Calling all moms, especially MoM's!

parkermegan

I am feeling super annoyed with my belly. Some days I feel like I've made huge progress and others I feel like that jiggle will just never leave. I am only 15 weeks postpartum with twins and I know that is early, but I just get discouraged. I would *love* to see some postpartum tummies!! If anyone took pictures throughout the first few months postpartum that would be awesome!!

How long does your belly continue to improve past pregnancy?? Yes, I hear the "it took 9 months stuff" (which isn't true for me, my babies were born at 34.5 weeks), but I don't necessarily think that's true.

Really hoping for some responses!!!

mollyW2012

First, congrats on your twins!!! That's so exciting! I have twins, a boy and a girl, and they are turning 3 this July. It's been a wild ride so far....

Anyway, in regards to the tummy.... Oh man, I wish mine were better for sure. But, I must say, I haven't given it a huge focus until this past year. The first two years of my twins life (and they have a sister that is two years older) was simply me and my husband trying to survive two newborns and a two year old! Now, though, I am working out more and doing a lot more core exercises. I have to say I still have pounds to go, but I have seen a difference. The skin is still a bit wrinkly, but I don't have a ton of stretch marks and I can feel the muscles underneath. I think for you, my advice is just work at it daily and it will happen! Do some sort of exercise each day, not only for your body, but for your mind (a needed break from infants)! And good luck to you! Congrats again!

tripletmom2004

Bump

parkermegan

That's what I worry about. That I will always have a wrinkly patch of skin + my nice c-section scar! GRRR I have a 5 and almost 4 year old too! I work out 1 hour a day 6 days a week right now on average....it's hard with the twins- and I'm nursing them so they don't go very long between feedings! Luckily my husband is very supportive, but the jiggle gets to me! I have to wear a belly binder to work out or else my belly skin jiggles around and drives me crazy!!!

karylee44

its been 11 years since i had my twins.. c-section. still cant get the belly flat.. weird ugly skin over the insision.. it is better.. but i don't think that the little skin flap wil go away with out some surgery.

and congrates! the first year is hell.. but it gets better!

freerangehuman

First, congrats on your twins!!! That's so exciting! I have twins, a boy and a girl, and they are turning 3 this July. It's been a wild ride so far....

Anyway, in regards to the tummy.... Oh man, I wish mine were better for sure. But, I must say, I haven't given it a huge focus until this past year. The first two years of my twins life (and they have a sister that is two years older) was simply me and my husband trying to survive two newborns and a two year old! Now, though, I am working out more and doing a lot more core exercises. I have to say I still have pounds to go, but I have seen a difference. The skin is still a bit wrinkly, but I don't have a ton of stretch marks and I can feel the muscles underneath. I think for you, my advice is just work at it daily and it will happen! Do some sort of exercise each day, not only for your body, but for your mind (a needed break from infants)! And good luck to you! Congrats again!

My twins are 3 1/2 and I still haven't lost the jiggle around my middle. The first year was strictly survival (I also had a three year old and my twins had sooooo many health problems.) Now that all of my kids are more self-sufficient, I'm working on me. Once I hit my goal weight, I'm going for a tummy tuck. I hope this wasn't discouraging. Keep up the nursing, it uses up 400 calories per day, per baby.

Lkoblara

My "baby" is 3 years old and I still have that crepe paper skin ever so slightly under my belly. I don't have any expectations of ever looking like my pre baby self unless I have a tummy tuck which is never going to happen. I just want to be the healthiest me I can, and if I have that but still have my soft wrinkly spot on my belly oh well! I'd be happy if it disappeared, but I'm not expecting it to.

cjcolorado

Congrats on your twins! My identical boys (who were born at 35w) are turning 6 this weekend. Time flies!
I noticed that I dropped weight pretty fast due to nursing mine, too, with the exception of the belly 'pooch.' I think that your body hangs on to some of that fat, from a biological standpoint, for quite awhile post-partum to support nursing. That is still really the only bothersome area on me in that it is very, very stubborn! I was lucky in that I didn't get the infamous 'twin skin' and didn't have to deal with a c-section scar; but, my sister-in-law who had a c-section has found that it still seems to pooch out a bit, no matter how thin she gets. If you had diastasis recti (the separation in your abdominal muscles that is common in twin pregnancies), that might also affect your belly jiggle. If you have it, you want to be careful what ab exercises you do, as crunches and similar ones can actually aggravate it.

parkermegan

I had a band placed surgically a type of surgically placed cerclage - abdominal cerclage) to keep the babies in at 11 weeks. It was the exact same as a c-section incision (they used the same incision at my delivery). It's permanent so now I have to deliver via c-section no matter what....at least I can keep the babies in though! That's a little OT

I wonder if that is making it even worse....I did have diastasis too, but I think it's better now....It's hard for me to tell when doing the check, but it seems my muscles have closed up to where they should be!


I wonder why a c-section causes a pooch?!? I got pretty big, but maybe the c-section is the culprit?? I've just never had this issue before and I have this spot of loose skin. After seeing some tummy tuck incisions, it scares me....but I would probably get one at some point if I can't get rid of this skin! I don't want to live the rest of my life with it....the stretch marks are OK....I can live with those!

This was hours before my water broke, twinkles were 4 lbs and 8 oz and 5 lbs 2 oz

amymt10

My boys are now 3yrs & 6yrs, I had a csection w/both. My belly pouch went almost completely away after the first one, I worked HARD for that to happen. Now 3yrs after the second one and there is still a lil pouch and lil bit hanging skin over the incision. I'm guessing the 2nd csection did me in. I actually weigh 10lbs less that when I got preggo the first time and and I still have a lil pouch. I'm guessing it wont go away unless I have surgery ... not sure I want to go that route. Thankfully the only stretch marks I have are on my rear ... no one sees those but my hubby lol!

Meatsies

Wow, look at all the twin moms up in here! WOOT WOOT! Mine are turning 4 in August. I'm not much help, though, as I gained A TON OF WEIGHT after my twins were born. When I first got pregnant, I weighed in at a comfortable 145. By the time I delivered the twins at 38 weeks, I weighed 220. When I got home from the hospital, I weighed 185. Over the next several years, I got up to 230. OUCH. Now I'm back down to 185 (my home-from-the-hospital-weight). My belly is a FREAKING MESS. I'm pretty sure the only way I will ever have a flat belly...EVER...is to do a little snippy-snippy when I get to goal weight. Not like I'll actually be able to DO that, but...I'm pretty sure my body's too far gone to hope for a flat washboard belly just by dieting/exercise alone. *SOB!*

mlewon

Okay, so I'm not a mom, but I have one! And I was born a c-section and I know from her point of view (20 years after I've been born) that she's always had a little pooch around the scar and she says it's from muscles getting cut into there that never fully recover. Granted, I'm sure now the surgery is a bit more improved, but I just wanted to tell you what I've heard from my own mom. I'm her only child as well, so she really didn't have too much trouble losing after having me, but she said she'll always have that little bit of skin around the scar from the muscles being damaged. I'm just lucky she looks at me and says "it was all worth it, without my 'Marisa scar' (what she calls her c-section scar; my name lol) I wouldn't have you, and if it was a choice between not having you and not having the little bit of pooch, I'd always choose you."

inside_lap

Beautiful picture!! Congrats. I'm a mommy of one instead of multiples. I'm afraid I have no photos of my belly but honestly it looks pretty much like it did before the baby (keep in mind my baby is now 21 months). The only major difference I have is the C-section scar (had to have an emergency C-section due to complications ) and slightly looser skin (probably only noticible to me bc I know what it use to look like. everyone else thinks I'm crazy). Like I said, mommy of one instead of multiples. I did gain about 30-40% of my body weight during the pregnancy though... Good luck! You can do it!

EDIT: My c-section scar lays flat and does not pooch. It's pretty much just a straight line scare above my public area. It was pretty angry and red for a long time though...

NotAlone82

I know there are Moms on here who have made AWESOME belly progress. As for myself, I had surgery to get rid of it. After 4 pregnancies and 3 back to back, my stomach hung down HORRIBLY. After weight loss it just got worse. Everyone is so different. I hope you're the type to bounce back . I will help to keep bumping this till you can hear from those Moms who've made great progress.

LisaR517

I have had 4 kids; ages 8, 7, 5, and 18mos. I also carried 2 more until 3mos, but lost them.
It's not perfect (never will be!), but I'm pretty happy with the improvement. There IS still some loose skin that I doubt will go away. But I can't see it, for the most part, unless I'm doing a plank or something.

parkermegan

I have had 4 kids; ages 8, 7, 5, and 18mos. I also carried 2 more until 3mos, but lost them.
It's not perfect (never will be!), but I'm pretty happy with the improvement.

your belly looks awesome!!

chatipati1

Nice rule of thumb that gyne told me...It took you 9 months (ok yours was a little shorter) to gain weight..give it 9 months to get back..With my first pregnancy I did just that. But after the 3rd I was more easy about it and shouldn't have been. And my first was a c- section but the next two weren't and the belly did go down after the first.

inside_lap

I have had 4 kids; ages 8, 7, 5, and 18mos. I also carried 2 more until 3mos, but lost them.
It's not perfect (never will be!), but I'm pretty happy with the improvement. There IS still some loose skin that I doubt will go away. But I can't see it, for the most part, unless I'm doing a plank or something.

Looking great!

Diary_Queen

I'm a mom of multiples and i cried for months because my bellybutton was literally 2.75" lower than before I got pregnant. My pants fit weird/wrong all the time and the button on my jeans dug into my poor low slung bellybutton. I thought my tummy would never look normal again. Of course, I was obese when I got pregnant with my twins, so I was huge by the time I delivered (via c-section). I have a mazillion stretch marks. Eh, so be it. I do find however, that my worst problem is regaining core strength and especially lower ab strength. All the 'lower ab' style exercises are either too tough for me to do as a beginner or i have to pivot on my tailbone which hurts even with a pillow for padding.

Any tips?

twinmom01

Every person is going to be different...

I was a bit overweight before getting preg with my twins (who are 11 now)- my belly is still smushy, even after a year and half of kickboxing and lifting heavy the past 6 months...I choose to "hide" stuff with clothes...I am very particular about the way things fit - even more so now that I have lost weight and my body has toned up so I am wearing more things that "cling" and are streamlined - by getting pants that fit my proportions it holds my belly in a bit with no "mufin top" or side pooches.

I know a good MoM friend og mine who is a fitness instructor wound up going the tummy tuck route to get rid of the a strip of skin that was just stretched to much - no amount of exercise was going to fix it.

DixiedoesMFP

I had a C-section, though just one baby and I gained a lot. The first six months or so were awful, and then it was "okay". When I started weight lifting, it has gone down considerably. If you have a diastasis, make sure you are doing ab exercises that pull your tummy in, not push it out, or it can get worse. Good luck!

SPNLuver83

<---- I'm a mom!!! of 2! But it's been nearly 3 years since my youngest was born, and I still have poochy lower abs.

i8yourcookie

I have twin boys who are 3. They were born at 35 weeks via c-section and like you, I wore a belly binder and I felt that helped enormously with keeping the muscles where they need to be. Honestly, I did not feel anywhere near myself 15 weeks postpartum. I think you are doing awesome working out 6 days a week! I took me a year to regain my shape. My tummy is relatively flat, but I do have that crepe paper skin just below my belly button. Hang in there, you are doing an amazing job exercising and looking after twins! Congratulations.

TinkrBelz

I have not had twins nor C-section BUT, I have 6 kids. The first four were within 5.5 years. Then baby 5 came 6 years later and baby 6 came 3 years after that. I did not get any stretch marks until the 4th child. Then got more with babies 5 and 6. My last four babies were over 9 pounds, so I got HUGE!! 50-60 pounds per pregnancy.

Also, baby 6 was born when I was 39...so I have age working against me too. You younger girls could have better results just because your skin is young.

I was very upset at the site of my tummy after the 6th child. More stretch marks (mostly on one side) and lots of loose skin.

Joined gym January 2011. I started to lose weight and look better, but just looking good for having 6 kids.

Around Feb of this year I was SICK of my tummy and wanted it to look better. And it does now, not pre-baby perfect, but it is looking better.

I want to add, that your babies are just 15 weeks, even though I breastfed all of my babies, I never felt that I had my prebaby body until that 6month marker. Like I was always within 10 pounds...but at 6 months that last 10 just went away (except for baby 6, I had to work to get that off). So, your body might be holding on to some fat just because you are nursing two and the rest might just drop off in a couple of more months.

OK, back to the skin. This is what I have learned. This is not a formula that is 100%, BUT I feel it has helped.

1. A friend told me that body builders get their body fat pretty low and that is how their skin shrinks up. Now, I did not believe it...but I have to say, I can tell a huge difference. My bf for a 42 year old woman is 18%. I am not a fan of BF testing because as we age it goes up even if your body has not changed. So, just for this purpose since you girls are younger, if I was 32 my bf would be 17%, and if I was 22 it would be 16%. So, you are going to have to get your body fat into that Athlete range, which is below 20%

2. Dry Brush: A female competitor told me about dry brushing. Google it. But, it makes the skin regenerate. I do this all over my body, but really focus on my tummy and butt. Your skin is the largest organ on our body, so it made sense to take care of it.

3. Coconut oil. I eat a table spoon of virgin coconut oil each day. Google it as well, again the female competitor told me about this as well. I buy the cheaper coconut oil and rub it all over my body. So, I buy the virgin coconut oil online and eat it and buy the cheaper stuff at the grocery stuff and rub it on my skin.

4. Work on your core. I do planks and ab vacuums (Youtube ab vacuums) Now, I can not do it as good as the people on Youtube, but I can do it a lot better than I could in Feb of this year. Working your transverse abs will pull in your abs. I do not do any crunches. I teach Zumba and we put our hips A LOT, but I do planks and vacuums and I can tell that has pulled my muscles in.

I know that everyone's skin is different, but these might be some things that can help it look better.

8 months pregnant with baby 6


One year later. I still look pregnant! I never looked like this one year after a baby.


December 2011. I do not look awful but you can still see that pooch and loose skin in my belly.


14 pounds of weight loss and doing everything that I mentioned above. Again, the tummy skin is not perfect, but it has improved a whole lot.

AmyW4225

The first picture is probably one month after giving birth and the second is 5 months post-partum. I still have a long way to go, but I am getting there.

AmyW4225

I just took a peek at your pictures and, if that last picture is recent, you already look AMAZING! You just had TWINS, don't be so hard on yourself(I know it's easier said than done)!

TinkrBelz

The first picture is probably one month after giving birth and the second is 5 months post-partum. I still have a long way to go, but I am getting there.

You look great. I can not see any stretch marks at all!!!!

shakespearessister

I had four babies in exactly five years (baby 4 born on baby 1's 5th birthday!) And while I didn't have twins, I had a 9 pound baby, two almost 10 pound babies, and an 11 pound baby. My newest is 3 months. I am nearly back to my pre-baby, baby, baby, baby weight, but my belly is still a little saggy. It's relatively flat (looks flat in clothes), but I definitely have a "smile" down there as one of my mom friends says, and I have never had a c-section. I think it really depends on your skin type...some skin stretches better than others. Mine is crepe papery and saggy, and I think I would have to have surgery to get rid of the extra skin. I've lost so much weight and I feel really good about myself, so I'm trying not to let the mommy belly bother me.

You moms who posted pics look fantastic!

jnh17

Let me start by saying in reference to these pictures (my 1st pregnancy) I gained a whopping 100lbs! Got up to 260. Determined doesn't even begin to describe my mind after I had her. I lost it in 7 months (after picture).

4Munckins

Hi there..I've never had multiples or a c section but had lots of back to back pregnancies. I have 4 children but have been pregnant 9 times. But I lost them by 3 months so not to much weight or stretching by that point..still however being pregnant losing a baby and within a month pregnant again. Anyways. I have a 9yro, 7yro, 2 1/2, and 18 months. Last 2 are 11 months apart. First 2 18months. After my 3rd and especially 4th was really hard to tighten up my skin and loose the weight. And I had small/average size babies. But I am a small framed person too. And i gained Almost the same weight each time. I've always used cocoa butter and bio oil all over my body throughout my pregnancies and still do now. I do feel my tummy is and always has been the hardest to loose. After my last I'd say 8 months later I lost all the weight plus 15 lbs and I'm happy with my body.

I know a few of my aunts had hysterectomies very close to a c section scar. And they all have had a very hard time with the belly pooch after and never had weight problems before. I think the incision cutting thru the muscle makes it very hard to have it tighten back up to pre baby. I've seen women do lasers to once they've lost all their weight or tummy tuck to put the muscle back together. Without the surgery I still think you can have a really good result especially from your photos lowering your body fat and eating healthy and keeping the weight off so not rest restretching the skin again. My abs even with 2 rounds of p90x and 18months later of working out have not come back together. I have the lateral lines going down but there are still abs I can feel and almost see! I don't know if I can ever get them together without surgery but it's not noticeable. Also have a umbilical hernia from my last pregnancy muscle was just to weak from back to back preggo belly! but not bad enough to fix just yet. You are doing an amazing job so far!! Especially only 15 weeks and with twins dang girl! I'm not much help but wanted to share my experience and if you keep working hard and you will get to where you want to be! Good luck! Xoxo

Also wanted to say congrats on twins!! Beautiful picture of the 3 of you!

AmyW4225

Let me start by saying in reference to these pictures (my 1st pregnancy) I gained a whopping 100lbs! Got up to 260. Determined doesn't even begin to describe my mind after I had her. I lost it in 7 months (after picture).

That is AMAZING!! So INSPIRATIONAL!!!!