How Recovery Compared With My First Pregnancy To My Second Pregnancy
Postpartum Recovery With Baby #2
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When it comes to pregnancy, it can take a toll on our bodies. That's the understatement of the year! One of the ways that I tried to stay active with my second pregnancy was to regularly take Barre classes. I loved these classes because they were strength-based, which is my favorite type of workout. After consulting with my doctor, I took these classes throughout my pregnancy and up until the day before I had my daughter. My poor instructors - they were all for sure I would go into labor and give birth during their classes! Luckily, that did not happen!
Staying active kept me feeling good throughout my pregnancy. I was lucky to not experience the intense pregnancy-induced edema that I developed with my son, which allowed me to be more comfortable up until I gave birth to my daughter.
I carried my second pregnancy much differently than I carried my first. I hardly had a baby bump with my son, but with my daughter, I carried very high and much further out compared to my first pregnancy.
Left: 1st Pregnancy with my son
Right: 2nd Pregnancy with my daughter
Since my pregnant belly was so much larger than it was with my first, I was curious as to if my stomach would go back to how it was pre-pregnancy. I had worked very hard before becoming pregnant with our second to regain some abdominal strength that I had pre-pregnancy. In the below photo, the left is how I healed 10 months postpartum. On the right, you can see the results of an eight-week workout program that I took part in.
Left: 10 Month Postpartum (1st Pregnancy) Right: 18 Months Postpartum
When it came to my immediate recovery after my first pregnancy, the following photo is how I looked eight months pregnant vs. one-week postpartum:
Left: 8 Months Pregnant (1st Pregnancy) Right: 1 Week Postpartum
And below, you can see how I looked nine months pregnant vs. just one day after giving birth with my second baby. As you can see, one day after giving birth, I still very much had a belly. It can take a while for everything to shrink back to something that resembles a pre-pregnancy state!
Left: 9 Months Pregnancy (2nd Pregnancy) Right: 1 Day Postpartum
Everything is softer and squishier than it was before, which is just how it is after carrying a sweet baby for nine months. And it's all so very much worth it. I have not started to work out again, and I am just allowing everything to normalize before I even try to do a crunch. Two weeks post pregnancy, I was already starting to feel more like myself. At this point, I had lost 25 of the 40 pounds that I have gained during my pregnancy.
Left: 9 Months Pregnant (2nd Pregnancy) Right: 2 Weeks Postpartum
It took me 18 months to get back into shape after having my first babe. I have a feeling it will take that long (if not LONGER!) this time around. But what's the rush?? There is none. And plus, as it turns out, those ice cream cravings were not strictly related to being pregnant! I definitely still need a bowl before bed every night. I like to think all that dairy helps to build a milk supply. Ahhhh the things we will tell ourselves!
Post-Pregnancy Amazon Must-Haves:
1) Bath Bomb Heaven!
This is SUCH a great price for 14 bath bombs! How pretty are these?!