I am now 26 weeks pregnant and have gained 12 pounds. Everybody says that once you’ve given birth your body is never the same. Is that true. Is there any hope for somebody who is completely terrified of losing her pregnancy body?
I am now 26 weeks pregnant and have gained 12 pounds. Everybody says that once you’ve given birth your body is never the same. Is that true. Is there any hope for somebody who is completely terrified of losing her pregnancy body?
Yes… it is true. You’ll (most likely) get stretch marks, and loose skin, and a little extra pudge that just won’t come off.
But you know, no one said being a mom was going to be a walk in the park. It’s all about sacrifices! And I guess the first sacrifice we give as mothers is for the baby to use our bodies. It’s such a selfless act, that it makes you a beautiful person!
Every woman is different. I started out at 125 lbs (I’m 5’8″) and gained 25 lbs throughout my pregnancy. I came home from the hospital in my pre-pregnancy clothes and lost all the weight within two weeks. 8 months later, I’m 112 lbs. The only difference is that now my boobs are bigger (32D before, now I’m a 32E). No stretchmarks, no extra skin, no pudge.
If you were thin before pregnancy and gain a healthy amount of weight, you have a much higher chance of slimming down quick afterwards.
Sorry, but it’s definitely true. Certain things will never be the same- you will never, for example, have the same abdominal muscle tone you did before. Your hips will never go quite back the way they were before.
And that’s leaving aside more drastic changes that may or may not happen to you.
You know what, though? You’re going to find that those aren’t the most important ways in which your life will change. And your new body will be beautiful, like your old one- just different.
And time would alter your body anyway. It does march on. At least this way, your body is changed by something really worthwhile that you did.
You will be so overjoyed with the birth of your child that the changes in your body will not matter.
It is true that it will never be the same but that doesn’t mean it will be terrible. Every body is different. I lost all the weight and am back in great shape but my belly button sticks out differently and my stomach bends in different ways now. It was totally worth it, though.
There is definitely hope! I understand that fear- I had it too. Yes, your body is never the same, BUT the changes are not necessarily going to be bad like you think. I gained 30 lbs with my son, and with breastfeeding, healthy eating, and exercising moderately, I lost all of it and got back in the same jeans I wore before the pregnancy. Yes, there are a few changes, like I have a few stretch marks on my hips and breasts, and my stomach is slightly less flat than before, but no one can even notice it except me (in really good lighting). So please try not to let people’s horror stories scare you too much and remember that if it matters to you to have your body back, YOU are in control of that, and you can get it back by taking good care of yourself during and after the baby is born. Try not to believe people that make you think that you will blimp out like a baloon without any ability to control it. Since it matters to you, I’m sure you’ll be motivated to get your body back and you’ll be fine.
Every body is different, some handle pregnancy better than others…. I have had four children and i would not swap my body for any thing. My children are 6, 5, 2 and 1 so as you can imagine my body has been put through the mill a little. I have lost the weight gained with every pregnancy within the first few months following the birth and i only got stretch marks on my lower abdomen with my first child. I now weight less than i did before i started having children and my stomach is flat and i can feel my stomach muscles. I posted on here ‘four children aged 6,4,2 and 3 months’ last year when my youngest was just 3 months old. I suppose what i am trying to say is that, yes pregnancy ‘does’ change your body but those changes are not ‘dreadful’… I LOVE my post partum body and if you set your mind on loosing the weight gained during pregnancy you WILL. I have done it 4 times. Weight does not go anywhere without the enthusiam from you. GOOD LUCK.x
Your only hope is to accept whatever motherhood brings you. You will need a new body for the next phase of your life, and your body will decide what that means. Just remember: it’s not the end of the world and the product of your new body (your baby) will be more worth it than anything else… ever.
By the way, 12 lbs is nothing. Enjoy your pregnancy because it is a really amazing time in life.
I understand your fear, but it’s pretty much pre-determined by genetics. I know plenty of women who went through pregnancies without much body damage, so there is aways hope you will be one of them. If I had to go through pregnancy again, I’d make sure I eat right, do as much excersise as possible in this condition, drink plenty of wanter and put rich lotion all over my body – just for the good meaure. :o)
Good luck!
I had a baby 4 months ago and my body is pretty much back to normal already. I only gained about 25 lbs, so as long as you were a healthy weight to begin with and don’t gain a ton of weight you will be fine. My tummy muscles were a little loose at first but over the past few weeks they really firmed up again. I have NO stretchmarks anywhere. This is genetic though, so you should ask your mom to predict what will happen to you. My boobs are also great, they are back to normal and almost the same size as before, maybe a teeny bit smaller.
However, I did work out all through my pregnancy (up to the day before I had the baby!) and resumed going to the gym 11 days after giving birth. This was mostly for my own sanity though. :) I also try to eat healthy and take care of my health in general.
Before I had the baby, I will admit a lot of the pictures on this site were a little upsetting. But the good news is, sometimes your body does go back to normal – plenty of women I know are just as skinny, if not more so, after having a baby. I keep meaning to take some pictures of me and send them in to show that pre-baby, your body can go back to normal. I am not putting down any of you at all – I love this site and reading everyone’s stories – but sometimes they portray a one-sided view of post-baby bodies.
Good luck and enjoy your pregnancy. It really does go so fast and before you know it it’s done.
Don’t be scared. 12 pounds in 26 weeks? Thats nothing!
I’ll tell you what. Once you give birth to that incredible child, you will have more love and respect for your body than you ever did before. I am 5’7 and covered in stretch marks from boobs to ankles (no joke) which you will not be. (I put on 70 pounds with my 10 pound baby boy, with the help of Mc donalds). But through the self appreciation I gained through having my 2 babies, I feed my body healthy food and exercise regularly and for the first time in my life since I was 18 I am rockin a size 4 and rock hard abs and I am proud to wear a bikini. Yes my body is different and yours will be too. But It will be better, because it will the the body of a WOMAN and a MOTHER! Be proud of that and dont fear it, its a beautiful thing. Congratulations on your bundle of joy! God bless :)
I was petrified, just like you are right now, when I had my first child, 12 years ago. Not so much worried about the weight, but saggy skin. What I did was really stupid, but I feel like it helped. Here goes…I sucked my tummy in the entire pg (pgs). When my babies were born my tummy was flat from the get-go, even before my uterus shrunk. The nurses couldn’t believe it. My theory is that me sucking in my stomach, and the weight of the baby, strengthened my stomach muscles throughout pg. They didn’t get a chance to get lax and all stretched out and neither did my skin. I still had a belly(and gained 40lbs), but my belly was oblong and wide. Eat healthy, don’t gain weight too quickly and continue to work those belly muscles.
it’s absolutely not true!! Well… It’s not true for everyone. I was extremely scared of losing my body at 21 years old. I ate better during pregnancy than I did my whole life and I started exercising religiously. After pregnancy.. my body looked better then it ever had!!! I LOVED what pregnancy did to my body. Breastfeeding helped to and helped me to lose 30 pounds under my prepregnancy weight.