Thursday, August 14, 2008
18 months later
D: This post is a long time coming. For the last year and a half I have been mulling this post over in my head, trying to figure out how to explain my feelings on a topic that is either not talked about enough or usually talked about in a manner than sounds depressingly self deprecating. But I feel that it's a mysterious phenomenon that occurs so frequently that it's my blogging duty to new mothers of twins to share my experence. I’m talking about post-baby-body. Specifically, post-twin-babies-body. Mine, to be exact.
When I was pregnant with the Deuce I was very immodest about blogging about all my body’s aches and pains and the growing size of my belly. To be honest, I had probably never in my life invested so much time thinking and talking about my body. It was like my body had been abducted by aliens and I was watching it go through a bizarre transformation. Others seemed just as astonished by these changes. Towards the end of my pregnancy, I would walk into a restaurant and people would point and gasp. I’m not kidding.
Towards the end of my pregnancy, the last time I measured myself I was 62 inches around my mid-section and had gained 65 pounds. I was huge!
There is no question that the boys were growing fast and healthy and I was happily giving them what they needed for nutrition. For anyone who’s pregnant with twins, I always highly recommend Barbara Luke’s book, "When your Expecting Twins, Triplets and Quads". Once on the Barbara Luke diet, there was never a time when we were concerned about the twin’s size and I happily got to enjoy ice cream and red meat almost every day.
In January 2007 the boys were born very healthy at almost 7lbs each. Minutes after they were born I immediately started my epic breastfeeding adventure, feeding two little babies with insatiable appetites at least 6 times a day. For 5 months they relied solely on my milk for nutrition (thank you very much!), and within a month of having the kids I dropped below my pre-pregnancy weight. It was the easiest weight loss I’d ever heard of and because I was trying my darndest to keep my milk supply up for both kids, I was also still enjoying plenty of milkshakes and cheese! I breastfed the boys for a year and was pretty happy with how little I had to work at keeping my weight down during that time.
But here’s the part that I wished someone had told me about… baby weight can come on long after you’ve had your baby(ies), usually around the time you stop breastfeeding. And even when you get it back down, for some reason you’re just not left with the same body…at all. Baby weight is not really weight at all, but more like baby shape.
Now, don’t get me wrong; I’m not still drinking milkshakes and eating cheese, complaining about my weight. I’m not even complaining about my weight. I’m just stating the fact that having a baby(ies) changes you in ways you did not expect. Case in point: TWIN SKIN. If you don’t know what it is I encourage you to look it up. Go ahead, see for yourself. It’s terrible, isn’t it? Unfortunately, because I had gotten so big so fast, then so small so fast, my skin just couldn’t catch up and eventually it just stopped trying. And while I’m not entirely sure that some day I may want to fix this mess of a stomach that I’m left with, the scars are a daily reminder that my body is capable of unimaginable feats. And I guess that's something to be proud of.
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and here I thought I was the only one. i was amazed at sheer amount of extra skin I still have 14 months after my twins birth. Its like a kangaroo pounch just hanging there,throwing the line off everything I attempt to wear. Here in Canada if you are a mulitples mom you can actually get your doctor to refer you for a free tummy tuck, as your abdominal muscles and skin become so traumatized. While I can't say I wasn't tempted to take up the offer, I now can remind myself over and over again that hey, Angelina Jolie's stomach probably looks exactly like mine right now!
I hear you, sister!
I wrote about my Twin Skin a few months after returning to work from maternity leave. I showed a few ladies in my office my stomach because I got tired of them saying that I looked the same as I did prior to becoming pregnant with the boys. I felt as if they weren't giving my body enough credit. Sure...the ol' scale may read less than you were pre-pregnancy, but the ol' body ain't what it used to be.
I gained 70 pounds (on my 5'3" frame) and lost all of it by the 4month mark. The more weight I lost, the more deflated I looked. Maybe that's why I stopped going to the gym? :) A double-edged sword, I suppose.
But hey--I do think we should be proud. Look at what we have to show for it! Pretty damn cool if you ask me.
P.S. Thanks for asking about the boys post-surgery. They are doing awesome...eating, sleeping and just generally more happy. A complete 360 compared to the last nine months. Ear infections and antibiotics and doctor's appointments have been such a big part of our lives since the 9 month mark---it will be nice to not worry about all that crap anymore! Although keeping F & R from pouring cups of water over eachothers' heads during their bath takes just as much effort, but it's a helluva lot more tolerable.
I feel your pain, sister! But didn't I see a photo of you in a bikini on this blog? or did I imagine that? If I did, you looked great, and if I didn't, well, I saw a photo of somebody (a MoM, I'm almost sure) who looked great in a bikini somewhere. Sorry, I blame my brain cramps on having three kids under the age of 3. That, and I read a lot of blogs. My younger two, alas, have left me with a chunk o' twin skin, as well. I got two big, beautiful, healthy boys, but, ugh, my body. I wish I could go to Canada and get my belly fixed! Also, your boys are just so, SO darn cute! I come here all the time to see if there's any new photos of those cuties!
Hi! I have 14 month old ID boys and I definitely know how you feel.I affectionately refer to mine as "brain belly". I have yet to let my husband actually examine my new mid-section. I think he's accidentally caught a peek while I was reaching for something but I hide that baby at all costs. There's a website called The Shape of a Mother that has all these liberating stories and pictures of what childbirth does to the human body. These women are so brave to do this-I admire them but I'm so not there yet.