Will It Ever Go Away?

I didn't have a C-section, but my stomach went back to normal after almost three years. I did pilates and yoga a couple times a week from about six months after birth on - this made my stomach really strong right away, but I don't know if it helped with the flattening.

Take a pilates class. Pilates exercises are a great way to tone and strengthen the core area. Good luck!

The best advice my mom gave me was that it took 9 months for body to get that way, give it 9-12 months to get back to it's original state.
I can say that after having 3 children, mine finally disappeared. Just try to be patient. You have plenty happy things to focus on!! She is so worth it!

I have the same thing. When I stand up I don't see the flab, but when I sit it's awful. I think the muscles in my stomach are not attached like they used to be. I wish I had advise, but my son is 2 1/2 now and I haven't seen any improvement. I'll be interested to see what others say.
Good Luck!

K.,
It took nine months to stretch your stomach so do not expect it to go back in 3 months. It might be a little more difficult to get it back into shape after surgery. Also, as we age our muscles tend to need to be reminded on a continual bases where they are suppose to stay (gravity does not so funny things:). Focus on being healthy. Flat stomaches are not a a great trophy if our health fails because of lack of nutrients to lose weight to achieve it. Remember to keep your focus on the really important things in life - a husband and child.

K.,
I have had two babies and my last one I had to have a c-section also. I was discouraged after my c-section that I seemed to have more of a pouch than I did after my first baby that was vaginal. I even went as far as asking my doctor if it will ever go away and he told me there was a chance I would always have it. I was not satisfied with his answer!! I have always been very faithful in my working out so I was pretty determined to make it look better!! I can happily report that it will be a year ago Feb 9th that I had my c-section and my stomach is pretty much back to normal. I really think a lot of it is time. You have to remember that you did not gain those 24 pounds over night and that your body took nine months of stretching. I would encourage you to start a cardio and weight training routine to help build muscle and burn calories and also to be patient, it does take a little bit of time! I know, easier said than done!

Please take a minute to visit http://theshapeofamother.com to see what REAL moms look like after giving birth and forget the Hollywood artificial garbage poor women are immersed in, in our society. Be gentle with yourself. Your precious baby is only 3 months old. How long did it take to gestate your baby? Nine months. It hasn't even been half that amount of time that she's been out of your womb. Give your body time to heal. Growing and birthing a baby are marvelous works of nature. It's quite an astounding process. Don't expect to be the same perfect shape you were a year ago. My personal take on it, is that if it takes nine months to put on the weight and make all the bodily changes, then it will take at LEAST that same length of time to readjust after the baby is born. Some moms never rediscover their prepregnancy shapes and sizes and others do it seemingly overnight. Whatever the case is with you, be gentle with yourself first and foremost, and do all you can (gently) to be healthy and let go off the Hollywood image of a perfect body.

A little about me:
I'm a SAHM (Stay At Home Mom) to three beautiful babies: Boy, nearly four; Girl, just turned two; Girl, seven months. I have the most incredible husband on the planet. We are coming up to our fifth anniversary and couldn't be happier.

Hi, Sorry to burst your bubble, but that flab willnever go away. I have had four c sects. I was back to my pre pregnancy wt with in a month after the first one was born, but the flab stuff, will always be with you unless you have a tummy tuck. Just be thankful that you only have 24 lbs to go. I gained 40 with the last one and haven't lost any. Say good bye to the bikini's unless you don't mind the flab showing.

I've never had a perfect body, so perhaps I'm not the type of person you'd like to take advice from. But, it can take quite a long time (without plastic surgery) in order to go back to your "before" size, and even still you may never have a perfectly flat midsection again.

I think it would be awesome if you (and so many other mothers like you) could instead turn your focus to other things. You have been living a healthy life thus far if you've been able to keep a smaller size and only gain 24 pounds of baby weight during your pregnancy. I think that's the most important thing.

As long as you have a healthy lifestyle you can be happy with your new mommy body. And that's a far better example to set for your little girl anyway, rather than obsessing on having a pre-baby body.

I remember my mother was always dieting while I was growing up. She was never happy with her weight and it was down as much as it was up.

I do want to warn you though, that after having 3 of my own I know that it gets more and more difficult for your body to go back "as it was" after each child that you have. That might be something to keep in mind if you really desire a perfect body.

I wish you happiness in whatever you choose to do. :)

Buy the book - Be a Loser, which describes great stomach exercises which help to flatten the stomach area, even without losing weight. I think you will love it!

Robin Martens, M.S. - Author of Keys to Emotional Freedom published by Beacon Hill Press/ Speaker for women's retreats, MOPs, and other women's groups/ Contributor to CBN.com / Contributor to Marriage Ministry in the 21st Century published by The Group publishing company / Jewelry Designer

Give it time. It took 9 months to stretch. Plus with the c-section you need to finish healing first. Great job on losing the weight.

My advice: GIVE YOURSELF SOME TIME! Your little girl is ONLY 3 months old and if you've lost most of the weight already you're doing just fine. You didn't gain 24 pounds over night or even in three months, it took nine months. So relax and enjoy your new bundle of joy because these precious moments will be gone before you know it - whether you have a flat tummy or not.

Maybe talk to your dr and see if they have any suggestions, but everyone I know who's had a c-section is pretty much stuck with the extra skin.

I'm not sure I can effectively describe how to exercise your abs to get back your flat stomach. but I'll give it a try. When we are pregnant the linea alba separates, that is the line down the middle of the rectus abdominus muscle (the six-pack muscle). Do a "crunch" pulling the rectus abdominus muscle back together by holding the sides with opposite hands. So right hand is one left side of muscle and left hand on right side of muscle, as you do the crunch pull hands toward each other.
Hope this is helpful.

Wow, so much good advice! I would suggest keep doing cardio & if your not already, & add weights & strenght training, too. You burn more calories, even doing nothing, the more muscle you have on your body.
Some exercies that I would suggest to help target the lower tummy are: doing sit-ups with your legs flat on the ground and doing reverse crunchs (bringing your bent legs to your head, not head to knees). These seem to target the lower stomach. You may have heard the term "BELLYBUTTON TO SPINE", and that what you should be doing when working out the stomach. If you don't keep your tummy in flat , the muscles will grow out when you exercise. It's kind of like tilting your pelvis forward.
Anyway, the best thing you can do is cut down on your fat intake. :( I know that bites the big one, but the best way to avoid fat is to not take some much into our systems in the first place. I have wimpy willpower, so I try to not buy unhealthy food in the first place. Good luch with everything!!!!!! I know you can do it.

What you have is called the c-shelf very common with c-sections most surgeons push the abdominal fat up and out of the way...then don't pull it back down where it was prior to being opened up. Only way to get rid of it is a tummy tuck.

I am a mother of three. And fortunately I have a body that bounces back into shape rather quickly. However, the one thing that bothers me is my flabby stomach. Just like you the weight is gone, but the tummy is not tight like it was. I talked to my doctor about this and she said to be patient. It took nine months to unflatten it, it will probably take about the same to reflatten it. Just keep working on it, and realize that you are beautiful even with your "new" body. I am sure you would agree that even if you never lose it, your daughter is worth the loss of your tight tummy.

With each of the children I gave birth to I got a little extra in the stomache (5 I have birthed, 7 in total) I have always been a big girl but I have also always had a flat stomache, and that has always been an issue for me, I can handle the bum and thighs but the stomach drives me crazy it is the only part of my large frame that I dispise! I to have done sit up's the ball the whole nine yards and it just doesn't go away, my advice would be to learn to love what you have, easier said then done I know but one thing I always tell myself when I start to feel down about it is this, if it wasn't for my womb which is protected by my stomache I would not have my almost always amazing children, this seems to help for me, don't know if I helped but good luck.

It will get better.. As far as ever going completely away, probably not.. You may never have a six pack again, but Pilates with a mix of cardio does help.. I have 3 children.. 2 by C-section.. My youngest is 8 months and I have stayed the same weight for the last 2 months, but I can see a difference in my stomach from then just by doing ab work. Strength excercise also does help. I have a BowFlex and it has made a difference in my stomachs appearance because it gives you a more targeted workout for those muscles. Definitely give it a little more time. A tummy tuck is definitely drastic and something to wait for until you are completely done having children. At that point, most plastic surgeons do free consultations if you are interested in that later on. Hang in there.. It is a long road and you are very lucky to be back at your weight after 3 months. Good luck in the future and enjoy that beautiful baby!

K.,

I found this amazing product in Sept. I am so thrilled with it! People are using it to lose weight, get rid of the tummy buldge, constipation and many other issues. Check it out today!!! Go to: www.holyteaclub.com/kg. If you have any questions, just give me a call. My phone number is on the site.

Yours in health,

K. G.

Wow! you only gained 24 lbs! I too have been able to lose all my "baby" weight and have a "pooch" left :( My mom had the same thing and it never went away until she had a tummy tuck when she was 58 :) She explained that for some women, the stomach muscles split vertically during pregnancy and no matter how many sit ups we may do, the muscle cannot burn fat like it used to. When you tighten your stomach muscles, can you feel a slight split down the middle? Keep yourself in shape and I am sure you look great! Good thing for us the style for shirts these days is long and loose!!

I had 2 c-sections, 6 and 8 years ago. My weight has been between prebaby to bigger than 9 months ands I never have been able to get rid of the pouch, remember the muscle was cut and will never be the same. sorry. Just know you have it because of your baby and its special. Love it. Also, control top bikinis are wonderful!

K., I have three kids, and oh, I have my favorite velvet pants that I do not wear very often so they are still 'alive', and as I was 120lb, with my 5"6 height, so I am, and these pants are for me to wear forever, I fit in perfectly fine :). My elder son is 25, btw. You do your exercises DEDICATEDLY, and keep your emotions in shape also, meaning BE HAPPY as this is contagious! You'll be back to your shape, some make it in some months, for some it takes about a year, and some just 'shrink back almost immediately. Do you not start worrying now, your dear family needs your smile badly, okay?! :) All is well, K.!!!

Hi K., I just had my second child via c-section (she is 8 weeks old). I have lost all but 5 pounds and now really need to start working on my belly. But, believe me it happens, I gained 50 pounds with my first and got back to 120 lbs and had a pretty flat stomach after 5 months. Unfortunately you will always have a tiny fold over your incision. Be sure to do lots of cardio and toning, but as a registered dietitian I have to tell you that your diet is going to make a huge difference also. Watch your fat intake, especially saturated fat. Good luck! I'm joining Gold's at the end of the month if you need a workout buddy!

Hi K., I also had an emergency c-section last April so I wanted to give you a little encouragement. I had a small frame before my prenancy and gained about 35 pound. You need to go easy on yourself and give it time. For the first 6 months I thought I would always have this body now but It will start to go back (with some minor work.) I hear from others that it takes about a year to start to feel normal again. I thought not me I will always be this way the other girls are just lucky. Now that my son is a little over 9 months I swear I feel better about my body every day. Its a SLOW but steady process but it will go back.

Hi, a friend of mine purchased one of those balancing balls and does her crunches on it and now her stomach is flat as a pancake. And that's after 4 kids:-) Good luck!!

Flat Stomach and c section? Yeah right...those two terms will never go together ;) I've had two c sections and am going to have a third, and I can tell you from experience that you will never look like you used to. You can lose all the weight and work out all you want, but the medical facts remain the same: your muscles have been stretched significantly and will not go back to the way they were, ever (straight from my doctors mouth) and you also have to remember that when you had your c section your doctor cut through muscle and skin, which severs the muscle and creates scar tissue. There is nothing you can do short of a tummy tuck to get rid of that scar tissue, and there is a very strong chance that the muscle around it will never "go back" either (also straight from my doctor). You can tone your core and the muscles in your stomach, but there is a part that you're going to have to deal with where the scar tissue is. I have an elliptical and am using it during my pregnancy now and will continue to use it after the birth. They are great for an all over workout and work your stomach extremely well, so maybe that's an outlet you can look in to? I got mine at Kmart for $150, it's reasonably priced and works great. It's the Momentum 610. It is possible to get your muscles back into shape, but just prepare yourself to not go back to the way you were in case you find out (as I did) that some things just don't go back :)

Hi K.,
I work at an athletic club, interacting mostly with women and after my 4 children (and gaining 35 lbs)found myself in a similar state of mind. Some of this " extra skin" or "baby pooch" may be genetic. But before you give up all hope and resign not to ever fit into those low rise jeans again, it is much more likely that resistance training will make ALL the difference in your stomach and overall body shape. I incorporated this into my workouts and have been a bikini fit 127lbs for about 3 years now.
Resistance training is traditionally done with free weights or exercises that use your own body weight against itself. There are PLENTY of great websites available try googleing "Resistance training for women" and see what comes up. Anytime you build muscle you will burn more at rest and retone your "hard to reach" areas like stomach, butt and thighs.
Check out local thrift stores for exercise videos that use hand weights. You can usually find both the videos and weights extremely discounted this way or if your local gym has a daycare try a "step and tone" or "Boot camp" type classes that target both cardio and resistance training so that a busy mom's can fit in both essential workouts with limited time. Shoot for an average of 2-3 resistant training routines (30-45min) and 2-3 (20-30min) cardio sessions per week and before a month is out you'll be loving the changes!

I dont know if this will help, I'm trying it for my self but mine is no longer baby belly since my baby is 12 years old, but I hired a personal trainer one time and he said one of the BEST exercises for the Ab's is (excuse my poor descriptions) I believe its called a leg rise chair,
I found a pic so you can see what I'm talking about.

http://www.gymsource.com/equipment_free.php?type=NXT&...

( I hope that worked)

But you lean your back on the back rest, hold your self up with your arms and lift your legs up, the straighter you keep your legs, the harder it works your Ab's.
I was told that for all the crunches anyone can do, this is the machine that makes the difference in shape and muscle tone.
We'll see, I'm trying it.
Good luck.

Hey K.. You didn't say how old your baby is, but I really found that "nine months up, nine months down" to be true for me. I didn't have a c-section though, so I can't offer any advice in that area. I have heard that people have had a permanent "shelf" above the scar of fat that never seems to go away. This all probably depends on where the doctor cut in the muscle. Are you breastfeeding? That helps in the weight loss process as well. I haven't done any type of formal exercise since giving birth (other than the occational walk with the stroller when it was nice out) and was able to fit into my pre-pregnancy jeans right when she turned 9 months. I just got into them all of a sudden- it was kind of weird. You could probably work with a trainer to find the best moves to work your abs as well if you are willing. As for stretched skin, that would be genetic and age. The more elasticity your skin has, the more likely it is to bounce back. If you were able to avoid stretch marks, you can see that your skin is pretty elastic. We do have some toning products through The Body Shop (I am a consultant) if you would like to try them I would gladly send you a sample. It couldn't hurt! Let me know.

A.
http://www.thebodyshopathome.com/web/abbeyhall

If you can afford it, hire a personal trainer. By far the best thing I ever did. Actually, my brother gave me one for christmas last year, best gift I ever received. If not, kickboxing was the workout that worked best for my abs.

I've not had a c-section but I carried my 3 children really low. I got my flat stomach back finally right before being surprised with my 3rd pregnancy. I found out that you don't want to do too many sit-ups without the cardio because you are just making the muscle bigger without losing the fat. I personally love the Turbo Jam or Taebo (kick boxing type) work-outs because you are doing the cardio and ab work-outs at the same time. It really did work for me!!

My other suggestion that someone told me about is to wear a girdle for the first 2 months after you have your baby. I'm not sure if it'd work 3 months after, but I'd give it a try. They are only $15 at Wal-Mart. It helps heal your muscles straight instead of curvy -- hope that makes sense?

Anyway, best wishes to you!

K.- Isn't it fun? I have had two c-sections and have no feeling in my lower belly still (4 1/2 years ago) I too am unable to get rid of it! I do 100 sit ups nightly but, apparently that's not what is needed.
Good luck -if it doesn't go away at least you have a beautiful child out of the deal!
Best wishes! H.