Curious about bump after birth

[thattravelphotographer]

This is purely out of curiosity that I ask, but what does your bump feel like after giving birth?

I am only 5'2 and have a very tight, solid bump, and being completely honest I had never expected it to feel so hard. I thought it would feel more cushioned and squidgy. So I'm therefore curious to know what it will feel like after birth (although I'll find out for myself in a couple of weeks but it's still something I'm wondering). I know I will still have a bump for a while, and this post has nothing to do with getting my figure back or anything like that, I just am curious to know how my stomach area will feel as soon as it's empty of a baby.

Will it still feel heavy? Will it still be quite firm or more like poking a jelly?! Will I be able to lay on my side without it feeling like I'm laying on concrete?! Will I feel I have use of my stomach muscles again or does that come much later? That sort of thing...

Thank you!

[GailLondon]

In my experience, very jelly like, all the squashed lungs/squashed stomach /hard belly feelings disappeared straight away. Stomach muscles took quite a while to feel anything like normal

[LycraLovingLass]

I was really naieve when I had my first and expected it to just go down and back to normal.

It didn't! It was like a deflated balloon crossed with a smashed jelly.

[TeddyBeans]

Like a jelly to be honest. It's like blowing up a balloon and then letting it deflate, it never goes back to exactly how it was before you blew it up. And be prepared to find stretch marks you never knew were there. It does firm up again as your womb contracts back to normal size but I carry extra weight so my belly still has a wobble to it

[GrumpyHoonMain]

My core felt weak and I lost my centre of balance for a while as my posture changed - am still working on that. My waistline did return to flat quite quickly though (within a week).

[georgie279]

Painful then numb for 6 months... now it's like jelly with a shelf emergency c section

[Witchgonebad]

Very soft, squishy and wobbly.
No more tightness, squashed lungs or heartburn. And you can bend over and breathe at the same time!

[LightDrizzle]

Like a collapsed soufflé.
I was so shocked. I hadn’t put in any weight beyond the baby and amniotic fluid and was in my normal clothes, so when I looked in the full-length wardrobe mirror I was horrified.
It does get better, but after two children (I’m barely 5ft), if I gain weight I get a horrid “apron”. Also when very fit many years ago, I had a 4 pack when tensing, but the bottom two muscles required to make it a 6 pack were behind a bit that remains soft even when I’m at my slimmest, it looked flat though.
I’m overweight currently so back to the apron

[thattravelphotographer]

Thank you all your replies. Knowledge is power, so it's always interesting to know more about this pregnancy process! I'm actually looking forward to things being a bit softer everywhere* for a while!

[20viona]

My bump disappeared while I was still in hospital and I left in my pre pregnancy clothes, I'm aware this isn't the same for everyone. My uterus contracted as soon as my daughter was born. Like you my bump was rock solid so after it felt a little squishy.

[Cait73]

Jelly like and you still look pregnant!!

I'm 5 foot and had a c section I was sorely disappointed they didn't remove the bump with the baby lol

[MashedSpud]

Like a bowl of jelly sitting in a car going over a rocky road.

It doesn’t stay like that forever though.

[Minkies13]

Very soft and deflated looking. I do remember finding it really hard to contract my tummy muscles to cough properly

[fee1234]

Like mashed up jelly, not even nice well-shaped jelly. I didn't touch it for weeks because it freaked me out.

[flissity]

I’m 5 days post partum.

Feels very soft, shrinks daily, from the side view still look pregnant maybe 6 months?
It’s such a relief to be able to eat more, breathe, lay in any position!! Although milk has come in so boobs are really big and sore now.

[BirdGarden]

@20viona I was the same, I left the delivery room in non-maternity clothes (soft ones obviously, not skinny-fit-no-stretch jeans!). I had a 6 pack pre-pregnancy, 5'3" if I stand up straight, but gained 15kg though I had a tight little bump. Currently past due date with second baby in two years, 8kg gain, smaller bump, good core strength but not a proper six pack so wondering what will happen this time... The only people who believe that I instantly deflated are those that saw me in hospital who were shocked/horrified/amazed. Don't think lightening often strikes in the same place twice though 🙈 I have packed a set of clean clothes to come home in that would fit me and my overdue bump as it is now to allow for a more realistic bump!

[20viona]

@BirdGarden please tell me know how it is second time as I'm planning to try next year 🤣
I had a retained placenta so doctors spent a lot of time pushing down on my belly and there was literally no bump straight away. I did only gain 8kg myself and my daughter was only 5lb 3oz.

[BirdGarden]

Oh a tiny one! Midwife reckons this one is a tiddler, scan says otherwise... My daughter was 7lbs 3 so not big or small. Didn't have anyone pressing on me afterwards, just remember looking down and going "wow, it's gone?!?" DD was in SCBU and when I went in after a shift change later that day her new nurse had just come on shift; she was initially cautious as to who I was and how I got in because apparently I didn't look like I'd ever had a baby, let alone a long traumatic birth 2 hours earlier! Problem I now have is I think DH thinks that's "normal" and I'm preparing him now that it wasn't, I was a freak of nature for some fortunate reason and post natal bodies don't generally go down like that!

[GreenDill]

My belly went straight back to flat after both of my births. One vaginal delivery and one section. So much so I was confused where the bump went! However I did put on barely any weight other than baby in both pregnancies. My belly did feel like jelly and was weirdly squishy so I avoided touching it for the first few days both times. I’m expecting DC3 in the next few days so I’ll report back to whether I was lucky third time round as I’ve put on a lot more weight this time all over!

[Cazzy198]

Soft like Jelly as most others have said and mine hangs down slightly too.

It's been 10 days since I gave birth to my first and my legs are back to normal size (had lots of water retention there, especially in the ankles/feet) and my stomach appears to be shrinking each day. I would say it's the size of when I was about 20 weeks pregnant now.

[muddlingmyway]

Very very oddly empty. I was off slight build and put on almost no weight in my pregnancy (the same cannot be said since!!!) and my bump disappeared straight after birth but as the muscles were gone i had a very concave belly. Felt like my intestines would fall out! I took in maternity trousers as I assumed I’d still have a bump but they were far too large. Within a few weeks it was back to a the new version of normal ish.... the sleepless nights soon changed that!

[shazzz1xx]

JELLY LOL XX

[BirdGarden]

@20viona, update as promised! I'm now 5 days post partum after DD2 - not quite the freaky snap back I had from DD1 but not bad by any measure. Saw the midwife today who said "oh my god, look at you, where did you go?!" The surprising thing was I didn't have a tiny baby at all, she was over 8lbs and everyone has asked where I hid her 🙈 back in normal clothes straight away again, though loose ones for my own comfort as I sustained a bad tear. Can still tense some stomach muscles. I would guess your second experience can't vary that wildly to your first based on my recent experience!

[thattravelphotographer]

@BirdGarden congratulations! I'm actually now looking forward to seeing what my own body does and I will look post-baby-bump. I honestly don't mind either way (so long as it's more comfortable as currently wide awake as find sleeping on my side super uncomfortable with such a firm bump, regardless of the pillow world around me going on!)

Thanks for giving us the update.

[mamasiz]

I looked like a deflated balloon after birth - I couldn’t believe what I was looking at when I headed to the shower in the post labour ward I did get back to some kind of normality about 18 months on, after I’d had an umbilical hernia repair. Now 31 weeks with baby 2 and god knows what I’ll look like afterwards but with diet and exercise I’m hoping to banish any apron-ness that happened last time. Always good to remember though that no matter what your tummy looks like your body has done an absolutely amazing thing!