Can I Get Lipo with a Hernia or Will I Need a Tummy Tuck?

You best bet here is a second opinion with a general surgeon (not a general plastic surgeon) who is in the business of hernia repair.  Your internist or gynecologist can most likely refer you to someone in the DC area.  If this surgeon say you have a hernia-there is you answer.  Regarding what to do, this is a circumstance where it pays to have surgery with a board certified general plastic surgeon.  There is undoubtedly and increase risk when liposuction is performed in the setting of abdominal wall herniation.  

It is common for general plastic surgeons to do both tummy tuck and a durable repair of the abdominal wall weakness.  This is an instance where it makes sense to seek out a double boarded plastic surgeon, one who has completed an entire residency in general surgeon and a second residency in general plastic surgery.  Because of the way graduate medical education is funded, it is now very unusual for new to practice general plastic surgeons to be double boarded in this fashion.  You will need to find someone in their mid-forties or beyond for this level of training.

Since pregnancy stretches out the abdominal skin, there is usually some residual laxity that cannot be corrected with exercise or with lipo. Also, the muscle separation does not respond to exercise for anatomic reasons. A hernia is a separate issue, and it could be repaired as part of the tummy tuck. Make sure you are consulting a board certified plastic surgeon who does both tummy tucks and liposuction so they can recommend which is best.