Dealing with changes in your body.

Grey_526 · May 2016

I'm almost 39 weeks, so I feel the time to be self conscious is over, but for me its just beginning. Don't get me wrong, I looove my baby bump, but I have severe stretch marks all over my belly, sides and thighs. I've also just discovered the biggest stretch mark I've ever seen going right through a small tattoo I have on my hip. I feel like it's selfish of me to be feeling like this, which of course makes it worse, but I can't help it. I feel like after I give birth I'll have a pouch, a zillion stretch marks and a stretched out vag. I do not regret getting pregnant and I really hope all this fades after my sons born. I just have no one to talk about this with, cause latley I've been really emotional and if I try talking about it with my hubby I'll wind up sobbing lol. I just hope I'm not the only one going through this. Did anyone else have this problem ?

ayeshaohara · May 2016

I have struggled with this also. I'm 3 weeks PP and seeing there will be some permanent changes is tough but the gift at the end is worth it I can assure you. I just keep reminding myself it took 9 months to grow my angel so my body will take time to bounce back fully. The stretch marks suck though. I only got mine a few weeks before I delivered. They came very quickly and they hurt. That skin will never be the same but neither will I. I have to accept they're there to stay! Also...it's ok to cry. I think it helps. Be kind to yourself, your body is making a child and it's pretty incredible!!

cgg0707 · May 2016

It's totally ok to feel the way you do! With my first child I went from 120 lbs no strechmarks to 167 lbs strech marks everywhere!! It definitely took a blow on my selfsteem at first, but I exercised, ate healthy and let my body do its thing. At about 2 years after having my child, I actually rocked a high waist bikini and felt pretty good about my body!! It was then that I realized that most people won't notice those strech marks as they eventually fade to white. You know they are there, but nobody else will. It takes time to learn to love your body all over again and as pp said, it takes time to get your body back! At the end of the day you have created a beautiful human being, when I feel down, I just look at him and know is all worth it.

kitandcat · May 2016

I am feeling self conscious as well. I barely had any stretch marks at all until a few weeks ago, now I am covered. It sounds like for the most part they should fade, and a lot of them will go away, but I'm assuming I will be stuck with a lot of it

I also recently noticed that my hips have seriously expanded. Are they permanently going to be wider!! That's insane!! It doesn't feel like extra fat on my body, it literally feels like my body shape has changed!!

I have decided, and I know it's easier said than done, but I've decided that once I'm ready to work out and focus on eating healthy and whatnot after the LO is a few weeks old (like 6 wks?), I am going to take control and really commit to it. If I have an awesome body that is physically fit and that I'm proud of, even if it's different than it was before, then I think I'm going to be proud of my stretch marks too and what they stand for!

Right now I'm letting my worries go because there's nothing I can do to control stretch marks, so I will just have to focus on what I CAN control once I'm ready to get in shape and I think that will help me have a positive body image!!

PYLWhammy · May 2016

I'm SO stretchmarked, and my thighs and butt have gotten super chunky (not that they were in great shape to begin with!).
My husband has been nothing but wonderful, but I just feel so gross that I find myself covering myself around him when coming out of the shower.
Don't have much advice to offer, just commiserating. It's all so worth it, but I do worry that DH will never be attracted to me the same way again! No matter how many times he tells me I'm being ridiculous, I don't believe him!

Bellodomani · May 2016

I am struggling with this big time too. With my first I got zero stretch marks, was back in my regular pants at like 3 weeks postpartum, and was back at my pre-pregnancy weight at about 3 months. This time I had severe polyhydramnios and my uterus essentially got as stretched out as if I had twins and triplets and I just know I have a pretty bad diastasis even though I'm only 6 days postpartum. I still look 5 months pregnant, and I have crazy stretch marks, and as far as I can tell from the Internet (because I'm an idiot and I googled this stuff), many women who had my condition never really get back to "normal" without a tummy tuck or other serious interventions. I would say that currently this is occupying my thoughts more than say, my toddler who is constantly throwing tantrums or my newborn who only sleeps 2 hours at a time. My husband is super encouraging and fine with us using some of our savings to pursue surgical fixes if that's necessary at some point, but wouldn't care if I looked this way forever too... But I do care. It sucks.

Pascal86 · May 2016

I'm sure I'll deal with body issues down the line, and before last week I was preemptively nervous about it as well, but now I'm just so freaking excited about not having a baby in me and being able to walk around normal that I think the high of feeling half-way decent will distract me from body issues for at least a little while. At least I hope.

So don't know if that helps, but it certainly has for me - just focus on what your body will be able to do soon, and if you can think about that for a few weeks before you focus on the negative feelings, maybe you'll have bounced back a little physically and it will be easier to adjust?

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