So what does your stomach look like?

Ok Ladies, summer is on the way. My stomach looks grim. I have no time to work-out or do anything for myself. I can live with twin skin and a funky bellybutton, but I have real issues with the potbelly. My upper abs are separated - creating a 1" + wide crevasse north of my bellybutton. When I lay down there's a flat tummy and the crevasse - when I stand up - my guts hang out. I don't think I'm that vain, but this really bothers me. I feel vulnerable when the boys are kicking and roughhousing. Who else has this issue? Is there anything I can do about it?

Thanks!

 

My tummy looks like I am 4 months pregnant :headbang: :grr: It really upset me a lot. The rest of my body is ok. However every fews pounds I gain are all stock in my stomach area. I started last week some diet. eating salads and veggies, it really help me feel full. Also I started walking outside like one hour, even more. I got some improvement. However, it's perseverance that matters.

I plan taking the boys to the beach this summer. By the way that latest news of dieting is that lowering calories is not enough there should be at least a 20 minutes of steady sports activity daily. Good luck to you :hug: and to me .

Surprisingly just 2 days ago, I posted on my below blog "to be a stay at home mum or not" how easy it is for a SAHM to gain weight!

 

I'm really lucky that I didn't get any separation (or maybe it was the 11 weeks of hospital bedrest! ardon: ). But I'm wondering if you've talked to your doctor about this? It seems like I've heard that a lot of women have the separation resolve itself within a few months. It sounds like you have a pretty big separation still; maybe the doctor could recommend a course of treatment!

 

Count me in! My tummy is still not up to par. Twin skin and pouch, check. I also have the seperation when I lay down and I can almost fit three fingers ... yikes. I don't know what else to do to get rid of mine at this point. I was down to three pounds above my pre-preggo weight and now I'm pg again. I'm contemplating a tummy tuck years and muscle repair down the road but that's probably just a dream. I would talk to your doctor and see if there is anything you can do to help your situation! Good luck!

 

A Shar Pei

 

to quote the great Opie and Anthony, I have lasagne-belly. Flabby, stretchmarks, but hey, I'm not in Florida anymore!

bwahahahahaaaa

 

My stomach is scary. There are still stretch marks, loose skin, and an abnormal belly button hiding in the middle my muscle separation. My muscle separation is getting slightly better over time and perhaps when the kids are twelve it will be gone entirely. Seriously, I never thought a stomach could look this bad. The silly thing is I came home from the hospital 20 pounds lighter than my pre-pregnancy weight and have struggled to gain that weight back. Even with getting back to my pre-pregnancy weight and gaining a bit of fat, my stomach still looks horrible. One piece bathing suits and rash guards are on my shopping list for this summer.

 

My stomach is disgusting. I have a separation as well and my doctor said sit-ups or any ab workout would help. A few weeks ago I started eating more healthy and doing light cardio on the Wii. I started seeing much improvement in the size of my belly. Although I look pregnant still it's going down and as long as I stick with healthy lifestyle it will continue to improve. The skin will always be there, but the potbelly doesn't have to! Good luck!

 

I could write your post verbatim (in fact, I probably have in the past!). I am close to my pre-pregnancy weight and I run and do ab exercises, but I don't think the pooch (due to the separation) is ever going away without surgery. I don't see how it can, if the muscles aren't strong enough to hold your intestines back (that's what's causing the pooch). The only way I don't have a small pooch is if I just don't eat. Were you really thin and small-framed before? That's how I was and I think the only way to carry a twin pregnancy for me was to stretch as much as I did and rip the muscles apart. My belly button had popped by 15 weeks. I actually had an umbilical hernia repair in the fall, so at least my belly button looks normal. But who cares with skin-fat rolls and a pooch? it's not like I'll ever wear a 2-piece bathing suit again!

I've gone to physical therapy (who strongly advised against doing situps which could harm you more) and to several surgeons. The only real fix in their eyes is to have the surgery to repair the muscles - which is typically considered cosmetic in nature.

ETA: I'll post a before and after picture, if someone else is brave enough to go first! :spiteful:

 

Haha amazing! :rotflmbo: Mine looks like a really old, extra wrinkly Shar Pei!

 

Mine looks like I'm 4 months pregnant. :blush:

 

:rotflmbo:

 

oh man. I could have written your exact post. My twin pregnancy was my third pregnancy. After my first two children I feel like my belly went back to normal (relatively speaking.) But the twin pregnancy just destroyed my belly. I'm skinny otherwise (5'6" 120 lbs) but oh man...it just ain't pretty. I have this pouch that is just so yucky. None of my shirts fit right. I really have a big separation, as other people have mentioned. After my first two kids I went to a Mommy and Baby class and it was run by a physical therapist. She said that sit ups could really make the separation worse, but there were other exercises that could help bring the muscles back together. (like laying flat on your back and then lifting ONLY your head). That really helped. I should really do that again, it's just so hard to find the time. Once I was tandem nursing sitting on the floor with my shirt up and I looked down at my belly and I was like, "AHHHH!!! Whose body is that????!!!!" I didn't recognize myself. ugghhhh. Well, I guess it's nice to know I'm not alone anyway!

Shannon

 

I have this nasty stretched out belly button that I wish would go away. When I was at my lowest weight around December, the belly button still looked stretched out. But the rest looked normal. I was lucky and didn't get stretchmarks or the twin skin but the belly button thing really pisses me off. I had my boobs fixed after pumping for the twins. I had every intention of having the surgeon fix my belly button too and I totally forgot. I kick myself everytime I think about it.

 

You don't want to know! :rotflmbo: But truly, it didn't look that great before I had the girls either, so I've got no one to blame but myself. :drinks:

 

Like I'm 8.5 months pregnant!!! :rofl: :rofl: Sorry I couldn't help it! The only cure for "twin skin" is to get pregnant again and then you can answer the questions that YES! You ARE Expecting again!! LOL!!!!!

 

LMAO!!!
Mine too.

I don't have the separation issue, but my stomach does look like it's been stretched to infinity and beyond. I've lost hope of it ever looking normal again. Well, outside of going under the knife. Which is not out of the question.

 

OMG - you gals are hilarious! Thanks for the great posts on tummy ick. I don't feel so alone. In response - yes I was fit and am small framed (5'4" 130#). But I looked like I was carrying a watermelon - pointy end straight out - whe I was pregnant with the twins. I looked fabulous - if I do say so - after my first. Oh well. I am going to look into pilates. I'll let ya'll know if it helps.

 

You can add me to the list of twin mommies with a weird 4 months preg looking pot belly. I'm not in the best shape of my life or anything, but I'm 5'7 and 138lbs. I look pretty thin everywhere except my weird belly. It's so embarrassing to be asked if I'm pregnant. I literally can not hold it in. It's better if I try, but it still pokes out. I really want a tummy tuck, but I'm so scared! I think pilates might help since it's all about core tightening without necessarily doing crunches, but there aren't and good classes for it here, and I'm not the most motivated about working out at home.