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That's not a fair comparison. The Olympic marathoners have probably always run including while pregnant up to a point and then started back after pregnancy. If you didn't always run before kids and then started running after you probably won't have 6 pack abs. Also what regular person has time to put in the miles/workouts that they put in to compete in the Olympics with kids and jobs etc...for the olympians that is their job.
OP - I had my 1st at 32 and my 2nd at 33. Having them back to back like that didn't help, but I'm working on it.
Not only that, but unless we're seeing them up close and completely naked, we really don't know there are no residual "scars" from childbirth. I know a lot of moms with all different body types at all different fitness levels, and every single one will cop to having something different about their post-baby body... we're just really good at camouflaging what we feel self conscious about. Just a couple of weeks ago, a friend of was beating herself up over stretch marks and how you could never tell I had kids... and then I showed her my stretch marks, which I affectionately refer to as my New Jersey Roapmap, lol.
Truth is, it took me a long time to feel comfortable in my own skin again. Literally. Because I was too hung up on comparing myself to professional models, elite athletes, and/or women who have had plastic surgery. I'm okay with the fact that, unless I go under the knife, my stretch marks are here for good; all of the lotions and oils in the drug store didn't stop it from happening. But so what? They tell the story of a body that housed and fed 3 human beings. I don't care if I don't have the body of a 22 year old; I like having the body of a 38 year old who works at keeping it healthy and in good shape.
Pardon me, but I am referring to loose skin, not fat (google Stephanie Rothstein Bruce; not me, but a pro runner who is a perfect example).
Exactly. I am a former gymnast, and I had no trouble rebuilding my abdominal muscles after pregnancy, even though I had all three of my children in my 30s. My stomach is flat, my muscles are tight. I didn't get stretch marks and I never had a C-section, BUT at age 47, the skin over those muscles is a little wrinkly and loose. I have very little subcutaneous fat, and that actually makes the skin more loose. More training would not help this problem, and I don't think it is related to pregnancy.
At age 39, I had #5. My stomach slowly deflated but with three teens, an 8 year old and an infant, I didn't get a lot of time to work out. When #5 was four years old, I returned to an old hobby, roller skating. In six months, my stomach was once again flat. #5 is 43 now and I have thickening around the middle. It's a function of age.
A friend of mine had her 2nd child a year ago at age 36 and her stomach looks really bad. She has a herniated belly button, ab muscle separation (forgot what its called), and looks like she's still 5-6 months pregnant. She also got really bad varicose veins down to almost ankles. None of this happened with her 1st in late 20s. She didnt gain much weight while pregnant and got back to pre-pregnancy weight very quickly after baby was born. I guess I am expecting similar will happen to me :/
^^There really isn't much you can do to predict it; some of it is lifestyle, some of it is genetic, some of it can stem from pregnancy complications. I'm not sure that age is much of a predictor. All of my battle scars are from my first baby, and I was only 27 when I had him. I too had separated abdominal muscles; Pilates while wearing a belly-binder helped repair them. You don't need a fancy schmancy belly wrap; a wide Ace bandage does the trick just fine.
I had no problem bouncing back after having my last. It was perimenopause hitting about a decade later than totally did me in. In so many ways. Somebody get me some hormones!
Has your stomach bounced back to the way it was before?
I am pregnant with my 2nd and even though im thin and active, I worry that at 33 my skin is not as supple anymore and am expecting a pouch (forever!), loose/saggy skin, possibly worse... When I had my 1st in my late 20s I bounced right back and was the same as before.
I had my first at 30 and my second at 40. Mine was back to normal in no time after my first. It took twice as long with my second. At first I thought it would never bounce back, but it did for the most part. I would say it's about 95 percent what it was before..so not quite there..lol! But I don't really care. I have bigger fish to fry!
I was over 35 for all 3 of my kids. I have a definite flabby pooch now, and I had a very flat stomach prior to kids.
I didn't blame it on age so much as gaining and losing a lot of weight within a relatively short time frame, and then doing it again, and again. I think if I'd been more sensible about weight gain during pregnancy, my skin wouldn't have been stretched so badly. I was 155 at the beginning of each pregnancy, and over 225 with my 3rd child, at the end.
Luckily, with my advanced years, I also got a "I don't really give a damn" attitude, as well.
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