How did pregnancy affect your body?

[Cloak]

Sorry, quite a personal Q but I would love to know how it affected you, whether it was better/worse than you thought, how you feel about your body after pregnancy?

Reason for asking is that I have suffered from disordered eating in the past so I am worried that I will lose confidence after pregnancy and fall back into old habits. Any stories welcomed.

 

[Lollypad]

Sorry, I haven't been pregnant before but I do have a friend of a friend who had a severe eating disorder in her teens, but she loved pregnancy and the changes in her body because they were growing a human. I know that's quite a wholesome attitude to have, but just thought it might be nice to hear a "success" story, even if not my own

 

[TheWitchIsBack]

My body has changed in what I would deem to be a negative way (loose skin, stretch marks, reduced boob size after breastfeeding and quite a bit less pert!) however I feel significantly LESS self-conscious about my body after giving birth.

It’s very difficult to explain, but after I’d had half a hospital staring (and reaching!) into my vagina, and seeing me in an almost primal state I just feel a whole lot less bothered about how my body appears to other people. I’m not sure if it’s because I had so many people openly staring at it and seeming unphased when I had anticipated abject horror or if it’s because I’m absolutely amazed at what my body endured and achieved in birthing my kid but it’s made me a lot more at peace with myself and my body.

Best of luck to you!

 

[Unknown1]

I’ve always struggled with my weight and disliked my body. I lost some weight and fell pregnant, I’m only 5ft and had bad food aversions so I ended up massive with lots of stretch marks and slightly saggy boobs. However even though I have a lot of work to do to get rid of my c section pouch I don’t hate my body at all and used to despise it, it gave me a beautiful, funny baby girl.

I did feel disappointed in it initially because I couldn’t go into labour and I didn’t get any milk through. Both the opposite of what I had planned.

 

[Mrs Cucumber]

Since having my children i'm alot more body confident, even though I'm over weight!
I think knowing it created my two babies, carried them safely etc then fed them made me see it differently.

 

[Plasticbox]

I would say that I feel even more self conscious after having my baby. I had a c section and although I don’t have a big stomach and there was no over hang it has given me what I would call a kangaroo pouch. I just feel so self conscious of it when wearing dresses. And my hips got wider too which I didn’t need to happen as they were already wide!!!

 

[Flossy2019]

My body has changed in what I would deem to be a negative way (loose skin, stretch marks, reduced boob size after breastfeeding and quite a bit less pert!) however I feel significantly LESS self-conscious about my body after giving birth.

It’s very difficult to explain, but after I’d had half a hospital staring (and reaching!) into my vagina, and seeing me in an almost primal state I just feel a whole lot less bothered about how my body appears to other people. I’m not sure if it’s because I had so many people openly staring at it and seeming unphased when I had anticipated abject horror or if it’s because I’m absolutely amazed at what my body endured and achieved in birthing my kid but it’s made me a lot more at peace with myself and my body.

Best of luck to you!

this is exactly what I’m like! Before I had my son I managed to get down to a really slim size 8 almost a size 6. My son was a big baby 8lb7 and was squishing my hips a lot and now im a size 12-14. It does make me a little bit sad - the worst part was throwing out all my size 8 jeans I can’t get on but honestly I am not overly bothered really. I have stretch marks that have gone white new big boobs I’ve always wanted I do feel a lot more confident like yourself it’s very weird. But like you i had many hands up me and I think after the birth when they check you over you kind of don’t really give a tit anymore

 

[S29S37]

I hate my body after having 3 children. I gained wait just on my bump and then once I gave birth it shrunk too quickly and I'm left with a really saggy belly with big, deep, wide stretch marks that look like knife wounds.
I stayed slim throughout pregnancy and after birth (except my bump) but with the saggy belly I feel that I look awkward in all clothes. I live in leggings because I can put them over my belly but any type of shorts, trousers or jeans feel uncomfortable and give me a B shaped belly if I wear them over my belly, and my belly hangs really far over if I wear them at hip level.

 

[Flossy2019]

I hate my body after having 3 children. I gained wait just on my bump and then once I gave birth it shrunk too quickly and I'm left with a really saggy belly with big, deep, wide stretch marks that look like knife wounds.
I stayed slim throughout pregnancy and after birth (except my bump) but with the saggy belly I feel that I look awkward in all clothes. I live in leggings because I can put them over my belly but any type of shorts, trousers or jeans feel uncomfortable and give me a B shaped belly if I wear them over my belly, and my belly hangs really far over if I wear them at hip level.

Have you tried knickers with a band at the front? My belly is the same it’s like a deflated balloon and I find knickers With a bigger band at the front make me look slimmer in my jeans Give it a go you’ll feel miles better

 

[bubbadabut]

I've always been very strict with myself and self conscious about my body due to being anorexic. I had 3 kids naturally with no problems, but the 4th ended in caesarean and left me with the dreaded caesarean shelf/saggy tummy pouch. I absolutely hate it and it makes me feel really down about myself. Lockdown hasn't helped because I've been sat on my arse most of the time.

 

[Amber90]

I'm exactly the same and feel its a big reason of why I put having children off because of my eating disorder history (selfish I know). I've put a stone on in lock down and its made me feel vile so not sure how I would cope being pregnant. I find it hard to talk about it as I my friends/family etc don't understand.

 

[Herefortheteeeee]

I have always struggled with my weight. I have never been huge, but always had a belly, regardless of how much weight I lost. I had my miracle baby last year. Since Jan, I have lost almost 2 stone. My body has changed in that I don’t lose weight as easily as I did before.
I had gestational diabetes when I was pregnant so much more likely to have type 2 diabetes if I don’t keep control of my weight. I also suffer from gallstones since having my baby. So you have to think not only about the impact weight wise but also your insides.
As cliche as it sounds, my baby was worth every single problem. I would do it 100 times over x

 

[Wishwash]

I grew to epic proportions when pregnant even though I did try and be mindful about what I was eating! I thought I'd be so upset at my post natal body prior to giving birth but now I'm a bit like duck it life is too short. I'm probably a stone heavier that my pre pregnancy weight and have a very saggy belly but nothing some spanx won't sort out. My baby means so much more and all my money and time is now spent on lovingly preparing meals for him, buying clothes, toys, playing etc and overall I'm a lot less self conscious when in public. I think it took having a baby to realise nobody cares what you look like!

Sorry just to add I was bulimic as a teenager/young adult but the thoughts haven't been there and I haven't thought about binging/purging. My mindset is a lot healthier

 

[Wishing1990]

I didn’t gain that much weight (probably about a stone which I lost within a year), though I noticed my body shape changed and the clothing styles I used to go for just didn’t look right on me anymore - that was strange as I was used to going into a shop and picking something up I liked and getting it - whereas I found I was having to try different clothes that I wouldn’t normally look twice at.

In terms of other changes:

My boobs - my babies both preferred feeding from one boob over the other, so I ended up with one boob considerably larger than the other! That itself didn’t bother me - but not having a bra that fits properly did. It drove me crazy, and eventually 10 years after my last child, i had a boob job. Not to make them bigger... just to make them the same size again so I could wear a bra that fitted.

Stretch marks - I have some, but who doesn’t? They don’t bother me in the slightest. They were initially quite red and noticeable, but faded a lot over time. I actually quite like them!

Skin - I’ve got some excess “crinkly” skin on my tummy, but again, I’m not that bothered by it.

So I’d say overall, the most difficult changes for me were changing the style of clothes I chose and also my boobs not fitting in bras.

 

[chocolate choux]

It sounds weird but I would advise you to take some nudes and keep them safe. I fell into the trap of looking at my post-pregnancy body and criticising it, luckily I have some old nudes to compare which helped me to realise my body wasn’t as ‘perfect’ as I’d imagined beforehand. If you don’t have an accurate point of comparison you’re going to automatically think you look much worse

Also, if your bio mum is around and you’re comfortable with it, you could ask her about changes she experienced. Obviously not everyone is the same, but she would probably be your most accurate bet in knowing what to expect

I’d say to give yourself time to recover. I didn’t gain much fat during pregnancy so my weight dropped pretty quickly, but the handful of lbs I did gain were stubborn. I don’t regularly check my weight anymore as I used to have issues, but I didn’t lose that weight for months even with breastfeeding / rushing around / no time to eat. And that’s okay as I had more important things to be doing

I know I’ve been very lucky in many respects with my post-pregnancy body, but having previous issues I still find the changes upsetting at times. But I try to accept this as normal, my body has been through a lot and it’s still here doing its thing. It is worthy of respect

 

[I love Christmas]

I feel alot more sexy since having my first born, to my husband that is. However, two years on I have just discovered which clothing is now flattering to my new shape. My boobs are much bigger and haven't sagged which gives me confidence.
However, my stomach muscles seperated due to having a 10.8 baby. So my stomach after c section resembles an avacado. In some clothing I can and have been mistakened for being pregnant.
Theres nothing I can do about it now so I just embrace it, I find confidence super attractive in people (not cockiness, just comfortable in their own skin).

 

[Titntat]

I boucned straight back after my first. Kept up a health life style when pregant. Gym and diet.

When I was pregant with my second i had sever morning sickness went down to 8 stone (was 10 stone before). However at my 12 week scan they picked up a bleed and said no exercising I gained my weight back i had lost due to sickness and more. My babies now 1 and I'm 11.5 stone Hopefully when I'm back at work ill shift the extra weight, I hate the way I look. I can not excercise but with two kids at home now I just can't be bothered. As soon as they are in bed I just want to chill out with my partner eating snacks

 

[Fenella]

My body was shite before pregnancy so I don’t feel differently about it now. In fact during pregnancy was the only time I’ve ever felt confident in my body and had a bit of love for it.

my feet grew a whole size though during my first pregnancy and didn’t go back- shoes were the last thing I thought I’d have to replace but there we go. No change in the subsequent pregnancies though, thank goodness!

 

[TheBabeWithThePower]

I suffered from disordered eating in my teens and early twenties but not to a severe degree. I have struggled with body image most of my life but in the two years prior to getting pregnant I was really working on getting more body positive. I think pregnancy/birth/being a mum has been the best thing for my mindset, I actually feel quite body neutral now which is where I wanted to be!

In terms of the numbers, I was pretty petite before getting pregnant (around 7 and a half stone), didn't gain loads of weight, lost most of it fairly quickly (back to 8 stone about 6-8 weeks pp) and from when my baby was about 7 months old I'm actually lighter than I was before.

My body has changed, not too noticeably for those who don't know me really well, but it has and I miss exercise as I've got no spare time but becoming a mother has helped me take a step back and reframe so many things and I'm just proud of what my body has done and also totally over obsessing about it! That said, I recognise that I have a lot of privilege going into this situation and it's important to note that everyone will react differently to pregnancy, physically and mentally, but the important thing is to seek support as soon as possible if you are struggling with any aspect.

 

[Pinkii]

I gained nearly 3 stone and have managed to lose that and a bit more l, however my body shape has changed. Can’f get my pre pregnancy jeans up my legs

One thing that’s come out from it- i am happier with my body now than I ever was. Yes I have a soft squishy tummy and my boobs arent great but who cares? i grew a healthy human and i’m proud.