The Long Overdue "Mummy Tummy" Update

It was May 2011 when I originally blogged about my frustrations with my "mummy tummy."  It is now almost eight months later, and I'm finally updating everyone on my progress.  I confess that part of the reason that I haven't posted on this subject until now is that I was so discouraged. I originally thought, "I'll make a plan! I'll stick to my plan! And in six weeks the results will be amazing and everyone will be encouraged and I'll be skinny again! Hooray!!"  And then six weeks passed... and another six weeks... and a few more months... and my stomach still protruded to what I felt was an embarrassing level.

As I mentioned eight months ago, I didn't just have too much fat on my stomach. I suffered from diastasis recti, which is a separation of abdominal muscles, causing internal organs to not be supported, causing a bulging stomach and protruding belly button (cute when you're pregnant, not cute when you're not.)

Although it took much longer than I anticipated (Denver is now almost 17 months old), I am happy to announce that my mummy tummy is almost completely gone! It has certainly taken a lot of hard work and dedication (Yes I did borrow that line from Dolvett on the Biggest Loser), but it's been worth it.

May 27, 2011

January 23, 2012 

(8 months later)

The little tummy that you see left in the above picture is mostly excess skin (TMI? sorry). It's possible that with time, that skin will tighten, but it's also very possible that it won't. As of now, I'm planning to never wear a two-piece again, and I'm pretty okay with that. I'd take Denver over a bikini any day. :)

For those that are interested, here's what I did to lose the tummy:

1. I went to physical therapy every week for 8 weeks, learning new exercises and helping to retrain my muscles.

2. I wore an abdominal splint (and still sometimes do) as often as I can remember to wear it.

3. I do "tupler technique" exercises multiple times a day. Like usually every time I drive, or whenever I'm sitting on the floor playing with Denver, or any time really. I try to do six sets of 100 exercises every day. Yes, that's a lot. But hopefully that gives you an idea of how important this was to me. I reeeeeally didn't want to look pregnant any more, and my lower back needed more support.

My main point of this post is to encourage anyone who is in a similar circumstance. When I look at my blog stats, I notice that other than Austin's post about Denver's birth, my Mummy Tummy post is my other most popular entry. Which makes me think there are other women out there with a similar story.

If you have diastasis recti, and you're feeling frustrated, feel free to email me and I can give you more info on everything I did: caitlinmariehines@gmail.com.

And in the mean time, please know that if you keep up with the right exercises, your muscles can be retrained, and you won't always look 4 months pregnant! :)

My Mummy Tummy

Please don't let the title of this post confuse you. I do not think I'm fat. Quite the opposite really. I currently weigh eight pounds less than my pre-pregnancy weight. I'm probably in the best shape of my life. So why does my stomach still look like this?

Answer? Diastatis Recti. This is when the outermost abdominal muscles separate, causing a protruding belly and belly button, as well as back pain.

My chiropractor described it to me like this: there is a line all the way down the middle of my stomach where the muscles have separated. No matter how many crunches or ab exercises I do, the muscles won't just "go back together." My mummy tummy will remain FOREVER. Or not. I just have to do a very specific set of exercises and wear a special splint, and after some time, the muscles will eventually form back together, and I'll feel like a new woman. At least that's the goal.

After Denver was born, my midwife told me that I had diastasis recti. She said I would need to do some physical therapy and probably wear the splint. A combination of pride and ignorance made me pretty much ignore the advice. "I'm a hard worker," I thought. "I'll just work really hard, eat healthy foods, do some exercises, and this tummy will eventually go away." It turns out I was doing more harm than good. As I did more crunches, the separation actually grew. As the rest of my body shrank, my stomach was getting bigger! ARGG!!

So I have conceded defeat, and now I am willing to admit I need help. I will be following the Tupler Technique, which is a four step program to heal diastasis recti:

1. Tupler Technique® Exercises (Elevator, Contracting & Headlifts)
2. Splinting with the Diastasis Rehab Splint™
3. Using your abdominals correctly with activities of daily living
4. Getting up and down correctly

I have ordered the splint, and it should arrive in the mail any day now. I will be wearing it 24/7. I will also be doing her exercises five times a day (at least that's the goal).

I will update pictures of my belly every once in a while so that you can keep up with my progress. My goal is that by the end of the summer, I will no longer have the diastasis, which will hopefully help with some of my aches and pains.

Here we go...