Today I am sharing with you that I am glad that I started to research how to get rid of my mommy tummy. Because like most women and moms out there I have the tendency to compare myself to other moms who have had kids - and their tummys have gone right back even to the point of being comfortable in a bikini - I look at my forever 4 month pregnant-looking tummy and think no way - no how!! So after researching on pinterest and google - I have come to find that I actually have a condition that a lot of moms have after giving birth to multiple children in a short amount of time.
I have diastasis recti - which is "A diastasis recti is a separation of your outer most abdominal muscles. The job of these muscles (called rectus abdominis), is to support your back and your organs." -definition and photo courtesy of this website
How do you know if you have a diastasis?
If you have a protruding (pregnant looking) belly OR your belly button is an outie OR you have a half football (alien like) bulge when you lift your shoulders off the ground, you most definitely have a diastasis! An umbilical hernia is a side effect of a diastasis recti.
So you are probably thinking ok - so what. The more I read and watch online videos of exercises to correct and repair this issue I realize it can have some long term major issues down the road like back pain and hernia as well as digestive issues. So its not just about getting rid of the forever mommy tummy its about getting my alignment and my core abdominal muscles working properly again so something else major doesn't happen. Given my history during pregnancy and delivery - ask me sometime if you don't know what I am talking about - I feel this is important for me to correct for multiple reasons!
The website above has a test that you can do to see whether you have this issue. I did the test and I have a pretty severe case of this. I have a lot of repairing to do.
So after lots of late nights not being able to sleep I have been researching different ways to repair this. I found a 10 minute workout video that I will start doing each night before bed. As well as wearing a medical rehab splint as recommended. I will be taking before, during, & after pics which I most likely won't post til I see some progress. My goal is to repair this before the end of the summer - before the girls and myself have to go back home without my husband. Because I know I most likely won't get time to do this much after then. I am encouraged by testimonies on other websites for women who claimed they had a severe case as well after multiple children - and doing the recommended core strengthening exercises (not crunches - no sit-ups they make it worse!!) - they have repaired their connective tissue and closed the gap that caused their tummy bulge!!!
I am very motivated by these success stories and I pray that I can be consistent as I do not want to have any issues down the road that would prevent me from taking care of my kids due to back pain or worse a hernia!
So if you think you might have this issue its not too late to repair the tissue between your abs to flatten your tummy. Join me in this and do the research and test for yourself. I will also be contacting my doctor to make sure that I am officially diagnosed with this issue but its very clear based on the test that I have it. Stay tuned for updates as I go through this journey!
