Maternity Monday - Post Partum Secrets

Back in my working days, before I had kids, I knew a beautiful little pixie of a girl. I would have sworn the girl was a single college student, so when she told me she was actually a mother of two, I thought, "What?? How?? But your stomach is flatter than mine!" I hadn't experienced childbirth yet and assumed that having kids meant saying goodbye to your girlish figure forever. I asked little miss pixie one word: How? And she responded with one word: Girdle.

Okay, so here's my disclaimer: I am not a doctor and have no idea if what I'm about to tell you is actually a terrible idea. This is just what I do. Well, me and little miss pixie.

This beautiful girl I speak of had c-sections. She didn't let that stop her from wearing a girdle, so neither did I. I actually found that being held in made me feel better during my recovery. But for some, it might be really uncomfortable. Just a warning.

In my search to find non-scary pictures of girdles for you, I discovered that not only do they make girdles specifically for post partum tummies, but they even make c-section girdles. All the pictures I found of them were a little scary, but they basically look like this:

sensationalshapewear.com

That's one option. As you lose the weight, you pull the snaps a little tighter. I've never tried this kind.

Here's the first girdle I got after my first son was born. It was so so. It gave me some killer saddle bags and who doesn't want that? So attractive. Plus it was really annoying to go to the bathroom.

spanx.com

This is the type I ended up using the most. No saddle bags, held in tummy, and even some booty lift. Nice! But there was still the annoying problem of going to the bathroom.

spanx.com

Now they make girdles just like the two above, but with snaps in the...um....bathroom going area. Like a onesie. Sorry, but I wasn't going to post pictures of that. I have a friend who is currently using that kind and she's really happy with it. So that's what I'm going to try this go around.

Actual Spanx are a little pricey for me, so I just buy whatever brand of girdle I can find at places like Target or Kohl's. Even though you can do an online search of post partum girdles, I just buy regular girdles in a size or two bigger than my normal size. I love that it holds in and smooths out my bumpy, doughy, post partum tummy, and they're totally ideal for Plus Size Maternity. I usually use mine for several weeks until my stomach starts to look somewhat normal again.


This may sound like crazy talk to some of you, but for those of you wanting to try it, the three pictures above aren't the only styles to choose from. There are all different kinds. Try what you think will work best for you.


Did I lose you all?