I Want to Wear My Pre-pregnancy Jeans

When you give birth, your pelvis and hips expand. The bones actually widen to allow the baby to move through the birth canal. Those bones will eventually move a little closer together, but they may never return to their exact pre-baby positions. Diet and exercise won't change that. You may find that doing some toning exercises and isometrics may "tighten up" the hip area but don't be too disappointed if you're never precisely the same size you were before your pregnancy.

It *could* be that you had more muscle before and it's just turned to flab, but it's not necessarily that; it could simply be that your body has changed shape. It might be age-related, and/or it could be that this pregnancy stretched certain areas differently than the last one did. This apparently happens to some of us. :-)

About 4 months after my third child was born, I realized I was a lot "curvier" than I was pre-pregnancy, even though I weighed less. I used to be proud of my nice legs and thighs; now, my thighs are a bit of a "problem area" for me. It was a surprise because this didn't happen after either of my first two kids! This time around (my fourth child), the only thing that has gotten larger so far is my chest, fortunately! LOL

Different brands of clothing tend to fit differently, so the only advice I can really offer is to get rid of those jeans that don't fit right (no matter how expensive they were, if they make you feel bad, they aren't worth keeping!), and try other brands to find something that fits your "new" body really well and makes you feel like Wonder Woman again!

HTH!
--A.

Isn't it so much fun how our bodies change after childbirth (Ha! Ha!)? I have four sons and after all four of them I returned to my pregnancy weight, but my body kept redistributing it somehow! I still look thin, but I have changed jean sizes. I still do not know quite how this happened, but childbirth just changes you physically in certain ways. Embrace the new you. Go out and buy a new pair of jeans or two and love the new you. Good luck! Oh, by the way, if you ever do figure out a way to get your exact prepregnancy figure back, please let me know. I saved an outfit or two that I would love to wear again someday! K.

The Ob-Gyn was right. It isn't so much about fat or muscle. It's about the bony structure of the hips.

The size of the baby and the way the baby lays within the pelvic structure must be supported by the mother's hip structure. During pregnancy, the mother's body produces hormones that cause the hard ligaments, which hold our bones together, to soften and become more elastic. This happens just so the bones can adjust to carry and birth the baby.

So, you can lose weight and change the muscle/fat ratio, but you can't do much about how the bones have settled 5 months after the body has been allowing the ligaments to harden again.

Although this may not alter the spread of the pelvic structure, there is something I wish all women knew before getting pregnant. After pregnancy, as the ligaments begin to harden and the abdominals are still a bit like jelly, it is very easy for the skeletal structure to harden in a way that does not support good posture. This can lead to a lot of hip and back trouble. But during those first couple of months, a chiropractor can adjust a woman and, perhaps, even improve the alignment of her hips and spine. While the ligaments are flexible, they can adjust us and correct problems like they can for children. Because nerve tissue that monitors and controls the entire body passes between the bones of the spinal column, keeping this alignment is key to maintaining general health. The discomfort of misalignment may not be felt until we later experience some inflammation due to infections, allergies, or an inflammatory condition. If the areas where nerve tissue passes between the vertebrae has narrowed, the slightest bit of inflammation can pinch the nerve and cause pain and neurological malfunction.

So, women have a great window of opportunity to maintain or improve their body's posture and general health by seeing a chiropractor regularly during the pregnancy and for some months following. I just wish all women were provided chiropractic care during and after pregnancy. They were able to completely correct my scoliosis following the birth of my son. My back and hips feel better at 51 than they did at 21! Mamas need to spread the word!

Hi Molly,

I do believe that our bodies change after having babies and I don't mean just added padding or fat. Our organs have been rearranged and some even say that our bone structure, especially pelvic bones, are widened. Whether the bone thing is true or not I don't know for sure.

Some women are able to fit back into their prepregnancy clothes and others are not. I believe it is based on our genes.

Keep trying. It took 9 months to develop the new body during pregnancy. Give it time to go back but do not base your self worth on wether you fit back into a certain pair of jeans or not.

Best Wishes,

J. H.

Hi Molly!

I feel for you sweetie! I too have the same problem! When I had my first baby the weight literally FELL off of me! I was smaller than I was before I got pregnant! Then I had my second and well... I have never ever been the same! I have three kiddos now! The only thing I can tell you is that with each baby our bodies change. Our hips NEVER go back to where they use to be. I have been going to Jazzercise since July and I have seen an improvement but sadly I still can't fit into my "wonderwoman" jeans. The only thing I can tell you is not to lose hope but also to love the body you have now. You may not ever be able to fit in your wonderwoman jeans but you have two beautiful babies that love you!!!! I know that this probably isn't what you want to hear!

My best!
M.

The deal is you JUST had a baby 5 months ago! Oh, and... you just had a baby five months ago... five months ago is not that long ago really, we're not in hollywood where woman are back in their "amazing jeans" 2 weeks after giving birth. Give your body sometime, it'll come around a little more as more time goes by. Although, I'll be 36 this year and I can tell you that over time our bodies just change, even if you don't have children. I know my body was much different when I was 22 than before I had my first child at 32, and now after 2 children and 4 years - whoa! I have trouble believing its even the same body!! haha! Good luck! :o)

Hi Molly!

I haven't yet read the other responses to your request. But the first thought that pops into my mind as to why you're not fitting in yet is because your hips have spread to make way for baby.

Unfortunately, it may never feel the same again wearing those exact jeans. Your waist may be the same, but your hips make your rear-end appear bigger.

There's not a whole lot you can do to make your hips smaller. What I'm thinking is you could do some good work-outs to make your rear tighter. That could possibly help.

I understand the want to wear your jeans again! I wish you luck. Congratulations on the birth of your baby! ls

Hi Molly, By this point after child birth, our bodies have spread out more (especially in the hip area) which is totally normal. It may end up being that you have to loose alittle more to get back into those "wonder women" jeans. But don't get so small that you look sickly or anything. A few of my friends have the same problems, so your not alone. I've never been a small person anyway, so just "5-10 lbs" didn't make that big of a difference for me, i would have to loose alot more than that! LOL! BUt it's normal honey, so don't beat yourself up over it! Great job for comming as far as you have!!!

Hang in there! First of all, things shift around when you are pregnant and take time to get back to normal. My guess is that your hips have not gotten back to normal...the actual bones widen when you are pregnant, but WILL get back to normal :). As far as fat...if that is the problem,the best thing is running or fast walking (cardio). Good luck. You will get there. With my last baby, it took much longer to get back to my "real" clothes. Just remember, you are beautiful, and your sacrifice is worth it for that sweet baby!

Ugh, pregnancy body changes - LOL! I actually got down to less than my pre-preg weight and my jeans still would not fit. My OB/Gyn said it was because of the way I carried the baby - my pelvic bones had spread. Kind of like how our feet usually get wider with age - the bones spread. Never did get back in those jeans, but feel great and look good, too!

M. in Anderson

I would try to do some pilates and running a few times a week.

Hi Molly,
Depending on how active you were during your pregnancy and the past few months, some of your muscle may have turned to flab instead. Sorry. The other thing is that the general alignment of your pelvis has probably changed some with the pregnancy. Our hips have to widen to allow for the baby to come out. Alot of women find that they lose the pregnancy weight, but their bodies never feel quite the way they were before pregnancy. Give it some more time, but don't be disappointed if your body doesn't go back exactly the way it was before.

Even if you lose all your pregnancy weight there is no guarantee your old clothes will fit... especially the same way.

I got back down to my prepregnancy weight, but my jeans never did fit me the same way. For me, it was like my butt shrank, but my hips got bigger. Frustrating, I know! Part of the joy of having babies. Totally worth it though!

Also... I just realized you said you had the baby 5 months ago. Give yourself a break, woman! It's great you've already lost the weight, for a lot of women it takes longer! It took me 10 months. It takes 9 months to bake the baby... give your body time to heal and get back to it's new "normal."

Molly,

It looks like this is your second child? After my second was born it was a lot harder to lose the weight, and when I finally did I put on my wedding dress to see if it fit. (I weighed less than I did when I got married.) The dress would not zip in the back. It was as if my ribs had been stretched wider. At that point I realized my body as I knew it would never be the same. We are women now with childbearing hips and no number on the scale can reflect the true condition of our bodies. You're doing great to be 4lbs away from your goal at 5 mos postpartum. Give yourself credit for that. After all, it took 9 mos to pack that weight on.

Ok, well first congrats on losing the weight quickly, alot of women cant do that. Your problem is the fact that our pevic area spreads when we become pregnant and it does readjust itself, but will never go back to complete normal. So even though we can lose all the weight and sometimes get down even less than before we were pregnant, some clothes will just never fit the same. Its the sad truth, but thats what defines us a mamas!! You have to learn to love your new bod.

I lost all my weight after my first child, and couldn't wear hardly any of my pre-pregnancy clothes - I was shaped soooo differently!!! I had hips and a butt, and of course a poochie belly. Now, after my third I am almost the same size as I was before my first - almost, but this is, most likely, the best its ever gonna get for me. I found a good workout that really helped tone up the flab - its the 3Day Melt online at the same name .org ...I think that we are all so proud of losing the weight, and we should be just as proud of our new curves too...

Hi Molly,

I'm so sorry ! I know exactly what you mean !
The thing is, even if you lose all your excess weight, you body shape changes after each pregnancy, and as we get older.
It's probably not your weight that's the issue, it's that your butt is shaped a little differently now.

I work in retail at a store that specializes in helping women find an awesome fit. My advice would be to look for a little different style of jeans, and perhaps try a pair of Spanx. They are unbelievable at slimming and smoothing out those little extra bumps, etc.

My bet would be that your hips widened when a child passed thru them, usually happens when women have babies. LOL
I am currently pregnant with baby number 5 and with all four of my others my hips got wider and wider.
good luck

It will take a really long time for you to get back into those jeans. Don't give up though. Your body changed in more ways than you'll ever realize when you were pregnant and one of those ways is shifting and repositioning. Remember you had another human growing inside of you and he needed room to grow. Since this is your second pregnancy your body basically remembered what it was like to be pregnant and repositioned itself and then some. Your pelvis got wider, probably wider than the first time. So give your body a little more time. It'll get there, just be patient. Good luck and God Bless.

I would say your hips spread and there is no guarentee your body goes back. Sorry

Hi Mo,
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Well our bodies don't bounce back like a rubberband.I lost more weight after having my 2 kiddos than I could with diet and exercise and had to buy new clothes smaller size of course but that didn't last long after baby was 6 months or so I started to gain back what I lost but my butt I always seemed pleased with.I would use what you can and buy a few extra jeans that make you feel good.Now on baby #3 due any time now humm I wonder how this weight issue will turn out since I only gained 15 lbs total all 9 months.

First of all congrats on loosing the weight - my "baby" is 5 1/2 and I'm still trying :o) And then welcome to the wonderful world of being a mom. I'm convinced that it's natures cruel joke to move things around on your body. I had the same issue with my first daughter (where I did loose the weight in the 1st year). Things shifted and settled in diffrent spots. Like I now have back fat and never did till I had kids and my feet got bigger - I had to buy new shoes (OK so not too much of a hard ship!) Having a baby changes your body. Keep excersizing and hopefully you can put it back the way it was - my sister did, but it's taken her more than a year to do so (I'm lazy and not willing to work out for an hour a day like she does). Good luck and if you can't get back in those jeans find some new ones that love your new curves and make you feel like a hot mama instead of wonderwoman.