“Tummy Tuck to Repair Diastasis Recti and Appearing Pregnant”

The pros would have been to have a strong, tight stomach versus a huge diastasis recti and appearing pregnant.

The cons at this point are that my belly button (and adjacent surrounding skin) seems to be disfigured, my tummy still seems rather large for all the pain I went through (with the surgery) and my pelvic scar is uneven, high above my pubic bone, has pleats and "dog ears" at the ends.

I had a tummy tuck (6 weeks ago) performed by a plastic surgeon. At the same time I had an umbilicus hernia repaired by a general surgeon and pelvic adhesions removed by my OB/GYN. I am extremely unhappy with the way my belly button looks. It seems to me that my plastic surgeon cut too big of a hole for my "new" belly button. I have a sort of crest shaped cut out which is about 1 1/4 inches wide by 1 1/2 inches long with the belly button crease partly inside the crest and partly above the crest. I have scoured through tummy tuck pictures on the internet and have not seem anything like this. The plastic surgeon said this outcome is due to the other two doctors having to do work on me (which is difficult for me to understand because they performed their part laproscopically) and the plastic surgeon tells me that my belly button is not going to look this way, but is going to look better down the line because it takes six months to heal. Can you tell me if this sounds normal to you?

The doctor did say that if I am unhappy with the results six months later that the doctor would fix my belly button in the office by cutting out some of the flesh within the crest-like seam line and pull it all together. I used to sow and I can't picture how this will be accomplished without leaving pleats emanating from the belly button to the surrounding stomach skin.

In addition, I have small pleats in my tummy tuck incision line and have "dog ears" at the ends. The doctor said that these would be fixed as well in 6 months, but are the small pleats normal?

Also, I seem to have a bit of a tummy still (see attached pictures). Is this swelling that will go away?

The doctor said that my muscles had thinned down significantly because of my pregnancy with the twins and that although my abdominal wall was plicated, the muscles are still weak and stretched. I am confused about that statement because I have never been a heavy woman and do not understand how Kate (from Jon and Kate Plus 8) had twins and then sextuplets, had a tummy tuck and looks terrific, but I, who had less trauma to my abdomen look the way I do.

I am so upset and would appreciate any advice you can give me regarding addressing my belly button concerns, the size of my tummy (which I feel should be flatter than it is at this point) and future repair with the doctor.  Thank you.