Reviews you can trust, from real people like you.
How it works
- Our highly-trained Review Moderation team evaluates all reviews before they're published to ensure they're written by people like you and not a member of a doctor's office.
- This multi-step process takes up to 24 hours from review submission to publication.
- Doctors can't pay to have reviews removed or hidden.
- Reviews are only removed at the reviewer's request or if they violate our Terms of Service.
If you have questions or believe we should re-evaluate a published review, let us know.
Sort by:
*Treatment results may vary
Hello! I'm a 30 year old mum to 4 little girls...
Hello! I'm a 30 year old mum to 4 little girls aged 7, 6, 3 & 9 months.
I was always slim & healthy before I had kids. But I got the shock of my life after I gave birth to my eldest, almost 8 years ago. I gained an enormous 24kg (53lb) during my pregnancy & ended up COVERED with stretch marks, with separated abdominal muscles & a saggy "apron". I decided back then that I would look into abdominoplasty once I'd finished having babies.
My second daughter arrived 19 months after my first. After she was born I worked my butt off & was the thinnest I'd ever been - an Australian size 8, which is healthy for my petite 159cm (5ft 2 1/2) frame. But despite being so thin, my belly homestly looked like a flopped souffle.
Unfortunately, the weight piled back on during my third pregnancy. After my daughter was born, I got a referral to se Dr Julie Lawrence. I was completely overwhelmed when she told me that due to the amount of excess skin I had & the damage to my ab's, I was eligible to have a TT with muscle repair for NO out of pocket expense as a public patient!!!!! The wait was around a year, which I was happy with, because I wanted to lose more weight.
Fast forward 11 months & I get "the call" to book my pre-surgery consult, except... I'm pregnant AGAIN, hahaha!
So I had my beautiful (& very planned) last baby & was devastated: I was the most overweight I'd ever been... 28.8kg (63 1/2 lb) more than I was after my second baby. When she was 6 months old though, somethjng just clicked & I felt ready to look & feel like me again. So I joined Weight Watchers online & started doing zumba, high impact group personal training & running.
I called my surgeon's office not long after & was shocked & excited to find out I didn't need to wait another year for surgery & I could book in whenever I was ready!!! I made my appointment for February 27th 2014 & my surgery will be around 8 weeks after that. I wanted to allow enough time for me to breastfeed my baby until she's 12 months or so & her birthday is March 27th, so I'm hoping it all works out well :)
So here I am, with 2 months until my pre-op consult. So far I've lost 14.1kg (31lb) in 13 weeks & I'm feeling incredible! I can't believe that in 4-ish months I'll have the flat tummy I've been dreaming of for 8 years!
** I'll add some pics soon of my weight loss progress & also me at my goal weight - I can't do it from my phone :-/ **
I was always slim & healthy before I had kids. But I got the shock of my life after I gave birth to my eldest, almost 8 years ago. I gained an enormous 24kg (53lb) during my pregnancy & ended up COVERED with stretch marks, with separated abdominal muscles & a saggy "apron". I decided back then that I would look into abdominoplasty once I'd finished having babies.
My second daughter arrived 19 months after my first. After she was born I worked my butt off & was the thinnest I'd ever been - an Australian size 8, which is healthy for my petite 159cm (5ft 2 1/2) frame. But despite being so thin, my belly homestly looked like a flopped souffle.
Unfortunately, the weight piled back on during my third pregnancy. After my daughter was born, I got a referral to se Dr Julie Lawrence. I was completely overwhelmed when she told me that due to the amount of excess skin I had & the damage to my ab's, I was eligible to have a TT with muscle repair for NO out of pocket expense as a public patient!!!!! The wait was around a year, which I was happy with, because I wanted to lose more weight.
Fast forward 11 months & I get "the call" to book my pre-surgery consult, except... I'm pregnant AGAIN, hahaha!
So I had my beautiful (& very planned) last baby & was devastated: I was the most overweight I'd ever been... 28.8kg (63 1/2 lb) more than I was after my second baby. When she was 6 months old though, somethjng just clicked & I felt ready to look & feel like me again. So I joined Weight Watchers online & started doing zumba, high impact group personal training & running.
I called my surgeon's office not long after & was shocked & excited to find out I didn't need to wait another year for surgery & I could book in whenever I was ready!!! I made my appointment for February 27th 2014 & my surgery will be around 8 weeks after that. I wanted to allow enough time for me to breastfeed my baby until she's 12 months or so & her birthday is March 27th, so I'm hoping it all works out well :)
So here I am, with 2 months until my pre-op consult. So far I've lost 14.1kg (31lb) in 13 weeks & I'm feeling incredible! I can't believe that in 4-ish months I'll have the flat tummy I've been dreaming of for 8 years!
** I'll add some pics soon of my weight loss progress & also me at my goal weight - I can't do it from my phone :-/ **
Photos added... Shrinking, shrinking, shrinking!
I thought I'd add some progress pics of my weight loss & also of me at my goal weight.
I'm actually another 4.2kg (9 1/4 lb) lighter now, so I'll try and get a more recent one soon. I was sucking in so much (don't we all!) Once I'm closer to my surgery, I'll share a photo of what my jelly-belly looks like under my clothes. Oh also, I don't usually wear a headband & legwarmers... it was an 80s theme night at Zumba, hahaha!
I was going to hide my face, but I'm too lazy to edit the pics, lol, so this is me!
My surgeon would happily operate at my weight now, but I want to be at my goal weight, or as close as possible, to get the best results. She agreed that the less body fat I have, the more loose skin she'd be able to remove
One more random thing - I caught my 6 year old skipping & singing a little tune the other day, she was so proud of herself:
"Pizza dough, pizza dough
My mummy's belly is like pizza dough.
Squish the dough & bake the bread,
Mummy's belly is pizza dough."
"Did you hear my song mummy? Its because your belly feels just like dough!"
NOT FOR LONG!!!!!!!
I'm actually another 4.2kg (9 1/4 lb) lighter now, so I'll try and get a more recent one soon. I was sucking in so much (don't we all!) Once I'm closer to my surgery, I'll share a photo of what my jelly-belly looks like under my clothes. Oh also, I don't usually wear a headband & legwarmers... it was an 80s theme night at Zumba, hahaha!
I was going to hide my face, but I'm too lazy to edit the pics, lol, so this is me!
My surgeon would happily operate at my weight now, but I want to be at my goal weight, or as close as possible, to get the best results. She agreed that the less body fat I have, the more loose skin she'd be able to remove
One more random thing - I caught my 6 year old skipping & singing a little tune the other day, she was so proud of herself:
"Pizza dough, pizza dough
My mummy's belly is like pizza dough.
Squish the dough & bake the bread,
Mummy's belly is pizza dough."
"Did you hear my song mummy? Its because your belly feels just like dough!"
NOT FOR LONG!!!!!!!
Change Dr Details?
Hey girls. Thanks so much for your encouragement so far :)
Quick question: do you know if I can change my Dr details? I'm not too concerned if I can't, but there's another review on here that links to her actual profile "Julie Lawrence, FRACS" So I thought it would be nice to have her details listed correctly on mine.
7 1/2 weeks until my pre-op appointment, where I'll book my date, YAY! I'm starting to write a list of questions to ask.
Also (I totally forgot to write it initially,) I'm also possibly having a breast lift with Dr Lawrence too! I enquired at the end of my last appointment & she gave me the info & said we'd discuss it at my pre-op. I was a 12DD prior to having kids & ended up an enormous 12G when I was pregs/breastfeeding, I'm probably a deflated 12DD/E now & I'm still feeding, so I'll go down a whole lot more once I wean my bubba in a couple of months. She mentioned a BR as well as a lift, but I'm so deflated after losing weight & breastfeeding 4 kids for close to a year each, that I don't think I'd have much left to reduce once I stop BF, bahaha! I still have a decent sized bust, but not a decent amount of volume anymore (just a decent amount of SKIN!) ;)
She said that I could actually get a lift under the public healthcare system too, providing that I met a few criteria... the age of my kids (can't remember when the cut off was) & whether my nipples had sagged lower than the fold line under my boobies (um, unfortunately yes). I'm not getting my hopes up though. It would be incredible to have the full mummy makeover, but I'll just be so thankful to finally have my tummy back, after 8 years of waiting!
Quick question: do you know if I can change my Dr details? I'm not too concerned if I can't, but there's another review on here that links to her actual profile "Julie Lawrence, FRACS" So I thought it would be nice to have her details listed correctly on mine.
7 1/2 weeks until my pre-op appointment, where I'll book my date, YAY! I'm starting to write a list of questions to ask.
Also (I totally forgot to write it initially,) I'm also possibly having a breast lift with Dr Lawrence too! I enquired at the end of my last appointment & she gave me the info & said we'd discuss it at my pre-op. I was a 12DD prior to having kids & ended up an enormous 12G when I was pregs/breastfeeding, I'm probably a deflated 12DD/E now & I'm still feeding, so I'll go down a whole lot more once I wean my bubba in a couple of months. She mentioned a BR as well as a lift, but I'm so deflated after losing weight & breastfeeding 4 kids for close to a year each, that I don't think I'd have much left to reduce once I stop BF, bahaha! I still have a decent sized bust, but not a decent amount of volume anymore (just a decent amount of SKIN!) ;)
She said that I could actually get a lift under the public healthcare system too, providing that I met a few criteria... the age of my kids (can't remember when the cut off was) & whether my nipples had sagged lower than the fold line under my boobies (um, unfortunately yes). I'm not getting my hopes up though. It would be incredible to have the full mummy makeover, but I'll just be so thankful to finally have my tummy back, after 8 years of waiting!
Provider Review
