saggy baggy belly

[la mama]

I posted in MommyFIT too but wanted to ask some other multiple moms...

Is there any hope?! Of tightening up this saggy bag that replaced my belly? How did you get rid or reduce your postpartum belly? I had no idea it would be this bad after twins. What worked for you?

[mom22]

I think that my tummy kept shrinking till about 3 months. (My girls are 6 months.) Now, I just have some skin that is "looser" than it was before. Not too bad, just enough that it bothers me- no one else would even notice. I wore a bikini at 3 months, so it must not be too bad!

I started running at 5 weeks to get off the weight, and started weight lifting to tone back up (had to quit at 20 weeks). At first I couldn't do 10 sit-ups, but I got back much more quickly than I expected. Now I do a mixture of things to target my abs... incline sit-ups, swiss ball crunches, "bicycles", decline reverse crunches (the best!), and planks. I mix it up every workout.

Something to consider... did your abdominal muscles seperate? If they did, you do NOT want to do regular crunches. That can make the situation worse.

[la mama]

How do I know if my abdominal muscles separated?

[ahrimie]

i had a single but i know what you mean by that saggy, jiggly, baggy mass hanging off your body :P

i've read/seen/heard of post partum bands you put on... instead, i wore spanx all the time after about 3 weeks (to hold in my tummy, butt, thighs). i haven't really exercised since my baby (now 5 months old but i've been back to pre preg weight for 2 months).. instead, when i walk around the mall, park, or wherever, i hold in my abs and contract them... and i just try to walk as much as i can since going to the gym isn't really an option.

and eat as healthy as you can... it doesn't help the saggy skin, but it does help what's underneath it!

[mom22]

How do I know if my abdominal muscles separated?

Your OB should be able to tell you. Also, I think if you lay on your back and contract your abs (as much as possible) you can feel a seperation down the middle of your tummy under your bellybutton with your fingers. (You might want to look up on-line how to actually do this.) Mine did not seperate, so I'm not exactly sure how to check/ what to do. Sorry!

[gatorsmom]

I wanted to second the idea of asking your OBGYN. I had a "bulge" that stayed around for a 7 or 8 months. It is finally starting to go away for the most part. But it concerned me so much (I posted about it here), that I saw my OBGYN. He couldn't figure out what it was. He thought I had an abdominal wall hernia. He had me get a CTscan of my abdominal area to see what it was. Then he referred me to a general surgeon. It turns out I had a tiny (like the size of a quarter) umbilical hernia caused by the twins pregnancy but I don't need to get it fixed. The hernia didn't cause my bulge, however. The surgeon explained that the bulge was my abdominal muscles that were totally stretched out. He said that if I started doing some serious ab exersizes, they'd eventually get back to normal.

It's so hard to know what a multiples pregnancy has done to your abdominal region. I'd see a doc about it for sure.

[fivi2]

I believe the term for the abdominal separation is diastasis recti. If you google there are websites that tell you how to check. A woman named Julie Tupler has a book and a dvd with exercises that are supposed to help - Lose Your Mummy Tummy - but I have heard mixed reviews. As a pp said some ab exercises can (maybe) make it worse. Mine is still pretty bad - I lost all my baby weight (a while back - my babies are almost 3!) but my stomach is still way bigger than it was.

For me, the saggy skin is a separate issue. Even if my abs were firmer, I still have a ton of loose skin. I had bad stretchmarks. It is my understanding that sugery is needed to get rid of all of that, but I am sure that losing weight and firmng up the abs would help. But - everyone is different! I guess talk to your ob, and see what they recommend. Good luck!