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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To expect my pre baby body after 2DCs?

56 replies

Revupk · 28/08/2011 11:54

After a lot of struggling, Im approaching my pre-baby weight again but to my horror finding that I still have an enormous tummy. Is it all over for me now body wise and should I find happiness elsewhere? What are your experiences?

OP posts:
MrsVidic · 29/08/2011 12:30

I had my dd 3 weeks ago and kept up with exersize during pregnancy- I have my size 10 figure back and have lost most of the weight- 2 stone of the 2stone 8 I put on!

Tips- exersize, slimming world (I didnt do it while preg thou) and breast feeding!

Angrycountydurham · 29/08/2011 12:35

Not true jellybean.

Pregnancy cause boob change and sag NOt breastfeeding.

Catslikehats · 29/08/2011 12:41

I have lost skin tone and my stomach does that sag thing when I lean forwards although as long as I am upright it is ok

My breasts haven't sagged from BFing but they have emptied IYKWIM, so what were very pert rounded on top (think posh's boob job) breasts are now much flatter, although still in the "right" place

MistyMountainHop · 29/08/2011 12:52

pfffft i didn't breastfeed my two at all and mine are still saggier than they were pre dcs

TryLikingClarity · 29/08/2011 14:53

I always look at models like Heidi Klum et al and see they swan about on the catwalk modelling underwear a few months after giving birth and just feel Envy

How do they do that? Is it cosmetic surgery? Extreme diets? Giving the baby to a nanny and spending most of their days eating salad and on a running machine?

My belly is not my own anymore, it hangs around like a whales belly and the rest of me is just as it was pre-DS.

Post pregnancy and BF for 11 months my boobs decreased by 2 cup sizes :(

Feminine · 29/08/2011 16:29

Try don't feel bad :)

Heidi etc...have had work done. Looking at pictures of her the other day ,it was as if her tummy was made of plastic!

Working out can only do so much ,keep yourself fit and toned (within reason) its all we can really do ...or worry about Grin

nomoreheels · 29/08/2011 16:38

I'm doing kettlebell swings & they're really improving my core strength. DD is only 3 months so I don't have a lot of time, but it takes about 10 mins 3 x week. I'll increase workouts as I can.

jellybeans208 · 29/08/2011 17:18

I was as slim/flat stomached as heidi within 2 months but I was doing what I wrote about sit ups every night, walking miles a day. Didnt do special diet . or anything but I havent got a particularly large appetite normally. Also didnt breastfeed, not for that reason but I definitely think it helped in end as you get back to normal quicker ime. It can be achieved but you have to like lots of exercise.

LadyFlumpalot · 29/08/2011 17:22

Umm, I just popped straight back to how I was pre-baby... within 3 days. TBH though I couldn't keep a thing down during the last 2 months of pregnancy so I had no weight to lose. At all.

The entirety of my baby group hates me for this.

MrBloomsNursery · 29/08/2011 17:23

YABU. It's hard to lose that baby flab around the tummy. I lost all my baby weight plus more, but was never able to shift that flab. I see it as a baby birth belt of honour. Wear it with pride.

MrsCampbellBlack · 29/08/2011 17:27

I'm slimmer than pre-babies (3 dc) but by no stretch is my body the same.

I have crepey skin on my tummy and my boobs are definitely saggier. But I am nearly 40 so not going to have the firm skin of an 18 year old.

I've never really had a flat tummy though so no change there Smile

Saggyoldclothcatpuss · 29/08/2011 17:30

Bugger, just wrote a long post, then lost it!
Its all about your tummy muscles. They seperate when pregnant, and sometimes dont regain their original shape. Your insides bulge out, and in extreme cases, prolapse badly, needing surgery to rejoin the muscles. (saw it on Embarassing Bodies)

Feminine · 29/08/2011 17:36

It is worth bearing in mind ,that the amount of children you have makes a difference.

Having small babies also makes it easier to snap back in to place ,as does the age of the Mum (when she gave birth)

I had my first at 27 ,no evidence of a baby having ever been there in 2 days!
Second at 31 ...biggish bump for a month or so ...then down to a size 6!

THIRD baby at 37 ...I looked pregnant for a month after the birth ...I am now a size 8/10 and my daughter is 2.

My first 2 boys were 8 pounds ,my daughter ...9! It all plays a part.

duchesse · 29/08/2011 17:42

I always lose weight from me whilst pregnant. So in my last pregnancy I started off a fat 2 stone over my ideal weight porker, and ended it about 3 kg over ideal weight. 2 years on and I'm back to 2 stone overweight. :( I hate it. I just want to feel light again- I did for about 2 months after DD3 was born and it was lovely.

ithaka · 29/08/2011 17:46

Yoga and horseriding both do wonders for core muscles.

I weigh the same after 3 children as I did before (8 stone) and I am probably more toned as I drink less and exercise more!

SouthernFriedTofu · 29/08/2011 17:51

YABU, your body has changed you can't expect it to go back exactly as it was before. You are not a balloon after deflation you won't pop right back.

Your boobs have changed, your hips have spread, your belly was (probably) huge. The way you hold weight across your whole body is different now. Imagine the fact that your hips have probaly spread- if you are skeleton is different how can the outside of you look the same? You probably still look great- just different

Fleecy · 29/08/2011 18:43

I lost the weight pretty quickly after DC2 but didn't exercise so didn't firm up. Once I started exercising I did lose my tum although it still has stretchmarks - and my hips are wider and always will be but I don't mind that as it means I have a waist for the first time ever!

I did circuit training once a week, dance twice a week and the Shred DVD once or twice a week.

Pretty labour intensive and am now 8mo pregnant so will have to do it all again. Ho hum!

hokeycakey · 29/08/2011 19:22

Jellybeans you must be very lucky! I had a washboard stomach pre pregnancy I was in my skinny jeans within a week and worked out with yoga pilates and core work every day I had both kids before 30 years old and until recently (preg again) had a washboard again however my stomach will NEVER be the same again due to loose skin and a tiny pooch that will never leave me you simply cannot say that u popping back was all down to you genes have a massive part to play.
Anyone struggling with post baby body should visit the shape of a mother online LOVE that site!

foreverondiet · 29/08/2011 19:22

The reason why you have a tummy is that your body composition has changed, firstly stretched skin due to pregnancy, and also you might WEIGH the same but you probably lost muscle mass due to losing weight.

My body is BETTER now AFTER 3 DC and aged 36, and I wasn't overweight before. But I have been on a diet since October. Admittedly its just about weight maintenance now but but IMO although it has been hard work (diet and effort in gym) it has been worth it.

I have a lovely flat washboard stomach with definition.

But don't do endless crunches! It won't help!

Recommend plank rather than crunches, - for guidance do 30 day shred, plus cardio (running?) and then move onto other JM DVDs.

jellybeans208 · 29/08/2011 19:55

I think this is a good article on pre and post pregnancy workouts. I am pregnant again at the moment and this is what I followed for 2 months pre conception (thats when I found the article) I am now 9 weeks and doing the daily ab exercises but I really want a bike to get on at nights as your not meant to run. I will hopefully continue the program after birth and want to get back in to running but will probably still have to do power walking for
first bit as my DD is starting school and I have to do drop offs.

I do yoga as well but cant afford classes so tape it on sky+ at the moment but its good as you can do it when you like. I am a lot more serious about it this time round but Im 27 now and dont want to rely on sit ups and running/power walks. I was more lax last time and missed out days but think if I can get the exercises down early on before I get tired it wont be as bad.

www.amazingabdominals.com/ab_articles/pre_post_pregnancy_abs.shtml

upahill · 29/08/2011 20:54

It took me 5 weeks to get back to normal except for my boobs because I fed for 18 weeks. Once I stopped feeding I went back to normal. That was 15 years ago with DS1.
As soon as I got home from the hospital (i.e.on day 5 I was out walking and swimming and the following week I was back in the gym.
Same with DS2. I got in to shape with exercise, a sensible diet and no junk food or sweets. I was 31 and 34 when I had babies.

my problem is now when I have been stuffing my face for the last two years and not going to classes. It would have been easier not to have stopped than start again!!!
I've been going to Kettlebell training, pump and cycling in a bid to get back in my POST baby shape Grin

I was in better shape after giving birth because I was looking after myself more and had more time to myself to exercise while I was on mat leave.

TantrumTurtle · 29/08/2011 22:02

I had 3 pregnancies in 4 years and didn't put on much wait with any of them. I had a saggy tummy after DD1. After DD2 my tummer ended up firmer than after DD1 pretty quickly which I put down to carrying baby in sling (hippy style tying baby onto you you, rather than hanging them off your shoulders) and also paying attention to posture when pushing push chair. 2 months after DD3, DH gave me a resistance hula hoop and a pair of sexy knickers for my birthday (nothing else to open at all - quite what he had in mind I do not know). The hula hoop was amazing, and has given me much much firmer tummy muscles, which is brilliant because I hate sit ups or formal exercises.

TantrumTurtle · 29/08/2011 22:03

Sorry if that makes me sound smug.

If it makes you feel better you might like to know that my daughters call my boobs the 'hangers'!!!!!

MorelliOrRanger · 30/08/2011 08:12

Forever, I did the 30ds and it was brilliant - easy to find 30 mins a day. I lost 7 inches in the end and toned up too. :)

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