my stomach muscles aren't joining back together again what happens now?

[mustsleep]

ok i had ds 5 weeks ago and when i went to be signed off by the midwife she said i looked a but sticky outy still so she had a feel of my tummy and said that my uterus had gone back down completely but my stomach muscles had split and were now quite far apart

she said if they were a tiny bit further apart she would have had to send me for physio.

she gave me some postnatal exercises to do, pelvic floor (which i was doing anyway) and pelvic tilt etc, i have been doing these religiously as i still look 6 months pregnant despite being just a pound heavier than before

basically i think that they are not going to go back as i was like this after dd 3yrs old and after her birth no one checked the tummy muscles and i was basically the same all sticky outy

just hoping someone could advise me on what to do or if they have any exoerience on what happens if they don;t rejoin

thanks...sorry for such a long post

do the exercises - eventually you can ask for a physio referral who will make you do more exercises... that's about it really!
if it helps - mine are still half an inch wider than whatever they are supposed to be and no-one really bothers - they just go 'oh - do more exercises' (my youngest dc is 5 lol) it would be nice if they went back together but i have no idea if there are long term implications...

i do get a worrying bulge when i do sit ups lol, but other than that it doesn't really bother me...

thanks just the lidwife mentioned it could cause back probs and i have had an achey back although it may have nothing to do with that

what other exercises did you get told to do, i am doing the ones from the baby centre website as she couldn;t give me a leaflet as they had run out great the nhs isn;t it!!

or even the midwife - sorry typing with one hand!!

This thread may be of help to you. www.mumsnet.com/Talk/multiple_births/577364-tummy-muscles-after-twin-pregnancy
I had this after my twins were born and was lucky that following referral to phsio and doing the exercises they went back into place. HTH x

it can take ages - I had just one bub and mine are only just going back into place (at 15 weeks)

I went to a great post-natal exercise class after mine, and the teacher showed us specific exercises to do. Apparently it is very important NOT to do sit ups before your muscles have gone back, as you will just make your bulgy tummy worse, as you train the longways muscles to sit over the bump that is your transverse abdominal. As far as I remember, you need to work on your transverse ab first- mainly through static abdominal exercises- you concentrate on pulling the muscle flat then releasing, no sitting up. It's hard to explain, but it made sense to me at the time. if you can find a post-natal class I'd really recommend it- you can take your baby in with you, and I've made some great mates at mine.

thanks coocybottom

howlong do you think i should give itbefore i go to the docs have jsut had a feel and i have a small lumo above my belly button too

My separation was picked up by the HV as I was in agony if anything touched that area. She immediately sent me to the docs who then referred me to a physio. I would say there would be no harm in seeing the doc for their opinion as I imagine the longer it is left the harder it might be to repair.

thanks

my ds2 is now 6 months and mine haven't gone back yet. i have back pain alot of the time too - which started at about 10 weeks post-partum iirc.

I must get myself referred for physio too...

I have been referred for surgery to fix mine.