feeling down about my post-pregnancy appearance - anyone else?

[FuzzyOne]

i know i am only three weeks post-pregnancy and i should give myself a break. but, i have no clothing that fits right now - the maternity stuff doesn't fit and my regular clothes are too small. i feel like i look like such a "mom". like, i should go ahead and get a mom haircut. or that i should just go to the store in my dirty sweats and t-shirt with spit-up and snot on it. i have ds who is 22 mos. and dd who is 3 weeks. i'm not even able to get out of jammies before noon usually and then i end up putting the same outfit back on that i wore the day before (and the day before, etc.). plus, this was c-section #2 (a disappointment in and of itself) so my stomach overhang is even worse this time around. i am not sure what i can do to fix that. i hate feeling this way about myself! is anyone else feeling this way?

[sarabrynn82]

I do!!! but I have a hungry baby waiting... I'll post more later.

[ebony_vbac]

im sorry about your c section. did you plan a vbac? what hapened? my stomach is really smooshy. of course i've always been plus sized but my fat was firm but now its like deflated, i've lost all my weight, acutally i lost 21lbs only gaind 18 and its 15 days today so my clothes do fit. i ust miss my belly and dont want asmooshy one. i had a cs with dd1 too

[FuzzyOne]

yes - i planned a vbac. and there was just never a doubt in my mind that i would be successful. having a c-section came as a shock. basically, i was 8 days past due, we did a no stress test. dd wasn't reacting well, so i had an ultrasound and found out i had almost no fluid. so, off to the hospital where a foley balloon was inserted and i was allowed to labor. about five hours into it, dd's heart rate dropped and didn't come back up, so off to a c-section. while i know this c-section was necessary, i'm still trying to process it. it's hard to when i knew for sure i would have a vaginal birth. i want more than two kids and it's hard for me to wrap my head around c-section #3 (there isn't a possibility for a vaginal birth where i live at this point). we even wanted four kids, but in my mind that's pretty much out of the question now - i don't think i can put myself through four c-sections - they are just too scary.

[BrooklynDoula]

I have been struggling with this. I made dh take me to a thrift store at 6 days pp and I bought 5 new shirts that at least fit (but not so much my style). I usually wear very fitted clothes, so this it tough for me. I have been losing a lot (like 2 pounds a day - 30 pounds so far qat 11 days pp) but I have another 30 to go since I put on a lot this time!

[Synchro246]

I feel like crap too.

[crysmomofthree]

I am definately struggling with this I have only lost 4 pounds (I don't even know how that's possible for goodness sakes the baby weighed over 6 lbs) none of my clothes fit, it seems my stomach muscles are shot because I am having constant back pain from my huge boobs

I have always sprung back after having a baby (to a degree) I guess I wouldn't care but really what's buggin me most is the no clothes, I did go buy myself some t shirts that fit because my big boobs made all the ones too short so my stomach flab was showing and that sure didn't help with my self esteem

I'm going to go visit my mom next weekend with the baby Maybe she'll be really sweet and buy me some capris

[dancebaraka]

Feeling Blah about this too... does anyone know how weight comes off after pregnancy (does that make sense?) I mean I gained a total of ~35-40lbs and have lost ~20lbs without trying. I am almost 4 weeks pp. Can I expect any more weight to naturally come off, or is the next 15-20 lbs. gonna be all hard work?? Ugh.

[MommyTeesa]

Looking in the mirror I don't feel too bad, but I'm 11 lbs above pre-preg wt. and have only a few pants that fit and shirts are an issue, too (most are kinda fitted t-shirts) - the big boobs make me look fatter.

[MommyTeesa]

Originally Posted by dancebaraka

Feeling Blah about this too... does anyone know how weight comes off after pregnancy (does that make sense?) I mean I gained a total of ~35-40lbs and have lost ~20lbs without trying. I am almost 4 weeks pp. Can I expect any more weight to naturally come off, or is the next 15-20 lbs. gonna be all hard work?? Ugh.

With DD it just fell off within 6-8 months, plus another 10 lbs. but everyome is soooo different.

[ex-stasis]

joining the feeling crappy club. i've got 35 to lose to get to my pre-preg weight with ds and 55 to lose to get to my pre-preg weight with dd. ugh. i joined weight watchers last week and am planning to resume running soon. ds is almost 6 weeks old.

[UrbanEarthMom]

Treat yourself to some clothes that fit. I remember after my first son was born I wore the same nursing top over and over again because it was the only thing that fit and I didn't want to spend the money on transitional clothes. My mom did a "clothes intervention" and insisted that I buy things that fit. I was glad I spent the money - it just made me feel better about myself. I lost all the weight about 6 months post-partum. I just got some good deals at the Eddie Bauer Outlet - t-shirts and stretchy capri pants.

We have to be gentle with ourselves.

[Ianthe]

I wear my goucho capris almost every day. And the first trimester maternity clothes are fitting me too, and they don't "look" maternity. I am having a hard time with shirts. My breasts are huge and my nipples are kind of tender when I wear a nursing bra. Then, when I have to leave the house it takes me forever to find a shirt that 1. Fits, and 2. I can nurse in. I tried putting on some PP pants (size 7 was my largest pair) and they didn't even fit yet. PP I was normally a size 3. I don't expect to be back there for another year (and hoping for less time than that).

[JanB]

I am giving it another week to see if I can fit into some of my larger-size clothing that I still have from before I lost a bunch of weight a few years ago, and if I still can't, then I am breaking down and buying some new shorts. I have been wearing the same #*()$#ing pair of maternity shorts since the baby was born. Literally nothing else fits me. All the other maternity stuff is huge and baggy, but my pre-preg stuff doesn't fit either. I'm hoping maybe another week of shrinkage will do it. I've been continuing to lose about .5 pounds a day -- have lost 25 pounds since delivery, with another 12-15 to go before I'm at my pre-pregnancy weight.

I'm not that unhappy with my appearance, I just wish I had clothes that fit. Oh, and I'm tired of leaking breastmilk all over everything in sight, but that's a whole different issue.

[fioner]

Oh yes, my tummy. Yuck. Not only is it now flabby, but stretch marks that did not show up at all on my pregnant belly now show on my deflated belly. The rest of me is pretty much back to normal, but I want this extra belly skin to go away:

My baby is beautiful though...

[BrooklynDoula]

My boobs are making my back hurt also! I swear the jumped another size earlier this week. While dh is thrilled, and I think they look good admittedly , being a DD is a little bigger than I need and now I have zero bras that fit!

[kittn]

i have huge body issues to begin with so this is always a hard time for me. this recovery seems harder than any of the other ones. my shirts are too tight and show my bellypooch. my maternity pants sag in ass and I have one pair of pre preg jeans that I wore until I was 6-7 months so they are stretched out it makes me ill to look at myself these days.

[sarabrynn82]

Ok, I'm back now...

I'm only 6 days pp, so I know it's way to early to whine - but I'm having some serious doubts/fears about what this twin belly is going to turn into. My "real" pregnancy weight gain was just under 50 pounds, but swelling in the last couple weeks made it skyrocket to 85... so losing two near 10lb babies and most of my swelling, my weight loss has been dramatic (50lbs!) but I'm just not sure my body will ever bounce back.

My stomach muscles are so shot from being stretched around such a ridiculous load and my skin too - right now I have a severe overhang of skin and saggy stuff, not to mention that in clothes I could definitely pass for about 6 months pregnant. It makes me not want to go in public at all b/c I'm afraid of how awful I'd feel if anyone asked me when I was due!

The sad thing is, our first wedding anniversary is Sunday and DH really wants to take me out, but I just don't feel like being taken out at this point! Hopefully the next couple of weeks will be encouraging... I'm not looking for any miracles, just steady improvement towards a very far off goal.

[dancebaraka]

I think I would feel better if I had clothes that fit comfortably... but like someone mentioned, it's really hard to go buy clothes when I might not fit in them in a month, kwim? Also having the massive leaking breasts issue, and not wanting to wear things that are hard to nurse in. So for now, it's all about gauchos, yoga pants, and the couple of nursing tops I have. Thank goodness for wraps and accessories!

[Krystal323]

yea me too--mostly the breasts-leaking issue is annoying me--i only have 3 nursing bras, and they are :gasp: too tight right now! So I wear them when I have to, or i keep the cups undone. I am lucky because i have several very-stretchy pants that worked as maternity and work even better as post-partum wear. but shirts, gah, i give up. nursingwear is very expensive and hard to find cute stuff in anyway, but if I'm at walmart i don't want to have half my belly hanging out to feed her

And i would just like to register my astonishment here as to how wide my rear end got these past 9 months!