Baby Weight Reality Check

It's been four weeks since your little bundle of joy came into the world, and you're finally ready to pose in a bikini on the front of a magazine, right? Of course not. It's time for new moms to get realistic - and more forgiving - about losing the baby weight. Walking out of the hospital in your pre-pregnancy skinny jeans just doesn't happen - to any mom, celebrity or not. It's hard to believe when you see the likes of Heidi Klum walking the runway two weeks postpartum, or the numerous tabloids touting other celebrity moms' miraculous weight loss in some tiny sliver of postpartum time. But the miracles of airbrushing (Heidi's abs were painted on!) and Photoshop can make these moms slimmer than they appear. Many moms swear by breastfeeding to lose the weight, and it can be effective - for some moms, not all. A lot of women retain at least 5 pounds of water while nursing, and when nursing lasts up to a year, as the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends, that can add up to those frustrating pounds hanging on.