Diastasis recti, anyone? « Back to Group Discussions

[micromama]

Curious if any of you mamas have a known diastasis recti (or abdominal separation).

I had a very small separation (1 finger or so) that never fully closed after my daughter was born in 2010.

However in recent days with this pregnancy, it has become GINORMOUS. Probably 4-5 fingers easily. My belly is huge (I look about 33 or 34 weeks pregnant) and I can actually feel a small umbilical hernia poking out. It hurts occasionally.

My midwife told me to deal with it after labor with the Tupler Technique to see if the hernia heals, and if not, get surgery for it :( However I am getting a little anxious about pushing during labor-- what if I rip my abs open from stem to stern?

Anyone else dealing with this?

[BeFitMom]

You can and should do specialized abdominal exercises now the help prevent your mid line from widening more.

You should also avoid all movement that place shear forces on the mid line. Always use the "log roll" technique when getting out of bed and rising from the floor.

You can email me directly at hbyrne(at)mac.com for more info.

[Angelorum]

My abs are separating too.  I've got maybe 2 fingers width.  It happened with ds as well, but it healed on it's own fairly quickly.  Hopefully it heals as well this time.  I do try to avoid any movement that makes my guts bulge out where the separation is.  I didn't notice that it got any worse, or even bulged out at all while I was pushing last time, and my pushing phase was kind of long. 
 

[tijana87]

Same here..

My abs separated with my DD (she will be 4 y/o next week) and I guess it went away on its own. I didn't know at the time what it was, I just remember having that "triangular" pointy belly when I tried getting up off the couch, etc.

But with this pregnancy I googled it and found out that it's abdominal muscles separating.

I can't remember how wide it was with my DD but now it's probably like 2-3 fingers wide.

I don't like it since it's almost as if you can feel the inside of your belly (when you press on it). But oh well.

I'm hoping it will go away like it did with my 1st pregnancy.

[micromama]

I think mine *almost* closed after my first DD was born, but then I stupidly did a "New Mom Fitness Bootcamp" which was anything but suitable to new moms. The guy who ran the clinic had us doing full body planks, hauling 25 pound-bags of sand over our heads, etc. Surprise, surprise, a couple days after one of these clinics, I felt a bulge -- likely the beginning of my hernia. Infuriating.

I've been doing Tupler Technique exercises (well, the ones I can do while 30 weeks pregnant, anyway) and hoping for some maintenance of the separation until DD2 is born. So far, so good. My hernia isn't hurting anymore and my "triangle bulge" seems less pronounced although I haven't actually measured.