Cone Belly/ Diastasis

[thatgirl2478]

If it is a diastasis, it can be fixed once you're not pregnant any more. Yes it's surgery, but your ab muscles are important! I have a friend who had it and a hernia fixed at the same time. She was down for about a week, but is much happier now.

[rugbywife]

It can be fixed without surgery as well…several people I know saw physios for it and saw great results.

[lo]

My chiropractor just told me (at 23 weeks) to never, ever get straight up from sitting or lying down. She said from lying down to roll onto your side first and then get up. Not sure how it works from sitting... I'll have to ask her.

[chicago]

Interesting...mine did this too, but I never gave it a second thought. I had no issues throughout pregnancy and I only pushed for 20 minutes, so it definitely didn't have an effect on that.

I don't know what my belly will look like at the end of this recovery period, but my uterus has already gone down a LOT in the past 96ish hours and I feel just fine getting up and down, etc. I'm thinking about getting a binder, but I don't even know that it's necessary because of how quickly this is all happening on its own.

Hopefully more posters will know about this!

Eta: ok, just read a bit more - disregard the recovery commentary, I guess that has nothing to do with anything. Hopefully this won't be bad! I'll probably just ask about it at my six week follow up.

[justthetip]

I had diastasis recti last pregnancy. There are varying degrees of it, and that affects your chances of going back to normal. Lying on your back, do a little crunch & then feel how wide the gap is between your muscles. Two or three fingers width is fairly normal, and will probably go back eventually. It's hard to predict though. Like PP said, avoid sitting straight up & do the side roll. During pregnancy & after, planks can help tighten up your abdominal girdle muscles.

I ended up with a CS, and my OB stitched my abs back up as far as she could go before sewing me back up since she knew about it beforehand. The top part she didn't stitch did close on it's own eventually though. It would be a separate surgery if you had it done later, but I'd probably wait until you're all done procreating.

[anna7602]

I also had diastasis recti last pregnancy and the effects pp were minimal. This time, however, it has gotten worse, which my doctor says is just the way it goes with subsequent pregnancies.

She didn't recommend any specific exercises, but I already have a referral for a physiotherapist (whom my doctor reco'd for post-partum) and I plan on calling her to discuss whether there's anything I can proactively do now. I already follow all the don't-sit-straight-up-suddenly advice and all that jazz, so I am really looking for anything I can do not only to prevent it getting worse but to actually improve the situation before I give birth.

[shekels1222]

Had it with my first pregnancy. It was pretty bad and 2 years later still not completely together. But...it didn't affect my labor/delivery at all. I had a relatively quick labor and delivery for a first time mom.

I assume it'll only get worse during this pregnancy. Oh well. If it really bothers me then I get it fixed. But it doesn't really bother me now. My stomach isn't flat like before pregnancy, but I have stretch marks and different shapes boobs too.

[andthentherewere10]

Mine looks just like the picture. I figured it was normal. It causes no pain or discomfort.

[shekels1222]

Mar 15, 2014 22:52:24 GMT -5 bricco said:

justthetip anna7602 and shekels1222:

Is the picture I posted upthread an indication of diastasis? I can't necessarily feel where my muscles are/where the gap is.. but I definitely look like that when trying to get up, etc.

That's what mine looks/looked like. But I can also feel the gap too.

[ringstrue]

The best thing to do is to not use your tummy muscles as much as you can and use your arms to push/pull yourself up. Not much to do besides that until after pg.