Postpartum Twin Belly

 The Dreaded Post Partum Twin Belly

I didn't have the perfect belly before I got pregnant and it is not perfect now.  When I was five months old, I had an exploratory laparotomy due to a bowel perforation and a resulting acute abdomen. Consequently, I have a scar starting right above my belly button running horizontally to the outer third of my belly.  If I flex hard enough, the scar makes my tummy look like it's smirking.  I also had my belly button pierced the day I turned eighteen (it was the early 2000s, gimme slack).  I worried that my pregnancy would do weird things with my scar and that the musculature underneath would get deformed, that I would have unimaginable stretch marks (I got some on my hips and boobs during puberty so I know my body is capable...), that I would have tons of loose skin to deal with, that I would lose my waistline, and that I would never look the same. I had prepared myself to accept a new body. 

Well, I was wrong.  Despite my pregnancy obstacles, my belly and skin held up surprisingly well! Here are some pictures to give expecting twin mamas some hope.  

Pregnant Belly: 

29 weeks

30 weeks

About a week before I delivered.  I'm on the left, because I obviously wore the same dress every day. 

 

*WARNING: the next picture is for educational and hope purposes only

This is me a few days after I delivered.  (Please note the mesh Borat-style hospital-provided C-section underwear.) My belly button never popped out. It turned into the Grand Canyon instead.  Nevertheless, isn't my baby PRECIOUS?

AND 11 MONTHS POST PARTUM (from a few different angles)

These photos haven't been retouched or airbrushed, but my bathroom does have good lighting.

Hooray! My waist came back!

Side (a little bloated... girlie time, if ya get my drift.)

Front (You can see my ex-lap scar to your right and where my stupid belly button piercing was. My C-section scar has basically disappeared)

Back-ish.  I know, I'm lacking in the booty department, but this baby-chasing has started toning some muscles. 

Oblique, better view of my scar from infancy

What do I attribute it to?

(I don't know if any of these things actually contributed to the return to normal tummy, but maybe)  

1. WATER - I chugged it constantly, and not in a smug "I drink lots of water" kind of way.  I was insatiably thirsty. 

2. VEGANISM - I was vegan a year before I got pregnant, I stayed vegan throughout my whole pregnancy, and I'm still vegan. 

3. GENETICS - My mom had five children and has only a few little stretch marks on her lower abdomen.  She's also 5'2" and barely tipped the scale at 100 pounds during her childbearing years.  I'm 5'5 and my happy weight is anywhere between 125 and 140.  I'm 126 right now.  I was probably 180 when I delivered.  

4. LOTIONS AND OILS - Two words: MAMA MIO.  I don't know if they had a darn thing to do with my not getting stretch marks, but I slathered on the tummy rub butter and tummy oil whenever I thought about it.  Some days I forgot and some days I was constantly slathering.  I also tried to massage a little to help with circulation and perhaps stimulate collagen and help the dermis not rip. ( Not evidence-based, but I did it anyway.) 

5. EARLY DELIVERY - delivered 3.5 hours before I hit the 32 week mark, but measured well over term.  I don't know what would have happened had I carried them any longer.  But, I didn't, so it is what it is.  

6. ACTIVITY - I haven't done a single crunch and I've worked out, maybe twice.  But, I have to power-walk these kids to bed. Additionally,  I bend, squat, and contort a lot (those with twins understand) to the point of tachycardia, so I feel like that has helped.

7. RETURN TO HEALTHY WEIGHT - I look thinner now because I am thinner.  Simple as that.  I eat less. When I was pregnant, I would mix up a batch of brownies to bake and eat all of the batter.  Enough said.  Needless to say, I don't do that anymore.  My normal appetite has returned . I eat when I'm hungry and I stop when I' full.  I pig out when I'm PMSing and I forget to eat when I'm super-crazy-busy.  I've had plenty of weight fluctuation in my life but I've never been a big girl.  

In conclusion:

With pregnancy, there's no way to know how your body will look afterward.  If I had gotten stretch marks or hadn't been able to lose any weight or had loose skin, it would still be okay.  Early in my pregnancy, I accepted the fact that my body would never be the same.  Strangely enough, it's almost exactly the same.  I am actually now on the lower end of my happy weight (126) I was about 135 (still happy weight) when I got pregnant and around 180 when I delivered. My belly was never perfect because of my scar, but if it weren't for that scar, I wouldn't be alive. I rock that scar and I will continue to rock that scar.  

I hope that no matter what happens to anyone's body due to pregnancy, that they LOVE their bodies for what they have given them.  Our bodies are amazing.  But, realistically, I know that we need to feel good about ourselves also.  I don't know if what I did during pregnancy helped me or if it was pure genetics, but perhaps chugging water and using Mama Mio rubs are the answer! I hope they are! (I won't get on my soapbox about veganism.)