My weight loss was a bit drastic I lost the majority of the weight within the first week or so. My baby was 9.1 so with that plus the placenta and fluids I know how most of the weight was lost.
When I delivered I weighed 182 i'm now at 150 and my pre-pregnancy weight was 141 (i'm 5'6 by the way).
So, I think I'm doing pretty good overall!
What I don't know is if all the loose giggly skin will be here forever? I was active through out my pregnancy and I go for nightly walks right now. I know i'll have to start doing sit ups to get true definition but I'm tripping out on all the loose giggly skin.
Is this a "everybodies body is different" thing? Will it differ from lady to lady or does it just take some time for the stomach and skin to go back to what it was before? Well not exactly to what it was before but you know what I mean...
Will the skin be this loose for forever?
In my experience, it does't go fully back. Harder w/ each kid. I was 38 after the second, so that likely has something to do with it... excercise and eat well..It will get better... took 9 mos+ to stretch - give it time to go back.
My daughter, who gave birth 2 months ago asked the same thing. She's lost weight but has all these rolls of skin.
Yes, every body is different. That said, most women eventually lose the extra skin that had to stretch with the baby. It does take several months or more for most. I don't know of any way to speed up the process.
My skin doesn't even giggle... it just straight out laughs at me. My skin will never reform the way it was (it's been 8 years... what's here is here to stay), others reforms *great*.
So yeah... the whole situation + genetics thing. One can have *great* genetics and go flat, or be carrying multiples and never go flat again. One can have lousy genetics and have a permanent smile.
:(
That said... the vast majority of skin retightening happens the first 2 years (You'll notice, as well women saying "I've finally gotten my body back after 2 years and _____". Strapping it can help *enormously* (you may notice your skin is "tighter" wherever you underwear line or pants line is... it's *worth* the money for *most* people to buy a body shaper for the first 6-12 mo to wear when losing weight. No sense in fighting gravity while trying to reform stretched or broken bonds.
Yes, this is a "everybodies body is different" thing, but my skin did not stay like that. I don't remember how long it took before it was back to normal though. I know some people whose stomachs stayed that way. No way to know for sure ahead of time though, just have to wait it out. Best wishes!
With my first it took about a year for the skin to go back to "normal." I could fit in my clothes, but my tummy was far from tight. My second is now 14 months old and i'm still waiting for it to go back. It's much better, but my body is taking longer to repair. However, please keep in mind that I've been commuting 4 hours a day and have had no time to exercise. I know what I really need is some good cardio and crunches to get everything back to normal. Now that I'm a SAHM, I'm about to start up an exercise routine which I'm hoping will help.
A.
For me it never went back. I was like you with my first pregnancy. I gained 74 pounds with my twins. They combined for over 16 pounds, so I lost 30 lbs on the delivery table and within two weeks had lost over 50 pounds. At eight weeks all but 7 were gone. But, the loose skin stayed. It won't be able to go away since you skin was stretched. You now have excess skin. You can tighten up your abdominal muscles but short of having the extra skin cut away it will always be there. Look on the bright side - it could be worse! My skin was so stretched out with my twins that I'm now 35 weeks pregnant with a singleton and I STILL have loose, hanging skin. I lovingly call it my twin skin.
Your skin will take awhile to get back to normal... unless you're 25 and under - your collagen and elastin production isn't as great as it was in your early 20's... so just give it time and continue to safely exercise and eat healthy.
Don't cut if off. You'll need it for your next baby. Meantime enroll in a postpartum yoga class that meets more than once a week or go to water aerobics three days a week
Lots of the flabby flesh will be reabsorbed through exercise.
After my first it took about 6 months and it was back to almost normal. With my second, well, he is 13 months old and I lost the baby weight looooong ago (6 weeks after he was born!) and my skin is still loose. I have not been working out regularly. Most days, chasing a 2 year old and a 1 year old, and keeping up the house feels like enough of a workout, although I know it isn't. I have a friend who is a MD who said there is a laser procedure they could do which would help tighten it up. I have not done much research into it, so don't quote me, but he said it would help me. Its normally $900 a session and he said I would probably need at least 3...which is why my tummy is still loose for now. ;) lol I do pilates when I can but yeah...I feel your pain.
I have had three kids and my skin had tightened up again. I has not tightened up like before I was pregnant but it does not jiggle around like after I lost the weight. My boobs also are not as usly as they were when I quit nursing. Things take a while and you should just continue to be active and exercise. I have very soft skin also and I got to be huge and never got stretchmarks so skin type does have a lot to do with the elasticity also. You are doing great!!
Over time it gets better but unfortunately its skin and not fat or muscle so there really isnt any 'natural' way to make that go away. I think the younger you are the more likely you are to see faster and better results (meaning back to how you looked pre pregnancy) but unless you are looking at getting a tummy tuck I would embrace the 'mummy tummy' because its probably there to stay. Look on the bright side though, its there because of the beautiful child you brought into this world
Good Luck
Exercise, exercise, exercise! It took a while for me to get my belly to where I wanted it to be. I did alot of ab workouts as well which helped immensely. Even with all that you do you may still however end up with the prego pouch. Mind ended up being pretty small thank goodness.
Well, I'm 39 and have lost a lot of weight since my second baby was born (7.5 months ago), so I'm not holding out much hope. I've gotten very skinny with the breastfeeding, but I have that wrinkly stomach, too. I'm going to try some of the suggestions you've gotten here. But I'm also just trying to accept my body the way it is. It is pretty darn amazing that I grew two beautiful creatures in that belly so I say it deserves some love, wrinkly or not! :)
I love this site: theshapeofamother.com
I believe every woman is different, but the loose giggly skin should tighten up a bit - maybe not like before baby, but it should get better. That loose skin was the one thing I had not anticipated and no one told me about so I was aghast at that flappy skin once my first baby was born! My sweet husband used to remind me all the time that it took 9 months to have our baby so I needed to give myself 9 months to recover.
Yep it is the gift that the baby left you.
Uhg i totally know what you are talking about. My baby is 3 weeks now and i've lost all but 2 pounds, but i've got a jello squishy belly hang over. So gross. I dont think it will go away on its own. Exercise and lots of water? maybe....
Yes, it depends. What worked for me was Pilates 2-3 times a week for a year!
Losing weight will not make it go away. Some women have success with toning exercises. I am thinner now than before I got pregnant. My third baby is 15 months now, and it is still there. I have made peace with it. I'll take 3 healthy kids, over my flabby skin any day.
Every woman IS different, it does take work to tone it up, and it takes longer to get it off than it took to put it on. By following, it'll take longer than 9 months :) I still have mine, and my daughter is 18mo. I keep telling myself that I'm sick of it, and I'm going to increase my ab workout to "fix" it, but so far no go hehe
I'm going against the grain on this one... and saying that it will NOT be there forever. Just takes some work. Pilates is amazing but I've also learned that you have to work ALL of your core in order to tighten everything back up. This means doing back exercises too. Think about it: if the rubber band is too loose on one side, what do you do? Tighten it up by pulling it from the back. Or if you want your double chin to get tightened up, how do you do it? You pull it from the back of the neck to make it appear smoother. Same concept with our core: you have loose skin up front so the best option is to tighten it from behind. Work your abs with good ab exercises and pilates but DO NOT forget your back. Working your back muscles builds lean mass which stretches out all that loose skin, too.
these are great:
Hyper extensions
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnRUYg8LiWw
and reverse hyper extensions
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRs9e-3_-5I
then google some moves called bicycles, the wood chopper and the plank & side plank = amazing abs!
planks are awesome because it works the front and back core at the same time! ff to 1:35 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wS-oq6EPiPU
