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Monday, January 21, 2013
Mommy Battle Wounds and Growing Taller
Several weeks ago, I was on my back doing some crunches, when I discovered that there was a huge gap in between my left and right abdominal muscles. And by huge, I mean a full three finger gap. I thought this was so odd, and so I started doing a few more ab exercises each day.
I have three kids ages 5, 3, and 1.5. They were all born via csection. After the first two kiddos, I got my body back pretty quickly. It was easier to work out, but my body just quickly resumed it's shape. Baby #3 has been a whole different story. I still have a small "preggo belly". Most of this has had to do with the fact that I have not been able to exercise with three kids as easily as with two kids.
I stumbled upon this article today via the lovely Pinterest this morning. It had to with a condition that as many as 1 in 3 moms can get called Diastasis Recti. C-Section moms are even more prone to getting it. You know what it is? It's a separation in your abs! I was so dumbfounded that this was a real thing, that other moms have dealt with it, and that traditional ab exercises can actually make it worse (ah, finally some clarity as to why all those ab exercises have done nothing!). The "pooch" won't go away unless you take care of it. There are various other ab exercises you can do to help heal the muscles and put them back in their regular position. The article details some exercises to try. And trust me, I will definitely be doing them!
This reminded me that there are so many "scars" that we as moms get when we have our babies. Some things we can fix, like our ab muscles, others leave a lasting impression, like a csection scar or stretch marks. We can moan and groan about them, or we can accept them proudly, do our best to heal what we can, and remember the greatness that came from those scars...our babies.
I really don't want this semi-pregnant belly sticking around any longer (unless there's actually a baby in there, then I'd be more than happy)!
Head over HERE to check out the article if you think you may have this issue, too.
On another note, during my health screening this morning for life insurance I found out that I've grown and inch and a half! I'm now apparently 5'5". She checked twice. I'm going to go hunt down a few tape measures today to recheck it. She said doing yoga or pilates type stuff can do that...um, weird!
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It's been too long since I have checked in over here friend. What a crazy thing this ab gap, but I'm sure those new exercises will do the trick. It's funny, but after having Solomon was when I really stopped having body image issues for real, because I was so thankful for what my body was able to do. It truly is amazing that we come back to being normal human beings after the science experiment called pregnancy occurs.
ReplyDeleteAnd WOW!! 5'5 that is totally awesome! Hmm... I've been doing yoga for years and I don't think I have gotten any taller. No fair! Miss you friend.
It really is crazy that God made our bodies so amazingly! We grow humans! Seriously. Miss you, too, Noel!
DeleteWhat's really weird is I just watched a tv spot on this same thing. I don't know if I have it. I think I am just chubby. The end.
ReplyDeleteAlso. The Chiro made me grow. I am now 5'7. Yah!!