I will be 15 months post partum at the end of this month. Crazy.
I received a question the other day off our Instagram account – asking me to share an update on my diastasis recti. Overall my DR is pretty much healed.
I am sharing my journey with you because I want to let other moms know that they are not alone in their journey. Having diastasis is hard emotionally, spiritually and physically. I’m sharing what my post partum belly looks like when my core is engaged and not engaged to show you that I am not perfect.
My belly doesn’t always look on point all the time. I have my days where my belly pooch shows more than others. And to me that’s okay. It’s not about being perfect but loving my body.
Diastasis recti healing journey. Can you close abdominal separation completely?
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Post-baby belly pooch – diastasis recti.
I hope my story helps you and inspires you to not give up. Remember everyone’s journey will be different. We all have different bodies and experienced different pregnancies.
What really helped me besides doing core work for closing the ab gap is being more mindful. When you have diastasis it is important to be mindful of your every day activities, not just with your workouts. How do you stand, sit and move throughout the day?
The journey to close your ab gap will be different for every mom. Some will be able to close it quickly while others might take a little big longer. But we ALL can SUPPORT one another while we all move towards the same goal –> to feel confident in our bodies, heal our ab gap, have no more back pain and be there for our families.
In the video you saw what my belly looks like when it is engaged and not engaged after months of closing diastasis. I am constantly being more aware of posture and alignment. Both are important in DR healing. I am not perfect.
But I don’t strive to be perfect. I strive to be a better version of myself than I was yesterday. I want to be there for my daughter and taking care of myself by focusing on healing my DR was an important act of self love.
I see my diastasis as a blessing. It taught me to truly look within to find strength. Beauty is more than having six-pack abs with no stretch marks. I am stronger now than I was before I got pregnant.
Try to focus on the good in your life, even with DR. When you see things from love you will begin to make choices based on love not hate…which will lead you to a road of recovery and transformation.
If I can get my 3+ gap under 2 fingers width so can you. Remember you are not alone. Thousands of moms do not even realize they have this and continue to do the wrong exercises to fix it. I will continue to share what has helped me so you can have success too.
Resources mentioned in the video:
3 exercises to start helping heal diastasis recti
How to stand and hold your baby
See more of my post partum journey here
xoxo
Lori
16 comments
Thank you for sharing this. Mark and I have been talking about having kids and I have to say that I’m on the fence about (biological) children because of some of the horrific things that can happen to your body — this is one that scares me. It’s good to see that with time, patience, and effort, you can bounce back.
Yes patience and time, and being a mom is worth it. xoxo
Honestly, this post is so upsetting to me. How is having this an emotionally hard experience? I don’t understand how not having a flat stomach can be so terrible? Please put this in perspective as others deal with serious illnesses or problems with their children and your complaining about your stomach???
Sarah I am sorry you feel this way. I am not complaining about my stomach. I am sharing my journey and experience with healing my diastasis. If you don’t have DR you don’t understand the emotions that come along with it. I talk to hundreds of ladies stories and their frustrations. Having DR is not easy, ask any lady that has it. I don’t worry too much about having a flat stomach I focus on having a strong core. There is a lot of misleading information shown on social media about post partum bellies and I wanted to share my journey to let other moms know that they are not alone and that I am not perfect.
Diastis Recti means that your stomach muscles have pulled apart and won’t go back together. This has shown to cause back pain and is linked to weak pelvic muscles. Some women have trouble controlling their bladder because of what you consider a mild stomach problem. I am emotionally distraught about mine for those reasons and for the fact that my intestines are pushing against my weak abdominal wall (I can feel as things pass through, gross!). Some of my fatty tissue has protruded through the wall causing me discomfort. I’m tired of people getting upset because other people are complaining about problems that are less severe. Everyone has issues; either support them or move on!
Thank you so much for sharing your journey. I’m so glad l came across your blog as like you said, a lot of people do not understand what you go through with having DR. I am currently 8 months post partum and my DR is almost healed. It has been a long and frustrating journey. For me the appearance of my sometimes poochy stomach did not bother me that much. It was more the fact that my DR prevented me from doing the things that l love such as running, interval training, heavy lifting and aerobics. But l know that eventually l will be able to get back into these things. I too feel like l will have a lot stronger core then pre pregnancy.
Im just praying that if im fortunate enough to have another child that my DR will not be as severe! Fingers crossed.
Keep up the good work. Your blog is great and very inspiring for someone with DR.
Brianna thank you for the sweet words. I feel the same way about DR preventing from things I like doing like HIIT training. I am slowly doing more but still not as intense as I used to do. And oh yes I am praying that if I get pregnant again my DR doesn’t get worse too. Thinking of you sweetie. xoxo
Hi, I came across your blog on Pintrest. Obviously, I’m a little late but I was wondering, why is it you can’t do regular exercise? (Ie; running, aerobics, interval training?
I am 3 years postpartum from having my twins and my DR is about a 4. I spin 1-2 times a week and run 3-4 times a week. I feel great! However, my “mommy pooch” (though has gone down quite a bit) is still around annoyingly enough but is now at 2 fingers. (Yay!)
Is vigorous exercise a no-no when you have DR? If so, how else does one stay in shape?
Signed,
Mommy of 3 and pooch!
When you workout hard does your stomach dome in the middle? Do you ever have pain when you workout?
Working out with DR is usually fine as long as you have good core strength and not peeing in your pants.
Diastasis recti is associated with a weak core (and pelvic floor), leading to a lack of strength and stability in the entire pelvic region and midsection. So if you don’t work on healing it you could potential get other issues like hernia and prolapse. Your alignment is really important in healing your diastasis. When you are in correct alignment and engaging your inner core muscles properly overtime your mummy tummy will decrease. With how intensely you are working out may or maybe not be what is holding your stomach back from getting healed from DR.
Strength training is a great way to stay in shape while you heal along with walking and interval training with minimal jumping (especially if you are peeing in your pants which is not normal). Once you get your separation less than 2 fingers – getting back into spinning and running will be fine.
Hi Lori, I did the DR test and I don’t have a gap below the belly button, I’m 1.5 fingers at the belly button and 0.5 fingers above – however I have a 45degree angle from my rib cage to the belly pooch and my pooch is very soft and round. How do I get the muscles to be flatter? I know the pooch is also due to diet, but I can’t seem to get the muscles to contract to straight, even though my DR is small. Please help!!
Hello!
My twins are three years old. I have being doing the exercises not constantly for the last year after I found out that I had the ab separation. Is there any hope that it will ever get fixed?
My gap is not that big but it does look like a bulge. I have already lost all the baby weight but I was 165lb which is considered overweight for 5’5”.
When I dont suck it in, my stomach looks like the muscles are loose.
Will it ever get closed?
Yes you can heal it. How deep is your gap? As that sometimes is more important than the width.
Thank you for making this blog. Very useful. My youngest is 2 yrs old now. I did not workout during and after my 2nd pregnancy and I definitely felt the difference in my daily movements. I ignored my body and now I’m 1 wk post op umbilical and inguinal hernia repair. Is it possible to repair abdominal muscles after 2 yrs postpartum? Obviously I still have to wait until I heal from my hernia repair.
Will it still work if baby was 20 yrs ago?
Yes you will be able to see some improvement all depending on where your core is at now. How deep is it? How strong are core and pelvic floor?
Hi, I read your blog through pinterest and i guess it’s alottt late. I’m 2 months postpartum with my 1st and i do have DR with a 2 finger gap, it’s bulging out and alot deep. Will walking help? Will my stomach ever flatten? This is quiet depressing looking at it.