im 21 years old
5 months post partum with my first child
when I found out I was pregnant I was so extremely happy. being only 21 I was really nervous at first but I had a lot of positive people around me, and my boyfriend is one of them. he was definitely more ready than I was, on august 10th I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. weighing 8lbs. 4 oz, and 19 1/2 inches long, I ended up having a c-section cuz my pelvis was too small. at the beginning of my pregnancy I used bio oil regularly thinking it would stop me from getting stretch marks, obviously it didn’t. I have the worst wrinkled, saggy, stretched out skin. I try to stay positive becuz I got something so beautiful out of it, but I cant seem to constantly look in the mirror, and get upset. I cant help but think my boyfriend will leave me for someone with a better shape, I used to be so confident weighing 130 before I got pregnant I loved my body and my stomach, and I didn’t mind showing it off, now I hate getting dressed in front of anyone, I gained 56 pounds during pregnancy lost all of it except 10 pounds, I constantly do crunches 170 a day for about 3 months now, and have not seen a difference. I know a lot of people who have had babies, and none of them have a stomach like mine. so I was hoping to gets some advice from other mothers. will I ever get rid of this??? if anyone has any advice please let me know,
Crunches don’t really make a difference – you can’t spot reduce. They always says abs are made in the kitchen. Watch your eating (for me, limiting sugar really makes the biggest difference in my tummy), add in some cardio, and do full-body strength training. Everything will tighten up and come together with hard work (and time). Trust me, I’ve been there. Just work hard and have a little patience with yourself, also. =)
First of all…you look really really good. You just had your baby a few months ago! Don’t compare yourself to the mommies you know…everyone is different. Look at all of these posts, some have tight skin without stretcmarks, some have tight skin with stretchmarks, some have saggy skin with stretchmarks, some have saggy skin without stretchmarks…but we ALL have created life :) You look so awesome…and I know the feeling of not being happy with your own body. I had my first at 20 and 2nd at 23 (both cesarean). I have so many stretchmarks, some loose skin, and a small cesarean ledge! You can eat “clean” (look up the clean diet on line…it is not really a diet, it is a lifestyle of eating the way our bodies are intended to eat), do the 30 day shred with Jillian Michaels, it is only 20 minutes a day and it really works! I hope you can grow to love your beautiful mama body, and I hope the same for me :)
I think you look great! You look a hell of a lot better then I did at five months pp. (you can find my post if you scroll down “why cant i see myself through his eyes”) Your belly looks so flat for only being 5 months pp. I am 7 months pp and can see a difference from my 5 months pp pics. so everyn month it improves!! i weighed 93 pounds before i got pregnant and 156 at birth and now im 127. just give it time. Like you, I do crunches every day..slowly but surely they are helping. Also, I hear when your young your body bounces back faster. I hope this is true because I am 17 years old. haha but you look way better then me. your beautiful, stop being so hard on yourself!!
Just wanted to share a few thoughts with you.
First, think about this: You lost 46 lbs in 5 months. That is so much! You skin needs time to tighten up – and it really, really will. It really will take around a year. But no, it won’t be exactly the same.
Second, good job on the dedication to crunches/sit ups! 170 a day is A LOT. I have always been an athletic, jock type and I know how hard it is to get up to over 100 crunches. But you can’t spot reduce, if you want to see those crazy muscles you have to lose fat. Even just a modest combination of weights and cardio will do wonders. With a super strong core, you should be able to jump into some cool work outs.
Third, I was about the same as you with my baby boy. I still have stretch marks and some wrinkly, cellulite skin on my pooch but over time with a lot of work-outs I have a lot of confidence in my body and am not ashamed of people seeing those little marks. (I also had my appendix out right after having my son, so I have those lovely scars too!) I figure my shape is good, I am super healthy, and when I am in a position to show off my stomach I am engaging in healthy things like running or just playing on the beach. I notice that I feel more confident in less clothes if I am “moving.” I feel rugged!! I feel like my stretch marks and scars make me a little sexier than other girls in their twenties because I have proven how strong I can be. I say all this because you CAN get your old shape back, but the wrapper is going to be a little different. Don’t let that discourage you – let it ENCOURAGE you! Imagine your body really fit, with this new, well-earned skin!
I mean, you wouldn’t be self-conscious about scars on your knees if you got them doing something really cool would you? Show off those stretch marks as a sign of how tough you are to carry a big beautiful baby!
Hey! i am the poster for blessed and tortured a few blogs back… unfortunatley there is nothing that you can do to get rid of the wrinkles and skin, besides plastic surgery, thermage ect.
BUT you can continue to get smaller, work on your back muscles not so much your abs, you need core exercises to pull the skin from other places, i found that the skinnier i got the more wrinkly it looks. good luck, look at it the way i do, at least im still small. just not smooth. :)
Hun you are hot! Before and after your baby. My submission is on here under 22 and 2 kids later(jenny) and my stomach is very similar. I have alot of loose wrinkly skin and I have two kids. I am currently 5 month 11 days PP and it really does get better everyday. It will never be normal again, I have strech marks and too much loose skin, but it really does get better. And my stomach looked alot like yours after my first and it took me a year before I would show my stomach again and the skin eventually came back and I was in a bikini again. But even if you stay the way you are, you are beautiful, and something I have learned from my own personal experience, if your man doesn’t love you for you and for bringing his son into this world, then he is not much of a man at all and you deserve better. But with that being said I am sure your boyfriend is great and finds you just as sexy as ever!
well i think you look great! congrats on your baby! i was 19, 21 and will turn 24 1month b4 this baby is born so i understand! i use lots of palmers stretch mark cream and a derma roller its helped a lot i quit using it when i became pg again but will use it again when this baby comes its supose to help will stretchies and saggy skin!!
I don’t honestly see anything for you to “get rid of”. You have a cute, flat little tummy that you should be proud of!!!
You look geat mama!! Just keep working out and moisturize your skin. Lots of lotion really helps. Also looks like you might tan if you do try and stay away while your skin heals
thanks for all the wonerful comments, you all are truely an inspiration, and are all beautiful, you guys have made mee feel a lot better.i just love this website! im not 6 months PP and am down to 137, i def see a difference in my stomach after dieting and excersie, i have also bought a stomach thing u wrap around ur stomach iwear it all the time and for the couple weeks ive been wearing it i noticed a big difference, found it on amazon..but thank you all again i will post an update soon =]
I’ve been doing a popular dance workout and its worked amazing on my abs,,, I also had a c section,, and dont have your youth on my side! Crunches can actually make your muscles kind of pouch out right around the area we want flat,,,yoga, and pilates abs would help and yes eating better,, doing standing ab workouts and time will all help!!! Don’t be so hard on yourself :)
I had mine when I was 21 (I’m 22 now) and I look just like I did the day I had my boy. I lost all the weight within 6 weeks but my stomach’s skin never changed, and that’s no exaduration. I’m super jelous of yours.
You look great! It def takes time to tighten skin, and weight lifting really helps. It may not be the same but give it a year or so to try to recover :)