Am I Finally Going to Do This? - Richmond, VA

Just got back from first consult... Liked doctor... he comes highly recommended...he said I was a great candidate for the tt...feel more confident after consult. He drew on me where abouts my scar could be and what would be taken off..wow

Hello. I am a 38 year old mother of 2 beautiful boys, one who was just born this January. My oldest is 9. During my first pregnancy, I gained over 65lbs on my 5'6" frame. I had a c-section in which I developed the dreaded "c-section shelf" w/ loose skin and many stretch marks. Lost all of the weight after 2 years but the skin never went away and actually would look worse the more weight I lost. In 2005 I had surgery to remove an ovary and they cut where my c-section scar was. I became pregnant again last year and this time around I gained the normal amount of weight and lost it all pretty much within the 1st month after. It has now been 3 1/2 months and although I have lost the weight, my stomach still looks bad in fact looks a little worse than before. I had thought about doing a tummy tuck a few years ago and thank goodness I did not as I ended up having another baby who was a huge but welcome surprise to me and the hubby. Now I have been on this site so much reading everyone's stories and I think I am going to buckle down and actually do this. I have always hated my stomach for the past almost 10 years and would like to do finally do something about it before I am 40 which is next June. I have my first Plastic Surgeon consult today. I am sooo nervous about this whole process but mainly the recovery is what concerns me the most. My first c-section and the ovary removal were far worse in terms of recovery than the last one. I know that the biggest pain seems to be the muscle repair. I already suffer from anxiety and panic attacks so I worried that this will put that in overdrive. I plan to meet with a few Plastic surgeons and go with who I feel the most comfortable with. My current weight is 138 and again I am 5'6" so I am hoping I will get good results. I hope to lose another 10 more lbs (Don't we all) I will post before pics soon. Any advice or tips from people who also have panic attacks would be great. This site is the best... Thanks.