Today I’ve got an update on my pooch. And that’s the belly pooch we’re talking about here, not the “bow-wow” kind of pooch.
Last I wrote, I was diligently doing my core training in an attempt to close the diastasis responsible for the belly bulge that remained after the birth of my second daughter in July. If you missed that post, definitely check it out for background information. There’s also a lot of good information there for you if you find yourself with an unwanted pooch.
When we left off, I was four weeks postpartum. My belly had shrunk considerably from delivery, but a noticeable pooch remained:
And now here’s four weeks compared to ten weeks:
And remember, ALL of these photos are taken with my belly completely relaxed. No false advertising here by drawing in my abs. (Read my last post if you want to hear me get on my soapbox about THAT topic 🙂 ).
Now, I didn’t take belly shots before my pregnancy, so I can’t compare the 10-week photo to a pre-pregnancy baseline. But my memory tells me that while I’m still not quite back to pre-pregnancy belly flatness, I’m certainly close.
And what about the diastasis? Unfortunately, a non-trivial gap remains. Depending on the time of day when I do the measuring, I can still fit more than two fingers into the space between the two sides of my abdominal wall. But the WIDTH of the gap is only half the story. The DEPTH of the gap also tells us something about the severity of the diastasis. My gap is considerably more shallow now than it was after delivery. This suggests that the linea alba – the fascia that joins the two sides of the rectus abdominis – is much stronger than it was before.
I’m now 16 weeks postpartum, and I’ve been continuing twice-daily exercises for my TVA. Although I stopped taking the belly shots, here’s a fun photo of me and Lily at 13 weeks. I’m very happy with how far I’ve come!
wellmomllc.com 