Wednesday, 11 January 2012
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Take Your Pooch with a Grain of Salt
Pooch, flap, that thing, scar concealer… if you’ve had a baby, chances are you’ve also encountered your own deflated baby housing – and probably have a pet name for it, too. You diet, you do crunches, you wear Spanx under your jeans, but it just won’t cooperate and go back to pre-baby proportions. Your babe was born via C-section? Momma, you’ve probably got one!
I’ve been asking my mommy friends about this and I am just amazed at the reluctance to talk about it! Bottom line, they are ashamed of it; the body language is amazing. They flatten their hand over it, pushing it in… maybe poke it in disgust; the brave few make a joke about it and give it a little jiggle. Most of them dream of a tummy tuck… “Someday” (sigh!).
I’ve read that in most C-sections they divide the muscle, not cutting through it… but do they do this for an emergency section (such as mine)? Can we place the blame on the surgeon, or on the (non-) elasticity of our skin? Theories abound, and while it’s nice to think that ‘it’s not my fault, they cut through the muscle’ – it’s still there and I still have to live with it (at least until I can afford a tummy tuck – yeah!). Of course, we all know that gal who had a C-section and just a few months later… perfectly flat abs. So, the pooch isn’t inevitable, but that doesn’t stop me from hating on the flat-bellied new mothers… just a little.
And so, we must embrace it. Look it in the eye (draw a face on it if it helps), from the side (I’m working up to this one), and stop hiding behind your husband in pictures. Try on jeans with a friend and ask her, “Tucked… or untucked?” Wearing only huge baggy clothes isn’t fooling anyone, they know it’s there and only imagine it to be bigger than it actually is. Your body has changed; therefore your size most likely has too, even if you weigh less now than you did pre-pregnancy. I’ve just given you a reason to go shopping - try different fits of pant (straight leg is über -flattering!) and don’t be afraid to go up a size. For tops – ruching is your friend, spandex is not. Most importantly, put your shoulders back and be confident – nothing is sexier than a woman who exudes confidence.
You got this? Okay, good. Now take that pooch out for a stroll and don’t forget to wash off the face you drew on it – try explaining that to hubby!
{Editor's question} How many embrace and how many hide? What have you done to try and get rid of your pooch?
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Comments (35)
that looks like me and I never had a csection, i had 3 natural births, but all of my babies were bigger than "average" whatever that is. I am doing the 30 day shred right now, I'm in my 2nd week and i've lost 2 inches on my navel measurement.
yep. that looks like me. I've had two natural births and has much as I try to tone it up, it just will.not.go.away!
I hide mine as best I can. My pouch is tiny, my daughter was 1lb 11.5ozs and 13 inches long so they didn't have to cut my whole stomach. I wasn't toned, per se, when I got pregnant but I was muscular. I've been doing Jillian Michaels workouts, count my calories on Sparkpeople.com and I am in a challenge on Skinnyo with one of my fb friends. I"m hoping soon I'll really start seeing results, I took the Jillian Michaels 14 day cleanse and burn and in the first week I lost about 3 inches off my hips and 2 off my waist and I lost about 8lbs total in the 2nd week.
Mine doesn't look like a mommy tummy :( Mine look's like I just eat to much... How strange I was never big ever... I was always very small at the waistline... Errr... I got some work to do.
i'm assuming thats how my stomach will look seeing as how i've spent the last 2 years of my life pregnant. but for now i cant worry about it - have to make sure that baby 2 gets here and is as healthy as its sister.
I just wear tight camis. I hate it. I'm a runner...I lift 3x a week and run 5 days a week. I'm very fit...but I still can't wear a damn bikini. It's frustrating. I AM getting a tummy tuck. Not for anyone else, but for me. I'm 24 years old and am tired of the saggy tummy. lol. ;)
I went with the over throws to hide my pooch. All the shirts that I can still fit into, if you can call it that, are and have been pretty tight on me so throwing on a long shawl helps keep the side view bareable for me. I don't really care about my pants. I've never been in one size for too long even before the babe. As long as I can find me a decent pair of flares ( I can't stand the straight/skinny legged jeans. And leggings I HATE leggings) I'm good. I'm great. I'm beautiful. I've tried to do the p90x but that made me feel more depressed abut my body, all that hard work for a month and no results even with extreme dieting. I've mostly kept my exercise to walking like I did before the babe and during the pregnancy, I feel better about walking around the park for a couple hours than I did trying to do any kind of other work out routine. Plus another thing that keeps my pouch around is the fact that I do plan on having another baby maybe within a couple of years so I really don't see much point in getting all flat and trim if I'm just going to be in the same boat again after number 2. I've had 2 c-sections and when I do have my 3rd its another cut up for me and I know I should at least do some crunches to help build up the cut muscle and every now and I then I squeeze in a couple but like I said I mostly stick to my walking. It does just enough for my morale and keep my pouch to at least bearable...
The pouch. Yep!
I've had three babies. I gained 90 lbs with them each. My 2nd was a c-section (over 10 lb baby) and my last was almost 10 lbs, VBAC.
I lost the 90 lbs I gained (well, 80 of it this time around) - I went from 110 to 200. Lots and lots of extra skin! At 120 lbs now, since EATING RIGHT AND EXERCISING, my flabby "mom tummy", is going away. No tuck required!
Amazing how that works. And I do it with three kids and full-time school ;)
Its crazy how society and the media try to make moms feel bad for sheltering and delivering the greatest gift to the world: life! Moms rock, flabby tummy's and all.
I'm not sure that the media or society make me feel bad about mine. It's me looking in the mirror wishing I could look like pre-baby me where my stomach didn't hang over the lip of my jeans, even though they fit me. I really don't like that extra bit of loose skin that hangs over ever pair of pants I've got.
I watch a lot of "What Not To Wear" for great tips because they have a lot of moms on the show. So far it's helped so that when I'm dressed to go out, I can pass as not having a flabulous pouch that looks like a joey could hop out of it at any moment.
I natural birth, down 15lbs from pre pregnancy (lost 30lbs total during pregnancy, gained 15lbs back 6 months after), and feel like I look worse now than I did before... time to embrace the pooch and get my confidence!!
I have to chime in here. What you are all most likely referring to is a *diastasis recti*. It is the separation of the abdominal muscles from the midline. It is the natural consequence of pregnancy. As the uterus grows with the baby, the abdominal muscles must separate to make room. It happens to every single mom.
I blogged about this before, here at Momaroo, and it can be found here: http://www.momaroo.com/744201684/diastasis-and-my-mommy-belly/
Please do not give up OR think you can't make a difference without a tummy tuck! There is hope and I promise you, no amount of crunches you do will change the diastasis. You have to rehabilitate your abdominal muscles and bring them back together in the front. I have pictures of myself before and during the abdominal rehab program I did if you are interested. Please let me know because I want to tell all of you, everyone who will hear, do not lose hope. Your abdominal muscles are simply separated and need to be rehabbed back together.
Looks like mine too :) I had a natural birth and my son was just shy of 9lbs so I proud of my momma pooch!
awe.. this reminds me of my mommy.. but hers isn't that bad... she's had 4 kids.. twins.. and c-section...but it's still never been that flabby. however, he tummy is all cut up.
i know if i'd have kids my tummy would be a billion times worse than that :/
my mom has amazing skin, i have the 100% exact oposite. im very stretch mark/scar/bruise prone..
i don't know how bad i want kids :/
@Rebekka Holman@facebook - I'm sort of hesitant to write about it specifically because I'm afraid people will take it as like an advertisement.
A girl I know's body bounced back amazingly after giving birth. Here's a picture of her ONE MONTH after having her baby boy. http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/6325/suitnh.jpg Insane.
I scare people with my pooch! Mine is a lot lower than the one in the picture though. It is easily hidden even in a bikini. But I am trying really hard to get rid of it. I have three kids (13, 11 and 8) but I had a little pooch before I had kids. I lost the pooch during my first pregnancy when I lost 22 pounds but the sucker came back. Trying hard to be rid of it again.
A lot of girls have this without having babies! I have one and its so embarrassing. I've tried everything to get rid of mine and nothing works :/
Sadly I am a "pooch" person without a baby....even at my most active, I looked tiny, and still was ashamed of myself because I had a pooch....I thought I was fat because of it....now I would give anything to be that size again....some day soon. :)
I am all for supporting the pooch if I get small again...but now...not feelin so hot with it...I go against my comfort and pull my pants high up over it....it's just not hot. Lol
@spicycajun@xanga - hi, whats the 30 day shred diet? I am so interested:)
@SkyyL@xanga - it's not a diet plan but a workout dvd from Jillian Micheals. I have to watch it on mute and do it because she annoys the ever loving out of me.
I'll b honest and rain on the parade, but I would cry if my belly looked like that (and I don't even think that picture looks that bad). I am one of those lucky mutant women that didn't get one. Even the doctor that delivered my son said that if he hadn't done my c-section and he didn't do a physical examination he wouldn't be able to tell I had a child before left the hospital. If I didn't have a scar, I'd still wear bikinis. If my belly look like that and didn't disappear with exercise, I'd get a tummy tuck. I am that shallow when it comes to my stomach.
I've never had an issue w/ weight, and am pretty confident in my body... after having my son 4 months ago, I've felt the ups and downs about how I view my body post-baby. Somedays, I embrace my little muffin top, and other days I get frustrated with it. I've been a runner for several years, and have enjoyed the benefits of it, and have gotten back out there to get my miles in, but that tummy just isn't going away. I am hoping that it will someday soon. It's a part of me for now, and it's just something that happens after having a kid. My belly was HUUUUGE. I'm a petite little person, and didn't gain much weight but that skin hanging there gives me different emotions day to day. Won't be wearing a bikini for a little while. Sucks, b/c I live in Florida. lol!
I had a vertical c-section so mine is even worse. It has the pooch plus a big scar going down the middle so it looks like a butt.
I didn't have any c-sections, and my youngest is 9 years old. My stomach still looks like that. I've given up. Whatever.