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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

How difficult is it to get back to pre pregnancy size? (haha)

52 replies

rattigan · 15/12/2009 21:02

So...im beginning to get really bored of the clothes i can wear at the moment. It mainly consists of leggings, tunics and topshop skinny maternity jeans!
Im an 8-10 and all of my favourite clothes are vintage pieces that i have spent years collecting so i obviously wont be able to replace them if i never get back to my pre-pregnancy size!
Is it generally quite easy to lose weight after a first pregnancy or am i gonna have to start collecting clothes a size bigger?
Ahhhh! Haha kind of a dumb question!

OP posts:

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BettyButterknife · 16/12/2009 10:21

I was size 12 pre-pregnancy, and uber-healthy - didn't drink, didn't eat wheat, dairy, sugar, exercised regularly, lots of yoga.

Didn't put on excessive weight over the pregnancy, but started to pile it on post-partum - I was so tired that I didn't care what I ate, and ended up troughing cake most days, and was back on the carbs big time.

I am now 2 stone heavier than I was in 2006, size 16, and pregnant again. MS is a problem this time, so I'm eating whatever I can tolerate but can see the weight piling on.

I intend to tackle it this time next year, when DC2 will be about 6 months. I'll probably do Slimming World or something similar.

It is mighty depressing I have a wardrobe full of beautiful clothes that I put away during my pregnancy, only to retrieve after DS was born and discover I couldn't wear them. Now it's time to pack them back up again and get out the maternity stuff. I only hope I'll be able to wear them again one day - tis a good incentive!

peppapighastakenovermylife · 16/12/2009 10:35

ceebee fate I'm afraid

alana39 · 16/12/2009 11:17

I've found it's easier to get back to normal if you don't scoff a mince pie or 5 lindor balls each feed

heth1980 · 16/12/2009 11:32

I got back to my pre-pregnancy weight but still couldn't get in my clothes because my tummy never quite got back to normal! I think pregnancy can change your shape irrespective of weight.

MamaLazarou · 16/12/2009 11:56

jaype's post has depressed me somewhat ('ask you mother').

My mum went from a flat-chested size 8 to a size 20+ with H-cups after having us!

I started out as a buxom 14/16, though. Lord alone knows what manner of creature I will resemble after the baby comes!

MamaLazarou · 16/12/2009 11:57

(Mind you, she was only 19... I'm 34)

traceybath · 16/12/2009 12:02

With DS1 i was a stone lighter than pre-pregnancy a year after his birth.

With DS2 it took 9 months to get back to pre-pregnancy weight and then I was pregnant again.

DD1 is nearly 5 months and I'm back down to a size 8. Am bf and being careful about what I eat so no snacks and not silly amounts of cake etc.

I do think 3 small children and bf helps to get the weight off.

hattyyellow · 16/12/2009 12:09

It is just the nicest feeling when you get back into your pre-preg clothes! Big incentive! But please don't beat yourself up about getting your old wardrobe out soon after the birth. IMO there's nothing wrong with a few months of eating cake if you feel like it - particulary when you're tired and knackered. I walked loads with the pram both times but had a big cup of tea and a scone when i got back - when I started getting the energy back when DC started sleeping more - then I concentrated on eating. Particulary if you're breastfeeding, I struggled with feeding first time around as I hadn't eaten enough during pregnancy or immediately after birth.

BettyButterknife · 16/12/2009 12:17

IIRC there are links between difficulties in losing weight and lack of sleep. Will rummage for scientific proof...

BettyButterknife · 16/12/2009 12:19

Here it is

Might like to add 'Don't have a baby' to their list of Don'ts!

PracticalCat · 16/12/2009 14:49

I put on 40 pounds with DS and looks like I'm heading that way again in this pregnancy. I am normally quite petite but get quite huge in pregnancy.

The weight fell off in first weeks but I really struggled with the last 6 pounds and I didn't manage to shake them before getting pregnant with DC2. Found it got harder to lose weight when I stopped breastfeeding, even gained a couple of pounds.

Being tired is terrible for losing weight - there's nothing like cake to give you energy. There is also a study that compared women who went walking to women who watched TV (kind of obvious, that one).

But sadly the body shape is not quite the same. Especially not the boobs.

mistletoekisses · 16/12/2009 15:14

I bfed DS and lost majority of weight fairly quickly. Last 8 to 9 lbs didnt go until I stopped bfeeding. For me the old motto, 9 months on, 9 months off was spot on.

And all my old clothes fit me fine.

goingforitagain · 16/12/2009 16:14

I think its depends on you. if you really really want to lose the weight you will make sure you do.
I wasnt one of those lucky women who snap back into shape straight away but I worked my @ss off to make sure I lost the 3 stone I put on. I walked miles with that buggy and lived on WW soups and salads and it still took 3mths to fit back into my old clothes. but then it just kept coming off and have to say a year later felt at my best.

praying I get back to it again. but I am determined so no reason why not.

I think some people use it as an excuse, my MIL is very overweight and 34yrs later still blames it on having 3 kids, nothing to do with the fact that she has the worst diet and lives on chips!

naomi83 · 16/12/2009 19:05

I think it also has a lot to do with your pregnancy. my friend was constantly sick and off her food, so she didn't put on much weight and lost it easily afterwards. i react to pregnancy by being constantly hungry (i'm talking double portions of everything!) and have never thrown up. It makes my pregnancies very comfortable, but a nightmare to lose the weight after. It took me well over a year to get back into my size 10 stuff.

stillfrazzled · 16/12/2009 19:17

DS is 2 and I'm a bit smaller than before I got pg (tho with stretch marks and slight mummy tummy). Weight creeping up again due to pre-Christmas gluttony, mind

What did it was actually going on a proper diet for the first time in my life (Slimming World, FWIW - I am not advertising, my mum joined and talked me through it).

Am also lots more active than I used to be, tho I do look at all those celebs that trill merrily about how 'running around after the baby' made them lose weight. I mean, if the kid can't run yet, how/why are they?

pigleychez · 16/12/2009 21:52

With DD I was back in my pre pregnancy jeans after 2 weeks and I actually weighed less then I did before falling pregnant!

This time though, with weaker tummy muscles I dont hold out much hope! Prob more like 2 years than 2 weeks!

I breast fed DD which I think really helped as I really wasnt trying at lose the weight all.

sweetkitty · 16/12/2009 22:01

I was a size 12 preDD1, was a size until I got pregnant again.

DD1 was a size 10 6 weeks after she was born (from a 12)

DD2 was in size 10 jeans the day after she was born, she was 9lbs 3ozs huge bump must have been all her though

went down to a size 8 pre DD3

DD3 took about a week to get back into size 8 jeans

I put it down to BFing (all of them a year at least) and having loads of small children I never sit down, oh and I used to work in teh food industry where food testing was part of the job and free food all the time, used to sit and eat, now I eat when I am hungry.

liath · 16/12/2009 22:06

It was much harder work after the second baby - I was older and had put on more weight. Didn't really have to try all that hard after the first. Second one involved a personal trainer and good old-fashioned starvation.

hanaflower · 16/12/2009 22:08

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Wheelybug · 16/12/2009 22:12

hmm not sure first time but by 3 years after I'd had dd1 I had lost a fair bit of weight (by slog) so was about a stone lighter pre-dd2 than pre-dd1. DD1 is 9 months and I'm almost down to my pre-dd1 weight.... a stone to go though to be my pre-dd2 weight (which is actually where i should be).

That said, I think I look far worse than pre-dd1 as my stomach muscles are shot to pieces as I carried her all out front so I really need to do some serious abdominal work...

Hopefully · 17/12/2009 09:32

It took me a shade over a year (9 months BFing), and I have to say I didn't really try at all. I put on something horrific like 3 1/2 stone (including the actual baby).

Although my actual shape has changed slightly - some of my pre-pregnancy clothes aren't as flattering as they were as my hips have changed shape slightly, and I'm now a pound or two under my pre-preg weight.

Don't throw out your clothes yet, but maybe be prepared for some of them to never look quite the same!

heading4home · 17/12/2009 09:37

I was back in pre-preg clothes almost immediately due to not eating in the hospital for 5 days, dreadful labour and then horrible UTI as a result and just generally ill for weeks. Not the best way to do it IMHO!

Am now much fitter than I was pre-dd but my body shape changed. I never had hips before and now I do...keeps my trousers up!

Harimad · 17/12/2009 12:56

I ate loads of biscuits and crisps in my first pregnancy thinking I wasn't putting on weight as the bump hid it all...
Then BF weight loss scuppered as spent the first 6 months eating cake and biscuits with NCT group.
By the time I went back to work I had gone back to a 14 on top and a 16 on bottom - a size larger on the bottom (altho' a 14 was always a squeeze!).

This time you think I'd know better, but I've still eaten like a pig during the pregnancy. However, this time I'm determined to WW it once given the 6 week all clear as I want to get back to my wedding size 12!

I guess some people are just lucky with metabolisms, but I'm going to have to work at mine (and don't I just hate it when all these celeb's say that 'running around after a toddler keeps the weight off')..

bluefootedpenguin · 22/12/2009 15:53

Hi. I was a size 8-10 pre pregnancy. I ate healthily but whatever I wanted within reason. I weighed 9st 8 at booking in and 11st 13 just before the birth. Baby was 6lb 8oz and I was just under 11 stone but I was back in my baggier clothes within 2 days and most of my wardrobe within 10 days. I was probably back to 9 st 8 within 6 weeks although a slightly different shape. I bf for 14 months and walked miles. I was 8st 10 before falling pregnant again. I think a lot depends on your metabolism and how you eat. I was never starving, even when breastfeeding, and I'm sure that sensible eating made a big difference for me. Oh, it took a while to fit back into my tops though as until my milk supply calmed down my boobs were a 34F instead of a 32C.

jadey24 · 22/12/2009 19:55

With me i was a size 8 pre pregnancy 5'4 7 1/2 stone normal weight for years for me and when i feel pregnant i put on 2 stone but was just on my belly no where else. My bump was still quite small though but bubs was 8lb 4 oz. There is a picture of me just a week later holding bubs and im wearing sz combats and a white vest that had rided up a little so my stomach was on show and put it this way if you saw the pic you wouldnt think i had just gave birth I just pinged staight back lol without any diets/excerise no nothing.

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