Misshapen Body

Pregnancy can be a wonderful moment. You wait nine months to receive two things: a beautiful baby and 25 extra pounds. Most women tend to lose a few pounds or so after having their baby. If you breastfeed you tend to shed more pounds because more calories are being burned. However, most women tend to gain more than recommended depending on what pregnancy this is or their diet. These are the women who feel misshapen after their delivery and desperately want to gain their body back.

The one question that strikes a cord with every woman after having a baby is to be mistaken pregnant again because of bulging bellies. Tummy muscles are weakened from the pregnancy due to stretching. This tends to make the belly area soft and sometimes hard to regain. But honestly ladies we have to come to grips that our stomach will never be the same. Things change in our life that we have no control over. The best thing to do is to start off slow and try to regain your body knowing that it will never be that perfectly firm again but it can be beautiful.

The key is to start off slow and remember that Rome was not built in a day and things take time. It took nine months to get this pregnant and it will take time to get “unpregnant”. The ideal thing is to start with a small plan and after you have a clearance from you doctor (usually after your six weeks checkup) put it into action.

Most moms do find it hard to work in a full exercise routine with a new baby. One way moms have learned to incorporate their baby and exercise is to walk. Lots of moms pick the local track or even get up early to walk around the mall before it opens. Walking indoors does seem to be a better way to beat the cold or extreme heat. The most important thing is to do something you enjoy that way it is great for mom and enjoyable for baby. There are several ways to help get that body back to its pre-pregnant self. One is by doing “baby exercise.” These are exercises that you can do that include your baby so that way you can work on bonding as well as getting in shape.

The first one is squats. This can be done while you are holding your baby. You get your back up against the wall so that way you will have something for firm support. Next you spread your legs about hip width apart and then slowly bend your knees and come down. Then when you have reached the sitting position you come back up. This way you are tightening up your thighs and working the lower part of your body and arms. Also take time to smile and talk to the baby to keep him/her happy.

Another exercise that can be done with your baby is leg lifts. You lie on the floor and place your baby on your stomach facing you. Next you take either one leg at a time or both at the same time and you raise them to about a 45-degree angle and then slowly lower them. This works your legs, glutes, and stomach muscles. This exercise can be a great way to look at your baby and keep him/her entertained while trying to shape that misshapen body.

Getting on all fours and doing leg lifts can your third exercise. You can place your baby under you so that way you can look at them and keep them happy but yet working each leg at a time. This will again work the lower part of your body and want be to stressful on the body after your six-week check up.

The main thing is to keep going and know there is light at the end of the tunnel. The idea that your body will be perfect again is not a crazy one but to understand that things change once you have a child is a more realistic approach. Looking at that beautiful baby everyday should be the best reward for the few pounds you have gained. Also know that with each child comes its own set of pounds so getting off pounds before more pregnancies is also a body saver later. Stretch marks are considered to some as battle scars but today we are going to rename them something more pleasant like icing. So consider ladies that they are icing on the cake to the wonderful thing we call a “slice of motherhood.”

by Sherita Smedley