Cathe: postpartum?

[swhitney]

I'm curious how your postpartum recovery has gone, Cathe. I'm at 30 weeks now and looking ahead to the finish line very soon... I'm very curious if your body looked like you expected after delivery (I'm told immediately after you look about five months pregnant-- true?). How long before you were able to fit into your pre-pregnancy clothes? What about your abdominals/extra skin/stretch marks, etc.? Postpartum depression? Also, how did your weight gain progress throughout the pregnancy? I've gained 20 pounds so far, but that includes a 7-pound weight gain in just four weeks. Was yours steady or some months did you just pack it on?

In the most recent photo you posted, you look wonderful and Eric looks beautiful and healthy. And of course you even looked gorgeous right after you had the baby! I'm hoping consistent exercise, weights and reasonable eating will help me recover quickly postpartum, but people keep telling me I'll still be shocked at what I look like. I'd love any advice from the trenches.

Sara

 

[adessner]

post-partum body

Sara,

Don't let everyone scare you. First of all, you won't really care what your body looks like for awhile because you will have other things on your mind. I was very active throughout my first pregancy, jogged (then walked) and did step aerobics throughout. I started at 125 and ended at 156 for a 31 lb gain. I lost 21 pounds by the time I got home from the hospital (2 days.) The rest came off by Christmas and I had my baby in June. You could not tell I ever had a baby. Granted, I worked out alot and breast fed which helped. I never had any stretch marks. After baby #2, my body did change in that I have a bit of a pooch in my belly, but it's not disgusting. I thought losing weight after the 1st baby was no problem if you work at it. Believe me, I am not one to starve myself either. You will do great if you put your mind to it.

Good luck!!

Angie

 

[Cathe Friedrich]

Hi Sara!

Oh, I can tell you are a getting anxious and its very understandable. I was starting to ask others those same questions as the time drew nearer.

Well, we all know that no two pregnancies are alike, but I will share with you my experience.

I definitely looked about four months pregnant up until about 10 days after delivery. As for how long until I fit into my pre-pregnancy clothes, that depends on what type of clothes. The elastic workout pants I fit into a week later. But jeans took a good little while. I just was able to squeeze into them two weeks ago. My waist is still 3 inches wider than pre-pregnancy. My abdominals are pretty much flat when I hold them in BUT THEY ARE STILL SOMEWHAT MUSHY! While doing my ab routines, I was always extremely sore, but this has improved quite a bit this last week. My "abdominal" skin does not have stretch marks on it but it does sort of have the appearance of an orange peel when I squeeze it together. I'm told that this will tighten up eventually. I'm not experiencing postpartum depression. Just sleep deprivation which really has me mixing up days and thoughts. I also seem overly nervous and cautious when I drive(it takes me forever to change lanes, don't trust that anyone sees me coming over). I guess this is that overly protective maternal thing kicking in.

My weight gain was about 2 pounds a month for about four months and then the last four months it jumped up to five pounds every checkup. At that point I totaled 28 pounds and went into labor(at 36 1/2 weeks)so I'll never know what I would have been at full term.

I feel that staying active throughout my pregnancy definitely contributed to a pretty smooth pregnancy and a pretty decent postpartum comeback. When Eric was first born, I could not think about exercise, not for one second. I was just too consumed with his needs and learning to be a good mommy. About three weeks later, I started to think about it but then we moved. So I treated the move as a slow comeback(but after lifting tons of boxes up and down stairs it became much more than that). All I had time to do was some pushups and crunches. But at seven weeks, I got right into it again because I went back to teaching. Each week I am really getting much stronger. At this rate, I think by next month I will be very happy with my overall fitness level.

Much luck to you. I'll be on the lookout for your exciting announcement and then will be looking forward to hearing about your wonderful comeback

!