Belly Binding After Pregnancy

I was "lucky" and had an effortless recovery back to my "pre-pregnancy" body (weight and all) almost immediately after my first baby was born. I had no idea what I was in for with my 2nd...it took 8 months to lose most of the baby weight and I never really did lose the tummy. I don't really care much about the image of my body (because one, it means I had a BABY! Nothing beats that! :) And two, if anything, God used that to convict me on some clothing choices...I've always dressed pretty modestly, but even moreso now), but the physical repercussions of a slowly recovering postpartum body can be difficult and painful!!!

I did a lot of reading up on belly binding after pregnancy when I was pregnant with my second baby. However, I didn't actually go THROUGH with the true binding process when my daughter was born. I waited until she was 13 months and I was still dealing with lower back pain and diastasis recti to start binding, with a wide Ace bandage no less!! Even that late in the game, it helped!! In a nutshell, it was HARD for me to get rid of that belly and the trouble the diastasis recti contributed to. (and I never fully did before I got pregnant again) But I vowed to begin earlier after my third pregnancy.

After my son was born, I started binding at 18 hours postpartum with an inexpensive abdominal binder (it was much cheaper when I purchased it!). I hadn't wanted to spend the money on a Belly Bandit or the like since I wasn't sure how well it'd work, plus I didn't want to have to deal with sizing down. I got a 12" tall one so that I could wear it slight around my hips (I had looked into the HipSlimmer while I was pregnant, because I had HORRIBLE SPD during my pregnancy and needed the compression as much as possible, but with that kind of a price, I figured a binder with a double purpose was a good compromise).

It felt AMAZING! I couldn't believe the difference it made. I didn't feel like my guts were going to fall out. I didn't feel like my middle could collapse on me at any moment. I didn't feel like my post-baby belly was going to tip me over forward. It DID increase the afterpains a bit when I was up and moving around, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I found it to be quite beneficial, despite the discomfort. What did NOT feel good was taking the binder OFF. Letting all of that "go" was usually painful for a short period of time. It was nice to not have something constantly around my abdomen (that "free!" feeling is always refreshing), however, I really preferred the feeling of having it on.

I only wore my binder (and inconsistently at that, probably a few hours a day total most of the time) for a couple months before I started going without it. I will not call it a miracle worker, as I did not have a flat tummy (I still have a "mummy tummy" to this day, but it's nothing like what it was!). But it made my recovery (especially after a rough, physically trying pregnancy with a giant baby carried very low the entire time) MUCH quicker and much easier!! I really appreciated being able to fit back into my clothes faster. I don't care as much about being the same size as I was pre-pregnancy, but I hate having to spend the money buying clothes to accommodate my constantly changing figure, so I appreciated being able to wear what I already owned!

In under 2 weeks my diastasis recti was down to under 2 fingers width (which is what I was at 13 months postpartum the previous time!). I was not only flattening my tummy faster, but I was getting muscle tone back! THAT was SO beneficial to my entire being.

I have some pictures to give you an example of what it was like for me...however, it's not going to be an accurate depiction because the photos with the most obvious changes are bare belly ones. For the sake of modesty (my readers, not my own...I'm not shy about my baby belly's! Stretchmarks and all...) and so that I do not lose any readers, I am limiting it to the covered belly ones. ;) But that means I can't share an example of my postpartum belly after my second child, so you can't see the comparison. But hopefully these will just give a good enough idea of the process.

The belly at about 34 weeks. I went to 40 weeks, so I was quite a bit larger by the time birth finally came around!! But this is just an example of what I started from.

The belly, sans binder, at a week postpartum. Now I know some women can return to this state almost immediately after pushing that baby out. But folks, I had more belly than this at over a YEAR postpartum after my second pregnancy. This is my testament to belly binding!!

Some examples of the binder being worn during that first week- talk about "insta-flat-belly!" As you can see from the bottom pictures, it's only slightly noticeable underneath clothing. (oh and the top right one is a perfect example of why I generally avoid attempting front self-portraits...it's never very becoming of the underside of my arm and my armpit, LOL)

Eventually I also did some Tupler exercises and workouts, along with workouts designed to help heal diastasis recti (like Lindsay Brin's Boot Camp 2). I definitely think those have helped me along the way, but I give initial credit to belly binding!

**UPDATE:  I have since had another baby and used the Tupler Splint after his birth.  I have to say, I think that was the most effective method of binding that I've used so far.

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