That beautiful, long awaited day has arrived - you have finally brought your little baby home. You are so excited, you lay the baby in the nursery for the first time for a nap, then head on to the bathroom for a much needed and well deserved, long, hot shower. Then it hits you. You see yourself in the mirror and gasp, "That is not my body!" You start counting down the minutes until your doctor approves you to work out. When your doctor finally says yes, you'll want to know a few things that will help you to get that tight little tummy back.

Do not work out your stomach prematurely

Wait until it is no longer separated before you start working out your tummy. If you work it out pre-maturely you are risking doing excess damage to the muscles, and deforming your stomach permanently. There is a quick test you can do to make sure your stomach is ready for post-baby boot camp. Lay on your back and tighten your stomach muscles, take your hand out an inch above your belly button and see how many fingers you can fit in-between the gap between both sides of your stomach muscles. If your stomach is ready for a workout, you will only be able to fit one, maybe two fingers between the gap, if it is more than that, your stomach muscles are not ready to be worked out yet. Go ahead and run your little heart out, but don't work out your stomach until it is healed and no longer separated.

Drink lots of water

This will help you during your workouts in many ways. It is important to keep yourself hydrated so you don't get sick. Drinking plenty of water is also a great way to help rejuvenate and tighten your extra skin during working out.

Don't over-do it

Your stomach took nine months to grow that beautiful baby, so don't expect by some miracle to have rock hard abs by doing a ridiculous amount of crunches every night for a week. Take it easy, listen to your body to prevent injury, and understand that it is going to take some time.

Run

Most people think that if you want a flat stomach that you need to do crunches galore, but really one of the best workouts for your stomach is a good run. It is a great way to strengthen your core, without putting too much strain and pressure on those muscles that are still healing.

Eat healthy

You can work out as much as you want, but if your eating habits are poor, you aren't going to see the results you want. The better you eat, the better the results will be when you work out.

Give yourself a break

Don't beat yourself up and give yourself time to heal properly before you jump into the heavy-duty workouts. Be sure that your stomach muscles are healed before doing crunches or other direct stomach workouts. Above all else, have patience, and love yourself for the way you are. After all, you did just create a beautiful miracle, and that is a lot of hard work and sacrifice. You are stronger than you think.