I Have a Belly from Pregnancy

Give it time, you just had a baby! It will take some time to get back to normal. But old fashioned exercise and sit ups will probably speed things up. With my first child I was so worried about getting the baby weight off I did everything and nothing worked until about a year and then it was gone. With my second child I decided I wasn't going to worry about it and just let it happen when it happens and I was back into pre-pregnancy clothes after 4 months. With my third, I'm older now, forget it he is 18 months old and I still have 10 lbs to go!!

My little girl is 14 months old and I have just been able to get back in to my old clothing w/ in the last couple of months or so. It will take a while, much longer than a month. Give it time and you will see a diference, Good luck!

If you just had a baby last month, the last thing you should worry about is the "baby belly". You have done this before, and you know it takes a minute. You shouldn't over do it !!!! You owe it to yourself to keep your strength...your body is a badge of honor! I went from a double zero to a size 14!!! I thought I might die!!! Well, I am alive, and finally seeing my old body...you'll see yours too!

I breastfed immediately once the baby was born. That helped to contract the muscles of the uterus. You should get your doctor's OK at your 6 week check up (especially if you had a C-section) to exercise. My doctor was not OK with any strenuous exercise because I was breastfeeding and if you loose weight at a fast rate the toxins in your blood go to your infant through the breastmilk. Once my baby turned 7 months old and I began supplementing with formula, I started a real program. I did Turbo Jam Fitness exercise DVDs everyday (www.beachbody.com) They are really beneficial to me. I also cut out juices and drinks. I'm down to a size 1. Keep at it! Don't give up! Your body needs time to heal totally. Good luck!

Are you nursing? I had a baby in February. I gained 50+ lbs during pregnancy. I nursed for ~6 months, and the weight started to fall off at about month 4. By my 6 month, I had lost over 60 lbs and did nothing (no exercise) but nurse and eat well. Don't stress... your body needs time! Good luck...

Hi,

I understand you need to get your belly back. Of course you want to use caution and take your time, but there are a couple things you could do to help it along. I did both of these things and it worked great!!!

1. Bikram Yoga ( it is awesome! I got a better body after 6 months of practice than I did before my sweet baby).

2. MonaVie juice twice a day. This is an awesome fruit juice that contains 19 fruits that help the body heal. It helps promote collagen that increases the skins elasticity and muscular growth. AWESOME. I can send you a bottle if you want, just so you can see what I mean. Or you can check out the details for yourself at http://www.mymonavie.com/N.

Hope this helps.

With love and blessings,

N.

While there are lots of exercise programs that could help, you are only a month postpartum- has your lochia even stopped yet? When it does you can do crunches or pilates core work, but for the first few months, I just try to concentrate on holding my belly in. It makes a big difference, you tend to let go in that last month of pregnancy and holding it in helps strengthen the muscles gradually. I figure if it took me 9 months to grow the belly, I should give myself at least that much time to get back into my jeans.

Here's a quote from a friend that I really like:

"I think of my body now (the slightly different hip
shape, different breast shape/size/softness) in
biological terms of maturity. The female body doesn't
finish maturing in adolescence - it takes bearing a
child & nursing that child to actually take the body
through all of the growth to adulthood. For example
the breasts go through a 'finishing' process of growth
during the 1st pregnancy that completes the start of
breast development begun in the teens. Womyn who lose
a 1st pregnancy and never carry another one are at a
higher risk for breastcancer - that 'finishing'
development of the breasts got arrested & didn't get
done, leaving growth potential to go awry.

None of us may have the body we had at 15 ever again -
not because we're not in shape/dieting etc - but
because our bodies weren't DONE at 15, or 20 or
whenever pre-childbearing.

Knowing this stuff allows me to look at my body as
doing/being just how it should be, rather than 'not
ever getting back to my REAL body'"

-earthmoon

It takes 9 months to the weigh on so it it will take that time and maybe some more to get it off!!!! You just had a baby so be proud with that and give it time!!!!

Surely your doctor has told you to give it at the very least 6 weeks before you attempt to regain your prepregancy weight and figure. Even then you need to take it slow and steady at first. Unless you are extremely young your body is not going to snap back like a rubberband. It is also a little harder and takes a little longer with 2nd and 3rd pregnanccies and so on and as you get older. You should start with just walking if you can for 30-40 minutes maybe 3 times and week and increase as you are comfortable with it. Wait til your doctor gives you the ok to engage in any rigorous exercise routine. Pregancy and child birth are very wonderful but also very taxing events events on body. Don't be so h*** o* yourself if you don't achieve the figure you had before pregnancy, with most women it can take 6 months to a year unless you are fortunate enough to have nannies and personal trainers and such.

whatever you do don't rush it. it takes time for your body to heal after having a baby. you definately want to try and get into a routine for excercise. for your abs you do not want to work them out everyday. when you first start out try two to three times a week. once you get used to that try every other day. but i would recommend two to three times a week that gives the abs time to rest. you should also try pilates or walking, or something with a fast beat to it on the days you don't do your abs. after i had my first set of twins it took me until they were 5 years old before i was able to lose all my weight and get back into shape. but it took alot of work and exercising. if you can get into a gym it would help alot theres trainers there that would be able to help you out and set up a routine for you to follow.

good luck and just take it one day at a time.

Honestly it will take about 5-to a year to loose it.After having my son i drank 24 ounces of milk a day,switch to low calerie foods and cut down on sugar.It really helps,for me after 4 months I weighed ten pounds more than I did before I got pregnant.But it will take a while so be patient it will come off but not as soon as you would like it to.

Hi C.,

Congratulations on the birth of your baby! Be gentle with yourself. I've always found this site interesting. http://theshapeofamother.com/about-this-site/

Enjoy your baby moon,
J.

A little late as a repy, but belly dancing works wonders too! I have had 3 and I belly dance (which is a lot of fun) and do pilates on a regular basis. I'm a size 6- smaller than pre pregnancy! You're not supposed to work out until after your DR. ok's you, but you can dance and belly dancing really works the abs with out over working them!

I wouldn't worry to much about it. The weight will come off in due time. I did Weight Watchers with my first which took me about 9 months and with my second it took a little over a year to get all the weight off. While my old clothes are fitting, I don't think that my body will ever be the same. Remember too, you just had a baby. Take time to heal and enjoy your new little bundle of joy.

I have found that the 5 day abs workout from The Firm exercrise series is a really good work out, BUT do not start working out until you talk to your doctor about it, you dont want to over do it and you dont want to start too early.

After i had my baby i was really worried about my abs too. i went straight out to victoria secret and bought a thing that is really tight and sucks your belly in. this helped shape my belly (looks pretty good now) and helped me suck it in to fit into my old clothes. i also gradually started walking, then running on the treadmill (sometimes got cramps) and did a few sit ups almost everyday. its a gradual process... its been 8 months and i am pretty satisfied.

One of my best friends said she lost all of her pregnancy weight from Pilates! I am pretty satisfied with myself. I still have a little jiggly stuff above the belly button but I'm still normal sized. I think it also depends on if your muscles (in the abdomen) were torn during pregnancy. A plastic surgeon told my friend Angela that she would have never gotten her belly back because the muscles in her belly were stretched and torn! I hope it helps!!!

i was a size 4 and had a tummy to die for before i had my son.
my son is now almost four months old and i still have a belly. it takes up to six months for all the swelling to go away and for things that were stretching out for 9 mos. to shrink back down to normal size. 6 weeks after you have the baby you can start to exercise again. crunches crunches cruncches is what it takes to tone all those muscles back up.i am back to my original weight and my tummy is getting smaller. be patient it will happen.

Try yoga. It will tone your body like nothing. It also teaches you to live in the present moment and love your body and mind for all that it does for you and your babies. There are also "mommy and me" yoga classes that allow you to both excercise and have fun while bonding with your baby even more through a fun, non-competitive excercise practice. Also, remember, above all, to be gentle with yourself. You just had a baby and it takes time to work your body back to "where it was"...in the process, you'll learn to love yourself and have compassion for who you are and the miracle of what you just went through (giving birth!)...congrats! hope this helps.

It can take up to 18 months for your body to "recover". I did not lose any weight the first six weeks even though I walked two miles a day. After that I lost a pound or two ever week or so. If you are trying to just look your pre-preganancy size consider what you are wearing. Babycenter.com has some great tips for dressing the post preganancy body.