Mommy Makeover, 5'4" 107 Lbs, 510cc Sientra Ultra High Profile and a Breast Lift

I'm 34 years old and have had 5 kids, 4 of them within 5 years. It's done a number on my body. I looked for a while at different surgeons and decided on Dr. Yates based off of his before and after pictures. I've always gained between 40-50 lbs for each of my pregnancies and would lose all of the baby weight in between each one. After our last child I struggled to look at myself in the mirror every morning without bursting into tears. I guess I'm prone to stretch marks because my stomach was nothing but them. I'm 5'4" and usually hover around 100 lbs. I couldn't imagine a supportive bra anymore because my breasts had just turned into sagging sacks. During pregnancy and breastfeeding, my breasts would go from a 32A to a 32DD and even bigger if I was engorged. Even when I would lose all the pregnancy weight I couldn't fit my clothes properly without tucking my loose skin in and trying to engage my core every waking moment to temporarily fix my diastasis recti.
I scheduled a consultation with Dr. Yates the soonest I could, 6 months after having my last baby. I worked on losing as much weight as I healthily could before the consultation because I was looking for optimal results and dropped down to 107 lbs. At the consultation, I was impressed with the office and how welcoming it felt. The staff were very friendly and courteous. It was hard taking my before pictures but I was made to feel at ease during the whole thing. I met with Dr. Yates next and he was honest on what he could and couldn't do with my body and what the resulting scars would look like. Due to the amount of stretch marks and loose skin I had we agreed to do a higher tummy tuck scar than he would normally recommend to remove as many stretch marks as possible.
He asked me what size of breasts I wanted post surgery. I told him I wanted to go back to the 32DD I was while breastfeeding. He recommended something in the low 400cc range and had me try on sizers. I decided to go with the largest I could fit, 510cc Sientra Ultra High Profile, as this was my once in a lifetime chance. I also needed a breast lift but because of the size of implant Dr. Yates wasn't sure he would be able to do the augmentation and lift at the same time. The lift might have to be staged at a later time if he couldn't complete both but he said he would do his best.
I was so fortunate that there was a cancellation and was able to schedule my surgery 2 weeks after my consultation. I had my surgery on October 17, 2023. I was nervous about going under because I've never had any kind of surgery before. When I came to a nurse was talking to my husband about after care. My husband told me afterwards that I had repeatedly asked and requested the same things over and over and the nurse was sweet and patiently answered me every time. Dr. Yates was able to do the breast augmentation and the breast lift at the same time! However, due to how much loose skin I had and how stretched and thin it was he decided to do a fleur de lis procedure mid surgery. So he made a vertical cut to pull the skin horizontally together. He made a video during the procedure with me on the operating table to demonstrate why he made this decision. I am so glad that he did as had he not and I was left with thin, stretched, and wrinkled skin after the tummy tuck I would have been devastated.
I did a virtual follow up with Dr. Yates the very next day and was able to finally see my immediate results. This time I cried tears of joy. My results already look phenominal and I can't wait to see the end results from this procedure 3 months from now. I came into this knowing I wouldn't be able to get rid of all of my stretch marks, and I'm going to be left with a less than ideal verticle scar from the fleur de lis, but I'm beyond happy with the results. I have a waist I haven't seen in over a decade that I thought was fat but turns out was just loose skin. My breasts are perfect and aren't even sitting as high as I thought they would and I can't wait for them to settle. I have my abs fixed and can finally work on proper core stregnth, proper breathing, and I have a belly button! I can't express how thankful I am that my husband did this for me. This is worth it! I'll put a follow up post with pictures.

It's been four days since my procedure. The pain is far less than I expected. I've been managing it with tylenol and ibuprofen. Yesterday I started getting cabin fever so I went out grocery shopping with my husband and children, four of whom are five and under. By the end of the trip I was starting to feel a little sore and tired so when I got home I took a nap. Last night I took care of the baby and have started changing diapers, though it has been a little difficult. This morning I made breakfast and I've been helping my husband out where I can.

I wanted to say that I was very impressed with Dr. Yates. He clearly took great personal pride in his work and I could see that he was impressed with the results on a personal level. I never felt like he was trying to sell me anything but rather was making suggestions to give me the best results that I wanted. I found it reassuring that he was so happy with his work on my body.

I'm attaching before pictures I took a few days before the procedure and after pictures that are from today. I am very swollen and retaining fluids but excited anyway. I was touching the skin around my new belly button where there are still stretch marks. The skin is smooth and feels exactly the same as the skin without stretch marks. Oh I did get drains. Dr Yates tries to do his procedures in a way that drains are not needed but due to how tightly my skin was he had to use drains. It has not been an issue. I do wish I had purchased a lanyard to hang them from but Dr Yates office provided me with safety pins to pin them to the compression garment, which works well.

I also wanted to say I bought two zip up robes meant for surgery on amazon. They are great. My husband also went to Costco and bought me a recliner to sleep in and I'm thankful that he did. I have a heated blanket to lay on which helps with the back pain some. Oh the back pain! I am unable to stand up straight at all. You know how your back starts to hurt if you hunch over to clean something on the floor for awhile? I'm on day four of permanently being hunched over. I can't wait until I can stretch my back. Back rubs help, the heated blanket helps, but nothing really helps. I also have body wipes and dry shampoo so I don't have to get in the shower. I want to keep the tape on the incisions for as long as possible to help minimize scarring. I also bought a thing that let me stand up to pee. I highly recommend you get one for the first two days.

It's been just over 3 weeks since my surgery and I've now had the drains and the tape removed. I was nervous about the drain removal and watched a bunch of videos on the process. It wasn't too bad. It kind of felt like a prolonged pinch.

As for the tape removal, it was like unwrapping a gift! My scars are phenominal and I've barely started the healing process. Dr. Yates works magic with closing the incision sites. I started the scar cream yesterday and I'm looking forward to the healing process. I'll have another appointment in 3 months but am including pictures of all the tape removed.

I have a bit of swelling going on unfortunately and all I can do is play the waiting game. I can't fit into anything but dresses right now, so that's a bummer, but on the plus side, I get to go shopping for new tops! I found a couple of bra sites that tailor towards enhanced clients and by their measurements, I'm now a 28 H. In regular clothing stores, I'm a 32 DD. I purchased a bra from one of those sites and plan on getting a bra from Victoria's Secret this weekend to compare the two.

As far as recovery, everything is going well. I was cleared to go back on the elliptical as long as I don't use the swinging arms and go at a moderate pace. I can pick up my baby but not my older toddlers yet. I was basically able to take care of the house after the first week but now I can do just about everything without assistance minus heavy lifting.