Thank you so much for sharing my story and for your generous reflections. I’m always grateful when my words resonate, but it’s especially meaningful when they connect with someone who truly knows what it feels like. ❤️
Your account of carrying twins—of navigating the weight, the visibility, and the lingering “twin skin”—struck a deep chord. I smiled at the hospital greeter moment (we’ve all been there!), and I felt the quiet resilience behind every line. There’s something uniquely humbling and human about the postpartum twin experience—how we carry so much, how slowly we release it, and how little of it gets acknowledged.
Yes, 20 years later still counts. Our bodies remember, and so do we. 🌟
That was exactly how I felt when I read your article! It brought me back to those days. The big thing in those days was the Baby Bjorn, but I wish that belly binding was more widely known. Although the maternity pants I wore for the year after may have qualified :‐)
I was happy to feature you today and give the wonderful work that you do some bonus exposure. I also enjoyed reading through your Notes. Impactful information that I'll keep an eye on so I can restack them more often. Keep up the great job!
Shelby, your comment made me smile—maternity pants as belly binding is so real! We all found ways to hold ourselves together, quite literally, during those long postpartum seasons.
I truly appreciate you featuring the piece and engaging so deeply with the Notes. Your support means a great deal. Looking forward to staying in conversation as we keep lifting up these stories that deserve to be seen and heard. ♥️
That reminds me of my own post-partum belly. I was huge and looked like I was carrying twins. Same as you, I'm about 5'3". I went 2 weeks overdue. They induced, yadda, yadda, c-section.
When my son was 5yo, I started jogging. Then I noticed a hernia forming in my belly button. Went to see my doctor and he said I had diastasis recti, which basically meant that my stomach muscles got overstretched and never completely closed. when I laid down on the ground and did a sit-up, a big bulge formed down the center of my abdomen. Not cool!
He basically said there wasn't much to do about it and if I ever had, say, my appendix removed to ask them to take care of my hernia. Excuse me, what?! Nuh, uh.
I found a nurse practitioner online that had a PT course for diastasis and bought the brace (during one hot summer). I wore it religiously, did the PT exercises and took supplements that would help me rebuild the matrix of collagen and help it repair itself.
Results: It worked! And that was 5 years post-partum! Hopeful stories exist!
That's how I'm going to describe my delivery "yadda-yadda-c-section." The yadda yadda was no fun and now that I think about it I should be yadda yadda yadda. I earned one more yadda.
A friend of mine had the exact same issues as you and was told the exact same thing. Oh, sister I'm glad it worked out for you!
Sometimes I look at my husband's body and I'm jealous he doesn't have pregnancy battle scars. Pregnancy can sure put us through the ringer. But on the flip side I think a mother's connection to her children is so much deeper.
Thank you for sharing your story, Jess. It’s incredible how many of us walk around carrying the invisible impact of pregnancy—sometimes for years—before we find answers.
Diastasis recti is far too common and, unfortunately, too often dismissed as cosmetic or inconsequential. I'm so glad you trusted your instincts, sought out care beyond the default, and found a path that worked for your healing.
That kind of self-advocacy is powerful—and necessary. 💪
Thank you so much for sharing my story and for your generous reflections. I’m always grateful when my words resonate, but it’s especially meaningful when they connect with someone who truly knows what it feels like. ❤️
Your account of carrying twins—of navigating the weight, the visibility, and the lingering “twin skin”—struck a deep chord. I smiled at the hospital greeter moment (we’ve all been there!), and I felt the quiet resilience behind every line. There’s something uniquely humbling and human about the postpartum twin experience—how we carry so much, how slowly we release it, and how little of it gets acknowledged.
Yes, 20 years later still counts. Our bodies remember, and so do we. 🌟
That was exactly how I felt when I read your article! It brought me back to those days. The big thing in those days was the Baby Bjorn, but I wish that belly binding was more widely known. Although the maternity pants I wore for the year after may have qualified :‐)
I was happy to feature you today and give the wonderful work that you do some bonus exposure. I also enjoyed reading through your Notes. Impactful information that I'll keep an eye on so I can restack them more often. Keep up the great job!
Shelby, your comment made me smile—maternity pants as belly binding is so real! We all found ways to hold ourselves together, quite literally, during those long postpartum seasons.
I truly appreciate you featuring the piece and engaging so deeply with the Notes. Your support means a great deal. Looking forward to staying in conversation as we keep lifting up these stories that deserve to be seen and heard. ♥️
That reminds me of my own post-partum belly. I was huge and looked like I was carrying twins. Same as you, I'm about 5'3". I went 2 weeks overdue. They induced, yadda, yadda, c-section.
When my son was 5yo, I started jogging. Then I noticed a hernia forming in my belly button. Went to see my doctor and he said I had diastasis recti, which basically meant that my stomach muscles got overstretched and never completely closed. when I laid down on the ground and did a sit-up, a big bulge formed down the center of my abdomen. Not cool!
He basically said there wasn't much to do about it and if I ever had, say, my appendix removed to ask them to take care of my hernia. Excuse me, what?! Nuh, uh.
I found a nurse practitioner online that had a PT course for diastasis and bought the brace (during one hot summer). I wore it religiously, did the PT exercises and took supplements that would help me rebuild the matrix of collagen and help it repair itself.
Results: It worked! And that was 5 years post-partum! Hopeful stories exist!
That's how I'm going to describe my delivery "yadda-yadda-c-section." The yadda yadda was no fun and now that I think about it I should be yadda yadda yadda. I earned one more yadda.
A friend of mine had the exact same issues as you and was told the exact same thing. Oh, sister I'm glad it worked out for you!
Sometimes I look at my husband's body and I'm jealous he doesn't have pregnancy battle scars. Pregnancy can sure put us through the ringer. But on the flip side I think a mother's connection to her children is so much deeper.
Thank you for sharing your story, Jess. It’s incredible how many of us walk around carrying the invisible impact of pregnancy—sometimes for years—before we find answers.
Diastasis recti is far too common and, unfortunately, too often dismissed as cosmetic or inconsequential. I'm so glad you trusted your instincts, sought out care beyond the default, and found a path that worked for your healing.
That kind of self-advocacy is powerful—and necessary. 💪