I am a proud mother of 2 handsome boys. My first is 2 years old and my youngest is 7 months. After my having my first son when I was 19 I was very self conscious about my body. I remember looking in the mirror a few days after giving birth and I couldn’t believe it was me I was looking at I went from 140 to 220 pounds. I developed preeclampsia during my first pregnancy and gestational diabetes during my second pregnancy and had to have a c-section with both pregnancies. Now I find myself struggling to lose weight and get a flatter tummy. I can deal with the stretch marks but wish my tummy was flatter so people can stop asking if I am pregnant. Other than that I am happy with my body and I adore my boys and I am in love with my fiance who has been supportive of me and makes me feel beautiful everyday.
The pictures below is of me 7 months postpartum with my second son
~Age: 21
~Number of pregnancies and births: 2
~The age of your children, or how far postpartum you are: 2 years old and 7 months old and 7 months postpartum
You look great and like you have lost a lot of weight. Many women who have had cesareans have what is called a diastasis recti, which is a split in the abdominal muscles. That is what is often responsible for looking pregnant months or even years after giving birth. No amount of crunches will help close the muscles, and in fact, can be made worse by them. A technique called Tupler’s is supposed to be very helpful in closing that gap. The are others that function a similar way. And I am sure you can google or look on Utube and find some of the exercises to help. There are programs that you have to pay for, but there is some free stuff out there too.
I have a diastasis and am pregnant and recently started some of the techniques and hope to keep mine from getting worse this pregnancy. Good luck!
Give youself some time. I am 17 months pp ans truggled a little too (you can see my submission on this site) The more time passes the better I feel about my body.I also got a personal trainer…which isn’t as expensice as it sounds…and we work out three times a week and that has help my self esteem. Dont be so hard on yourself sis, you brought life into this world TWICE! :)
I also agree it looks like you have diastasis recti. Definitely look into the tupler technique! It is proven to get results, it’s working for me slowly. You’re not alone, good luck!