Abdominal Diastasis
Ever heard those big words before? Abdominal Diastasis.
Abdomoinal diastasis basically means that the pressure of carrying that precious baby has caused your ab muscles to separate. :(
You probably remember that immmediately after you gave birth that your tummy was soft and really squishy. Well, since then hopefully your abs have regained their strength, but if not -you may have abdominal diastasis.
Here is how to check if your abs have separated:
To check for diastasis:
What this means is that you should be careful when lifting heavy items, and you should also be cautious with the type of abdominal exercises you do to lose weight.
I recently watched this video on iVillage, and even though I'd read quite a bit about abdominal diastasis before...I felt like it was quite informative in explaining the type of exercises you can do. Perhaps it was the video format that made it so interesting...take a look.
Searching for the Best Postpartum Belt
After you've had the baby, you noticed that you still have a huge stomach right?
Most women do.
My mother always made me wear a workout belt, and after the birth of my second baby the doctor gave a support belt at the hospital (my abdominals were so weak I couldn't even get out of bed to tend to baby).
I liked the workout belt more, because even though it was as hot as hell to wear, it really helped to make my tummy flatter...faster. Please note that my tummy is not 100% flat, but the workout belt really helped. The support belt I got at the hospital was white and soooo painful to wear. The velcro tore into my skin, left scars, and I still had to wear a shirt underneath to avoid the velcro scratching into me.
I had my second child over a year ago, but I still need this abdominal support. My stomach muscles are still very weak, and I'd like support for my abs on a day to day basis. So, I'm on a mission to find the perfect postpartum belt, girgle, corset...whatever to keep my tummy together. I want something that will provide support, doesn't have painful velcro tearing into me, and also breathes -so it's not so hot to wear. Most of all it has to be comfortable and should also make me look good too. :D
So far here are the postpartum belts I am looking at:
1. Medela Postpartum Support
2. Postpartum Binder Support
3. Gabrialla Postpartum Girdle
4. Futuro Surgical Binder & Abdominal Support
Do you have any postpartum support belts that you recommend?
Britney Spear's Postpartum Body on VMA's
Okay, okay...EVERYONE has been dogging on this girl. From the Associated Press to Perez Hilton, all you hear about is her terrible perfomance and how out of shape she is.
Although I agree that the perfomance wasn't her best, I do have to say that her body isn't all that bad. Yeah, she's a few pounds heavier than her former self, but she looks pretty dang good for a woman who's had 2 kids. I didn't see any stretchmarks or saggy skin. Hmmm...I can't help but wonder if celebrities have access to some top secret anti-stretchmark treatment that us common-folk simply aren't rich enough to know about.
Have you ever noticed that most celebrities are immune to the ugly side-effects of pregnancy?
What say you? Anyone know how they do it?
Signing off...
"Debbie, the Mom"
Warning: Reading the Following May Prevent You From Ever Having Children Again!
Kidding! Kids are amazing and are so worth the effort. I'm just sharing my personal experiences with managing the "postpartum body".
No one ever told me what my body was gonna be like after giving birth. Yeah, I read the Book
If we can put a man on the moon and clone people, why is it that no one has invented a lotion that really does erase stretch marks?!
Here is the low-down on what can happen to your body immediately post-baby:
- Stretch marks (the redness will go away, and leave behind white and shiny streaks)
- La linea nigra (this eventually will go away too)
- Loose and wrinkly skin around your belly
- Abdominal muscles separated
- Fat, fat everywhere
- Enlarged and darkened areolas
- Saggy boobs
- Belly button ruined
- Hair falls out like crazy
- Stomach still looks 5 months pregnant (takes weeks for this to go down)
By the way, most of the problems issued above are only temporary. I'm on a quest to address any postpartum body problems that still linger. Care to join me?
