How Pregnancy Affects Your Body

If you are pregnant with your first child, you may not know what to expect. If you are used to being fit, with a regular exercise routine, your growing breasts and stomach can come as somewhat of a shock. Your obstetrician is a great resource for helping you understand how your baby is developing as your pregnancy progresses, particularly as you get toward the end of your second trimester and the beginning of your third one.

In addition, our staff at Jefferson Plastic Surgery can help you understand how your body is anatomically changing throughout the latter half of your pregnancy. They can also offer cosmetic surgery options to help you get back the body you had prior to pregnancy once you decide that you do not wish to have more children.

Read further to find out how your body is preparing itself for the last trimester of your pregnancy and childbirth, as well as how a Mommy Makeover cosmetic surgical package can help you get back in shape after you are done having children and breastfeeding them.

Make Room for Baby!

Obviously, the biggest changes will occur in your abdominal region, as the third trimester is when much of the overall growth of the fetus occurs. At this point in the pregnancy, most of the actual anatomical structures have developed, so the third trimester is mainly dedicated to fetal growth.

In order to accommodate this growth, your body will begin secreting hormones to loosen up the abdominal muscles on the right and left side of your body, as well as the tough connective tissue that connects them. This allows them to stretch apart as the fetus grows.

After your baby is born, your body no longer needs those hormones, so it stops producing them. At that point, your abdominal muscles and their connective tissue should reduce in size.

However, these structures can get overstretched, such that they are unable to conform back to their original size after childbirth. This may leave you with a bit of a pouch of loose muscle, tissue, and skin in your abdominal region.

Preparations for Breastfeeding

The other main change that your body will undergo to prepare for your baby’s arrival will be to the size and shape of your breasts, as your mammary glands and ducts begin to produce milk for breastfeeding. Your breasts will fill out and increase in size as your mammary glands undergo this change. They will generally stay this same size and continue to produce milk for as long as you continue to breastfeed.

Your milk supply will stop, and your breasts will reduce in size once you stop breastfeeding. However, your breasts may have become overstretched during your pregnancy and breastfeeding because there are no actual muscles supporting the breasts. Therefore, even a small reduction in their size or shape can make them sag or droop, as there is no natural support structure.

How can you get back the body you had prior to your pregnancy once you have decided you do not want more children? Our surgeons recommend a Mommy Makeover package, which includes a tummy tuck and either a breast augmentation or reduction. We recommend waiting until at least six months after you have finished breastfeeding and getting back to a regular exercise routine, as well as a balanced, low-fat diet. A Mommy Makeover package may help you get back the body you had before you started having children.