Thread: Post partum tummy sag...

Well, I had my kiddo about five months ago. Beautiful, healthy baby boy. 8lbs, 1oz. Not a stitch or tear in sight. However, my beautiful pregnant belly abandoned me and left me the world's most adorable little boy and a flabby, saggy belly. St. Ives' Celluloise Shield lotion has helped, but I want that flat tummy I used to have. What do you ladies recommend to give me some, small semblance of a pretty tummy???

You have to give it time. Really. In the meantime, I like Pilates for the ab region. Congrats on the healthy baby!

sadly you may never get it back unless you do a diet and exercise regimen like celebrities do..

i've been walking and eating sensible and still look like an inflated balloon and mine is 17 months old. seriously thinking after kiddo number three i'll just have them zip that up with a mini tummy tuck.

have heard that some women just never lose the pooch, partly to genetic, age and how many babies you've had

but your baby is still young so you have a chance :) mine..i look like i swallowd a basketballs its all misshaped

Agreed. Time, ab work and a good moisturizer. Also remember to drink lots of water.

Enjoy the boy! You will blink and he'll be off to University!

{{{HUGS}}}

ps before i had Zack i was surfing TWICE a day, dancing, and doing 30 minutes at the gym EVERY day and still had a pooch left over from the first kid. I had plenty of cardio and you need to use your abs extensively to help balance and paddle on a board but i still had a pooch :)

Part of what has to happen is the skin has to shrink. This is slow. It happens; it's just very gradual.

I've heard about post-pregnancy abdominal stretch belts that help with tummy recovery. They didn't have these things "in my day" though, so I don't know if they work. Maybe somebody else on the board has tried this -?
Rosette

With my first child, the skin went back almost completely in a little time. With my second child, the skin came back acceptably. With the third, the skin had just been stretched too many times and too far to bounce back and I was left with a mass of loose skin. (Which I had repaired via cosmetic surgery).

You can help make your tummy look better overall with exercise, but the skin cannot be repaired once the damage has been done. There is no magic cream, no magic exercise, no magic food or pill.

It sounds like this is your first child (congrats, btw!), so you'll have to play the wait and see game. Just do your best to take care of yourself to keep it looking at its best...

It's not been very long for you (although it seems like it, I'm sure!) My first is 5 and my second is 14 months. Being almost religious about moisturizer helps, as does exercise. For some, their skin will bounce back in no time and those folks will wonder what the rest of us are complaining about. For me, my tummy never recovered after my first (although I am almost 35 pounds lighter than I was before my first was born). What's helping me a LOT lately is a dvd I picked up years ago from Target and never used. It's from a series that used to be on infomercials, but this one wasn't included in the infomercials. It's called "Yoga Booty Ballet." The dvd set that I bought at Target includes 2 dvds, called "Goddess Booty" and "Yoga Core." When I first bought them, I tried the Goddess Booty one and wasn't impressed... at all. So it went on the shelf and I never tried it again. A couple of months ago, I tried the Yoga Core one and I'm totally hooked. My post-baby-pooch has gotten dramatically smaller while I was doing the dvd once or twice a week. Now I'm at 3-4 times a week and I've lost 4 pounds in the last 2 weeks (after staying at a plateau for over 6 months). It feels good, I feel stronger, I think it's fun, and I'm noticing changes. Even a couple of my students noticed changes in both my body and how I move. Adishakti is right- the skin cannot be repaired once the damage has been done, but it is possible to help what's underneath the skin, and while that won't fix everything, it can help. I won't ever have a super-cute tiny, firm never-had-a-baby belly, but nobody else will ever have my 2 babies, and I wouldn't trade them for the world.

Originally Posted by spcjones203

Well, I had my kiddo about five months ago. Beautiful, healthy baby boy. 8lbs, 1oz. Not a stitch or tear in sight. However, my beautiful pregnant belly abandoned me and left me the world's most adorable little boy and a flabby, saggy belly. St. Ives' Celluloise Shield lotion has helped, but I want that flat tummy I used to have. What do you ladies recommend to give me some, small semblance of a pretty tummy???

I hate to tell you this,, but your tum will never be the same again. It doesn't matter how much you exercise your muscles, if the skin is stretched thats it. No amount of potion or lotion will give you that wonderful smooth elasticity again. However, this can be hidden very well with a fishnet bodystocking. I use them all the time and they are wonderful for holding in, flattening and smoothing out skin tone.

Originally Posted by jesennia

ps before i had Zack i was surfing TWICE a day, dancing, and doing 30 minutes at the gym EVERY day and still had a pooch left over from the first kid. I had plenty of cardio and you need to use your abs extensively to help balance and paddle on a board but i still had a pooch :)

Pooch! I love that...hahahahah It goes really well with Muffin Top. Pooch with Muffin Top........YIKES

Oh, well, at least my excuse is I've had a kid. I've seen some dancers who don't have kids who still have.....PWMT

Give it time!! 5 months you're lucky to get a shower in! If it's skin, it should slowly go back to normal, if it's fat, it can only go away with an aerobic activity to burn it off. There is no such thing as spot reducing. You can do sit ups, ab work etc to tone what's underneath the pooch, but as far as the flubbery part, that has to burn off from 20minutes minimum at an intense rate of aerobic activity.

I also would give it a little longer, 5 months is very little time. Don't they say your body needs about 9 months for recovery and before the last of all the hormones leave your body?

I have one boy and my tummy was a wreck after he was out (I'm not very tall and quite small build and he was a big boy, so he had nowhere to go!). I also could not wait for my belly to be somewhat normal again, but that didn't happen until 9 months - year later. Your skin has stretched out in 9 months, give it the same amount of time to bounce back.

You can work on the muscles and fat under the skin and that will help, but everybody here's right, you can't change your skin texture without some sort of surgery. I've tried a lot of things, and moisturizing and scrubbing are good, nothing drastic but it helps a bit, just like for your face.

Seriously, time is the best healer in this case.

Originally Posted by Rosette

Part of what has to happen is the skin has to shrink. This is slow. It happens; it's just very gradual.

I've heard about post-pregnancy abdominal stretch belts that help with tummy recovery. They didn't have these things "in my day" though, so I don't know if they work. Maybe somebody else on the board has tried this -?
Rosette

a girlfriend of mine just had lipo done. She has to wear a "compression" garment. It's basically spanx. Or she purchased a waist corset and wears it (it looks quite good with slacks and a button up work shirt) all the time. You may want to look into something like that. This is to help the skin regain it's elasticity and shrink back down.

Most of my friends who have had children got their tummies back after a year or two. I'm sure they work out, but I'm equally sure that it just took time to recover. Don't worry - PWMT is not inevitable.

They all tell me that they are a bit softer there than before, but they all look flat and fabulous to me.

I hope and pray that I am the same way. Hopefully my lifelong pursuit of muscular abs will help. Otherwise here we come plastic surgery.

I slapped on a corset the day after my 2 week check up...I had a c-section. I did lots of shea butter on my tummy (during and after pregnancy), I wore the corset 24/7 except to shower. It sucked at first...very uncomfortable, but you get used to it and then it doesn't bother you anymore. Lots of continuous excersie - you don't have to kill yourself with crunches, just make sure that you continue whatever program works best for you - even if it is only a couple of times a week. Watching your nutrition is also important - keep it healthy, take your vitamins and keep hydrated. With time and care, you should see some results. Everyone is different. Though I never got back my pre-baby abs - I am happy with what I have now. Considering how big I got with my little Sofia (over 40 pounds on a tiny 5 foot tall Rican), I was amazed that I didn't look half bad. Alot of it is mental....as long as You are happy with your body...everyone else will see that confidence glow and won't notice a thing.

What does the corset do? I get wearing one after lipo surgery but have never heard of wearing one post partum.

Originally Posted by HOOKEDNOVICE

What does the corset do? I get wearing one after lipo surgery but have never heard of wearing one post partum.

It helps with shrinking the pooch, or so I've been told. My aunt, who's lived in FR for about 25 years, swears by the wrapping method. after she had her two sons, she got her belly wrapped in tight cloth on a daily basis. It seems to have worked wonders for her. She has better abs than most women my age. She also breast fed my cousins for about 18 months. I'm told that helps. ..c::

Postpartum wrapping is apparently very popular in France.

yup , lipo and i believe tummy tuck patients have to wear a compression garment post op. i had to wear mine across the top of my boobs for a couple of weeks and it SUCKS but it helps diminish swelling and promote circulation. They are very uncomfortable.

but the Spanx style ones you can buy in department stores are pretty handy. it will minimize the pooch AND muffin tops if you get the kind that goes up high ( i have one that is mid abdomen and one that is like bike shorts / tank top combo..the bike shorts one is really cool, you can wear jeans and a slim top and not have to suck it in all the time.

the surgeon who did my boobs is hiring for a full time clinic nurse position right now. if i could do full time i'd jump all over the job. one of the nurses who works for him right now got a free tummy tuck by being an employee. talk about perks! that and first class air fare from maui. i believe it is recommended that you wait until you are finished having kids before having a tummy tuck. (i'd love one when i'm done having kids)

Originally Posted by princessisabella

She also breast fed my cousins for about 18 months. I'm told that helps. ..c::

From what I know (NOT an expert, but I've breastfed 2 kidlets, one extended, and the second I expect will be nursing for a long time yet), nursing helps in 2 ways- right after childbirth, breastfeeding causes uterine contractions, which helps the uterus to shrink much faster than if you weren't nursing. Second, nursing burns about 500 calories per day. So it's good for recovering your former shape, but as far as I know, wouldn't do anything for the loose skin.

Originally Posted by jesennia

yup , lipo and i believe tummy tuck patients have to wear a compression garment post op.

Yeah, you have to wear one for at least 6 weeks. I wore the big ugly one they gave me for the first two weeks, then went out and bought a couple pretty satin waist cinchers. They did the same thing, yet gave me more freedom of movement and looked a lot prettier. If you have the typical muscle repair with the surgery, that compression is a heaven sent.

My surgeon wouldn't perform the surgery on anyone unless they are done having kids and have lost all the weight.

I think it is all genetics. My stomach has a ton of stretch marcks and sag from being pregnant 13 years ago. It just never went away. My doctor told me my only option was surgery. No sit up, lotion, excercise, or cream would get rid of it. My stretch marks go pretty high up, so it isn't worth it to me - so I just dealt with it.

It depend on your genetics. but belly dancing does work I had a c-sectionthis time and it went back faster then then the other two when i did not dance if it is lose skin then sit ups belly dancing and time.