Healing and happy!

After baby 1, I was back in a bikini within a few months. After baby 2, however, it was a different story. I noticed a few months postpartum that I was not magically shrinking like I did the first time. I could not fit in any of my clothes and was extremely depressed about it. A consult with my OB lead me to discover a 3 finger diastasis, likely started by prior abdominal surgeries and exacerbated by pregnancies.

I'm quite thin, 120 lbs and 5'4", but look at least 5 months pregnant by the end of the day when not wearing Spanx. It is depressing as hell and I never thought I would ever even consider this procedure because I could not justify undergoing any sort of risk with young children. This is especially true because I am Factor V Leiden heterozygous, and tummy tucks have the highest rate of DVT. That being said, my hematologist is fine with it and I will be renting a portable SCD to wear home from the surgery center and to have on at night or when not moving around. My hematologist is still trying to decide if lovenox is necessary (I'm very comfortable with it--I took it during pregnancy to try and help prevent fetal growth restriction as my first baby was very small). I will also be having lipo of the flanks as that seems to be part and parcel with the tummy tuck.

I am eager, as everyone is, to have the process here and gone. I'll update as I know more in the upcoming weeks.

Here they are. Scary!
I have no stretch marks, just the Buddha belly. Hoping to avoid a vertical incision.

I admit, it makes me super nervous, but both the hematologist and surgeon agreed that only ongoing manual compression is necessary. For this i have rented a portable SCD that i can have on constantly, even when walking around. The upside is that i wont have to have any drains if i dont use the lovenox, which is a pretty big deal. In spite of that, I may talk to my surgeon once more to allay my fears.