Does the Belly Go Back After #2? - Melrose,MA

I would not have bared my middle after my second, but I did get some really nice core muscles underneath by adding a lot of core exercises and starting Pilates. I have too much loose skin to ever wear anything too revealing, but there are some really flattering bathing suits out there with shirred middles or support panels in the waist--can you try one of those? I know women with amazing bodies who still say that there is some loose belly skin, so I imagine some of it is just time and some of it is health, but the rest might be there to stay. :(

Cut out "white" food -any processed flours and white sugars (all sweets) -and sodas. That will get your tummy about as flat as it can get along with some good core/ab exercise like Pilates. Jogging also really takes it off. However, it sounds like fat isn't the issue for you any more, so you'll have to see what you can do to tone your ab muscles. When it comes to the "saggy skin" left over from preggo belly -that can only be taken care of surgically. Sorry! It sucks! I told a friend that, for the first time in my life, my belly actually looked better "fatter" because at least that nasty, saggy, loose skin wasn't hanging around. Drink TONS of water -and I mean at least 64oz a day (of pure water -not cokes or juice or whatnot). Drink a lot of unsweetened green tea. Regardless, you can take your kids to the pool and wear a bathing suit -one piece, tankini, etc. Except for the VERY rare few, most bikinis should have a sign on them stating, "If you've had a baby -even if you have a great figure again -you've really left this stage of life behind." Pregnancy (especially multiple pregnancies) really does change your body, even if you get your weight back to where it was.

i fianlly got my prebaby look back due to some not so good ways. I still to this da if i an bending over i have this pocket of loose skin with stretch marks and yuck. myhub says those are my reminders to my pregnancies i see it as the place keeping me from ever wearing a two piece again...now that doesnt bother me but it is very inattractive to me. i know this wasnt any help but just know you arent the only mama going wth...hang in there walk and do at least half hourof some kinds of exercise. even if its boring house work..

libby

you gotta work for it.
the 2nd or 3rd is always harder.

I have a 6pk but STILL some saggy skin below the bottom core muscles! It's a curse! lol I've worked HARD to get this 6pk but that skin doesn't wanna go awaaaaaaaaaay. freakin c-section. lol oh well.

but you do have to work hard.

I'd get some pilates dvd's. or if you're part of a gym, go to some pilates classes or sign up for some.

pilates is so wonderful for mommy bellies!

Ive done pilates and boot camps.

im telling you. i felt my body betrayed me in the worst way after my 2nd was born but i wouldn't let it win!

you gotta get mad and go out there and show that stomach who's boss! do crunches until you hear those fat cells crying noooooooooo!

Google diastisis and see if this - muscle separation - is a problem. If it is, than regular ab excercizes could be makng the problem worse.

Without surgery? I know a few moms who can rock a 2-piece after having had more than one kid but they are few and far between and seem to have mothers whose bellies also went back to flat or they workout hardcore (running, crossfit, Pilates, yoga etc.). I think a lot of it is genetics - if your mom had a flat belly, maybe there's hope. If she had the pooch forever then still keep up the good work with your exercise because it's still important to have a strong core even if you don't feel like you have the results you want.

I don't know - my 2nd is 19 months old and I've been able to tone every part of my body with p90x except for that darn belly flab on top of the ab muscles that will just NOT go away. It's frustrating because my belly went flat after #1 also so I thought it would be the same. No. I think my ab muscles split during/after this last pregnancy and delivery and that's why I'm having so much trouble. I don't really want to have surgery right now for that, so I guess I just have to keep at it. Good luck.

its much harder, but possible

Mine did- but it took a year and a half, intense exercise, eating CLEAN, etc. I rocked my bikinis this past summer before i got prego with #3. Yes, you will likely have SOME skin there no matter how flat it gets but mine you couldn't see unless I was bent up in a curved over hunch back, cross-legged position in a bikini. And like I said, it took me about 6 mos to get it that way AFTER I quit nursing my second. When I was nursing it NEVER went flat (I am one of the unlucky few I guess that hold onto fat around the middle for milk production *sigh*). ab exercise, planks, pilates, yoga, and cardio -- plus good clean, no caffiene, no booze eating! :)