Bouncing back after baby

So its been 7 weeks – bouncing back after each baby has been a different experience.

The first recovery post baby was by far the easiest – to get back to the weight and physique that I had prepregnancy – being in my early to mid 20s didn’t hurt either.

The second recovery post baby -a little tougher – I found out about having a diastasis at the end of my pregnancy and didn’t know what I could do about it.  The weight and physique took a little longer to get back together but not horrible.

The third recovery post baby – a little tougher still in some ways.  It took me 11 weeks to get my diastasis totally together and get to a 27 inch waist with doing 10 sets of 100 of Seated Tuplers   everyday.  It took me 5 to 7 more months to get back to a 25 1/2 inch waist.  Getting back to my previous weight took me about 3 months of being very diligent and selective about what I ate.  It was not fun.

The fourth recovery post baby – has been easier in some ways surprisingly and in some ways – tougher.  There are pelvic floor issues not had so much with the other kids.  I had to invest in a gyneflex (www.gyneflex.com) after a somewhat crazy labor that messed things up – ligament laxity is shot, things are “hanging low.”

The diastasis is back together (after doing hardcore 10 sets of 100 Seater Tuplers each day) and the weight is back at 7 weeks, which has been interesting for me to document (keep in mind I am 5’2) :

2 Days after birth:

hips 37
waist 34
weight 125
diastasis 3 fingerwidths 3 inches gap above the bellybutton
             4 fingerwidths gap AT the bellybutton
             3 fingerwidths gap 3 inches below the bellybutton

3 Days after birth

hips 36 1/2
waist 32
weight 122

5 days after birth

wasit 29 1/2

7 days after birth

hips 36
waist 31
weight 120

12 days after birth

hips 35 1/2
wasit 28 1/2 – 29
weight 118

1 month after birth

hips 35 1/2
waist 28
weight 116

1 month 2 days

hips 35
waist 27 – 271/2
weight 115

1 month  4 days after birth

waist 27
DIASTASIS CLOSED

7 weeks after birth

waist 26 1/2 – 27
weight 114

So – now that I have posted this progress for the whole world to see (!) a couple of notes of interest.  It was MUCH quicker to bring the diastasis back together this time. I believe this is because I did them through the pregnancy, and splinted the whole pregnancy – so there was a great mind body connection.
I wore the Diastasis Rehab Splint more consistantly that I did after #3 and did 10 sets of 100 Seated Tuplers, MOSTLY avoided the 5 whites (white sugar, white flour, white pasta, white potatoes and white rice) while having  2 cheats now and then – cheesecake and DARK chocolate (lower glycemic).

If I get lazy about my sets I can tell my abs and waist don’t feel and look as good.  The rule of thumb I tell people is do the hard core 10 sets of 100 seated tuplers (or between 5 and 10 sets) until your diastasis is together and until you are the waist size you want to be.  For me I have an inch to go – but its the hardest to fight for!  So while my skin to me still looks a little like a deflated balloon – its getting there.  There is still a bit of extra skin, and the abs are MOSTLY flat – though still a small little “blip” that I notice – its a work in progress.

But can I just say how GLAD I am to have the Tupler Technique

® as one of the PRIME tools of returning my body to how it was prepregnancy!!!!!!  Spread the word people!

6 comments on “Bouncing back after baby

  1. AnGèLe on

    Way to go mama!! You rock! I am 5’2 as well.. You said to do the Tuplers until you are the waist you want to be.. so that means if I no longer have a diastasis and continue to do the seated tuplers, my waist will still continue to get smaller? If your answer is yes.. Insert me kissing you right now!!! 😀 lol

    PS: We need pics of your awesome progress! 😉

    Reply
  2. Phyllis on

    Wow! My baby (also fourth) is a few weeks older than yours, and I’ve had a much harder time bouncing back this time.

    I recently bought the “Mummy Tummy” book, and I found your blog by searching for more help with it. Maybe this is a silly question, but for the contractions exercise, it says to count aloud as you do the exercise. Count what? How long?

    Reply
  3. Bonnie Wayne on

    Hi Phyllis!

    Good question. Each time your bring your transverse back to the 5th floor you count aloud “1” then as you release to the 3rd floor you take in air through your nose (that is 1 contraction).

    Then as you bring your belly (transverse) back to the 5th floor you count “two” (which is your exhale – the counting aloud) and then you slowly release to the 3rd floor as you take in air through the nose. (this is another contraction).

    So on and so forth until you do 100 contractions, which is 1 set. You do 5 sets of 100 contractions per day at least 🙂

    Reply
  4. parky23 on

    My belly at 8 months after #3 is a little lop sided. Almost like celllite bulg on one side or something. Will the exercises help this? I’ve been using cellulite creams but with no results. Also, when I do the sitting exercises the only muscle I can feel working are the 2 on the ourside that are actually very strong and bulge out when doing exercises form just under your ribs on my sides to down inside my hip bones. My stomach actually seems to be getting worse. Am I doing it wrong and how can I tell? By the way you look AMAZING! for a mom or not. I’d never guess you had kids!!!

    Reply
  5. Bonnie Wayne on

    HI parky 23!

    I might suggest a training session with me via Skype or train with someone if they are near you. If you email me your location – bonniewayne1177@hotmail.com than I can point you in the right direction.
    Are you splinting? Do you have a hernia? Where did you learn the exercises from ? Are you doing other exercises at the same time – yoga, pilates, crunches, kickboxing?

    In other words – I want to give you a concrete answer, but we have to delve deeper!

    Reply

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