6 WEEKS POST OP

BACKGROUND
I am a 38 year old mother of 2 children - both vagnial deliveries. My daughter was born 6 years ago and I was able to lose the baby weight within 4 months post delivery, however, I had belly bulge that never left. Truth be told, my belly was never flat, but the pregnancy only added to that. My son was born 3 years later and the weight was much more difficult to shed. I went on a strict calorie diet and as much exercise as possible while working and tending to 2 wonderful children. Although, my weight went to a reasonable level ( I'm 5'6 and 145 lbs), my belly just protrudes and makes my pants so uncomfortable. People tell me I look good but they don't see what is under the clothes and don't understand how bad my belly feels in pants. I used to be able to "suck it in" but after baby #2 I couldn't and just figured it was because of so much flab in that area. I've been running for 2 years now approx 10 miles per week with at least 3 hours of toning exercise mixed in each week. I've even worked with a personal trainer for strength training 2x per week. Physically I feel super strong and motivated, but this belly is going nowhere and it bothers me more every day.

Plastic Surgery Thoughts
I honestly never thought I would pursue plastic surgery. It seemed like such a cop out for lazy people who wanted a quick fix and were willing to put their lives at risk for vanity. I kept hearing ads on the radio for PS promos and recently watched a 20-20 episode about people who swear by it. 3 weeks ago I browsed google for a PS office in my area and made a call. my reasoning was that I really wanted a professional to be honest with me about how bad ( or maybe not so bad) my body was, and what I could do about it. I was hoping they might say there was this great new non-surgical body contouring procedure that would smooth me out perfectly. In this moment of temporary insanity, I filled out a contact form on the PS website and that was that. About 2 hours later I received a call from a nurse at the office and she suggested I come in for a free consultation. The office is 10 mins from my office so I scheduled it for my lunch hour the following week.

Consultation
I arrived at the PS office on my lunch hour. The office was very contemporary and inviting. Front desk staff was friendly and told me it should be a short wait. 10 mins later I was greeted by a R.N. named Maureen who was immediately disarming and made me feel comfortable. We went back to her office and I found myself pouring out my heart about how uncomfortable I am with my body. She was so understanding about my insecurities and gave me a quick definition of the surgical options that they offer. She explained that patient safety is their #1 concern and all procedures are performed by board certified surgeons at surgical centers. She did explain to me right away that because they use state of the art surgery centers, it is a minimum cost of $6000 just to book the hospital (bed, nurses, antestiologist, etc) and any procedures go up from there. Her point was, if im thinking of getting one thing done, i may as well get more done in order to optomize my $6000 "entry cost". I was happy she was up front about this, however, was immediately concerned that I wouldn't be able to afford PS costs on top of this initial $6000. Regardless, We had such an easy conversation and I felt totally comfortable. She then told me I would immediately meet with the surgeon to complete the consultation. I was very surprised that I would have the opportunity to meet with the surgeon during this free consult. I really didn't plan on moving on any major surgery done and didn't want to waste the surgeons time.

So, the surgeon (female) comes in and I immediately love her. She is very serious and matter of fact. She grabs my belly and says "Tummy Tuck"! She explains that after 2 pregnancies my muscles have severly seperated. This explains why with all of my intense workouts i still see no improvement in my lower belly. This explains why i can no longer "suck it in". She says I will love my pants once I get rid of this belly. She explains that she will suture the muscles back together so my workouts will start showing results in the abdominal area. She explains that she doesn't use tubes and instead takes the time during surgery to suture the belly as to minimize recovery efforts. Since i was already there, naked, disussing my body, i asked if a breast lift is an option for me. Dr says that my breasts are beautiful but beginning to droop. She recommends a full tummy tuck with abdominal muscle repair and a small breast implant to help round ot the top area which would make them look very natural and give them volume. She says with all this, I need 2weeks to go back to work. WOW, Im sold, except I haven't seen the cost! I have to get back to work so the nurse says she will email me with the quote. I leave there thinking how much I would love to do this but am fearful the cost will be crazy!

So, 3 hours later I receive an email with the full quote. $11,700. I was pleasently surprised as this is something I can easily afford. Now I'm getting super excited but how to even broach the subject with DH??

2 days later (after 2 sleepless nights) I tell DH we need to talk. I tell him everything and he says he wants me to be happy. Today he went with me for a second consultation. I wanted him to meet the nurses and Dr and have the opportunity to ask any questions he may have. Everything went great and he is comfortable. He loves my breasts and didn't want a foreign item put into them, however, once the Dr explained how breasts continue to deflate/sag over time and that implants are much less scarring than lifts, he was convinced.

MY SURGERY
We put the deposit down today and my surgery is set for Dec 26 -the day after Christmas. I will have a full tummy tuck with lipo to flanks and hips along with implants. The implants will be silicone and I'm trying to decide between 300, 325, or 350. I want them to look natural and not obvious that I had work done, however, I keep hearing that most women wish they would have went bigger. This site has become an obsession for me over the past 2weeks. I love reading about how happy people are post surgery. I hope people will follow my story and support me as I'm not sharing this with my friends or co-workers.

NOTE
At the beginning I mentioned that my previous thoughts of PS was that it was for people that were lazy. I now know that so many of us have struggles from pregnancies, medically conditions, or just unlucky genes. We are fortunate to have options like this with state of the art medical facilities. No matter what your age is, why not feel your very best??