Hey guys,
My name is Natalie Hodson, you may have heard of me because of my expertise in the fitness industry, or perhaps because you have seen my viral video "Perfectly Imperfect" I made a few years ago showing the stretched skin I have on my stomach from delivering two ten pound babies.
Yes, TWO TEN POUND BABIES!
Today, however, I’m going to break my silence on a topic I have always kind of tried to keep a secret because I was so embarrassed to talk about it.
Until now.
I gained around 70lbs during both of my pregnancies which was a lot of weight for my body to carry.
For a long time after I had my babies, I really really struggled with accidentally peeing my pants during any type of exercise.
I even completely peed my pants one time on camera while we were filming for my company Dollar Workout Club.
I was mortified.
Anytime I would laugh too hard, I’d pee my pants.
Anytime I would cough, I’d pee my pants.
Jump on a trampoline...pee my pants!
You can imagine my embarrassment.
How helpless I felt.
On top of that, I always had lower back and hip pain.
AND I always had this bulging part of my lower belly I could NEVER get rid of.
It wasn’t until years later when I realized all these problems I was having were connected, and it was NOT MY FAULT.
And that's when I reached out to Dr. Monique Middlekauff who helped me completely heal all these issues!
And what she helped me understand was that while I was pregnant, I experienced what many women do during pregnancy which is something called Diastasis Recti and Pelvic Floor Dysfunction.
Now, if that sounds like a foreign language to you, don’t worry, I explain it all here.
Basically what happens, is that during pregnancy, your outermost abdominal muscles separate.
Your muscles need to expand in order to make room for your growing baby.
What can happen, however, is that the connective tissue holding those muscles together can thin and weaken as it gets stretched out.
This can create an issue after pregnancy if those connective tissues never get strong enough to bring your abdominal muscles back together.
What can often times look like a lower belly tummy that never seems to go away, could, in fact, be a case of Diastasis Recti where your abdomen muscles never properly healed.
Diastasis Recti might cause a bulge in the middle of the abdomen where the two muscles separate.
The condition might be noticeable when the abdominal muscles are tense, such as during coughing.
Diastasis Recti develops in late pregnancy but is usually most noticeable right after delivery.
The muscle separation often decreases in the months that follow.
However, some degree of separation might remain decades after childbirth.
Now don’t worry, this is something that CAN BE HEALED AND EVEN PREVENTED WHILE YOU ARE PREGNANT
I wish I had started the process of preventing this WHILE I WAS PREGNANT and I could have maybe avoided it altogether
The other thing is that there were exercises I was doing during childbirth that actually made it worse....
I just wish so BADLY someone wouald have told me these secrets sooner so that I could have fixed the accidental leaks, had a flatter stomach and narrowed the gap in between my abs.
I have been in your shoes, I know how embarrassing and frustrating it can be, and there’s no judgment on my end.
Let me help.
Your Friend,
Natalie
