Recovering from Diastasis Recti with Bellefit

After my adorable 9 lb 10 oz baby Theo was born, I did not receive the best postpartum care, unfortunately. After a few months, I started to notice a lot of lower back pain. I figured it was normal given I had just delivered a large baby and I assumed it would go away on its own over time. But after more than a year, when I still had the pain and and my little buddha pooch was not going anywhere, I decided that maybe it was worth looking into. Sadly, doctors were very dismissive and did not validate my concerns. So I consulted Dr. Google and after self-diagnosing Diastasis Recti, I returned to my doctor's office and had her feel my abdominal muscle separation for herself.

That changed things for the better and she wrote me a referral for Physical Therapy. I was delighted to finally be on my way to a solution. Then at the very first session, the PT started out by saying that Diastasis Recti is pretty impossible to fix, but that they could show me some exercises anyway. Drrh.

I'll be honest with you; throwing a ball back and forth with a physical therapist felt like a massive waste of time and even with doing the exercises faithfully at home, I didn't see any improvement.

Anecdotal advice recommended waiting patiently for the muscles to close as the best remedy. Then, and only then, could one resume normal physical activity. The list of don't-do's was so long: no planking, no crunches, no sit-ups, no triangle pose or other poses that bisect the body, no twisting. What could I do?!

I spent a while being patient and getting weaker and I watched my posture really go south. Then, I would have a period of defiance and get back to yoga so hard and then injure myself. My muscles, being separated, would strengthen into these hard balls on either side of my belly button and my back would hurt so much. It became a really negative cycle. I was disappointed in my body and frustrated that I couldn't make it better.

Then I got a really sweet email from Carolina, a mom of two boys in Florida who works as the marketing manager at Bellefit, a female-owned company specializing in postpartum recovery corsets and girdles. I was skeptical at first because at that point, Theo was already three years old and I had Diastasis Recti! But Carolina kept emailing me and finally I decided it couldn't hurt to try. I explained my situation to her and she told me I was a perfect candidate for Bellefit! I couldn't believe it. Here were all of these physical therapists and doctors telling me to basically accept this new normal and Carolina thought their medical grade corsets and girdles could help. Yes, please!

Carolina guided me through every step of the sizing process and determined the Bellefit product that would be the best match for me, my concerns and my goals. A few days later, it arrived in the mail and while I was initially horrified because it looked like something my grandma would have worn, I was pleasantly surprised at how comfortable and not-at-all noticeable it wore under clothing. I am so amazed at how well the Bellefit corset worked out! 

I took these really attractive "before photos" one morning, and then started wearing the corset daily. It has lots of hook and eye closures so you get a nice snug fit and there's a handy little flap so you can go to the bathroom no problem. Wearing the Bellefit corset was helpful in two ways. Obviously the first was that it pulled everything in and held it where it is supposed to go - muscles, organs, everything felt nice and supported. The second way was the constant reminder. While it's comfortable, you also feel it if your posture starts to droop and it's always there, reminding you to keep your abs engaged and not let it all hang out throughout the day.

After about a month of wearing the corset, I could see a very marked difference in my stomach and a Diastasis Recti check proved that the muscles had begun to grow back together. At that point, I started doing some really simple yet targeted exercises on my yoga mat while wearing the corset to strengthen the muscles in the proper position.

I do think that my cervical spine is still straightened and my shoulders somewhat hunched from five years of breastfeeding! But I feel better about my body now than I have in years and I am so over-the-moon happy to have fully functioning abdominal muscles - and a waistline again. Hooray!

If you are pregnant or recently gave birth, or if you struggle with Diastasis Recti, I cannot recommend Bellefit enough. Learn more and see the entire line of corsets and girdles right here. Thank you so much for reading! And for for supporting the brands I very selectively choose to collaborate with, AND for letting me do a Theo baby photo dump. Isn't he just the cutest? Would you consider a Bellefit corset or girdle? Have you already tried it for yourself? 

Also - Swiss Lark readers can get $20 off any Bellefit.com purchase of $67.50 or higher. Just type in the code SWISS20 at checkout. :)