saggy baggy boobs & tum - when will i get my old body back?

OMG It has been 10wks since i had my little precious via CS and I have only just realised how revolting i look naked! At first i didnt have the time or energy to care, especially with bubs in NICU, and with a few hospital admissions since. But, i am planning on returning to work in 4 weeks and realise that none of my pre-preg clothes fit and I have a horrid muffin top in EVERYTHING! I didn't gain excessive weight in my pregnancy - maybe 12kg, and i have lost about 7 of that. That said, i was a little chubbier than normal before i got pregnant (comfort food cos we were having trouble falling pregnant!). My BMI is currently just on the brink of ideal/overweight and i feel awful.

What is a realistic timeframe to expect to get my tummy back to a less saggy appearance ie all tigthened up. It's not like i want to sport a bikini or anything, but i can't handle the bulging tummy. It is bad enough that i am covered in stretch marks (particularly my boobs since weaning bubs to bottle in the last 2 weeks). My boobs feel like they touch my tummy.. i swear they have shrunk to half the size they were pre-pregnancy (which wasn't very big at all).. and now they are saggy as anything.

As if that isnt bad enough, my hubby has been down on himself since being retrenched from work 6 months ago... he got depressed and has lost his sex drive due to stress etc, so intimacy wasnt a big feature during my pregnancy. And TBH we have only been intimate once since bubs was born. I've tried raising the issue with him, but he gets defensive and sometimes i wonder if he would be more interested if my body was a little more enticing.

not to mention the fact that my gorgeous little girl is a terrible feeder, failing to thrive and in and out of hospital at the whim of our paediatrician because she refuses to eat. She is FINALLY gaining some weight now, so fingers crossed she'll improve, but this makes my day to day life very stressful as feed times are a constant battle to get milk into her. My antidepressant meds have been increased, i am doing some exercise (don't laugh) on the wii.. about 2 x 30min sessions each day (i only started a couple of days ago) - mostly aerobic exercises, but also some muscle workouts.

i just feel like things are never going to go back to somewhere near normal for me.

It took me 6 months + to start firming up. Excercise like walking and pilates is good for toning tummy!

:hug: I think you'd be better to yourself if you buy some cheap clothes that you can wear to work in the meantime, than trying to squeeze back into your old ones. It would be more upsetting to have the muffin top spilling out of a 10 than to wear a 12 IMO.

Even if you lose weight, your shape can change and they may not fit you right again anyway. I found that to be the case for me, because even though I weighed less 12 mths later then before I got PG my hips and ribs had been pushed out so my size was different ;)

yep, what raven said!
Its a little over a year now for me, I still have that little "shelf" above mt c section cut, but my body shape has changed, its slowly getting better :)
TBH I couldnt bear to look at my belly afterwards at first, it looked like a battle ground! angry red stretch marks, sagging, baggy skin, no muscle tone....:o
but now, the srtch marks have faded, the tone is coming back (I havent really put in alot effort there either!) my scar is fading, yes its still a bit saggy, but it just keeps getting better, im sure if I actually put some effort in, it would get better sooner too.
someone else once posted in athread similar to this about the body being a battle zone, but the battle was fought and won by YOU, those stretch marks etc, are your badges of honour to yourslef that you carried and nurtured your baby for as long as you did. nice way of looking at it I think.
I weigh less now then pre preg, but my clothes all fit differently, I have invested in a pair of "gut buster" undies, just to make myself feel better when I go out, more than anything.
Keep going with your exercise, these things didnt happen overnight, they wont get better overnight either. Good luck!:)

hi
same here... I feel aweful...
but as I read somewhere... it took 9 months for my body to get ready to deliver a wonderful baby, it can't take few weeks to be back to normal...
so I am waiting, trying to exercise (not diet yet) and hope for the best
as for working clothes, I will have to see what fits the week before going back and if nothing does, buy some new ones
good luck

Hi

I had a great Dr who once told me it takes a minimum of 12 months for your body to return to normal - longer after subsequent babies. My little sister who is a size 6-8 was horrified to discover although she weighs less than pre-pregnancy weight, her rib cage had increased in size. It takes time to rearrange your body back into position.

Keep up the exercise but try to have realistic goals when it comes to your body image. You have been under a lot of stress and this takes its toll also.

All the best!

PS - I looooovvveee my wii!! It can definately give a decent workout. Especially as it can be done whilst bub is asleep.