My big belly and what to do about it?

I'm 12 weeks post-partum and I'm a little frustrated with my body, and need a little advice from those of you who are a little further down the road than I am.

I gained 49 pounds with the girls (only 7 pounds more than I gained with my singleton). They were born at 37 1/2 weeks, weighing 6 1/2 and 5 1/2 pounds. I've lost all but the last 15 or so pounds, and I'm pretty sure that once I can get out of the house more and do things, I'll lose some of that too.

Here's my question though (and it might be a little TMI) - my tummy is still very round. And it's not really fat or skin, though I have a bunch of that. :FIFblush: It's more like a muscle laxity thing or that maybe things just haven't shifted back into place? I'm not sure what to do about it. My sister got me a book called "Losing your Mummy Tummy" and I'm starting those exercises, but I'm very frustrated because nothing fits me yet around the waist. Not even the clothes I wore when I was this weight before. I swear I still look about 4 or 5 months pregnant, and it's definitely not squishy fat, but more firm...

Is this something that eventually WILL go away, or is it something that is twin-related and is going to continue to be an issue? I thought I'd be further along at 12 weeks post-partum and am a little frustrated.

TIA!

 

First of all, be very careful with abdominal exercises unless you've gotten the okay from your doctor. After pregnancy, but especially after twins, the separation of your stomach muscles can last quite a long time. If you lie on your back & lift your head and shoulders a bit off the floor while feeling of your stomach right down the middle you should be able to feel if the muscles are still separated & how much. Right after I had L&L I could fit 4 fingers in the separation of mine, now it's still there but down to about 1 finger (maybe a bit more). Your stomach will get flatter with time as those muscles come back together (you may always have some extra skin) and exercising will eventually help, just be careful in the beginning so you don't injure yourself.

 

Very good point. That's exactly what the book my sister bought me talks about. She even warns against some pilates moves because of that.

I'm glad to hear that it will continue to close (mine was about a 3 when my sister gave me the book and I checked it). I hate the thought of having to buy new clothes in the meantime, though... (I have to go back to work in a couple of weeks and I have literally one pair of pants that fit...snugly. :FIFblush: )

 

I just ordered the DVD from BeFit Mom. She also has a book on the market that gets pretty good reviews. Amazon sells the book but not the DVD. Same pretense as the Mummy Tummy book, I believe, but I did some research on the two and this one seemed to get more favorable reviews so I thought I'd give it a try. I like that the DVD has relatively short (35min) routines since these days that's about all I can squeeze in at nap time. I also read a comparison in which the reviewer noted that the Mummy Tummy routine has you do 100 crunches 10x/day and that's just. not. me.

So we'll see. I'm anxious to get the video...I'm SO ready to "fix" this belly!!!!

Eve

 

:shok: What Mummy has that kind of time??

 

Her crunches are more like tummy tightening while you're doing other things like showering and feeding. She has you try to visualize pulling your belly button to your spine while standing up/sitting. The Mummy Tummy book actually advises against doing sit-ups or regular crunches because she says they actually make the muscle opening worse rather than better since it is so much strain. That made me really think and I guess it does make sense!

I'll check out the DVD. I can't even imagine getting 35 minutes all at the same time at this point!

 

It took me a long time to get rid of the last 10 pounds. It took me until the boys were at least 18 months to get into an exercise routine. Your time will come.

 

True. "Crunches" was kind of a misleading term...you described it much better than me. But I'm still bad at that type of activity, too. :unknw: lol. Pathetic, I know. It's like Kegels...I never remember to do them unless I commit to it like a real excercise - not while I'm doing dishes or something. Which, btw, the BeFit Mom video does incorporate, too.

I'd be interested to know if any other twin mommas have used either/both exercise routines and what they thought.

Eve

 

I have that problem. For the first three months after the twins were born I could easily pass for 5 months pregnant. My boys are a little over four months now, and I am starting to notice it getting better. If the abdominal wall separation (also known as diastasis recti) is large then you can see a physical therapist for help. I have considered doing this, but now that I am starting to notice it getting better I am going to wait a while and see what happens.

But it does get better. At four months I still have a belly I never had before, but I am far from the pregnant looking self I was at two months pp. It will get better.

 

I am back to being underweight (from breastfeeding this time) but also still have a round belly. I went to physical therapy because I had bad muscle separation (diastasis recti) and my pilates classes were painful- and would have made my belly worse had I persisted with all the crunch type exercises. I have not been very good with keeping up but my therapist said that as I strengthen and tone my core muscles my belly will pull in again. He told me it will take a year if I keep up my exercises :cry:

 

My trainer said that things like crunches are the worst thing to do at first. You need to do cardio and lots of it to help get rid of the fat...THEN do crunches and ab strengthening stuff to help tighten the muscles. If you do all the stomach stuff first then you'll get nice firm muscles under that layer of fat and that's the last thing you want :gah:

So, my plan is to do lots of cardio till I can start to see some weight loss then start strenghtening my abs.

Necessary evil, but has to be done...I so don't want this twin tummy for the summer.

 

I haven't tried this myself, but I bookmarked this site on diastis recti just in case...

http://www.diastasisrehab.com/