# Did your hips get bigger?



## mmaramba (May 17, 2005)

I hope so!










I'm not even TTC yet, but just curious...

I've heard lots of women say that their hips expanded after their first children. Not just fat padding, but bone structure? Permanently? IDEK.

Any truth to it? Midwives' experiences especially appreciated!

I'm curious because I have big, big hips, relative to my waist, and I like it like that.







Right now they're about 45" around-- my waist is 30". I always assumed my belly wouldn't tighten up completely after I had kids, and that's fine with me, as long as my hips grow just as much!

Anybody want to weigh in on this important issue?


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## harli (Mar 17, 2010)

Both my belly and hips returned to normal size after having each of my two kids. My breasts....well that's a different story.


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## Alyantavid (Sep 10, 2004)

Mine did. And it's apparently fairly permanent since my youngest is 4 and they haven't shrunk. It does make me curvier, which dh loves. I don't mind that much, my unflat stomach bothers me more than the wider hips.

I don't know how much wider they were, I don't remember measuring (or at least what the measuremnt was) before I had kids, but I think now they're at 34".


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## CrazyCatLady (Aug 17, 2004)

After three babies my hips went from 32" to 33". So yeah I guess there was a change, but it wasn't significant like I always read about.


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## Veritaserum (Apr 24, 2004)

I think I may have gained an inch in my hips. My rib cage definitely expanded. Even weighing less than I did when I got married, I couldn't fit it due to a larger rib cage and larger breasts.









ETA: By "it" I meant my wedding dress. My bra band size went up from 30 to 32. My hips went from like 35 to 36".


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## homemademom (Sep 25, 2009)

Mine did after the initial baby, though I don't know by how many inches because I never measured. All I know is that I could never fit into my same pre-preg jeans, even when I lost all the weight. However, this time, I'm going to wear this: http://www.upspringbaby.com/index.ph...&products_id=7







Not what you need or want, OP, but for the ladies that do, the testimonials have sucked me in!


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## WifeofAnt (May 2, 2010)

I think that Shrinkx might be the only thing that gets me back in my size 3s after this baby is born.







I really don't care for the wide hips look personally and I definitely don't feel old enough to look like someone's mother!


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## mmaramba (May 17, 2005)

Wow-- 32-34" hips? There's literally 17" between my hip BONES on one side, LOL.

I'm not sure if it makes sense scientifically, but I thought I'd ask. I know that when I was 17 and mostly done growing, I had a 28" waist and 40" hips, but by age 30, with the same or smaller waist, I had 42-43" hips... But how much of that was fat and how much bone structure, I couldn't tell you. Just curious...


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## bluebirdiemama (May 2, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *harli* 
Both my belly and hips returned to normal size after having each of my two kids. My breasts....well that's a different story.









same here. my hips grew, and they were big to begin with. neither returned to quite the size they were (I was really small) but I am about the same proportionally


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## etsdtm99 (Jun 19, 2009)

my hips got MUCH bigger during pregnancy and right after birth but mostly shrunk back after several months, maybe a year.. they may have stayed a ltitle bigger but i was wanting them back to normal so.. lol


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## mum4vr (Jan 31, 2007)

Yes, mine def did, and I have lower body fat now than I did then, so it's not that









hips were 36" then and are 42" now. Waist was 24" and now is 26"-27"

my "baby" is 9yo, so I think they're here to stay...

I like it-- works for me

blessings


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## crystal_buffaloe (Apr 30, 2010)

My hips are the same size, I think (judging by pre-pregnancy jeans), but my butt shrunk somehow ... and that's not a development I'm happy with.


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## lach (Apr 17, 2009)

I had a tough pregnancy with #1 and was 15lbs below my pre-partum weight within about a week after giving birth. And still managed to be up a pants size (16 from 14). So I don't have the before and after measurements, but YES for me. It was crazy.


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## MyFullHouse (Apr 23, 2010)

My hips have never gone back to completely normal after birth. My longest time between birth and a new pregnancy has been 3 years.

It's (so far) never been drastic enough to really notice in the mirror, but I've definitely noticed in my jeans. After baby #4, I lost more weight than ever, and wound up having major issues when it came to waist band vs. hip room in my pants.









When full-term, my hips are almost ridiculous, and I'm very grateful for that.


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## GoBecGo (May 14, 2008)

Mine did. I lost weight with #1, and a lot more after, and though i wore the same size i'd gone from round from the front and from the side to broad from the front and narrow from the side, albeit in the same clothes.


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## MegBoz (Jul 8, 2008)

I heard one woman say this - that as her pelvis expanded to allow room for baby (which I know happens - the pelvis is built to expand like that & that's part of why we have the hormone 'relaxin' in our systems 3rd tri - it relaxes the joints to allow for such expansion.)

Anyway, she said after birth her hips NEVER went back as small again. I hate to say it, but she's pretty overweight, so I'm really tempted to think, 'How do you know?' it's really hard to judge the size of your hips if you have all that extra body fat around you - how can you say, "My hips can't get any smaller than this."? Not trying to be mean, just questioning her theory that her hips "can't go back to the size they were."

Didn't happen for my sister, mom & I. We all have hour-glass shapes, fairly big butts for our frames & small waists. I was able to fit back into pre-PG size 6 clothes (Well, it took a while! but I got back there!)


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## Hey Mama! (Dec 27, 2003)

Ugh, I am fat and I know for a fact my hips are wider then they were before I had children. Fat people can be in tune with their body shape, even if it is rounder than yours. Before having kids I had pretty much the same bust, waist, and hip measurement. If I was skinny I would have had a boyish figure. Now my hips have spread from 3 kids and have stayed that way. According to a kindergartener last year, I'm tall and shaped like a rectangle


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## candycat (Jun 20, 2010)

Uhm yeah they got HUGE. I'm big boned but not heavy, does that make sense? Like my bone structure is very curvy to start out with but I don't have a lot on me. I always say I look like a flatfish - look at me from the front and I look like I'm a pretty big girl. Look at me from the side and I look like a pretty skinny girl. It's odd for sure. My hips were ridiculously out of proportion to the rest of my body (and ironic - I had teensy babies! 5 and 6 lbs - but super easy births).

Now 2.5 years on they've shrunk SOME but not all the way. I'd say they're about halfway between where they were pre-kids and at their widest. My breasts on the other hand have gone back to normal, minus a teensy bit of perkiness.


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## CrazyCatLady (Aug 17, 2004)

Quote:

My hips are the same size, I think (judging by pre-pregnancy jeans), but my butt shrunk somehow ... and that's not a development I'm happy with.
Me too! I totally lost my butt during my third pregnancy and it has yet to return.







I am a personal trainer though...I suppose I could exercise it and see what happens (but I haven't yet).


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## MegBoz (Jul 8, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Hey Mama!* 
Ugh, I am fat and I know for a fact my hips are wider then they were before I had children. Fat people can be in tune with their body shape, even if it is rounder than yours.

That makes sense.

I think it was her statement that "My hips _will not_ go back down" that I questioned. Your "hip" measurement includes your butt - and most women hold fat in their butt - so I think it was more that I questioned her saying _it is impossible for me to get the circumference of my hips down to what it was pre-birth._ As I said, without getting down to at least a healthy weight range, how could she be so sure that it is entirely impossible to regain her pre-birth hip measurement? Even if the hips are bigger than they used to be, relative to the waist size.


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## homemademom (Sep 25, 2009)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *candycat* 
Uhm yeah they got HUGE. I'm big boned but not heavy, does that make sense? Like my bone structure is very curvy to start out with but I don't have a lot on me. I always say I look like a flatfish - look at me from the front and I look like I'm a pretty big girl. Look at me from the side and I look like a pretty skinny girl. It's odd for sure. My hips were ridiculously out of proportion to the rest of my body (and ironic - I had teensy babies! 5 and 6 lbs - but super easy births).

Now 2.5 years on they've shrunk SOME but not all the way. I'd say they're about halfway between where they were pre-kids and at their widest. My breasts on the other hand have gone back to normal, minus a teensy bit of perkiness.

LOL, I think I'm a flatfish, too!


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## Catherine12 (May 15, 2006)

I've had three kids, and everything is the same size except my stomach (though it took about six months after weaning for my breasts to go back to their original size).


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## ILoveMyBabyBird (Sep 2, 2006)

Just while pregnant. Now ds is 4 and my hips are normal maybe even a half inch smaller than when I had him. They are usually 39 to 40 inches. I am tall and very pear shaped so maybe my bone structure is good for birthing as it is and my hips didn't need to permanently expand I guess. My breasts went back to normal after breastfeeding, still small. My butt is still large I think my stomache is the only area that didn't go completely back to normal.


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## Belle (Feb 6, 2005)

My hips are definately wider. Its not my butt, its only the hips. My pre-pregnancy jeans are way too narrow across the front. My rib-cage expanded during pregnancy significantly but went back down after the birth.


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## Funny Face (Dec 7, 2006)

My hips are noticeably wider.


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## April Dawn (Oct 31, 2009)

My hips didn't get any wider despite delivering a nine pound baby, and I so wish they did. I have always hated my big boobs, apple shaped body (I'm not overweight, but have always had a poochy belly), and complete lack of hips and butt. So I was all excited when I heard several women say that post-pregnancy they ended up with smaller breasts and bigger hips. Aaaand... in the end, my hips are just as nonexistent as ever, and my boobs and belly went from big to HOLY COW. (still BFing right now, though, so I guess there's still some hope for the breasts to shrink eventually...)


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## texaspeach (Jun 19, 2005)

my hips are not wider. I had a c/s with out the baby ever engaging, so that could be a contributing factor. I'm about 40ish lbs lighter than my pre-pregnancy weight though, so even if the bones did shift there is a lot less padding there. I have friends who had a vaginal birth that feel like their hips didn't expand and friends who had a c/s who feel like theirs did. so it just depends.


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## GoGoGirl (Oct 13, 2008)

I don't think mine got any bigger...I didn't measure or anything, but I am back in pre-pregnancy jeans (just recently, maybe 15 months pp).

I wish mine had gotten bigger though! I've always had a wide waist compared to my hips (huge ribcage). I was hoping my hips would get bigger so my waist would look more proportionate.


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## treeoflife3 (Nov 14, 2008)

a few weeks post pregnancy, I was back to my pre pregnancy weight. However my pre pregnancy jeans wouldn't even kind of zip up.


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## Mama2mc (Sep 7, 2010)

I didn't measure, but I do feel my hips are bigger, and I doubt they'll go back to their original size, even though I weigh less than I did pre-pregnancy. I thought my clothes wouldn't fit anymore, but was surprised and relieved when I tried my jeans a week postpartum and had no trouble zipping them up.


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## hildare (Jul 6, 2009)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *CrazyCatLady* 
Me too! I totally lost my butt during my third pregnancy and it has yet to return.







I am a personal trainer though...I suppose I could exercise it and see what happens (but I haven't yet).









and me too!!! i don't know WHERE it went, it used to be quite [ahem] full. now flat as a pancake.. my hips seem the same, though.


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## candycat (Jun 20, 2010)

Jealous. My butt is definitely bigger than ever. Except, it's kind of also south of where it used to be. I can fit into pre-preg jeans perfectly. But when the jeans come off... the butt somehow... migrates further down... so it's a bit awkward. Fills out the jeans though.


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## Coconut Chronicles (Aug 31, 2006)

I've only had one baby but everything went back to what it had been pre-baby (hips, butt, thighs, belly). Verdict is still out on the boobs though... still breastfeeding.


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## ShadowMoon (Oct 18, 2006)

I don't really know......everything seems the same to me.


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