After the birth of my second child I had a diastasis recti. I didn't know what it was at the time, but I distinctly remember trying to get up out of bed and seeing a fleshy bulge protruding from my abdomen between my belly button and sternum. I thought it was gross and weird, but figured it was normal for a postpartum body and that it would go away on its own as my body healed.
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But due to happenings and stress of life, buying a home (and all that entails), taking care of two young boys, work, etc. 6 months passed and I hadn't worked out at all in that time. I had been extremely stressed with house hunting and some financial troubles that I had palpitations, shortness of breath, felt my heart was going to stop while I slept, traveling pains, pinching and sharp pain sensations on my legs, arms, chest, etc. I honestly thought I was going to die. I was convinced I might have thrombosis and that a blood clot was going to travel to my heart and I'd die. The stress of not only finding a house and saving what little money we had, but now also worrying about my health, only made the symptoms more intense and more frequent. My fears were somewhat alleviated when I went to the doctor and all my blood work came back normal and I was told it was most likely stress related.
Once we FINALLY moved into our new home I was happy and relieved to be in our own home and most of the stress subsided and symptoms decreased. I went to the doctor again and they did more blood work to make sure I didn't have some autoimmune disease or lupus and was told I was "the picture of health". But I was still pretty sedentary and wanted to get back in shape. I was eager to lose my jelly belly and started doing my friend Kate Victoria's Yoga for Abs & Core Strength as well as sun salutations every morning. I was feeling really good and eager to add more to my routine, but when I enthusiastically posted a plank challenge to my Facebook page, a friend commented to make sure I didn't have diastasis recti, because if I did, plank was a no-no! "Damn-it!" I thought, "I DO have that!"
Finally I knew what that fleshy bulge was. I did the diastasis recti test and saw that it had closed some on its own but was still just over 2 fingers wide. Determined to lose the gap and get back to my ab workout I did the exercises in the above video (you can find plenty of diastasis recti exercise videos on YouTube). It has been 2 months of doing the exercises on a daily basis and I am now at 1 finger width at the belly button, the rest of the gap is even less. It is no longer technically considered a diastasis recti, but is still an abdominal split so I am careful to avoid certain yoga poses (mainly the deep back bends like camel pose) and am still weary of traditional ab exercises. I don't want to inadvertently undo the progress I have made, and have the muscles bulge out or, even worse, a hernia. I will continue to strengthen my core with the diastasis recti exercises and doing kegels to strengthen the pelvic floor.
When I asked Wendy Powell when would I be in the clear and could get back to my regular ab workout this was her reply: "It's not so much about getting an 'all clear' as having a core that is stable + can withstand the intra abdominal pressure when you exert yourself for any activity. Remember too that the stability / firmness of the mid line connective tissues is actually more important than the width of the gap" and sent me this helpful link: Mutusystem
I feel that my core is pretty strong and stable thanks to daily yoga, and Bikram hot yoga which I've been doing this past month (avoiding the back bends and not pushing myself too much on the twists) so I feel okay with slowly starting to do some of the traditional ab workouts. I look forward to seeing progress and will update here in the future. I hope this post will be helpful for anyone dealing with diastasis recti or who had it and wants to know "what now?" Please feel free to share your story or post your questions here.
