Sweet jesus I just realised it's finally happened, I've tucked my belly apron into my knickers..

[SodOffCovid]

Sigh. 4months PP with dc2. Two stone overweight I reckon thanks to a hard pregnancy and it's finally happened. I'm tucking a saggy apron in to gargantuan pants.

How the hell do you get rid of this thing??? I've lost 6lbs in two and half weeks by walking the pushchair and not eating crap (in lockdown I expect a medal for this) and my legs and arms are really thanking me for it. But my apron belly still looks like a pork shoulder joint has been velcroed to me but the butcher forgot to use string .

Pretty limited with a two year old and a 4mo with what I can do here.

Am I being a fool for even trying right now and should just accept my fate and order some more granny pants.... Anyone else contemplating whether this is just an added misery right now??

I have had two sections. Its not too soon to start. Listen to your body and if it hurts don't do it. (6 years since ds2 find some ab exercises hurt and so I don't do them)

The only way to get rid of it is to keep making healthy choices, keep exercising and don't listen to the voice that tells you to 'just give up, just this once'.

In high waisted workout trousers I have obliques and ribs, if you pull them down I have a pooch and loose skin - I only get rid of that when I am 8 stone - but until then I think it tells a beautiful story!

You can do this!

6lbs is fantastic OP! 4 months PP really isn’t long at all.... remember it took 9 months to grow your baby, your body isn’t going to snap back in a matter of weeks and nor would it be healthy for it to do so. Body brushing is great for stimulating blood flow to loose skin so maybe look into that, as well as regular moisturising. It’s great that you’re getting out and exercising with the buggy, some HIIT workouts and core exercises would really help on top of that. They don’t need to be long- 15 minutes, (so you can fit them in while baby is working!) aim for 4/5 times a week. There are loads of great workouts and plans on the internet.

You should be proud of yourself for managing any loss during lockdown!

4 months is nothing with the second one. Give it a year at least. And check for a diastasi recti, you might need to do special exercises for that.

What dementedma said - my youngest is 23 and still have it - no matter how much weight I lose, it never goes. When I win the lottery I will have a tummy tuck...

Two 9lbs babies via c section. I'll never get rid it's a lump of scar!

Same here, except both were well over 10lb. I’ve lost 3 stone over two years and still got it, so I just wear magic knickers now if I need to hide it. No one in my house would dare to comment - it’s the price I’ve paid to bring two wonderful DC into the world.

i think in the longer term you would want to consider focused ab/core work but 4 months is v early for that so in terms of exercise probably best to do cardio if you feel you aren't getting enough through your walking - although if rules do ease and you get the chance to walk alone then I think that would be best.

slower weight loss probably best to try and avoid the wrinkliness as much as possible, and massaging in oil/moisturiser.

Didn't it take 9 months to get to that size? Didn't you grow a small human during that time and you are currently trying to get to know, love feed whilst trying to handle covid restrictions?
You can get belly wraps. They are long bits of material (4m) and you wrap it round you during the day then take off at night.
You can then to your postnatal yoga and ensure you're engaging your pelvic floor and glutes with squats etc most days.

Thanks for the nice comments and motivation. I'm keeping on it, despite the garden picnic we just and for dc1 for VE day I avoided the pork pies and munched on carrot sticks and humus. I WILL make positive changes this year. After realising this will probably be my last baby (sob) its MY time to give my body a real rest from making babies and get into the shape I want. I may not get rid of the pork joint around my middle but I can make positive changes 💪 and I know if I fall back off the wagon during lockdown I won't be able to recover again for a long while.

Body brush and scrub is a great idea. My sis brought me a pamper set for my birthday a couple of weeks ago so I will have a go. I bloody love soap and glory so I can crack on with that when this lot runs out.

And those that still have the apron... We should all take the attitude of @FamilyOfAliens. This is the price for beautiful babies. It is worth it. And if all else fails I reckon I could slot things under mine to carry some odds and sods when my hands are tied with the kids.... Envelopes, keys.. Could be a good thing after all 😂

I had a rough pregnancy with my second. Severe SPD left me totally immobile and I was permanently starving. I really piled the weight on.

I did low carbing and was half a stone below my pre-pregnancy weight by the time the baby was about nine months old. No exercise - didn’t have time! It’s all about diet.

I do have some flabby abdominal skin that just isn’t capable of shrinking back any more (I had a huge bump + diastasis recti) but it’s not an apron. It’ll do

Thanks @haworthia and seriously well done. I was off work from 5months during preg and unable to walk so equally piled it on. Made worse I think it being winter too 🙄 I obviously didn't count on being stuck in right now so had hoped more weight would've come off at this stage but hey ho my family are well so I'm grateful for that.

Haworthia tell me more about your low carbing? I'm three weeks in to cutting out sugar and low carbing and not lost anything. I feel better but I need to lose weight. I have started adding good fat to my diet as it fills you up better. I mainly eating porridge for breakfast or eggs with spinach etc. Salad for lunch then for tea meat with veg. No potatoes, rice etc.

Check out the low carb bootcamp forums @spotsandstars I learned everything there. It was all a bit daunting at first but no one minds anyone asking stupid questions.

Should add, porridge isn’t low carb. If you’re looking to lose weight you need to be super strict with your carbs. Half the battle is figuring out what’s off the menu

Peonyonpoint where can i find this exercise programme? I am in desperate need of it but think i may have left it too late, my baby is nearly 30 but i think i will give it a go but seriously i need to know where to find it

Quite a few have this, mine is the last thing to go when I lose weight. Have tried stomach excercise but nothing has worked. Gives me back pain because of the weight round my middle so I do need to shift it. I think gentle excercise is great and dieting which you are doing amazing with. Also read that swimming is great for this as it works out all your muscles but obviously can swim at the moment! It's hard isn't it but don't give up, it will go eventually

I know how you feel OP I'm three stone over weight though after having my DD second pregnancy.
I'm also being referred to discuss having my split stomach muscles operated on 🤞🏻 I had a tough last pregnancy with my DD.
I was massive bump wise with my DS and then when I fell pregnant with my DD I ended up having issue which resulted in my stomach muscles splitting 😬 I also have c section scar which makes my belly over hang even more 🤣 so I constantly look like I'm carrying messed up lumps of gone off meat round my torso.
I've not been able to lose much weight and lockdown makes it that harder not to mention I get tired with a 3 year old with suspected autism and a 1 year old to keep entertained.
I just got to hope one day I'll get myself back into shape one day at a time 🙂

After my twins were born, I taught DS, age 2, that my wobbly tummy was beautiful because it grew the best babies in the world. He then made sure his sisters agreed.

Wasn't hard, in fairness, babies love their mummies' bodies, especially the soft squishy bits.

It made a huge difference to my feelings about my body (I've always had a bit of a wobbly tummy). Having three little people look at the wobbly bits with pure love and adoration is so heartwarming.

The DTs are 7 now, and slight disapprove that my tummy barely wobbles at all any more, but they still think my body is beautiful. As are theirs!

To start with remember it took nearly 10 months to change your body to its state at time of birth, it will take at least that long again for it to get close to its pre-pregnancy state.

Not everything goes back to pre-pregnancy size/shape, bones have moved and changed, ligaments and other musculature stretched, skin grown.

Also I’m afraid it won’t just go with diet, you need to tone up the muscles too.

Boring but necessary - sit ups/crunches, reverse crunches/leg raises, oblique twists and weirdly tricep dips help too.

Took me about a year/18 months after dds c section to get close to pre-pregnancy figure and sadly I was unable to maintain it. It takes concerted effort! Not easy when you’re so busy - so definitely give yourself a break. And YES consult dr before even considering a strict diet or strenuous exercise.

Lost even more weight during divorce - too much in fact - but then when that started to calm down and I started eating a reasonable amount again I was a busy working single mum by that point just managing keeping us both going and gradually piled on the weight again, not helped by ill health and becoming disabled due to an accident.

DS playfully pressed my tummy the other day and said it was lovely because it felt like memory foam

Peonyonpoint is totally right here, after a section and a large baby it’s likely you’ve got a diastasis ( I’m a postnatal exercise specialist) if you have,this will make the belly protrude a bit more,
Here’s a video showing how to check, if you have a gap of more than two fingers, you’ll need to modify exercise as it can be made worse, no planks as the pressure on the gap will widen it, pilates anytime is great, you can do a months free trial and they have lots of good postnatal workout routines, I had a big diastasis and have almost completely closed it with pilates.
When you’ve got it down to two fingers or less, you can go back to normal ab workouts, it’ll make a big difference to the belly.
www.google.co.uk/search?q=checking+for+diastasis+recti&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-gb&client=safari#kpvalbx=_2mm1Xu3sJZTygQb63qjYAQ62

@Littlestlily thank you that's really good info. I haven't done the test yet as I've just eaten but suspect you may be right as I have a very stuck out belly still. It seems bigger at rib cage level as opposed to the bottom of thst makes sense.

How often would I need to do pilates a week? I'm just wondering so I can try and find time to fit it in with naps etc.

Three times a week would be the ideal, it can be transformative, I’ve had five very big babies and it was the only exercise that made a difference, pilates anytime is £12 a month and it will be well worth it, you took 9 months to get here don’t forget and you can make a difference in much less time xx

I want to say just one thing and I dont want to upset anyone and I know this is of no help to OP to whom i wish lots of luck and support and congratulations on your babies I have had 4 babies with 2 c sections and my stomach is just fine and for me breastfeeding pulled it back every time. I have never been to a gym, never done crunches etc.

3.5 years in after the last of two sections (1st was emergency) and it is there but not an overhang, just a slight bulge on the c section scar. Can't believe how much it has gone. At first it even peeped out the leg of the knickers it was so long. Have hope! And amazingly well done for your lockdown efforts.

Dermarolling / microneedling can repair the skin - have a look on owndoc and order your own roller and it will really help.