Before and After Diastasis Recti

This was me at 39 weeks. I went to 40 weeks 4 days

I hadn't really wanted to do this post till my diastasis recti was totally closed, but seeing as though it's been a year since I had Edward, I figured I'd check in for those of you who were curious.


A little less than a year ago I started the Tupler program with the splint, doing her special ab workout 3 times a day.

I have worn the splint on and off. I can do the recommended 24 hour a day thing for only about 3 weeks at a time and then I start feeling too...trapped...and take a break. The program says it's 6 weeks to great abs or something like that, but I think that's if you're starting at a two finger gap or something.  The booklet says it could take up to a year of diligently following the program.

Splinting 4 weeks postpartum

I started at a 6 finger gap. What does that mean? It means that after I had my baby, I could lay on my back and stick 6 fingers between the right and left sides of my abs at my belly button.  When I sat up, I could feel the muscles pull together and tighten around those 6 fingers. That's pretty bad. "Normal" is like 1 finger or less. It is so crazy to feel the muscles so far apart. Most pregnant ladies' abs close most of the way on their own and some never have split abs. I'm pretty sure I started around a 3 finger gap when I got pregnant with Edward, though I was totally clueless about it. That's why I started showing at 6 weeks pregnant! You better believe that when I'm pregnant with my 4th I'll be doing some splinting and some Tuplers to try and minimize the damage.

I was able to stay quite diligent and go from a 6 to 3 finger gap within about a month. I could not wear the splint during the summer here. It felt like it was going to suffocate me in the hot TX summer. That set me back a bit. Since then I've had a hard time really sticking religiously to the program. I slimmed out of my first splint and needed a smaller size. I finally got it and I've been doing ok with getting some tuplers in every day. But, I'm still around a 1.5-2 finger gap.

One of the worst things about having a diastasis recti is that I apparently am not supposed to do any ab work with a forceful forward movement or my abs can split further. That mean no crunches, no sit ups, no P90X ab workouts etc. I feel like there is a lot of toning that I need to do that I can't do. Maybe I"ll just risk it and see if it really does set me back. I'm ready to do something different to flatten/tighten my tummy. So, overall, not bad, but not perfect. I am still grateful for the body that God gave me and I'm going to try my best to take care of it.

Before Tupler: March 2012 

4 weeks postpartum.  "Normal" i.e. not sucking in

4 weeks postpartum, sucking in/flexing to the max

 After Tupler: February 2013

"Normal" not sucking in/flexing

Flexing

Front shot

*Addendum* This bod did not just come about by doing her program. I eat pretty well, run a lot, and use Isagenix products as well. I was mainly saying hers is the only ab program I've done since then.