excessive bloating or post partum potbelly

Hi Audrey

A belated welcome to Wholewoman. I just had a look at your other posts. How is gaping introitus now? Getting smaller?

I am also interested in this sheet exercise that the physio gave you. Can you describe it please? How is the diastasis now? Raising your chest and ensuring that you have plenty of lumbar curve will will stretch out your rectus abdominus muscle and pull the two halves tight and in to the midline, just like holding a big fat lacky band loosely by both ends, then pulling your two hands further apart and stretching it out a bit longer. Once you can get them slightly stretched by your new posture you will be exercising them with every step you take and every breath you take, and they will get strong by themselves, and they will slowly edge their way back to the midline and the diastasis will close over.

Breathing deep into your belly using your diaphragm, rather than the muscles between your ribs will also help to stretch out the rectus abdominus muscles by distending your belly each time you inhale. You might find that you can then relax your shoulders a bit more, and get your upper spine extended more.

The cumulative effect of all these factors will be that your chest will move out and your tummy will be longer and thinner, and not stick out so much. Your tummy muscles will then get stronger and be able to support your abdomen better.

I suggest that you buy a copy of Saving the Wholewoman to understand the anatomy behind all this, and why it works. Get yourself to Albuquerque and see Christine if you can. Most personal trainers' eyes will just glaze over if you start talking about POP, cos exercise is only one of the factors in managing it, and most personal trainers are not aware enough of POP to even understand it, let alone be able to give you exercises that will really help you to address it. There is a great ballet workout in Saving the Whole Woman by Christine Kent, and another more recent workout in the First Aid for Prolapse DVD. Also check out the FAQ's on the main website. Link from the banner at the top of the page.

At 10mo pp you will still be getting lots of pp improvement, and will do so for another year or so, even if you do nothing. However, you can help it along with posture, appropriate excercise, good food and the way you use your environment and how you wear your clothes.

BTW, some types of contraceptive pill can make you bloated. You might like to explore the possibility of changing the type, particularly if the one you are taking currently was chosen for its ability to 'fix' POP (for which it has, of course, failed dismally). I would go to a women's health clinic where you can get some help from a doctor who is familiar with all the different types of Pill, and can prescribe appropriately.

See ya.

Louise

hi there
my belly was never quite the same after I had my first baby. but back then I was happily tucking my bum. I developed a diastisis while pg with my second, all the ab work didn't do that much for it.
when I started the WW posture it got a bit better, and then alemama shared nauli with us and that made a HUGE difference. my mw couldn't believe it, there was essentially no separation anymore. and no diastisis during this last pg either. pretty cool.
the thing with this posture is that yes, your belly will be more prominent than you are accustomed to. but it doesn't have to be floppy, when pulled up tall in the WW posture the abdominals are taut, no floppy belly. and I tell ya, nauli is amazing. my abs are toning up really quickly after this baby, now that I'm doing nauli regularly (I'm about 10 weeks pp)

I too still have a fat belly, and I'm 16 months pp. I was tucking my tail bone under, and sucking in my tummy, and yes, I thought I looked pretty good. Until I discovered my urethra and bowel poking out my vagina, not such a good look! I'm also having a hard time getting used to how my tummy looks in the WW posture, and I think it makes me look pregnant too. I've only ever worn loose flowing clothes when i was pregnant, so I think that doesn't help me feel any more attractive either.

BUT, I think that after we have been doing the posture, firebreathing etc for a while it helps to tone up your tummy so it doesn't flop about so much. I've also decided that I'll just have to lose some weight and that should help. But really, if the choice is looking a bit fat or having my POPs worsen, I'll go with the first. And, we have had babies, so try to treat your mummytummy as a badge of honour, your body is just reflecting what it has been through. I think of all the women in the world who would love to have kids but can't, and how much they would relish a mummytummy and it makes me realise how lucky I really am.

Hi Cararosemum

It is so nice to read that you are thinking like this! It really is a head shift that we all need to make!

You don't have to wear loose flowing clothes. I wear bias cut or fitted knit skirts, or wide trousers, all with elastic waists (can't do low ride!) and any sort of top that will come down to cover my butt, fitted or loose, or just loose at the bottom.

I have always had a bit of a tummy since puberty. It used to annoy the hell out of me as a teenager that I went out below the belly button, and trousers and skirts were never the right shape for me, either riding up if the waist was right, or having a baggy waist if they fitted me just below the waist. The discovery of elastic waists and stretchy fabrics was heaven. I still cannot buy trousers that fit my body, so I make skirts out of knit ribbing and put an elastic casing in the top.

When I look at my belly in profile it is about the same as when I was a girl, just going out a little below the belly button and curving gently, ending up almost horizontal, just above the pubic area. It has sagged a bit since the birth of our second baby, and I suspect will sag a bit more, now I have reached menopause. You cannot escape gravity. But the good thing is that I cannot see it, and neither can anybody else under a longish top that does not hug my body, so I don't have to worry about it as long as I don't check out my appearance in shop windows!

If I do not judge myself and do not give others the chance to visually judge my body, then my body is safe. I know it is OK, and that is all that really matters. Another head adjustment you can make is to cease to judge the bodies of others, particularly women. When you cease to be judgemental about the appearance of others' bodies, it is easy to cease being unnecessarily judgemental about your own body, and get to love it and nurture it like it is another child.

Cheers

Louise

Can this be diet- related? I am a skinny type (5'5" and barely 115 lbs), but tend to have a round-bloaty belly (I had 3 babies after all! lol). Since we went grain and sugar free, all the bloating went away, all I have is a nice curve in the front.

Audrey, I think you are right about the sheet exercise, though having two wads of sheet under your lumbar region would maintain the lumbar curve somewhat, so it might not be as bad as doing these mini-crunches without the sheet. I think you will find that there are more effective ways of strengthening the abs, that are supportive of your spine shape. Leg raises from a standing position come to mind but I think the whole body approach of the WW workout is much more sensible. That way you strengthen a lot of muscles at the same time, and you do it from a position that they are meant to operate in, ie with gravity acting in the normal direction. Walking in WW posture will give your abs a great workout!

I wish you all the best as you untangle all the different factors. It can be very confusing when people who know their field well tell you to do the opposite to each other, for different reasons. I am sure you will get there eventually, but at least now you know some of the more likely places to start your detective work.

Cheers

Louise