Post-partum ab exercises

[MicheleSC]

I am almost 8 weeks out from my c-section.....
Does anyone have suggestions for ab exercises I could/should be doing now? With my first child I wasn't much into working out and didn't have any weight to lose. I did ab work here and there, but not for months after she was born.

I don't know how much it will help my abs after this baby (they were stretched out a lot from both children), but I hope something will help them flatten out and help close the gap. I don't have any extra weight to lose, just trying to get my body to look better. About the only thing I have been doing are vacuums, but I don't think that helps my rectus abdominis much (does it?).

...Or when I start lifting weights again will that be enough ab engagement to get me back on track? I felt better much sooner after this c-section than my first and it has made me more frustrated with my body and how it looks.

[Erin]

Hmmm, no real answers for you but I'm curious how others abs recovered based on the gaps created or tearing. My abs tore really bad with my last child and my doctor could only repair them so much. I would assume they're completed healed at this point but I'm curious if others had the same issue and how their abs recovered/came back over time.

[liberty]

I have been doing an exercise called a wood-chopper, now can I describe it.......... You go in the same area where you do a cable cross-over and you put the handle on the hook up high then you stand with your hip facing the weight stack almost in the middle like you were going to do a crossover, instead you grab the handle with both hands and pull across your bod and down to your hip like you are chopping wood. You can do this from the bottom up too. I have been doing this in a weird effort to move the gap closer together all other ab work is done when I am doing compound exercises.
C

Gawd, I read this and it doesn't make sense, anyone else know what I am talking about who does not have baby-brain and can explain???

[homeschoolmom]

Exercise the transverse abdominals!! For a TA contraction, imagine that you have an old fashioned girdle on with the laces up front. You need to pull your belly button in towards your spine and at the same time "feel" those laces pulling your abdominals together. Make any sense? TA exercises are extremely important in getting that belly back into shape! Hope this helps!

[MicheleSC]

I have been doing an exercise called a wood-chopper, now can I describe it.......... You go in the same area where you do a cable cross-over and you put the handle on the hook up high then you stand with your hip facing the weight stack almost in the middle like you were going to do a crossover, instead you grab the handle with both hands and pull across your bod and down to your hip like you are chopping wood. You can do this from the bottom up too. I have been doing this in a weird effort to move the gap closer together all other ab work is done when I am doing compound exercises.
C

Gawd, I read this and it doesn't make sense, anyone else know what I am talking about who does not have baby-brain and can explain???

I know what you mean :) I have heard of this exercise.

I have been doing the transverse abdominal exercises (mostly vacuums). I have been doing a few mini-crunches (just lifting my head up) while holding the two sides of my abs together and also sort of 'pushing in' what's in between my abs while contracting them (this brings them together). Either some of this is helping or more time has passed and my abs just look a bit better. I need to join a gym so I can get everything working again....

Thanks for the input everyone!

Also, does anyone have/ had a large gap - like 3 fingers wide? I'm also not very happy with all the loose skin I have.... it will get better - right?!? For some reason I am more concerned about with this child than I was after my first.

[gluteus maximus]

where is this gap? Is it right down the middle?

[MicheleSC]

where is this gap? Is it right down the middle?

It's in the middle mostly in the area around my belly button. I had a gap with my first child and it never completely closed up and now I'm afraid after this child it will 'stay' if I don't get on it! I never really did any ab work after my first child, partly because I didn't know I even had a gap for a long time. I knew my abs were squishy, but I didn't realize I had a big gap. This baby wasn't quite as big as my first, but still pretty good sized.

[homeschoolmom]

where is this gap? Is it right down the middle?

It's called a diastisis. It's right down the middle. The transverse abdominals need to be activated in order to pull them back together. I've had 4 kids and with a lot of TA work, I have no gap at all. But after each child I had a 2-3 finger gap for a few months.

MicheleSC, as for the loose skin, I do have some under underneath my belly button. I was OK after the first couple of kids, but the more kids I've had the worse it has gotten. No itty bitty bikini's for me!

[spicy~d]

This is my question, after a c-section do you feel like your abs are "too long". I feel as if I wasn't sewn tight enough? Does that make sense? My midsection is definitely thicker, not fatter...wider maybe.
d

[liberty]

This is my question, after a c-section do you feel like your abs are "too long". I feel as if I wasn't sewn tight enough? Does that make sense? My midsection is definitely thicker, not fatter...wider maybe.
d

I've had three c-sections and my abs are peachy keen. My mid-section is thicker right now cause I still have 20 pounds to lose but my little guy is only a few months old so I am in no rush.
C

[PerfectAnjail]

I was going to start a new thread, but figured it would be best just to piggy-back off of this one.

So, it's been 2wks and 2 days since my C-section. I have miraculously lost 20 of the 30lbs I ended up gaining with the pregnancy already. (I have a feeling it's because my lil guy eats so much. He's already 1lb over his birth weight) Anyway, though the numbers sound ok, my tummy is very 'loose' and jiggly. My entire body composition is backwards since I did little to no working out while prego. But my question is, I guess, is this fat from my bad habits while prego or is this still just prego weight that'll I'll have to have more patience in letting it melt off my itself?

Also, my skin is still very loose around my mid-section, will extreme amounts of water help? (and time I guess?)

[MicheleSC]

I was going to start a new thread, but figured it would be best just to piggy-back off of this one.

So, it's been 2wks and 2 days since my C-section. I have miraculously lost 20 of the 30lbs I ended up gaining with the pregnancy already. (I have a feeling it's because my lil guy eats so much. He's already 1lb over his birth weight) Anyway, though the numbers sound ok, my tummy is very 'loose' and jiggly. My entire body composition is backwards since I did little to no working out while prego. But my question is, I guess, is this fat from my bad habits while prego or is this still just prego weight that'll I'll have to have more patience in letting it melt off my itself?

Also, my skin is still very loose around my mid-section, will extreme amounts of water help? (and time I guess?)

I would say at 2 wks 2 days a lot of that 'jiggle' is still fluid and swelling and not necessarily fat. Drinking a lot of water will help. I would say it takes at least 4-6 weeks before most of that fluid and swelling is gone or greatly reduced. It just takes time for things to shift back to the way they were which can make your middle squishy - you just had major surgery on an internal organ and all the other organs got pushed around from the pregnancy and surgery and it all has to go back.
I think it really does help if your baby likes to nurse - at least it did for me with my first child and this one seems to be the same way. I have not held on to any weight from my pregnancy and I am not really watching what I eat, although this week I started making more of a conscious effort to eat more cleanly :)

I am at 9+ weeks since my c-section and I am left with just my abs being separated which is making my tummy pooch out, but it is getting better every week :) Thank goodness for low-rise pants!

[PerfectAnjail]

Thanks Michele! And sorry for hijacking your thread...but I'm about to do it again :oops: last time, i promise.

Are these things "normal" for csections?

- Sharp, shooting type pains from one side of the incision area? This happens only when I'm using my ab muscles for something, like getting up from a sitting position.

- There a definite 'pooch' directly above the incision. It's very hard to describe, it's not a pooch like fat pooch. It runs across the length of the incision and it's kind of sore. Is this where the internal stiching was done, maybe?

- 2+ weeks and still bleeding (not very much anymore though) And, btw, that was one thing I wasn't properly warned about. I knew there was bleeding involved, but my goodness! (ok, maybe TMI)

- Ok...I think that's it

[MicheleSC]

Thanks Michele! And sorry for hijacking your thread...but I'm about to do it again :oops: last time, i promise.

Are these things "normal" for csections?

- Sharp, shooting type pains from one side of the incision area? This happens only when I'm using my ab muscles for something, like getting up from a sitting position.

- There a definite 'pooch' directly above the incision. It's very hard to describe, it's not a pooch like fat pooch. It runs across the length of the incision and it's kind of sore. Is this where the internal stiching was done, maybe?

- 2+ weeks and still bleeding (not very much anymore though) And, btw, that was one thing I wasn't properly warned about. I knew there was bleeding involved, but my goodness! (ok, maybe TMI)

- Ok...I think that's it

No problem with the hijack :) It's relevent...

Yes to everything you just asked.

-I had more soreness on one side, probably from where the incision was first cut in. I still get a little bit of a 'tweaked' feeling on that side from lugging the baby carrier around with the baby in it. He is a pretty big baby (15 lbs now) and my daughter was also the same size around 2 months, but I swear I think the infant seats are heavier than they were 6 years ago!

-I think there is some localized swelling right above the incision from being stitched up and for me, it took longer than a couple of weeks for it to go away. That area also feels sort of 'numb' for a long time. Even years after my first c-section, the area around my scar did not have normal feeling in it.
Since I have a good bit of loose skin, I still have a bit of a pooch above my incision, but I am pretty sure it mostly skin.

-My bleeding took much longer to stop longer than 6 weeks, but at my check-up everything looked fine. I will still get a little bit of blood every now and then. It was annoying for a while because I would go a day without much of anything and then I would get a little gush of blood and fluid, not a whole lot, but I wore pantyliners daily until just recently.

How did they close your incision? With my daughter they taped it, with this baby they used surgical glue. Pretty cool.

[PerfectAnjail]

Thanks again Michele. Good to know I'm normal.

They closed the incision with staples. Which I thought was kind of odd, but all the nurses and docs that looked at it said it was a "good incision," whatever that means. Now that I can kind of see it, I think I know what it means. It's just a very thin line that's located in my "natural crease" in that area. She must have cut exactly where my baby belly ended. It's where most of my underwear bands sit right on top of it. Bad for now, good for later. BTW, I actually like those guaze panty things they give you at the hospital. Very comfy, especially for the incision. hell, I may buy them for everyday use. You can't even feel those suckers!

[spicy~d]

Are these things "normal" for csections?

- Sharp, shooting type pains from one side of the incision area? This happens only when I'm using my ab muscles for something, like getting up from a sitting position.

- There a definite 'pooch' directly above the incision. It's very hard to describe, it's not a pooch like fat pooch. It runs across the length of the incision and it's kind of sore. Is this where the internal stiching was done, maybe?

- 2+ weeks and still bleeding (not very much anymore though) And, btw, that was one thing I wasn't properly warned about. I knew there was bleeding involved, but my goodness! (ok, maybe TMI)

- Ok...I think that's it[/QUOTE]



I had that shooting pain for awhile. I had no idea my abs were used in so many day to day things. Also, I tried to do walking lunges after my first c-section at about 4 wks out. A definite no-no. I ended up pulling a muscle in my abd. so it took a long time to heal. After my second c- section, it was about a year when I didn't feel a pulling in my abs while doing any ab work.

I have that "pooch" above my incision. It is not fat, although there is fat on it too:yucky: . But, it literally sticks out about 1/2", it's never going to be flat. It is the muscle I guess or scar tissue. Who knows, I go next yr for my pap, so I'll ask my Dr then. That is kinda what I meant with the comment I had on not feeling like I was sewn tight enough. I am curious to see if you feel that way in a few months.


And for sure still bleeding at two weeks is normal.
d