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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think it’s physically impossible for some women to regain their pre-pregnancy shape?

65 replies

HarryHarry · 12/06/2019 20:48

Did your shape change permanently after pregnancy? I used to be a UK size 10. After I had my baby I lost all the weight (about 30 pounds) quickly but found that I was struggling to fit into some UK size 12 jeans/trousers. I don’t think I am carrying any extra fat - it’s as if my hip bones themselves have expanded. Is that even possible? Is there anything I can do to be thin again? Or am I stuck like this forever? Give me some hope please! I hate dwelling on “trivial” stuff like this when I should just be grateful for my beautiful, healthy baby, but it’s really getting me down. I feel so old and frumpy and I never thought that would happen to me.

OP posts:
Original poster
HarryHarry · 12/06/2019 21:56

My ribs, hips and feet have definitely got bigger! The only parts of me that are thinner are my face and my hair, so I look like I’ve aged several years! So glad to hear it’s not just me though, and that it can go back to normal! I’m currently pregnant with baby #2 and dreading what I will look like after the birth. Not sure diet and exercise would make much difference if the bones really have moved apart!

OP posts:
christinarossetti19 · 12/06/2019 21:58

I remember a Chinese medicine practitioner/midwife telling me that hips and rib cage expand during pregnancy and never completely go back to their original shape.

I saw a picture of me from the back some years after having my children, and realised that I'd got wider.

Whatsnewpussyhat · 12/06/2019 22:10

My rib cage was tiny pre kids, had horrible rib pain when pregnant with first. Now instead of going in at the bottom they stick out a bit and it feels like there's a big gap at the front that wasn't there before.

Hips never went back either.

Feet grew a size but it's more that they went flatter and spread. Arches dropped. Probably due to extra weight and shifting centre of gravity etc.

Bluemascara4 · 12/06/2019 22:17

My feet went from a (UK ) size 6 to an 8 when pregnant and never went back...... DS is 8 yrs old .
The scales say the same as they did before I got pregnant but I've got wider hips and wider rib cage now. Nothing fits!!

PatchworkElmer · 13/06/2019 07:17

My ribs are definitely wider. I can get zip-up dresses I wore wore-pregnancy on, but I feel like I struggle to inhale deeply whilst wearing them!

I actually think my hips have moved much, but they were quite wide to begin with! My biggest issue is my stomach- was quite proud of it pre-pregnancy!

I was a size 10 pre-pregnancy, I’m probably more of an 8-10 now, and weigh a few lbs less, but my shape has definitely changed.

PatchworkElmer · 13/06/2019 07:18

*haven’t moved much

areyoubeingserviced · 13/06/2019 07:33

My breast size increased after dc3.
I had always been a B cup , and was a size 10, After dc3, I went up to a D cup and stayed there, despite the fact that I had lost loads of weight.This meant that I had to go up a size in tops

ethelfleda · 13/06/2019 07:41

I’m a little wider actually, yes. But to be fair, I was a size 8 before with a small chest - now a size 10 with a decent chest so not complaining Grin

Fibbke · 13/06/2019 07:42

To answer the OP, yes. And who cares?

Stuckforthefourthtime · 13/06/2019 07:43

Like others. After 4dc my ribs have gone up nearly 2 inches and stayed there. My boobs have gone down 2 cup sizes and stayed there too Sad

I'm still within 1lb of my pre pregnancy weight and exercise regularly, but have gone from a size 6 with an hourglass figure to a size 8-10 without much definition, it's a bit frustrating.

SouthWestmom · 13/06/2019 07:46

I've had four via c section and my hips seem wider and my stomach is flabby. Literally can't change my shape back.

DippyAvocado · 13/06/2019 07:47

My youngest is 6 and I've lost all the weight and am generally the same dress size but my ribcage has never completely gone back - I need a bigger bra size than I used to.

User8888888 · 13/06/2019 07:53

Baby number 1 was ok. I’m on maternity leave with no.2 and I still look pregnant. I know I still have weight to shed but my shape feels different.

Poetryinaction · 13/06/2019 08:04

I could fit back in old clothes after dc1 and dc2 but after dc3 there is no chance. Hios are wider, stomach muscles separated, I'm 5 years older... so I am buying bigger clothes!

Sceptre86 · 13/06/2019 08:06

I lost the weight after dd and could get back into all my old tops and dresses but had to go up a size up in jeans to get it over my csection belly ( which at 7st10 was still there) and would wear a belt to keep them up. After ds I am struggling to lose the weight, I have lost 3 stone but have another 2.5-3 to go. I have a much higher chest than before and even with my current weight loss there has been no change to cup size.

Sceptre86 · 13/06/2019 08:06

*bigger not higher

pollysproggle · 13/06/2019 08:19

Yes!
After 2 DC I'm an extra 3 inches round the hips and my boobs are enormous and won't go away.
I think it's an age thing as after my first child at 23 I sprang back pretty quickly and was in a bikini 6 months later.
My second DC at 32 left me in this mess. I don't care much about the hips but my chest depresses me and makes me feel fat.

Lauzy86 · 13/06/2019 08:32

I'm 4 months post birth and have been in pre pregnancy clothes since about 3 weeks (1st baby) but I still weigh half a stone more. I'm not sure if my clothes were looser than I realised before I was pregnant. The top of my legs seem to be the sticking point.. Im really struggling to loose this last 7lbs which is disheartening as I put on less than 2 stone in a 42 week pregnancy!

NewAccount270219 · 13/06/2019 08:53

My top tip here: be a bit flabby pre-pregnancy. Makes postpartum change much easier to deal with if you're not that wedded to what you had before...Grin

More seriously/helpfully, how old is your baby? People told me it takes ages before your body is 'done' adjusting post pregnancy, but I don't think I really listened and I thought my body about 6 months postpartum (when I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight) was how it would stay. It's now nearly a year since I had DS and it is much closer than it was then to how it was pre-pregnancy, even though I actually regained a little bit of weight (when I went back to work and stopped a) breastfeeding and b) walking around with a pram for literally hours a day). It really does take time.

Fraxion · 13/06/2019 08:55

I went back to my original size quite quickly but my rib cage never went back which was annoying.

NCforthis2019 · 13/06/2019 08:57

maybe not the norm - but i went back to my normal shape with both pregnancies.

Fraxion · 13/06/2019 08:58

The boob thing too. I barely needed to wear a bra pre-pregnancy but that soon changed, never got my barely there boobs back either.

Luxembourgmama · 13/06/2019 08:58

I was in a bikini a few months after my first despite gaining 22kg I never float the last 4 though. Now I'm pregnant with number 2 god knows

DrCoconut · 13/06/2019 09:09

I have diastasis recti so permanently look pregnant. No amount of dieting or exercise can get rid of it, though I'm now told some exercises can help a bit.

Pinkmouse6 · 13/06/2019 09:12

It took my hips years to go down, I think that’s normal.

My tummy won’t be the same again without surgery which I cba with so I’m just leaving it. No amount of exercise will resolve it btw, I’ve tried everything. Just accepted I’ll always have a slight overhang.