Twin skin

This "twin skin" is killing me! My stomach is pretty flat when I am standing, but sitting down it just falls over my pants. I was so thin before these babies! Will exercise help, or is this something that only a plastic surgeon can fix?

 

Yuck! Me, too! It's upsetting, isn't it!
Guess what...I was at a regular yearly dermatologist appointment a few months ago and after knowing I'd just had twins, my doctor asked, "Are you planning on having a tummy tuck?" YIKES! I couldn't believe it. Uhh...yeah! If I win the lottery! Unfortunately, she said that's the only way I'd get rid of my twin skin. :cray:

 

What exactly is your twin skin like? My girls were 6 lbs. 6 oz. and 7 lbs. 0.4 oz. at birth, so I got stretched out A LOT! Plus I had already been stretched by two previous pregnancies. I have flab in front and love handles, which I didn't have before, and I'm pretty sure that can be improved over time. But I also have a lot of what I would call old lady-looking wrinkly saggy skin, especially on one side which goes all the way down. Oh, well...I'm happy to have these "Mommy Marks" for the wonderful blessings God has given us.

I, too, have heard that it won't ever be "fixable" without surgery. Your tummy can definitely be toned but if you have the wrinkly saggy skin like me I don't think there's much you can do about that.

 

I am wondering how much I will have left after I finally get my stomach toned, muscle wise. I hate it because I too can suck in nicely, stand up and it looks nice but then I have this extra roll and I am just so hoping that its not just skin.

 

i am hoping and wishing that mine will go away... im sure it wont all the way... but my friend had trips and her belly is totally flat!!!

 

I'm SO not looking forward to this one....!!!

 

I really did not get it at all... I am almost 6 foot so that helped but i need some major toning and i could loose like 15-20 pounds and not be hurting none. I have a major muffin top!

 

QUOTE(jschaad @ Sep 19 2007, 03:32 PM) [snapback]414421[/snapback]
I have a major muffin top!


Ah yes. My newly acquired muffin top is making me crazy!

 

Yep the muffin top is way worse than any twin skin.. oh the joys.

 

Oh gotta love the muffin top!

 

Oh boy, this is not good news. I've been hoping against hope that with time the twin skin will disappear...oh well!

 

I have the twin skin (luckily no muffin top here)...I don't think there's much to do about it. It's like slightly wrinkly saggy skin, particularly around my belly button so it just looks weird nowadays.

 

I have the lovely twin skin, too. I also still have a pretty big diastasis recti, so if that doesn't miraculously heal itself I'm hoping to have surgery to fix both.

 

This may sound really dumb but how do you know if you have twin skin, diastasis recti, muffin top...or if it's just post pregnancy belly? I don't have loose skin but I do still have a preggy looking tummy (13 days post pregnancy today). It looks bloated. I don't know if I have diastasis recti or what it is.

 

QUOTE(girls! @ Sep 19 2007, 09:50 PM) [snapback]415511[/snapback]
This may sound really dumb but how do you know if you have twin skin, diastasis recti, muffin top...or if it's just post pregnancy belly? I don't have loose skin but I do still have a preggy looking tummy (13 days post pregnancy today). It looks bloated. I don't know if I have diastasis recti or what it is.

You're going to be "bloated" for awhile, your uterus still hasn't shrunk and you might be retaining some fluid still.

Twin skin is just a term for loose baggy skin on your tummy and sometimes hips and butt. All those stretch marks are permanent and are caused by your skin stretching out to accommodate the babies. The loose skin will also cause a muffin top which is when your loose skin actually come out of the top of your pants and there's this lump that looks like a mushroom.

Diastasis recti is when your abdominal muscles separate during pregnancy. That happens to everyone, but sometimes your muscles never go back together after the kids are born. If you are really skinny it can cause kind of a furrow from your lower sternum to the top of your pelvic area. The thing to remember is that you do not want to do sit ups, it will make your diastasis worse. If they never go together there is a surgery you can get, plus I believe that crunches are helpful too. (Gosh, I hope so because I do them every other day!!!!)

 

QUOTE(Raneysmama @ Sep 18 2007, 09:08 PM) [snapback]414041[/snapback]
What exactly is your twin skin like?
But I also have a lot of what I would call old lady-looking wrinkly saggy skin, especially on one side which goes all the way down. Oh, well...I'm happy to have these "Mommy Marks" for the wonderful blessings God has given us.


That's twin skin and only surgery will fix it.


QUOTE(jschaad @ Sep 19 2007, 10:08 AM) [snapback]414615[/snapback]
Yep the muffin top is way worse than any twin skin.. oh the joys.


You can rid of muffin top, you can't get rid of twin skin without surgery. I'd say the twin skin is worse.

 

Your skin will get better over time, your babies are only a month and a half old. It took 7 weeks for me to fit back into my regular clothes, but at least 9 months for my skin to get noticable better. But I still have a good roll when I sit.
Give it time, and hope for the best!

 

Jenny-What exactly does 'furrow' mean? I think I know what you mean and I got it a lot when I bent just right when pg both times.
Now it doesn't happen so much but I only do crunches.

 

ok this whole muffin top thing is so funny. I have one and never knew that is what people called it. I am pretty sure I had this before the babes but it is worse now. I always called it my spare tire.

Missy

 

QUOTE(chris629 @ Sep 20 2007, 11:29 AM) [snapback]416187[/snapback]
Jenny-What exactly does 'furrow' mean? I think I know what you mean and I got it a lot when I bent just right when pg both times.
Now it doesn't happen so much but I only do crunches.

It's like a long strip that pooches out a little bit. I looked for a picture, bit there wasn't a very good one. Here's a test you can do at home to see if you have diastasis recti. Almost every mom that's been pregnant for any length of time has it to some degree. Also "furrow" wasn't really the best word to describe it since furrows generally go in, but diastasis recti goes out. Sorry, I couldn't think of a better word at the time, but diastasis recti is more of a ridge than a furrow, sorry for any confusion. :wacko:

 

Muffin, twin skin, whatever ya'll call it. Ever seen the movie CLICK with Adam Sandler? Remember when he was in the hospital and he was playing with his loose skin? He called it a tounge. Well that what I have is a freakin' tounge! I lost all the weight and then some from before the boys but I still got the extra toungue!

 

I've decided to get a tummy tuck within the next year or so. We're moving back to Europe, so I need to be there first before I can investigate, but I want to have it done. I lost all my pregnancy weight within 1-2 weeks (I am even below) and fit my regular size clothes but I just keep having this skin that falls over my pants when I sit down (like pp described). I am just afraid that it will get worse once I get older, 40s, 50s, etc. I am now 10 months pp and my twins were 7lbs11oz and 7lbs10oz and even though I gained "only" 43 pounds my skin had a lot to endure. I just have to find the right time to do it. I think I'll wait for the twins to walk, and probably do it in Belgium close to my parents house ...?!

 

QUOTE(Her Royal Jennyness @ Sep 20 2007, 12:16 AM) [snapback]415534[/snapback]
You're going to be "bloated" for awhile, your uterus still hasn't shrunk and you might be retaining some fluid still.

Twin skin is just a term for loose baggy skin on your tummy and sometimes hips and butt. All those stretch marks are permanent and are caused by your skin stretching out to accommodate the babies. The loose skin will also cause a muffin top which is when your loose skin actually come out of the top of your pants and there's this lump that looks like a mushroom.

Diastasis recti is when your abdominal muscles separate during pregnancy. That happens to everyone, but sometimes your muscles never go back together after the kids are born. If you are really skinny it can cause kind of a furrow from your lower sternum to the top of your pelvic area. The thing to remember is that you do not want to do sit ups, it will make your diastasis worse. If they never go together there is a surgery you can get, plus I believe that crunches are helpful too. (Gosh, I hope so because I do them every other day!!!!)


My physical therapist told me to do side to side crunches (elbow to opposite knee) for a few weeks to help it come back together before starting regular crunches. She also wanted me to check to make sure the muscles were "fireing" by feeling at the rib and hip bone that it was tightening when I crunched. It has really helped!