During the initial days and weeks after birth, you might believe that everything needs your attention when it comes to your body. Remember, it took your body nine months to grow your baby and the changes were slow, not drastic. It really is best to approach postpartum changes in the same manner.

The good news is that in many ways they are faster than the nine months. Once you are ready (mentally, physically, emotionally) to exercise, you can do more than you could during pregnancy because of fewer restrictions. You then control the amount of change to a degree that you could not during pregnancy. Patience is still a virtue in this arena.

The uterus is an amazing organ. It started out weighing about 3 ounces and being about the size of your fist before you were pregnant.

As your baby grew, your uterus expanded and grew to help accommodate and nourish your baby. At term, your uterus weighed about 3 pounds and measured about 10 inches by 14 inches. That's quite a change! While it took nine months for the original change, the process of involution (your uterus returning to its prepregnancy size), usually takes about six weeks, no matter how you gave birth.

Your breasts also grew during pregnancy to accommodate the tissues needed for nursing your baby after birth. Choosing a good bra will help give you added support in this area. This is a must for a good postpartum workout.

The skin on your abdomen might be another concern you have. Immediately after giving birth you feel really thin! Then you stand up and see the skin hanging there and moving too much like gelatin for your comfort. The skin will begin to shrink back and most women report that it does eventually get most of its tone back. Certain exercises can help speed this process up.

The angry red stretch marks will begin to fade as well. By six months, they are usually quite silvery and barely noticeable. Lotion will keep the skin lubricated, but there isn't a special potion out there to remove stretch marks.