[Qestia]

DD is about 6 months and I am thrilled that I am down 60 lbs (I'd gained 55). I am now wearing jeans that haven't fit since I got pregnant with my son, who's almost 4. However, the trade off is that I have all this saggy skin on my lower belly and around my navel. Does anyone know, will this go away eventually? Is there something I can do about it? This didn't happen with my son, maybe because I didn't gain or lose that much weight.

TIA

 

[jt'smum]

It goes away? I thought once it was stretched short of surgery and good genes it was here to stay. I had a C-section

with 2nd DD so its really lovely now. If there is something that will help then let me know too!

 

[Cherry Alive]

Congrats! 55 pounds IS a lot of weight. With the belly, I hear it depends on your skin elasticity, but for many moms it only completely comes off with surgery. Shapewear is said to be helpful.

 

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

JT's mum, it might not go away if you had a C/S depending on where they cut you. if they cut the muscle, its hard to get that to heal propperly and tighten it back up again. But I have seen it done.

Otherwise, I am in the same boat. I am now below my pre PRE pregnancy weight ( I was pregnant for a LONG time) but still have that pooch. I have recently begun looking into an ab lounger. I hear it works well.

 

[sapphire_chan]

My understanding is that loose skin takes at least a year (from when you lost the weight, not from when you had the baby) to bounce back and all you can do for loose skin is improve its elasticity. Massage is supposed to be good for it.

Abdominal exercises will do nothing for your skin. They'll only affect the muscle underneath the skin. Before you do any exercises to strengthen those muscles, check for abdominal separation.

Belly binding's supposed to be good for generally tummy poof postpartum, but I don't know how long after birth that helps and/or if it'll help with loose skin. For myself, I have noticed an improvement between wearing fitted pants which encourage me to hold my stomach in a bit and loose pants.

 

[sapphire_chan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cherry Alive Shapewear is said to be helpful.

Oh good, then belly binding does help loose skin.

I sooo have to get a girdle to encourage things to tuck back into place. I should've made my mom go shopping with me for one while she was here.

 

[jt'smum]

What is belly binding??? They cut me vertically with the C. I do cruches and yoga daily. And love my "granny" panties that suck that flab right up. I weigh less now then before I got preggers but that stuff down there is still flabby..Oh well....I will never have my supermodel body back

Belly binding = those "suction" panties?? If so I wear those! So that is a helper in the long run??? Or am I just way off the mark here?

 

[CartersMommy]

good ?. i gained about 60 lbs and lost it all quickly (bf'g), but my tummy isn't exactly how it was b4, it's not bad though. I think once I actually start exercising and doing sit-ups it might help...and making sure i'm getting good fats...avocodo's...flaxseed...udo's oil, etc. I'm really amazed though how the body can go through so much. I was huge, with a huge belly and never thought I'd fit in my clothes again. How awesome our bodies are. DOn't worry, I'm sure it will get tighter over time. =)

 

[sapphire_chan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jt'smum What is belly binding??? They cut me vertically with the C. I do cruches and yoga daily. And love my "granny" panties that suck that flab right up. I weigh less now then before I got preggers but that stuff down there is still flabby..Oh well....I will never have my supermodel body back Belly binding = those "suction" panties?? If so I wear those! So that is a helper in the long run??? Or am I just way off the mark here?

You can use those for belly binding, but it's actually wrapping your stomach up. Birth and Beyond and I'm Pregnant both have a few threads on the topic.

I suspect that with a vertical c-section incision you might be making yourself *more* flabby looking by doing crunches. Check out http://www.befitmom.com/abdominal_seperation.html and this book for some info on that.

 

[amberg007]

I have been using firming lotion with collagen & elastin in it for a few weeks now and its helping alot. Dont get me wrong, its still nowhere near it former smoothness but its less disgusting. I lost 57ish lbs and still have 15ish to go. I just bought a one piece bs for the summer. I dont plan on ever getting into a bikini again

 

[sapphire_chan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by amberg007 I have been using firming lotion

Brand? If it's working you need to share!

 

[kirstenb]

Mine never really got back to normal. I went below my pre-pregnancy weight but was still wearing jeans a size bigger. Exersize toned the muscle underneath but the pouch stayed.

 

[User101]

Moving to the fitness and weight loss forum.

 

[eastkygal]

I'll be a year out at the end of this month. My skin is not good at all. My stomach is flatter than it ever has been, and I wear the smallest size I've ever worn in adult life, but the skin is still loose. I've used firming lotions, massage, and exercise to no avail. The lotions helped the stretch marks fade though. I weigh less than I did when I got pregnant with DD2 by 30 pounds. My skin did not do this with DD1. I did measure 45 weeks at 40 and carried to 41 weeks and 6 days with DD2. I don't believe it will ever look normal again without surgery.