Belly After Baby #2

So it's time for my usual after-baby belly update! I did this after I had Heidi and I still believe that it is important for me to share this part of post-partum recovery. Here we go!

BEFORE the before pictures:

4 weeks pregnant

(So I am seriously not a fan of the above picture but since it's the best side angle picture I have I'm posting it anyway...but to make myself feel better I'm posting another one....)

Aaaahh that's better (probably because my face isn't in it haha) but not 
the best angle for comparison. Okay I feel better now.

Fast forward 35/36 weeks...

2 days before delivering and feeling great!

15 minutes before my water broke...and less than 4 hours before that baby flew on out of there.
Here I am roughly 33ish lbs up from my pre-pregnancy weight.  

Now for the after pictures...

24 hours after giving birth. Down roughly 10 lbs. (8lb 6oz baby + placenta + fluid)
and about 23ish lbs. up from pre-pregnancy weight. (Plus sexy sexy mesh underwear
which seriously are actually the most comfortable things in the world!)

Side view. 

Front view - yikes!

6 Days After Delivery

Down 12 lbs. from the day I delivered, up about 31ish lbs. from pre pregnancy weight.  It's SO hilarious how absolutely tiny you feel after you deliver am I right ladies?? I guess you are compared to the day that an entire human being comes out from inside your body...Here is me thinking "oh damn I'm looking GOOD!!" with my 6 month pregnant looking belly haha.

10 Days After Delivery

Down 15 lbs. from delivery date weight and still up about 18ish lbs. from pre pregnancy weight...and still dealing with a weirdo husband  on a daily basis (although time is not gonna change THAT one...)

4 Weeks After Delivery

Down 20 lbs. from the day I delivered and up 13ish lbs. from pre-pregnancy weight.

Front view. One area that I notice has changed (really it changed after my first pregnancy) was the area right below my bra strap. I have always been able to feel my ribcage expanding and skin stretching right in that spot during pregnancies (whether it's numb and tingly like the first time or just painful like the second). This has resulted in some tiny rolls of extra fat and skin. I think it went away after my first pregnancy but now I'm not actually sure on that. When I bend over it looks like CRAZY old lady front saddlebags haha. When standing the downwards pressure from my bra makes it fold up a bit. I'll have to make a note to see how/if this changes over time. You can also see this effect some in the previous picture as well.

Front view closeup. Linea Nigra still hangin on too! 

6 Weeks After Delivery

Down 20 lbs. from delivery date weight and up 13 - so not much has changed
on the scale between 4 weeks pp and 6 weeks pp...

Front view.

8 Weeks After Delivery

2 weeks later, still down 20 lbs. and up 13 lbs...so literally nothing has
changed on the scale in the last 4 weeks...but it does seem that things look slightly tighter.

Also not quite sure why I decided to not wear a shirt at all for this round of pictures... meh oh
well. You guys have already seen pretty much all of me at my worst anyway!

Front view. I feel like by 8 weeks pp I am starting to look much more like "myself", although not entirely yet.
For my body personally, this is still looking a little fluffy in the middle (and backside ;) - not pictured hehe). 

4 Months + 1 Week After Delivery

Down 29 lbs. from delivery date weight and up about 4 lbs. from pre-pregnancy weight. Not CRAZY different from the initial "we're pregnant" picture, but still a little work to do (once I decide to stop being so lazy and eating so much garbage). 

(Ignore the creases from my shorts!)

At this point (4 months and 1 week post partum) I feel like I am looking pretty similar to my pre-Wells self but I still have a little bit of work to do. The scale says I only have a few pounds left, but I can tell that the composition of weight IS different (more fat than muscle than I was prior to baby #2.) I know this because things are not quite as tight muscle-wise and my thighs/butt are still fitting very snugly into pre-pregnancy pants/jeans/shorts... "fitting" is probably a generous word ;). (With both pregnancies, that seems to be where the most poundage packs on - thighs and the backside.) It is so very important to me to honor and respect my body for what it has just done - constructing, growing, birthing and sustaining another life! Going crazy with the working out, dieting, cutting calories etc. is not something I do (or will ever do) immediately after giving birth and I have promised to give myself some grace and let by body recover naturally for a while. Breastfeeding is such a priority for me as well that I would never do anything to risk my supply. 

I really feel as though my body typically hits a pretty serious plateau at about 4 weeks after I deliver. After that it comes off much slower, although it DOES still come off on it's own naturally. I haven't done anything crazy other than been on a handful of runs. (Houston in the summer = only a few runs per month if that!) No diets or crazy exercise regimens. Once my body gets to this point, I think "okay I can work with this". As long as I can be patient enough to actually get to that point, I am totally okay with the pace of how things happen and change.

I have said this before but I will say it again - recovery this time around has been such a dream. While things might look about the same to an outsider when comparing this recovery to my previous one, it FEELS so different. The prayer, preparation and faith in our Lord has absolutely carried over from our birth experience into the post-partum/recovery experience. He is truly amazing in the way that He hears our hearts, answers prayers and reveals to us HIS goodness. This is the God that I love and serve. If you don't have a relationship with Him yet, I highly encourage you to seek Him out and challenge Him to change your life in drastic and radical ways - because without a doubt He will! For us, He has done things and worked in ways that man has declared impossible.