Postpartum BELLY!

Postpartum body: one of the things I was MOST curious about prior to getting pregnant/giving birth!  What does an after-baby belly LOOK like???  How does recovery work?  How HARD is it really to get back down to pre-pregnancy weight?  How different IS your body after having a baby?? Well, if you were wondering about these things too, I am here to help you out!  When I found out I was pregnant, I truly thought that I would be able to control how much weight I gained.  "I will work out and eat healthy and be one of those people who only gains 25 pounds!"  HAH.  Good one Stephanie.... I ended up gaining OVER 40 pounds.  40 POUNDS!  (I say over 40 pounds because my starting weight is a little fuzzy.  It really varied by 5 - 6 lbs. depending on the day, so I don't have an EXACT starting number.)  I was even still running consistently up until I was 38 weeks pregnant.  (I am clearly not the one in control here - and He needed to show me that!)  I truly believe that how much weight we gain during pregnancy is 99% out of our control.  I mean, don't go crazy and eat 17 donuts and 5 Big Macs every day or anything, but I believe that our bodies know what it takes to support a tiny little life and we don't really have a say about that.  (Perhaps some of that is genetic as well - my mom gained over 40 lbs. with both my sister and I and shes tiny!!)  With all of that being said...Let's take a little picture journey together!  

Let's start off with some of the BEFORE the before pictures, shall we?

4 weeks pregnant!

9 weeks pregnant.

9 weeks pregnant... pretty much looking what is my "normal", although I remember thinking I was already showing a little pregnancy-bloating when I took this picture. 

Fast forward 30 weeks or so...

Front view, taken 5 days prior to giving birth.

Taken 2 days before I gave birth...yikes!

This photo was taken while I was in labor, between contractions.
So this is me + 7 lb. 12 oz. Heidi and 35 some odd extra pounds.

And now for the after pictures...

Taken in the hospital, approx. 36 hours after giving birth.
I hope you are loving my sexy sexy disposable hospital underwear as well.

Side view.  What a freaky shape!

Front view of my gross deflated belly button.  Looks like the end of a tied off balloon.  Yuck!

In the above pictures, I was 12.5 pounds down from what I weighed the day I delivered (36 hours prior), and still around 30ish pounds heavier than my pre-pregnancy weight. One week later... 

7 Days After Delivery

7 days after giving birth.  25.5 lbs. down from delivery date weight and around 15ish pounds or so away from pre-pregnancy weight.

Side view.

Front view... still gross belly button.

This picture was taken the very next day... (8 days after delivery).
SO crazy how it naturally shrinks so much every day!  Thank you boobs for burning so many calories for me!

14 Days After Delivery

14 days after giving birth.  28.5 lbs. down from delivery date weight and around 12ish pounds or so away from pre-pregnancy weight 

Front view.

Things really seemed to level off after the first 2 weeks.  After those first 14 days, I MAYBE lost about a pound a week for the next couple of weeks.

4 Weeks After Delivery (No picture)

- 29.5 lbs. down from delivery date and 10 or 12 lbs. away from pre-pregnancy weight.

6 Weeks After Delivery

6 weeks after giving birth - 30.5 lbs. down from delivery date and 10ish lbs. away from pre-pregnancy weight.

Front view.  (Linea nigra is starting to disappear!  I am honestly a LITTLE sad about it... one of the last physical signs that there was at one point a baby in me.)

12 Weeks After Delivery

12 weeks after giving birth - 33.5 lbs. down from delivery date and less than 10 lbs. away from pre-pregnancy weight.

Front view.

So there you have it!  12 weeks of recovery, because that's truly what it is!  Things seem to have slowed way down and leveled off at the weight I am currently at.  While I still have a little bit of work to do, I sincerely hope that staying fit throughout my pregnancy has helped me to "bounce back" easier.  Since getting the all-clear from my doctor at 6 weeks postpartum, I have gone on 4 runs and done a little bit of yoga.  So probably 99% of my progress has been ALL mother nature (and breastfeeding WOO!)  I would like to start eating less and working out more, but I won't even consider this until I am done breastfeeding.  I don't want to do anything to mess with my supply!  However, I will start training for another half-marathon in September (about a month from now) and I will need to increase the number of calories I am consuming even MORE!  ("Would you like whipped cream on your mocha?"  "Yes, please!")

I am so grateful to God that HE has allowed me to maintain an active lifestyle throughout pregnancy and beyond.  I have even MORE respect for my body after seeing everything that it has gone through and watching this amazing recovery process.  Praise be to God for blessing women with such an incredible GIFT - the ability to grow and birth babies into this world.  Our bodies are INCREDIBLE!!  And it is more important to me than ever to thank HIM for this by taking care of myself and continuing to live a healthy lifestyle (which might include just a little bit of chocolate too)!