Does Anyone Else Have Ridiculously Bad Stretch Marks on Stomach and Now Skin Sag

Updated on August 04, 2011
S.!. asks from Boulder, CO
13 answers

When I was preg with my first I had PUPP and severe Pre-E. I was averaging 5 lbs a day at the end and ended up delivering at 36 weeks. This left me very deep long and wide purple stretch marks on my sides and stomach. The sides don't bug me too much but I think b/c the skin is tighter there. My stomach though is left sagging and wrinkled. Has anyone found a product that helps rejuvinate the skin or am I left with my mommy badge?

Thanks!

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R.D.

answers from Richmond on

I found something, going as soon as I win the lottery...

TUMMY TUCK BABY!! Already had my consult, I'm so excited.

I'm so tiny, except my BELLY. My abs are so split, the doc said even if I DON'T get a tummy tuck (which includes tightening the abs), I need to have it repaired before I damage my back or have my intestine poke through the gap. Gross, right? Yeah, you can poke my organs through the split.

ANYWAY, tummy tuck all the way, can't WAIT to get this grossness cut off. I'm super short, so when preggers, I could only grow OUT, not up... my stomach is nastyyy ;)

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A.M.

answers from San Francisco on

Don't kid yourself. Only a tummy tuck will do it.

5 moms found this helpful
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3.B.

answers from Cleveland on

I am in the same boat! With my middle I gained 40 lbs, I was underweight when I got preg. with the youngest I didnt gain as much, but I was ALL belly. I was huge! Now I'm down to a very good weight, but my stomach is flabby and dimpled. I hate it! Honestly I feel the only thing that will help me is a tummy tuck :( Which I am afraid of doing only because it seems so extreme. But unless a miracle happens, I think thats the only thing that will help. Mommy badge is right! They are worth it, but man is it h*** o* our self image!

4 moms found this helpful

T.C.

answers from Dallas on

(((hugs))) I feel your pain!

When I had my first, she was 7 lbs. I got a few stretch marks and my skin never went back to being as tight. I thought I understoond what loose skin was like. (insert my crazy laugh)

Then I had my next child. I had a 10 lb 11 oz baby. At 37 weeks, I measured about 42-43 weeks along. My belly was HUGE. I looked pregnant with twins. Everyone stared at me if I went in public. I have a small body and so it looked even more ridiculous.

That pregnancy left my belly muscles really messed up. I had a large spacing between them. Then my skin was so stressed that it was much saggier than my previous pregnancy. I had a lot more stretch marks, but they weren't nearly as bad as it seems like they should be, nor as bad as yours.

Then I've had two more babies since then and am pregnant with a another (so I'm on my 5th pregnancy). My other two babies were larger than average - 8 lbs 7 oz, and 9 lbs 7oz. This one is measuring large too. Having so many big babies has really done a toll of my muscles and skin. If they were more normal sized, I don't think it would be a big issue. But my skin has lost elasticity and it is very baggy...and dare I say it is kind of gross. I hate to describe anything with pregnancy as being gross, but I really feel like it is!

I get my body back to normal weight (little under 120 lbs) after I have my babies, but my belly always looks pregnant, and there is skin (not fat) that will hang over my pants, and it doesn't go away. It's very loose, saggy, wrinkly skin. I have a lot of it, and there is nothing I can do to get rid of it. Exercising and lotions do not help with this part. I've decided to wear maternity pants when not prego so that it'll fit my smaller body, as well as my tummy, and NOT give me a mushroom top.

For solutions - the stretch marks, give it time and find some really good lotions that will help diminish them. There is nothing that will make them go away, though. Almost all stretch marks will turn silvery after time. Though I know of another mom on here that said 4-5 years later, hers are still red!

For the skin, there's not really anything that can help that. If there's fat under there, you can try to lose the weight to trim it up more, but that's only going to make your skin seem even looser and more saggy.

The only REAL cure for the saggy skin is a tummy tuck.

I know a lot of women (myself included once upon a time) are totally opposed to having a tummy tuck. I didn't understand why women would have them. After having my first, my belly wasn't back to normal, but why would anyone want to hide the fact that they had a baby? There's nothing wrong with how your belly looks. And, that's true. BUT, what I didn't understand then was that there are a lot more severe cases than what I was going through. Many pregnant women have hardly any issues with their belly. Or it's mild. Usually it's not super severe. Your case was abnormal and you are now left with what sounds like an abnormal case of saggy skin.

Is it okay for obese people who lose a ton of weight to get a tummy tuck/skin reduction? I think so. And, I think this applies to pregnancy too. Why wouldn't it? If a mom feels insecure about her belly because she went through something natural, but some abnormal things happened (is it really normal to gain 5 lbs a day at the end?! I think not! Is it normal for someone my size to carry an almost 11 lb baby? No.), and I think it's okay to fix that.

Plus, there are other things you might want to look at that might actually be medical problems. Do you have a diastis recti? This is the spacing between your belly muscles. To check it out, lay on your back on the floor, with your knees bent/feet flat on the floor. Find your belly button. Then very slightly lift your head. Just enough so that your belly muscles tighten and you can feel where they are. Don't lift up past your shoulder blades. Just lift enough to feel the muscles. How many fingers can you fit in that space? If it's two or under, you can likely fix this with exercises ("Loose your mummy tummy" is a great book for this). If it's more than that, closer to 3 or more, from everything I have read, that is severe enough that no exercises will fix it. (and never do situps or crunches if you have a muscles spacing. it makes it worse!)

Anyway, so if you determine you have diasistic recti, that's not good. It can make you prone to umbilical hernias and severe lower back problems, as well as intestinal issues (from the hernia). I didn't realize all of this. I have a pretty severe diastis recti - about 3.5-4 finger spacing. With this pregnancy, I was having severe pain, and was diagnosed with a hernia. I also always deal with bad back pain. After I have the baby, I"ll need surgery to have the hernia fixed. Part of that surgery (as I'm told by my dr) is that they will need to stitch my muscles back together to keep a hernia from forming again. While frustrating, it's good because I don't want another hernia! And while I don't want surgery, I also don't want to look pregnant for the rest of my life. This surgery would help with that.

A general surgeon is who can do this, and insurance will cover it because it is a medical need. I'm considering a tummy tuck to remove all the extra flabby, wrinkly skin. I might need a plastic surgeon for that. I don't know yet. But hopefully he/she can come when they are fixing the hernia. I don't need a perfect looking belly. I'm actually quite attached to my belly because I carried my babies in there. But I also don't want to look pregnant forever or feel disfigured all the time because of all the extra skin. And I DO feel that way no matter how much I try to tell myself to not feel that way. It's like a super obese person loosing belly weight. You're left with a skin sag. Mine's severe enough that I truly would like it gone. Leave the stretch marks, no problem (though mine aren't as severe as yours), but I don't want ALL the extra skin.

I know I've rambled WAY TOO long about this. I just had a lot to say! It's been something I've been thinking about a lot once I was diagnosed with a hernia a couple weeks ago, and knew I was going to have to have surgery. I've realized the only reason I wouldn't do a tummy tuck was due to other people's opinion...other people, who none of them have a belly like mine, so they don't actually KNOW what it feels like. And most of those people are family members. Some of them are supportive though. I'm considering not sharing my news with them unless I feel like it. People can be judgmental, and i'm not interested in that:-) Especially when people aren't in my shoes (or your shoes!) and don't know what it's like.

Not suggesting you have to have a tummy tuck:-) Just suggesting that it really is the only way to remove skin as saggy and wrinkly as that. It won't heal over time. And for you to look to YOU and to YOUR feelings about it, and not let what other people might think about tummy tucks influence you (though, there are a ton of who are supportive of it!).

If you have a diastis recti, there might be a medical need (to prevent a hernia or fix one you might not know you have), and insurance will pay for it most likely. Then you can decide if you want to try to add a quick skin reduction surgery along with that...and feel normal again with the belly skin! And, of course, if you choose not to, no matter what happens to our bellies, it's always a mommy badge:-)

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A.K.

answers from Houston on

There is basically nothing you can do :( once the skin is damaged, the only thing that will fix it is to cut it out and have a tummy tuck - which is what my sister did after 3, 9 lb babies.
I had 2 biggish babies, and I put on a lot of weight with me. My husband used to tell me I looked like a bear mauling vicitm, mine stretch marks were huge wide and purple. Now they are huge wide and silver, pretty noticeable, and I have that nice "apron" belly. nothing I do changes it, I may have a tummy tuck later on!

3 moms found this helpful
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R.J.

answers from Seattle on

HUGS!!!

The average woman carries about 12-15 lbs in her uterus. 7-9lbs of baby, 3-5lbs of placenta, and a couple pounds of amniotic fluid. Twin mama's (full term) carry about 20-25 lbs in their uterus. Triplet mamas 20-30 (depending on when they deliver). Which is just to give you an image of how BIG I was... because....

I was carrying apx 40lbs in my uterus. 10lbs of baby. Over 20lbs of placenta (It became "show n tell" on the floor...I didn't mind, I'm a science geek... because held up it was 3 feet wide, and it weighed about 24lbs), and several liters of amniotic fluid. I was BIG.

I also had cancer (cervical), and a metabolic disorder, and toxemia, and was a VERY high risk pregnancy (no exercise allowed whatsoever). I went from bikini-able at 9-11 percent body fat, a 28 inch waist at 180lbs (I'm 6'1, and was an athlete...180 on me is like 120 on someone 5'7) to DOUBLING my weight when I was pregnant.

My point? My skin will never recover, short of surgery. I could bathe in mederma and cocobutter, but it will have no effect. My skin is just TOAST. What's frustrating is that my insurance will pay for abdominal reconstruction for moms of multiples, but even though I was as big as a quintuplet mama, they won't cover reconstruction for me.

There is an absolutely AMAZING company owned by a mamapedia mama (not me!) called SexCies. It's niche lingerie for those of us with scarred (c-sect or stretchmarks from hail) or hanging flaps on our bellies. GORGEOUS low C shaped/ flap holding/ move anyway you wanna lingerie. http://www.sexcies.com/ Brilliant! Because it'll be YEARS before I can afford surgery... but there's lingerie out there made for someone just. like. me. :D !!!

2 moms found this helpful

C.T.

answers from Santa Fe on

Yes. I do too. I'm the only one out of all the mom friends I know whose belly is so messed up. I'm oddly skinny in the first place and then with both my pregnancies I stuck out like a torpedo. People laughed at me all the time bc I looked so strange. My belly has very deep stretch marks from above my belly button all the way down. They cover my entire stomach from one side to the next. And the skin is now very saggy/wrinkly and weird. To top it all off I have pretty bad diastis recti which has been contributing to back problems AND making my stomach stick out more. Now I'm skinny with a weird poochy strechmarky stomach. Fun!

2 moms found this helpful

M.P.

answers from Sacramento on

I have the same problem and it even creases right down the center and looks like a front butt when I am naked - I HATE it! One day I will have a tummy tuck....until then, humm...........

2 moms found this helpful

J.W.

answers from St. Louis on

I can't remember how many years it was before my stomach looked normalish but it was years. It is excess skin so only plastic surgery will take it away quickly.

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J.B.

answers from Detroit on

I have had great success with several Mom's that had saggy skin and stretch marks. They tried Arbonne's RE9 Advanced Nourishing Body Wash and RE9 Advanced Firming Body Cream I can email a before and after picture PM me your email address. I can send you a free sample too. The products are highly concentrated since Arbonne uses NO fillers so the products last a long time. Surgery is dangerous no matter how simple they say. I always look for natural solutions to issues first and use surgery (tummy tuck included) last no how simple they say it is there is always a risk.

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T.R.

answers from Los Angeles on

Hey there,
I did not have stretch marks, maybe because I applied organic virgin coconute oil every day. It helps heal scars, also afer surgeries and so on. You can get it at any health food store. As for my not-so-toned belly, I started Yoga again 3 months after my baby came. 30 minutes a day (but totally hardcore) and now I look like I have never been pregnant (he is 8 months now). Good Luck!

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J.S.

answers from Los Angeles on

After two pregnancies, my girlfriend lost her pregnancy weight but also had loose skin. She was considering paying $3000 for a skin-tightening procedure called Thermage. But then, she tried using a galvanic machine on her stomach. She saw some results after one ten minute treatment, so she did one treatment every day for 7 days. And after 7 days, she had to show me and all her friends! A bunch of other friends (including me!) started to use it.

She's tried topical products, but that only works on the surface of the skin. The galvanic machine works deep into the skin. There's a gel that you use with the machine & it uses a micro-current to travel deep in the skin to break down fat, smooth out cellulite & tighten the skin.

All I know is it works, and it's only a few hundred dollars. No knife, no pain.

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M.G.

answers from Chicago on

Umm, my stomach is so saggy after having twins that combined for 16 pounds (8 pounds a piece!), when I was just pregnant with my 10 lb 7 oz baby, I STILL had loose, hanging, jiggly skin!! It's gross! But, short of surgery there's not a darn thing I can do about it. I call it my "twin skin".

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