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what's your body like after two babies?
Just out of curiosity...
Pre-Cassidy my belly was pretty tight. Not a six pack by any means, but had some tone. Post-Cassidy I lost all of the pregnancy weight pretty quickly, but the muscle tone in my stomach was shot and I never got much back. Laying on my side, my belly lay beside me in a puddle. Granted, I didn't do a damn thing to try to get it back either.
With this pregnancy my belly is much higher and I showed way earlier. I'm sure that has about 90% to do with the state of my stomach muscles.
I'm just wondering if I can expect my belly to look a lot like it did after Cass was born or do you think even more damage will be done?
Does this even make sense? This is of course assuming I only gain the same amount of weight as I did the first time, which up until now, is the case. Since this is going to be our last, I think I will be much more motivated to get back to the gym this time. Maybe?
Anyway, any experience anyone would like to share with me?
Re: what's your body like after two babies?
I need to get motivated to do something, but I'm in about the same shape I was after J. I had a c/s with N (vaginal delivery w/J). I feel like if I work at it, I can be in better shape, but I am discouraged by having the c/s that I'll ever have the stomach I really want, kwim?
I gained 38lbs with J, and only 6 with N. I did start 20lbs heavier with N than I did J, and at my 3w pp incision check, I was down 18lbs (12 from pre-pg weight).
I gained 19 lbs with Ben's pg, got down to 6 lbs pre-pg weight in between, then gained 22 lbs with M. All of my baby weight gain was gone with both kids within 10 days of birth (benefits to GD are that I basically only gained baby weight). However, I "bounced back" a lot faster after Ben. Granted, I can't afford the gym and have zero time to exercise since Maddy was born, but even when I do little things I am just not "recovering" as quickly. Maddy will be 1 and while I'm the lowest weight I've seen in probably 4 years, my midsection is SHOT. There will be no exercise that will work to make it what it was, not to mention the insane amount of stretch marks I have from carrying 2 9 lb babies all in front.
I blogged about this last week if you want more info ;-)
"It's not a sprint, it's a marathon." - Alex & Ani bracelet
My blog: Dodging Acorns
Can I just ditto everything Michele just wrote?
EDIT: I can feel some toning coming back to my abdominal muscles, but there is so much flab over it that I don't think I'll ever be able to look toned again. Pinch an inch? Umm, if it were just one inch, that would be nice. Stretch marks are all faded/fading, but I don't think there's much that can be done non-surgically for this excess skin. I won't be wearing a 2-piece bathing suit anytime soon (not that I have in years!)
I truly think pregnancy changes our bodies drastically. I don't have the same muscle tone in my abs that I had before Ty, or even before Tristan. I have found now that I've lost weight being on WW my stomach looks better, but it still feels like a bowl of Jello.
I'm wondering when I'll get the muscle tone back in my nether regions!! I'm tired of peeing every time I cough, sneeze, laugh, MOVE!
Oh and my hips are even WIDER after baby number two, so even as I lose weight I can't go down in sizes and will be spending lots of money at the tailor to make things fit.
And the hip pain.
and the bladder...
ok, stopping now so as to not totally panic you ;-) I hope other people are luckier!
"It's not a sprint, it's a marathon." - Alex & Ani bracelet
My blog: Dodging Acorns
i feel like my hips are still a bit wider still after baby2 (and my belly button bigger!), but i'm otherwise back to how i looked before/after aliza. less toned in general than i had been before having kids, but that's because of my having less time to exercise -- i'd like to think that if i were still able to get to the gym daily like i was doing before aliza, i could get it back
i'm definitely on the lucky side though when it comes to bearing babies, in that i tend to carry small and lose the weight quickly afterward. too bad i have such bad self confidence to go along with it though, i wish i could be proud of what my body could do instead of trying to cover it up in baggy clothing. but i digress... 
i'm sure you'll be as beautiful as you were before, regardless!
I wish my stretch marks would fade. I have hundreds of them - hundreds - so combine those (they are fading in color but the texture is still there) with the flab and I seriously want to puke some days.
"It's not a sprint, it's a marathon." - Alex & Ani bracelet
My blog: Dodging Acorns
My tummy texture is awful thanks to flab + the roadmap of stretchmarks. They're silvery white (mostly) now, instead of dark pink, but they're definitely there. I didnot have a pretty bare-belly with either pregnancy.
It takes work but it can be done (unless you are a freak-of-nature like Erin of course!) I am actually the thinnest I have ever been...... I am thinking like middle-high school weight. It was a lot of work. I trained for 2 marathons and did tons of yoga and pilates. (the pilates is what you have to do to tone up the mid-section) The running has been fantastic at not only dropping the weight but also shrinking me. All the pp talk of hips becoming wider...mine are actually smaller now b/c the running has transformed me. On my 37th birthday a few weeks a go I celebrated by buying a bikini and I finally have the self-confidence and proper body image to know that i actually look good in it. All I need to do know is work on increasing muscle mass. I am thin but still a little flabby. That is where my CrossFit is going to come into play. This summer I will have more time to train for the Chicago marathon again and really do strength training.
I wish I had time for all that training, and the ability. I have genetically crooked kneecaps so I can't do any type of exercise over and over, and the docs have all told me running is an absolute no-no for me b/c of my knees. Add to that this hip pain after baby #2 and I am in horrible pain after just a target & grocery store errand of walking. I'm just hoping to find time to do yoga once or twice a week to help with things at this point.
"It's not a sprint, it's a marathon." - Alex & Ani bracelet
My blog: Dodging Acorns
Pam....God Bless you woman!! Holy big babies....my first was only 7lb2oz, so I can't even compare!!!
Oh Erin you know that is the highest form of a compliment! Damn you tall women :-)
i'm flabbier now than i was after D... but what i've seen is that everyone is different. i have also found that i can still loose weight, just gotta find the time!
and pfal is totally inspiring!!!
Love the "puddle" analogy. That's EXACTLY what mine does. To be fair, my stomach was a problem area long before the kids came along. But now by comparison I realize I had it pretty good back them. In related news, Does anyone have a tv we can borrow? Access Hollywood was doing a story on Miranda Kerr's "bikini body after baby", and now ours has a brick through it.