my pregnancy weight within a few weeks, but have this flabby skin and small baby belly remaining. But I don't HATE it either - when I see it off and on throughout my work day, I smile as it reminds me of my beautiful daughter. I also had a c-section, and the scar does not bother me at all. I see it as a small badge of honor.

During my pregnancy I had a couple of medical conditions arise that forced me to change my diet to a much healthier one, and 6 months later I've sustained that new healthier diet. My healthier diet has also flowed over to my husband who has lost about 20 lbs and is eating healthier now, too. That aspect of our lives has been improved greatly by my pregnancy and will help us both teach our daughter a healthier lifestyle.

Good luck with your article!

K.

I have three children three and under
I am 26 and felt that i was too young to just accept the baby weight. I started running, eating healthy and lifting weights. My body is more toned now then it has ever been. I can see my ab muscles! I love it. Ofcourse there is still a large layer of skin that droops down near my hips. But I will not focus on that lol. Having children deffinitly motivated me to work out. I think we are trianed to believe that after you have kids you just have a mom body and thats it. I found it empowering to work and defy that rumor. I know my husband deffinitly appreciates it ;)

hi, My name is L.. And i love my body. Why beacuse it has created two beautiful miracles, my adorable daughters. In the period right after pregnancy your body is wriggly. When i got pregnant, i was a size 16. After two and a half months of having given birth to my daughter, Gabrielli, I am a size 14 and i can fit into some of my size 12 pants. I have two sets of strecth marks which i show to everyone I can. The lighter set is from my first daughter, Yamilet who's 3 and the darker set is from Gabrielli. I am open for an interview or more questions. I'm 24 years old, live in Brooklyn new york and been married for 5 years.

Hi K.,

My name is S. and I have a 13 month old son, Micahel. While I was pregnant with him, like all pregnant moms, one of my biggest worries(in regards to my body) was getting strech marks. So every morning and every night, I buttered my belly up with cocoa butter oil. I was so good about it that I never got any strech marks on my belly, not one. However, strech marks didn't escape me at all...I ended up being covered in stretch marks all up and down the inside of my legs! In the first few months after Micahel was born, I admit to being sad about not being able to ever wear skirts again, or so I thought. You see, the thing is that we put so much expectations on how our bodies should look based on what we see on TV and in Magazines, not realizing that those celebrities are humans just like us, but only touched up and airbrushed humans. I recently finished reading this book by Jenny McCarthy called "Belly Laughs", and it was the first time in a long time that I was able to laugh about my experiences with pregnancy and childbirth. In addition ,I decided that I will wear skirts again and proudly show off my strech marked legs as my badge of motherhood honor. And hopefully more moms, especially ones in the public eye, won't hide their "badges of motherhood honor" anymore. A few weeks ago, I put on a skirt for the first time and went to the movies with my husband. That night, was the most beautiful I felt in a long time. But the best feeling of all was not caring if people looked at my legs or what they thought, because I knew that I have a beautiful son at home that is always with me thanks to my strech marks.

It's hard to believe such people exist. That's a whole fairy tale to most people! LOVING one's body AFTER having a baby? What a joy, I cannot imagine. My 10 pound son ruined my figure for all eternity. Ugh. Even annorexic-thin I carried a saggy empty kangaroo pouch on my front. Sorry for the rant.

Well if I hadn't had such a little miracle Id hate my body but, I look at my belly n my stretch marks and it just reminds me of my beautiful baby boy. I hope to get back into shape but until then Im not ashamed of one curve, inch or mark....

After having my son, that inspired me to get in shape. I lost over 60+ pounds. I still work hard to maintain it. But I do love the fact that I can run and move around with my active 6-year old son!

Like most women carrying a child or right after having one. Our bodies have morphed into something we haven’t seen before. We have a Wooble Weeble like effect about us…however for women (in my opinion) who are post baby it’s HARD to like what you see… especially in the early stages when the muscles haven’t gone back into their right places. Don’t get me wrong the help from “Mother Natures Milk Fairies” has defiantly given me the Victoria Secret look I was always looking for… to bad at the cry of a child a women will leak like Niagara Falls.
Enough about my theories, personally I’m a 26 year old mother of 2 (almost 3) and the year before I had my daughter (2003) I was working out 2-3 times a week and had gone from a size 16 to an 8 and was weighting in at about 140lbs. Then Natalie was born… after about 9 months I was back to about 155lbs and looked healthy. Sawyer came (2005) and I had already had a weight gain and I teeter tottered the scale at about 175-180lbs. (don’t get me wrong weight to me is simply… EXTRA WEIGHT to be shed) But we are due with our last child another little girl May 1st. At this point I’m BIG and my poor body can’t handle it this time. So, come post baby… me and my Victoria Secret like chest and 3x post baby body are heading back to the gym to find out what Mommy looks like in a 2 piece w/ stretch marks and all.
Sorry about the ranting… my bf (who if you ask him, didn’t like me at 140 lbs he believes I looked hungry) he has been the one person to support my BEAUTIFUL Prego and post baby sizes so this one is for the kids and I. I want to be able to coach my kids in sports and get up the stairs w/o wondering if a 5’5 person should really feel like she has a monkey on her back, while trying to get the REAL monkeys upstairs to the bathtub.

I am learning to love my twice c-sectioned body. I was loosing weight from my first son Jalen,5 upon discovering I was pregnant with CJ, 5 months. Having a baby allows you to let go of any mishaps you had about your body. Everybody sees E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G!!! I am even more appreciative of the doctor who delivered my second son. He minimized my scar and it can hardly bee seen. it was a huge problem for my boyfriend to even look at it, but i would make him, because it "IS" me and will always be a part of me. The scar that brought my boys into the world!!! My badge of mom honor!

Hi K.!
I started getting heavy when i was attending college. When i was pregnant I loved being round knowing that a life was inside. My daughter is now almost 3 years old and i have to say that as long as I don't look in a mirror I like how I look. My stretch marks are a badge of honor: Proof that my body was able to give house a new life. I love my daughter's soft belly and hope that she learns that softness is OK. We are meant to be soft in a sense. We come into the world that way and yet we trample it into the ground with images that say we need to be skinny. Why not be healthy? I will never be a size 2.. so what? So what if my hips are big, my belly jiggles and my butt is bigger? i just want to be healthy. And if that means I have a lil belly pouch.. so what? You don't like my stretch marks when I wear a 2 piece swim suit? Then don't look. I like me. And that in the end is what really matters

Hi K. W,

I am a mom that loves her post partum body. My daughter is 20 months old and I still have a little gut but I'm sexy, and no one can tell me otherwise. I used to be skinny, but my baby gave mommy some serious curves on top and behind and I love it. I have to admit at times I may feel a little self conscious when I try to wear the clothes I did before (bare belly tops) but then i decide all clothing isn't for everyone at every stage in their life. People compliment me on my shape and say they wish they can have my body after they have a child. I would love to participate in your article.

As vain as it might sound, I love the fact that I had two babies, gained about 45 pounds with each pregnancy and have NO stretch marks...I don't know why, but I'm really proud of that fact. I'm currently 30lbs away from my goal weight, but for having a baby 3 months ago, I'm not doing too badly...matter of fact, I think I look better than a lot of people I see...so it's never as bad as we think! I'm thankful that I am healthy enough to be able to work out! But having my body change so much really forced me to reevaluate my fitness level---I was not going to settle for the idea that because I had a baby, I'm stuck looking like I did 6 weeks post-partum for the rest of my life. After a baby, you see your body as a valuable tool and it needs to be treated as such by exercising and eating right.

I loved becoming a little more curvy since I have had my daughter. Unfortunately I did not keep very much of my baby weight like I wanted. When I got pregnant I was 93 lbs, at my last appt I was 153 lbs. Currently I range about 102. I know people reading this probably want to throw something at me. I have always tried to gain weight and it just doesn't work. my body did round out a bit and I love my stretch marks, it shows the 9 months that my body worked hard to produce such a miracle.

M.

Hi K., I am writing to you regarding your request of post-baby bodies. Well, I just turned 26 and gave birth to a big baby boy (he was born 9 lbs 12 ounces) in December. My weight before I was pregnant was 135 and I went up to 180. I really loved the way I looked when I was pregnant and more I like the wy I look now. I am at this moment in 150, but I feel very good and have not stressed going down on my weight. I do have an older son, which is 2 and a half years old, before I got pregnant with him I weighed 120. "My trophy" for these two pregnancies are three stretch marks that I have on both sides of my waist. I call them the cat scratches. LOL But every time I see them, they remind me how lucky I am of having two beautiful baby boys. Everyone have told me I can make them dissapear, but that has never crossed my mind, as those marks means my transition of becoming a mom.

Me, me, me! I lost 20 pounds from my prepregnancy weight and I credit it all to breast feeding! I would be happy to anser any questions you have!

D.

Hi K.,

I work with moms trying to get their post baby body back...its an amazing job. We truly have formed an amazing support group. Please check it out...www.mommy-moves.com

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions! We would love to work with you!

L. sawyer

Hi K.,

I have a 4 month old & would have to say I'm extremely happy about my post-baby body! I'm 35, well I'll be 36 next week, and was terrified that I wouldn't be able to lose all my baby weight, luckily I have, but I still have some extra curviness that I'm enjoying, as well as my husband:). I'm staying home right now w/my lovely daughter and selling herbal teas online.

R.

I teach pre-post natal classes & am in great shape with an 18 month old...never was really in bad shape even though I gained 45 pounds for both of my pregnacy the weight came off bec. I ALWAYS exercise!

Hi my name is D., I just had my son in oct 2006, im slowly losing the weight, the pregnancy has been extremely hard I am a recovered bulimic of 2 years and to see your body change is hard but you know its for the best.. WOMEN are their own worst enemies. Im writing a book to help other girls and woman in recover from their ed. Lets just say I HAVE TO EVERYDAY TELL MYSELF - I am worth fighting for - not to fall into comfortable behavior. I suggest everyone read IMAGINE A WOMAN IN LOVE WITH HERSELF by Patricia Lynn Reilly, it will help everywoman feel better and put things into perspective. Well I HOPE this helps- D.