Getting Back to Normal . . . Or Not

I am thrilled to report to you that as of today I can wear my wedding rings again! YAY!

At about 7 or 8 months pregnant, my hands swelled up enough to keep me from wearing my wedding rings, so I started wearing this ring, instead. This is an heirloom that I think is beautiful. I think it belonged to my great-great Aunt Ilma. It has a very pretty relief on it of flowers and leaves.

However, I LOVE my own engagement ring and wedding band. You know how you hear of some people upgrading their rings for their 20th anniversary or whatnot? That will not be me. I got exactly what I wanted when we got engaged, and I will never want a replacement. It's a pear-shaped diamond, and the bands have little diamonds all the way around. I love how classy and old-fashioned it looks.At my two-week postpartum appointment, I asked about when my hands would get back to normal, because the swelling everywhere else had subsided. Truth be told, I was a little nervous that my finger size had permanently changed or something. But the doctor told me that by my six-week appointment, I should be able to wear my rings again. She was only a day off, since yesterday was the day I had that appointment.

Ah yes, that danged appointment. It went really well up to the end. I have healed perfectly well--you can hardly see my C-section scar, I haven't had any baby blues, etc. The doctor gave me the okay to do any kind of exercise, etc. However, at the end of the appointment, I asked her a question and did not get the answer I expected. I told her that it seems like my stomach is not back to normal. I really feel like somehow the muscles are positioned a little further forward than they were before. I expected her to tell me to do crunches or something to draw them back in. But no. Do you know what she said? She said that this just may be my new body.

WHAT?!

She said that the fascia (which I now know is the layer of tough tissue that lays on top of your abdominal muscles) stretches when you're pregnant, and after delivery, some people snap back and some don't. Apparently, in part because Noah was so big, I may have stretched this dang fascia so much that it won't snap back completely. UGH!!!

As a reminder, here's how big my belly got. (Sorry it's fuzzy--the picture, that is, not my belly--this was scanned from a print.) I saw this after the baby was born and was a little shocked at how big I was. It's of Nathan putting my socks on, since I couldn't reach my feet:
I think it's funny to compare that to JLo, who had twins (although, as Amanda pointed out, I don't think she's 9 months in this picture):

So all that to say that as resolved as I was to work out before, I am definitely more resolved to work out now! We'll just see what I can do to get back to normal. Maybe exercise will fix everything, and maybe it won't, but it certainly won't hurt. (Just to be clear, I'm not depressed about this. Just a little shocked. Noah was definitely worth whatever happens to my abs.:)

Speaking of working out, I just found out that as a family member of a grad student, I can join Harvard's gym for $65. And that gets me a membership through June. What an amazing deal! Gotta love Harvard.