Still look 6 months pregnant 2 weeks postpartum.. normal?

[BusyMissIzzy]

Title says it all really. I was a fair size towards the end (big bump on fairly petite body) and now am left with a wobbly pot belly. Is it all just flab, or will some of it just disappear in the coming weeks/months? And is this normal for a first pregnancy? My mum said she didn't have that after she gave birth (also suggested I should have a scan to make sure they didn't leave a 2nd baby in there ; she was joking though). It does seem to be going down a bit.. anyone else the same? Or is this just an "everyone's different" thing?

jeez, try 2 years post-partum and then worry!!

And tell your mum to keep her mouth shut!! Not a very nice 'joke' imo

ps congrats on having your baby btw

yes. I wore maternity jeans / combats / leggings for a few weeks after my dc's were born.

And I did get slim again BTW, just don't worry about it for a long time!

There can be a lot of swelling too, don't worry too much now, you've a little one to keep you busy. Keep eating sensibly though and see how it goes over the next couple of months.

wow, I'm 5 years pp and still have a 25 week belly - I've just started physio on mine and the difference to my belly is amazing!

Get into see a specialist post partum physio - you could have a seperation of the abdominal muscles: your physio will help you get in shape and save your back - all the heavy lifting isn't good if you have no 'core' muscle support.

from your mum.

Congratulations btw!!

I remember ballooning after DS's birth, mw said it was due to the extra water being passed (not quite sure why it ended up going to my ankles ). So tis absolutely normal to not shrink immediately! I'm guessing you'll have had home mw checks, they generally check how your uterus is shrinking down. If you are breastfeeding it helps it shrink quicker (and helps get the weight down generally IME). Bear in mind your mum's memory is perhaps not as fresh, given it's not just 2wks since she had her baby... My hosp offered 'shape up classes', from around 6wks after baby's birth - gentle pilates/yoga type exercises, which helped (you took baby along too, so was a mix of exercises/feeding/calming baby/exercise...). Abdominal separation is what is designed to happen btw, so don't panic that they will never get back as they were before. Just don't do sit-ups just now, it will strain them more!

Thanks everyone, that's reassuring. How can I tell if I've got abdominal muscle separation?

NumptyMum don't worry, I won't be doing sit-ups any time soon; have only just got the hang of bowel movements, exercise is a long way off

9 months to put the weight on, 9 months for it to come off.

Take it easy on yourself and remember everyone gains and carries the weight differently, and loses it differently afterwards too.

I was all swollen with fluid after my birth and far too uncomfortable to get into normal jeans for ages. My hips seemed wider for a while and my bra size stayed a couple of inches wider around my ribs than before pregnancy - though eventually it went back to roughly what it was before.

The mw should be checking you for abdominal seperation - the bit where you lay down and they push 2 fingers into the middle of your tummy? The gap there that allowed your womb to expand should be closing up again. As someone said, doing sit ups or some pilates stretches that use the ab muscles before these are healed just worsens the gap badly.

Congrats on the arrival! If a squidgy tummy is the main issue then you have been fortunate :-)

lie on your back and raise up like you are trying to do an abdomincal crunch, with your fingers prod into your stomach, just above the navel - if you can feel a gap running from sternum to pubic area, you have a separation.

You need to cross your arms over your middle, grip your belly and pull it together whilst doing some abdominal crunches.

This is what I was taught on a postnatal class.

Congratulations on your LO!
DNiece said something similar to me about a week after giving birth to DS1. I could have cried! (Still she was only about 15, not a mum herself)

Don't worry it will go down, like lovethesea said 9 months on 9 months off (and as DD is only 7 weeks, I'm scoffing chocolate & planning on loosing weight in 6 months time

My friend had this for about a month, quite dramatic on her small frame. Now shes back to a tiny 23' waist with no real effort with it shrinking back each month. Another was not so quite dramatic but again over the course of a month or two shrank back to normal. Both were quite shocked by it, but even if you haven't gained much fat it does seem normal. They were both very slim women which made it more noticable. Maybe that's the case with you too. 2 weeks is nothing really, it WILL change.