Ab muscles stretching during third trimester?

Question

I was pretty fit before I got pregnant and had strong ab muscles. Now, at 29 weeks, I feel as though I did 3 hours of pilates with out a rest! And trust me, I have not! It is the worse whenever I sit down to eat a meal. Today at lunch I could only eat half of a burger it was so uncomfortable. Has anyone else experienced this? Are my abs separating?

Answer 1

I'm 28 weeks and my ab muscles are sooo sore too- I think it's just this phase of stretching, and quite normal. I've been doing pregnancy yoga and swimming to keep those muscles moving and it seems to help a lot.

Your muscles can separate down the line from your navel to your pubic bone- it happens to quite a large number of people, at least 30% or so. My physio showed me how to test to see if that's happening- you lay on your back, keep your shoulders on the floor, bend your knees and then raise your hips up a little. While you're doing that, feel the area below your navel. You can feel a space there if the muscles are separating. If they are, it's totally normal- there are exercises you can do after birth to pull them back together. She says it happens more to women who have strong ab muscles (because they're less flexible)- which explains why I don't have it. LOL.