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

[HarryHarry]

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.

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!

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.

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.

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!!

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.

*haven’t moved much

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

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

To answer the OP, yes. And who cares?

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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!

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.

*bigger not higher

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.

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!

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...

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.