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Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Post-baby belly

Alternative Titles:

~Mushy McMusherson

~Living like Buddha: Channeling His Physical Being

~Wait, when does the second baby come out?

~Dude, is that your uterus or are you just happy to see me?

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May I just say that the lovely picture above shows my post-baby belly looking about half the size it did the day after Peanut's birth. I really wish I would have taken a day-after picture but I was too tired to think.

I love this picture because you can tell just by my posture how comfortable I am.

Why am I posting this? Well, you just don't see it very often. I never expected to lose my belly right after the baby but I certainly didn't expect a stomach twice this size. It even felt like I was still pregnant because the uterus was still fairly solid/firm and I was having regular contractions.

On Wednesday I bought one of those post-partum support bands. I pulled it out of the package and thought to myself that it was too big, despite the 2 rows of velcro.

I couldn't get it on.

Fortunately, we're past all that and I can get it securely on with the first velcro row. I sort of squish it and pack it into the wrap.

We won't even get into what the skin looks like. Stretch marks are weird enough when they are stretched out and seriously odd when they aren't.

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Of course it's all worth while when you end up with a Peanut of your very own.

My baby belly has continued to deflate daily. Unfortunately, what is left is the oddest mass of skin and certain softness I cannot fully explain. Jello is just too solid to be accurate... I need help with the description. Whatever it is, it hangs over my pants and I can't stop squishing it with my fingers as I sit. Fascinating. Weird, kinda gross, definitely unattractive and fascinating.

Who can describe what a postpartum belly feels like?

21 comments:

  1. It has been so long ago that I just can't remember......thank goodness.

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  2. Kinda like lumpy mashed potatoes? No that's not right. It really is hard to describe. Mine is almost gone now and my youngest is 20 years old.

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  3. Those are the things I really don't want to remember. And this post brought it all back! Gee, thanks!

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  4. There is no way to accurately describe the post partum gut. I wont tell you mine is pretty much gone, but I will say I have some awesome love handles that make a killer muffin top. :)

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  5. Maybe I'm lucky, and maybe its because I had a c-section, but... I didn't have a postbaby belly... I do now, though, however... I need to lay off the Oreos...)

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  6. I remember being slightly mortified at how pregnant I still looked after baby. Before you know it you'll be back to normal. It just takes a little time. HE is so stinkin' cute. I bet he smells good too:)

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  7. It is interesting, isn't it? My belly went down after the first week, but the skin sort of looked like an over-ripe peach. Maybe it was because I wore a bikini all summer, but it was more tan than normal. And very wrinkly.
    After 2 months, the wrinkles are going away, but my belly button still looks like a sad face. Weird.

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  8. I used one of those wraps for about a week after because I remember not liking the loose feeling of just being all out there. so strange.

    It also took a long time for my kankles to go away and to lose all the water I had retained. I drank a lot of lemon water trying to get it to all leave my body. The lemon is a diarrhetic and did wonders. I was a little worried at first...lol

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  9. He is so cute!!! ,,,and the belly will disappear! luvuallbye

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  10. It does eventually go down, but I was the same way. I knew it wasn't going to be flat, but I thought at least I wouldn't still look 9 months pregnant.
    He is so cute. My littlest wants to check everyday for new pictures. She thinks he is the cutest baby in the world.
    Chrystal

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  11. Soft bread dough...that's how mine always felt after a baby.

    Love this picture of peanut. Baby feet are the cutest things ever!
    ☺ Celeste

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  12. Great "real" post. =) I'm pregnant & it's nice to know there's a true to life girl out there who faces the postpartum head on!

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  13. It's "Squishy Home". My daughter plays with it and calls it squishy and I tell her it was once her and her brother's home =) I'm 16 months post partum after the second one and for whatever reason and despite my 3-4x a week of workouts, that squishiness is still there. My in-laws once joked (and were very concerned) about my post partum belly after birth and made me real sad. Truth is it'll eventually go away since it's your first. For me, even though I've dropped two pant sizes after my second, that squishy belly doesn't seem to go anywhere but hang right where my daughter can play with it =P You're not alone ^_^
    Josephine

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  14. *ahem* Mine is still present. The Child is almost 15. That is all. :)

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  15. I had c-sections so I wasn't pushing on my belly too much. The contraction feeling I did have every time I nursed, which is good cause its just your uterus shrinking. They say its good to massage your post baby belly to help it shrink.

    When I was preggo with my daughter (#2) my son whom was 4 at the time said "mom when my baby sister comes out your belly will just melt like a snowman". We only wish it did buddy *wink*

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  16. That last line reminds me of those lines (verses, whatever) in the Bible that are rhetorical...something like A good woman, who can find? (I made that up. It might be similar. I really should know what the Bible says.) :)
    The post-baby belly is quite a phenomenon. After my first, it all went away, and even my skin tightened back up. I'm not sure what to say about it now. But I think it has more to do with soda and brownies, rather than carrying babies, anymore.

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  17. Mushed up jell-o (not quite liquidy, but definitely not solid) stuffed inside a balloon. A bit bouncy, but mushy-feeling!

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  18. Lol! I call it waterbed belly. It gets better, I promise!

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  19. As a mother of three, and a maternity nurse, I would have to say the postpartum belly is DEFINITELY like bread dough (after it's risen and you're punching it down). Some of us (me) just have bigger loaves than others. :o)
    BTW, just linked over from Lemonade Makin' Mama's blog. Congratulations on your Peanut! He's positively dreamy!

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  20. Isn't it amazing how you do so much preparation for the birth but somehow we overlook the post-partem craziness? I have to agree with the dough, but a soft one, like for cinnamon rolls! I've had three babies in the last 4 years (my youngest is 8 months) and the post-birth belly still surprised me with my third! Don't stress about exercising in the beginning - just take care of yourself and your peanut (eat well!) and you'll be surprised to find it shrinking. I'm one size away from my pre-first-baby jeans (yippee. yippee. yippee. and yippee!). Your little family is quite adorable!

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  21. Lumpy mashed potatoes with a little too much milk in them ; )

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