Certain, visible side-effects of pregnancy are pretty much universal, like swollen ankles, weight gain, and fuller breasts. But how a woman’s body bounces back after baby - and the praises and complaints that go along with it - can be very individual.
I had two words for my body during pregnancy: low-maintenance. Upkeep was easier for me during this time than any other period of my life - clear skin, no need to shave anywhere and shiny, manageable hair. Dare I say, it was great!
Post-pregnancy, however, was a completely different story. I was shocked about how my body felt and looked: saggy skin, flat boobs, weak bladder, hair loss - oh, the hair loss (My husband had to chase me around with a hand vac!). But for every person I told about my unique experience, someone else had a different account (one friend was really mad that she never got her size 5 shoe back!). The good news is, for most of us, it may take a year, but your body does return to normal.
How close can you get it to your pre-pregnancy state? Some of it is up to genetics, some of it is up to you.
According to New York OB/GYN Dr. Shawna Hedley: “So much is attributed to weight gain. If you can stick to the recommended 30 pounds, that will be your best defense against stretch marks, varicose veins, the bladder issues, and losing that last five to 10 pounds that most women complain about, regardless of genetics. If you gain even more than 20 pounds,” she continues, “you’re going to accumulate fat cells, and fat cells don’t die. Once you’ve created them, you’re stuck with them.”
Here is a quick reference for the most popular things that happen to your body postpartum and, if you do happen to exceed the recommended weight gain, a few cheats to speed up recovery.
The Sweats: As your body returns to its non-pregnant state, it’s very common to experience night sweats and hot flashes similar to what post-menopausal women get when their estrogen levels drop. Your perspiration during the day may also increase. Thankfully, this sweatbox phase only lasts a month or so until hormone levels even out.
Quick Tip: Drink lots of fluids, which will actually speed up the process of eliminating extra water and keep you from getting dehydrated.
Changes in Body Shape: Losing the actual pounds gained during pregnancy is often not a big issue. Depending on weight gain, most are shed without a lot of effort in the first six weeks after giving birth. Many women are back to their normal weight in three to six months. The problem lies in the parts of your body that shift and don’t necessarily fall back into the same place - namely stretched out abdominal muscles, which will regain some of their tone over time but won’t ever return to their pre-pregnancy state without exercise.
Quick Tip: Start a calisthenics or an abdominal routine soon after delivery (with your doctor’s consent). It will not only help tone your tummy, but also improve circulation and reduce the risk of back problems.
Complexion Issues: You may be thinking: I never had acne as a teen, why now? There are often two camps: (1) The women who have perfectly clear skin all throughout pregnancy and break out in the months after delivery and (2) those who break out while pregnant and begin to see some skin improvement postpartum. The former is usually the case, but if you fall into the second camp, pregnancy acne is rarely as severe as when it occurs during adolescence.
Quick tip: Adopt a twice-daily skincare routine that includes a mild, oatmeal-based facial scrub. No time? Try makeup removing cleansing wipes, which don’t require rinsing.
Pregnancy Mask: More than 50 percent of pregnant women develop this condition, also known as chloasma, or hyper-pigmentation, which is marked by brownish or yellowish patches of skin around the mouth, cheeks, nose, and forehead. It’s caused by estrogen and progesterone stimulating the melanin cells in the skin to produce more pigment. Since the cells do not produce the pigment uniformly, you look like you have a blotchy tan. Though disconcerting, it’s very common and will begin to fade in the months following delivery and probably go away completely.
Quick tip: Limit sun exposure, which further stimulates melanin production. Also consider a dermatologist-approved micro-polishing treatment, which has shown to be effective in evening out skin tone.
Spider Veins: These can be stubborn. When pressure in veins increases due to hormonal changes or maybe weight gain, it causes blood vessels in the face to enlarge, and, in turn, leave tiny, squiggly, red or purple capillaries just below the surface. Swollen vessels begin to improve three to six months after delivery.
Quick tip: There’s no magic bullet for eliminating spider veins on the face. Until that happens, a top-notch, full-coverage concealer will have to do.
Linea Negra: Pregnant or not, most women have a faint line, called linea alba, that runs from the navel to the center of the pubic bone. At some point during the second trimester a linea alba becomes a linea negra, a darker, more noticeable line. Like chloasma, it’s a symptom of hyper pigmentation. The line normally disappears several months after delivery. If you’re breastfeeding, it may take a little longer.
Quick tip: There’s no way to prevent or erase linea negra, but folic acid decreases skin discoloration, so stock up.
Stretch Marks: If your mother got them, you’re much more likely to get them as well. They can appear on your tummy, breast, thighs, and buttocks. They are caused by changes in the elastic supportive tissue in the skin, which is more likely to happen if you gain weight rapidly, are carrying multiples, or have excess amniotic fluid. They don’t go away completely, but they do fade over time, becoming less noticeable about 6 to 12 months after childbirth.
Quick Tip: Keeping your belly well moisturized during pregnancy can’t hurt. Postpartum, there are some good topical stretch mark creams out there or you can try plastic surgery (but wait at least a year to see if the marks disappear naturally).
Hair Loss: Postpartum shed, or telogen effluvium, begins at around three months after delivery and can continue for up to a year. The average person loses about 100 hairs a day. It’s completely normal since your body needs to compensate for your hair being stuck in the fast-growth stage for the last six months and, contrary to what you might think, this process usually returns hair to prepregnancy thickness.
Quick Tip: Continue to take prenatal vitamins after giving birth, which can benefit skin, hair, and nails.
Bladder Control: Let me just preface by saying, I’m a runner. When I couldn’t take more than ten steps without a little leakage, I thought my life was over. Urinary incontinence is a common symptom after childbirth and a direct result of labor and delivery, when the connective tissues and muscles that support the bladder and urethra are stretched and weakened. This could last for a couple weeks or even up to six months. But as your bladder muscles contract and grow stronger, the incontinence will pass.
Quick Tip: Don’t hold it in. Urinate frequently so you bladder never gets too full. And avoid caffeine, which is a bladder irritant, and nicotine, which causes the muscles to contract.
Vagina Chronicles: If you give birth vaginally, your vagina will probably forever remain a little larger than it was before. Take special care if you had an episiotomy or a tear. You may want to wait before you start having sex again until your perineum completely heals, which may take several months. Talk to your doctor at your six-week checkup. One thing many women are unaware of is that breastfeeding is what causes most vaginal changes.
“When women are breastfeeding the progesterone hormone takes over and makes the vagina look like it will when we’re in our 50s - pale and red,” says Dr. Hedley. “It will also be very dry and sensitive. So at this time you might need more lubrication than normal. The vagina will stay like it’s in menopause until you stop breastfeeding, because to make milk you need that progesterone hormone around.”
Quick Tip: Doing
Kegel exercises, which consist of contracting and relaxing the muscles that form part of the pelvic floor, helps restore muscle tone.
And, according to Dr. Hedley, “there are even pelvic floor therapists now. If you’re really struggling with bowel or bladder issues they can really help strengthen the pelvic floor.”
Breasts: Or, shall we call them, deflated balloon boobs. Your breasts will probably become flushed, swollen, sore, and engorged with milk for a day or two after the birth. Once this swelling goes down (in about four days) or until you stop breastfeeding, your breasts will then start to sag as a result of the stretched skin. They may get some of their original shape back in time, but not all. If that’s not enough, your areola and nipples become noticeably darker. Unlike other areas of your skin, which return to their original color after pregnancy, your areola will most likely stay somewhat darker than they were before you were pregnant.
Quick Tip: Get fitted for a good, comfortable, extremely expensive bra. (Isn’t it about time?)