Any ladies out there that have had children

[Realgains]

I've seen tons of women have big bellies when pregnant and it goes completely flat afterwards. How come it does for some and not others?

Some are lucky but most are not. The major issue is fascial stretching which some are lucky enough to avoid. Most are not that lucky especially if they gained a lot of weight and had a big baby. Most women have some degree of fascial stretching and never recover 100% of the pre pregancy look, if they were even in shape to begin with.

If you have the right genetics you will not have any loose skin but if you do then it will not go away. Once skin has been stretched to a certain degree it does not return to normal.

I hate to sound negative but I don't want to give false hope.
That said by all means try like Hell to get back to where you were, you may be one of the luck ones and at the very least you can once again look pretty damn good.

RG

 

[Temple]

Congrats on the new baby!!!!! As I have said on other threads...I have never walked into the delivery room under 210# and I have always lost it. It just takes time. My belly does look like a NYC street map but the stretch marks fade more all the time and I do have a good bit of loose skin which I will have removed when I can afford it. Noone but my husband ever sees it and he says it doesn't bother him near as much as parting with the $$$ for the surgery to get it fixed so I may just keep it. Go easy on yourself, listen to Spatts - she knows what she is talking about.

 

[BlackCherri]

Flattening my lower abdomen out after childbirth only accentuated what I now call "hounddog skin". My stomach is completely flat but the skin from my waist down is noticeably loose, not so much visually but to the touch. I can easily slide it around by placing my fingertips there and moving my hand around. And the strechmarks....when in God's name do they fade? I'm wondering if the lady who mentioned that they fade in time is black cause my little girl will be 3 in early January and the stretch marks across the top of my ass are bold enough to serve as a landing strip for aircraft. I think a lighter skin tone is really helpful.

My biggest problem during pregancy was not fatgain but muscle loss. I think I dropped about 12-15 pounds of muscle and gained about 15 pounds of actual fat (not counting the baby, water weight, etc). The overall effect was to make me look really flabby.

 

[Realgains]

Flattening my lower abdomen out after childbirth only accentuated what I now call "hounddog skin". My stomach is completely flat but the skin from my waist down is noticeably loose, not so much visually but to the touch. I can easily slide it around by placing my fingertips there and moving my hand around. And the strechmarks....when in God's name do they fade? I'm wondering if the lady who mentioned that they fade in time is black cause my little girl will be 3 in early January and the stretch marks across the top of my ass are bold enough to serve as a landing strip for aircraft. I think a lighter skin tone is really helpful.

My biggest problem during pregancy was not fatgain but muscle loss. I think I dropped about 12-15 pounds of muscle and gained about 15 pounds of actual fat (not counting the baby, water weight, etc). The overall effect was to make me look really flabby.

You may wish to consider an abdominalplasty to rid yourself of the loose skin if it is bothering you.
Unfortunately there isn't thing one can do to get rid of the loose skin besides cutting it out. I have seen many abdominalplasties and they really work well but you do get a rather long scar.

RG

 

[makedah]

Black Cherri - maybe you didn't mean to be funny, but that landing strip comment was pretty hilarious!

Bronzed -- I had no idea you were preggo. Congrats!

 

[w84me]

hey RG ... why don't you suggest to Dr. to utilize navel for tucking for the 'master' group of BBs ... it would be nice to have an alternative from cutting hip-to-hip, especially if it is just a small problem area

 

[Realgains]

hey RG ... why don't you suggest to Dr. to utilize navel for tucking for the 'master' group of BBs ... it would be nice to have an alternative from cutting hip-to-hip, especially if it is just a small problem area

Your are right there is am alternative to the big incision....its called a mini abdominalplasty and it's like a c-section incision.
It gets rid of the loose skin that one may have in the mid lower abdominal area and gets rid of the fat pocket there too. But if you have loose skin all over the abdominal area then the big incision is needed. Sometimes a mini plus some liposuction is all ones needs though.

RG

 

[BronzedGoddess]

RG- are you sure about the stretched skin issue. I didn't get any stretch marks on my tummy but 3 days after I had my son my tummy sagged very badly, it was down right nasty! But somehow it went back to normal. Since there was no tearing (stretch marks) that may have been what saved me.

 

[w84me]

good to know ... thanks RG

 

[Temple]

Flattening my lower abdomen out after childbirth only accentuated what I now call "hounddog skin". My stomach is completely flat but the skin from my waist down is noticeably loose, not so much visually but to the touch. I can easily slide it around by placing my fingertips there and moving my hand around. And the strechmarks....when in God's name do they fade? I'm wondering if the lady who mentioned that they fade in time is black cause my little girl will be 3 in early January and the stretch marks across the top of my ass are bold enough to serve as a landing strip for aircraft. I think a lighter skin tone is really helpful.

My biggest problem during pregancy was not fatgain but muscle loss. I think I dropped about 12-15 pounds of muscle and gained about 15 pounds of actual fat (not counting the baby, water weight, etc). The overall effect was to make me look really flabby.

My daughter is almost 9 and they have faded a good bit but they are still there....I am very pale BTW. Most of the fading has taken place in the last two years so it takes a long while.