STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

erin · Chanel

question for the ladies who have had children

BellinaJessica · Kenneth Cole

I have 2 children and yes your body shape does change. Your hips get wider to allow for the baby to be born and while they will get smaller again they may never go back to normal. It, of course, depends on genetics but even though you may return to your prepreg weight your prepreg clothes may not ever fit again. It's sad, I know.

Jessica

BargainQueen · Marc Jacobs

I think it depends on each person's genetics and body. I can only speak from my personal experience. I think my hips did get a little bit wider. I still wear my pre-preggo jeans, but now that I think about it, I do have to pull a little bit to get them past my hips.

You're only 7 weeks post-partum. I went back to work 14 weeks later and still had 4 pounds to lose, so it takes time.

Like I said everyone's body is different, my co-worker just came back from maternity leave and I swear she looks thinner than before

Karina · Chanel

my body absolutely changed. even when i lost all the weight.

Sibeski · Dooney & Bourke

I think that your body does change. I have wide hips anyway, so I haven't seen much of a difference there. My problem is my ribs!! I'm a short girl with a short waist. I swear my ribs don't even curve in anymore, more of sticking straight ahead, and I'm 7 months post! My neighbor said it took almost a full year before her ribs & hips went back down.

Elle · Hermes

This is what Tracee Cornforth (Guide to Women's Health) says:

Q: How long does it really take for a woman's body to return to its prepregnancy condition?

A: The first six weeks are a time of healing, re-balancing and recovery. It takes the genital organs from six weeks to two months to return to their original size and function. The pregnancy hormone relaxin, which increases the size and elasticity of connective tissues (ligaments, muscles), will remain in a new mothers body for up to five months. This is why a new mother's joints are so fragile (50 percent of them experience back pain) and why any high impact activity puts tremendous stress on the pelvic floor and the abdominal organs. Prolactin, the hormone which produces milk in breastfeeding mothers, has a similar effect. In 66 percent of women, the vertical abdominal muscles have separated and take at least six weeks to heal. For these reasons, it is important to limit exercise to the gentle pelvic floor and abdominal exercises which I explain in my book, walking, and swimming (once you have fully stopped bleeding) for two months (ten weeks after a C-section). Eight weeks after childbirth, you can begin toning in 15 minute sessions, building up by five minutes a week. You can start tennis, biking and low impact aerobics again at 4-5 months after childbirth.

relrel · Marc Jacobs

Elle wrote:

This is what Tracee Cornforth (Guide to Women's Health) says: Q: How long does it really take for a woman's body to return to its prepregnancy condition? A: The first six weeks are a time of healing, re-balancing and recovery. It takes the genital organs from six weeks to two months to return to their original size and function. The pregnancy hormone relaxin, which increases the size and elasticity of connective tissues (ligaments, muscles), will remain in a new mothers body for up to five months. This is why a new mother's joints are so fragile (50 percent of them experience back pain) and why any high impact activity puts tremendous stress on the pelvic floor and the abdominal organs. Prolactin, the hormone which produces milk in breastfeeding mothers, has a similar effect. In 66 percent of women, the vertical abdominal muscles have separated and take at least six weeks to heal. For these reasons, it is important to limit exercise to the gentle pelvic floor and abdominal exercises which I explain in my book, walking, and swimming (once you have fully stopped bleeding) for two months (ten weeks after a C-section). Eight weeks after childbirth, you can begin toning in 15 minute sessions, building up by five minutes a week. You can start tennis, biking and low impact aerobics again at 4-5 months after childbirth.

wait, im confused. prolactin has an impact on elasticity of tissues? that almost seems like breastfeeding would sorta be a bad thing. i just did a whole presentation on breastfeeding and women's health and two of the big "selling points" was that breastfeeding mothers experiences an earlier return to pre-pregnancy weight and that breastfeeding can help with osteoperosis later on down the line. but the prolactin thing sounds sorta bad and conflictual (is that a word?) with what i found. so...wonderful, dr. elle...can ya help me out on this one? what's going on?

(sorry to hijack!)

Elle · Hermes

Well, breasfeeding burns something like an extra 600 or so calories a day, which accounts for the easier weight loss. Both men and women produce relaxin and prolactin all the time anyway, so it's not just a pregnancy thing. There are such things as prolactin disorders though which cause all sorts of nasty symptoms, but they are associated with pituitary tumors, not breasfeeding. The levels of prolactin in a lactating mother aren't all that much higher than an non-lactating woman. They rise only temporarily to replenish milk supply after a baby has emptied one or both breasts, so unlike relaxin the mother isn't exposed to constantly high levels of it.

I haven't been able to find anything that concretely confirms or denies that prolactin has any effect on connective tissues. Though it seems logical that since it's main action is on the connective tissue in the breasts that some similar effect, however small, might be seen in connective tissue elsewhere in the body. Besides stimulating/supporting lactation, it also serves to enhance the immune system, fwiw.

How's that ?

erin · Chanel

thanks for posting that, elle. very interesting!

relrel · Marc Jacobs

Elle wrote:

How's that ?

wonderful, dr. elle.

i think you should start charging us all consulting fees for all the lovely health advice.

Elle · Hermes

I swear I meant to add my own comment to the article I quoted, but I apparently forgot!

Anyway, most women hold onto an extra 5-10 pounds or so while they're breastfeeding, mostly in the form of fat and mostly in 'estrogenized areas' (hips/thighs/breasts). It's like your body's way of insuring that you'll be able to feed your baby and still survive yourself through any food shortage or nutritional deprivation. So anyway I think your to-date weightloss is mucho impressive!

Relaxin is probably at least partially responsible for why things don't fit still, even though you've lost a ton. It affects all your joints of course, but it's usually changes in the ribs and hips that are most noticeable because they can affect your clothing size. The ligaments in your hips are still very stretched out at 7 weeks, probably more so if you had a vaginal birth vs. a c-section. I'm sure that in the next few months your body will start to resemble it's old self, or at the very least an acceptable-to-you version of it's old self .

blink · Coach

Okay, it really does depend. Most girls I know who had babies in the last five years are a couple sizes bigger, but a few are actually just as skinny as before....without any extra exercising, diet or otherwise.

In my case, the "9 months up, 9 months down" saying did apply to me. I credit genetic predisposition and extended breastfeeding. I did not formula feed at all, which would have been hard if I weren't a stay-at-home-mom. Breastfeeding made me lose weight, period, but it also left me with huge boobs that suddenly looked suggestive in summer tanks and camis...which made me look heavier than I was, IMO.

Within 12 weeks, I had lost the pounds but didn't fit into my old size. Due to my HIPS, I did not fit easily into my best jeans until 9 months postpartum, and I still had a bit more tummy flab than before pregnancy.

But, before 1 year was up, most of the flab was gone and I was actually a tad skinnier than before I had conceived, possibly because I continued nursing. My body was left a little different, a little flabbier I guess, but I could wear all my old clothes again and I had started to enjoy shopping again.

Right about then, I got pregnant again, wouldn't you know?

halleybird · Hermes

my friend had a baby last August, and it really changed her body. After about 4 months, she went from about 135-140 (pre-pregnancy) to 115-120 (she was breastfeeding). But the weirdest thing was her body shape -- she used to be a definite pear, and now she gains weight in the middle and not at all in her hips/thighs.

But I saw your threadstyle pic and you look fantastic for only being 7 weeks postpartum!