Let's Get Physical

Well, today is the day. It's my "6 week appointment" at my OB, but technically I have been UNPREGNANT for 8 weeks. Yes, it's been two months! Time is really flying! Two months after Gisele Bundchen gave birth to her magical and perfect baby she looked like this:

I, on the other hand, look more like this:

With 20 pounds left to lose I'm crossing my fingers that my doctor will give me the go-ahead for a rigorous exercise regime. This is the point where I'm extremely jealous of those women who have given birth in the "normal" way. Although I can only imagine the pain and agony you women feel as the baby is crowning (GOOD LORD!), once it's out, you get a couple of stitches, sit in a sitz bath for a week, and you're basically good to go. I know, I know...I'm sure it's worse than I'm making it out to be...but let me wallow in my own self-pity please. With a c-section, it's not that easy...Because I've essentially been severed in half I have to worry about doing damage to my already broken tummy. That's why it's so important to let my belly heal for the entire 6 (or 8 in my case) weeks.

Before a post-natal woman begins to exercise, she must be sure to check if she has diastasis of the rectus abdominis, which is a separation of the main abdominal muscle. Apparently as a pregnant woman gets bigger and bigger, it puts stress on the abdominal wall and if that wall is weak already (as was my case as I had a previous pregnancy and did ZERO exercise afterwards), the uterus can push those muscles further and further apart. On the left is a sketch of diastasis of the belly, on the right is what it is supposed to look like...

Originally, I thought it was pointless to exercise and get back into shape after my first was born. I knew I wanted to have another kid, so it seemed futile to do all that work only to balloon again. Looks like I was VERY wrong! I obviously would've been well ahead of the game if I'd just done some crunches...Anyway, I've been trying to figure out if I have this ailment...but I'm not 100% sure how to check. The internet explains that one is to lie on their back with their knees up, feet flat on the floor. Take one hand and place it on your abdomen, pointing fingers towards the toes, and lift head up while contracting the stomach muscles. If you can fit 3 or more fingers in the space between the two sides, you're in trouble...BUT you have to know what you're feeling for...and I don't (or maybe the space between my two sides is just SO big my hand is getting lost in there!!!)

The reason it's important to figure out if I have diastasis is because one really shouldn't be doing abdominal exercises IF this condition exists. Apparently you have to close up that space before you can do any other abdominal work, or you may risk doing MAJOR damage to those muscles. EEEEEEK! Well, Gisele, the photos don't lie. You obviously didn't suffer from this problem! But the reality is that most women aren't Gisele and more women are like me...right??? Just say yes to make me feel a little bit better, okay? So what happens if a woman does eat the entire Loblaws bakery section for 9 1/2 months and their belly gets a little bigger than they wanted it to? How would one remedy this?

The web does give a couple of exercise ideas to strengthen those transverse abdominal muscles, including planks, back extensions, and the ever exciting (read- disgusting) STOMACH VACUUM!

If those don't work, it's a trip to the physiotherapist to get one's belly in order.

I guess I'll just have to wait and see what the doc says today. Maybe I'll have a stroke of good luck and get the thumbs up so that I can sign myself up for the ass-pummeling cardio kickboxing class..but maybe I'll be looking into sucking it up and sucking it in to get these muscles together before I do anything else.