Post Pregnancy Belly

During your pregnancy, and particularly in the latter stages you will probably be looking forward to your body being being back to normal after the birth. However what you may not be prepared for is what your post pregnancy belly will look like immediately after you have given birth. For a lot of women it comes as a shock and they think they will never be able to get into shape again. The fact is though that you can, but it usually takes time.

Getting back to normal does not happen instantly, at least not for most people.

If this is your first pregnancy then you may be somewhat unprepared for the reality of what your post pregnancy belly will look like after you give birth. You may think that your is the worst post pregnancy belly ever, but in reality its the same for everyone.

Immediately after the birth your stomach may be a very sorry sight indeed, mine certainly was. The thing to remember is that your post pregnancy belly is at its absolute worst straight after the event. This is because the extra skin has not yet had time to even make a start on shrinking and so the whole lot just hangs there with nowhere to go. As it is no longer stretched out ovet the baby bump it just forms a wobbly mass on your lower abdomen. The upper part of your tummy will probably look great. If you have had a c section then you will have the stitching to cope with too.

So when you pack your coming home clothes don't take your skinny jeans! Although there are a lucky few who can by some miracle get straight back into them it doesn't work that way for most of us. Pack something loose and comfortable.

Ok so that's the bad news - is there any the good news?

Yes there is. The human body is totally amazing. It has incredible powers of recovery. It really is possible to get your post pregnancy belly back into shape.

You have a new baby, and nothing in the world can be more important to you. But as the mother of that very important little person YOU are very important too.

This is something we tend to forget. We are so focused on our babies that we somehow 'lose' ourselves.

If you are going to be a good mother you need to look after yourself so that you are in the right shape to look after your baby. Also you deserve to be looked after - you are still someone in your own right.

If you look after yourself you will recover more quickly and that will help with getting back into shape generally and with getting your post pregnancy belly flat again.

The first thing you are going to need here is patience. Getting your body back to its pre pregnancy shape is not going to happen overnight so please try not to feel discouraged when you don't get instant results. Think of how long it took to get your stomach to where it is and accept that it will take just as long to get it back again.

Go easy on yourself - your body has been through a lot and needs time to recover.

Here are some ways in which you can get back on the road to a flatter tummy.

This is absolutely mega-important. If you ignore this your whole recovery will take longer.

Very often a new mother is so busy and just so tired that she just eats whatever is to hand and which doesn't take much if any any preparation. This is perfectly understandable but often leads to her having a poor diet. Immediately after pregnancy and birth is not the time to have a deficient diet. For your body to recover, and for you to be able to cope with the stresses and strains of motherhood, you need proper nutrition. This is a very important part of getting your post pregnancy belly back into shape. Under eating will not get you there any quicker.

If you can try to have plenty of 'easy' food available which is also at least reasonably healthy. The obvious ones are fruit, breadsticks, prepared salads, canned soup and so on. Toast only takes a couple of minutes and is a health snack particularly if you use wholemeal bread.

When you cook the evening meal for the family make a bit extra so that you can have it for lunch the next day.

If you are feeling exhausted then exercise may well be the last thing on your mind. You may be getting very little sleep with your newborn.

However it is a fact that exercise does help to raise your energy levels and makes you feel better generally. We are not talking about going out for a ten mile run here, just some gentle exercise to get your heart rate and breathing up just a little. Although it may feel like absolutely the last thing you want to do, if you can steel yourself to doing a little you will certainly feel better for it.

At first just do some easy stretching exercises then build up very gradually. An ideal way is to get some sort of exercise video so that you can do your workout at home. You don't even need to wait until baby is asleep - they will probably find watching you quite entertaining.

There is no doubt that exercise makes you feel better,both in body and mind, even if you only do a little bit. Of course it will also help you to get your body back into the shape you want it to be in and will make a start on getting your post pregnancy belly looking better.

Whatever you do don't overdo it. You must start gently and build up. You muscles and ligaments have stretched and softened during pregnancy and will take months to go back to normal so if you do too much you are likey to bring on an injury.

It is well known that breastfeeding helps to get rid of the additional fat built up during pregnancy. It also encourages you womb to contract back to its previous size and therefore helps to flatten your tummy.

Breastfeeding is also best for your baby. Putting these two things together whjat other reason could you need to choose breastfeeding?

The idea of wearing a postpartum girdle may strike you as a little bit old fashioned. The idea of some form of abdominal binding after giving birth has been around for a very long time and is still common practice in some cultures.

Recently postpartum girdles have been gaining rapidly in popularity and the reason for this seems to be that they actually do work.

Women who have used them report very good results and appear convinced that wearing the girdle made a significant difference. Mothers who used a girdle after their second, child having not used one after their first, said that they got back into shape more quickly the second time. This does give credibility to these girdles as it is usually so much more difficult to get back into shape after a second pregnancy.

A postpartum girdle can also be useful if you have had a c section as it gives good support to you muscles.

Yes,yes, I know. I bet that had you rolling your eyes and saying 'Yeah, chance would be a fine thing'.

Having a new baby in the house and getting enough sleep are not exactly two things that go hand in hand. Sleep depravation can become a way of life.

The thing is that sleep is so very important. Your body, and also very importanly, your mind,heals and recovers during sleep. As well as the physical trauma of giving birth it is also a tremendously emotional time which in itself can be wearing. Sleep helps to keep the balance in both body and mind right. Try to get enough if it if you possibly can.

If it is at all possible set aside a 30 minute period each day for YOU. God knows you deserve it.

Get someone else to look after the baby and do something relaxing on your own. Even if its just a nice warm bath, or a hot chocolate and a book it will do you a world of good. If you are able to escape for a few hours once in a while so much the better.

Some new mothers feel guilty of they leave their baby to go and enjoy themselves. Just keep in mind that if you are more relaxed and feel less downtrodden you will be in better shape to be a great mother.

Candles are great for relaxation. Turn the lights down little and light a few candles. It just makes you that little bit more relaxed.

And another bonus will be that if you are less stressed you are less likely to comfort eat and that will help you to reshape your post pregnanct belly too.