HELP! Gave birth a week ago & still look 6 months pregnant!

[flamingnora]

Is this normal?! I really didn't put on that much weight in my pregnancy but I had a HUGE baby bump which might explain the state of my tummy now. Advice, reassurance etc would be greatly appreciated!

A week - give yourself time! It takes a little while for everything to deflate as it were - you'll have been carrying round loads of water as well as baby etc. Look at yourself in 6 weeks and see how you look then

Goodness - give yourself a chance woman! As Northern says, much of this will be fluid which you'll lose gradually over the next few weeks.

Sounds normal to me.

I'm glad you said that! Two of my best friends looked pretty much back to normal in the tummy department very soon after having their babies and I have no idea of what "normal" looks like!

flamingnora - congratualatios. are you bf? bf causes the uterus to contract quicker, i got my flat tummy back within a week now i am bragging! if you did not put on much weight during pregnancy then no doubt within a very short while you will be back to normal and remember that most celebs have nutritionalists, nannies so they can go to the gym and tummy tucks while they are having c sections!!!!

I carried on wearing my maternity trousers for a couple of months after birth. All went back into place eventually though.

AFter I had Ds1 my tummy went straight back, I left the hospital wearing my normal jeans.. fast forward another 3 babies, I had DS2 20 weeks ago and I still can't get into some of jeans. I looked pregnant for about 5 weeks

I am indeed bf - have heard that will help. Have also made concerted effort to eat sensibly from now on and ramp up water intake - fingers and toes crossed that'll help!

I bounced back after a couple of months with first 3, then had 4th, and still look pregnant 14 months later. My tummy muscles split though, that is the problem. Choc doesn't help either. This summer I will do something about it.
Give yourself time, but don't wait a year like I did! I have become accustomed to it now, lately sorted out wardrobe, quite depressing trying on old clothes.
.....

nora if you are bf then don't worry too hard re eating sensibly - you may have trouble eating at all if constantly pinned to sofa. One-handed food is your friend .

And if you're anything like me then in 4wks you'll be back in those early-pg clothes and by 8wks back in normal stuff. Actually when dd was 7wks we went on holiday and I wore a bikini...
[runs]

Keep moisturising too, I swear it helps the skin ping back.

Ah! Thanks for wise words - very comforting!

You are actually allowed to stay in your PJs for as long as you like you know. And that goes for the baby.
First thing you should do when you leave the house (without baby) is get a good easy-care haircut. Will really give you a lift and distract people's attention from lumps and bumps (and leaky boobs and baby puke stains).

sweetie - the ONLY people who lose their baby bump in a week pay a very good surgeon so that the pictures look good in hello!

just enjoy your baby

the figure you can work on in a fwe months

And it's a well-known fact that women who mercilessly exercise their flabby post-birth tummies get cursed by the loose-skin-overhang, which only surgery can remove. If you shrink naturally, you'll look better for it, even though it takes longer.

there is a saying "9 months on and 9 months off"...it was true for me

yes its flamin normal.
unless ou are one of the too posh to push women, who have tummytucks whilst the abdomen has been opened up to remove the baby

what sort of a silly question is this anyways. it took nine months to expand. it will take a lot more than seven days to deflate.

I'm going to go against the flow and say that I bounced back almost the day after both times.

Well at least when I had clothes on.

I'm one of the freaks I'm afraid as I threw up all my excess weight during pregnancy so once the baby was out I was slimmer than ever. Not so this time around however as have kept it all down, will deffo be in the realms of the normal tummied mummies.

Yes its normal.I came home from hospital, day 4, and neighbours child asked me if I had the baby why was my tummy still so big...dont you love kids honesty...not!

Forward 8 weeks and I was getting into some of my old clothes, now 5 months and fitting into most but not my favourite jeans yet but DD is so woth it

Jesus, people were still asking me when i was due at least 6 months after my son was born! Relax. It will go down in good time.