6 months Post-Op pictures - TT, MR, no lipo - Tulsa, OK

I'm 5' 0", 116 lbs, 31 years old. I have three children and my youngest is 16 months old. My first two were delivered vaginally and my last was a c-section. Although I never had a completely flat stomach after my first two pregnancies and I felt like I had some abdominal wall laxity (when I ate I felt like my stomach stuck out more than it used to), I wasn't too concerned about it. That changed after my c-section. I now have excess skin that hangs over my incision and I hate it. It makes my pants fit tighter and I have to wear a shaper under certain clothing so I don't have an obvious lump sticking out. Probably about a week after my youngest was born I told my husband I thought I was going to need a surgery because I had an "apron" that wasn't there before. He said, well, we'll wait about a year and for you to get to your goal weight and make the decision then if you still have a problem with how your belly looks. Of course losing weight helped shrink the size of the overhang, but the extra skin remained. I'm fortunate in that my husband has been super supportive and even though he tells me he thinks I'm beautiful and he's perfectly content with my body how it is, he's never complained about spending the money and says he'll support me in whatever decision I make.

My c-section scar became hypertrophic (red/purple, raised, itchy and painful) about two months after my son was delivered. I lived with it for almost a year that way until my husband did some searching and found that silicone sheets could help. I've been using those for the past 5 months. Part of my scar is still raised, etc, but it's no longer so red and angry looking and much flatter than it was and it really doesn't bother me unless I take the silicone sheets off. Had I known they existed I would have bought some when it first started to become raised. I asked the OB about it early on, but she just said it would go away eventually but for now I'd just have to live with it. It's miles better than it was before, so I'm thankful for that. I'm concerned that if I have a tummy tuck I'll have a longer scar that will do the same thing. However, even if that's the case, I'll take that over my overhang. At least the scar could be treated, but the extra skin isn't going anywhere.

I initially considered also doing a breast augmentation and lift at the same time as the tummy tuck, but I've pretty much made up my mind to only have the tummy tuck right now and maybe in a few years have my breasts done if I want to. Although I'm not 100% satisfied with them because of some loss of volume after breastfeeding my babies, I'm not totally dissatisfied with them either. I was really only 50/50 on having them done in the first place. Part of me also wants to see how the tummy tuck heals first. Like I told my husband, I can handle having a scar that needs treatment if it becomes hypertrophic on my abdomen, but I don't know if I could handle them on my breasts. Also as far as recovery goes, I think it would be easier to recover from one at a time. Just thinking of not being able to use my stomach muscles and not being able use my arms/chest at the same time sounds like a very traumatic thing. How do you go from sitting to standing without being able to use your arms/chest OR abs? I also have small children that I need to care for, so the easier the recovery the better. It does mean spending around $2,000 more later because it would be cheaper to combine the surgeries, but life is full of tradeoffs I guess.

I have already consulted with two area surgeons. One about three weeks ago and one yesterday. I haven't decided if I'm going to post who I've consulted with or just list my doctor when the time comes. I have one more consultation next week (October 1st) before I'll chose which surgeon is right for me. I think choosing is going to be hard, honestly. I really like both of the surgeons I've consulted with so far.

Both surgeons recommended a full tummy tuck with muscle repair, no liposuction. They have both also said that we'd treat my incision as if it were hypertrophic starting around 3 weeks post op. They were both optimistic about the scar outcome. I guess we'll see what the third surgeon says. :)

So, I was supposed to have my final consult yesterday, but when we got to the doctor's office there was a sticky note on the door that said, "We've moved" with a new address and phone number. We were 15 minutes early and were going to try to call to tell them we were on our way, but the new number wasn't in service so I called the old number and got a voice message that the office was closed for the day. My husband and I decided that we weren't going to try to see that doctor again and that we'd pick from the two we've already seen. They never called to say they had moved and never called to find out why I didn't show up. They also never mentioned recently moving or moving in the near future when I made the appointment a month ago. We just felt like it was really unprofessional. When we first got to the parking garage I saw a lady get out of a car and she had drains and was hunched over (my guess is TT based on what all you fine folks have said on here). I sure hope she didn't walk all the way to the building, through the lobby and take an elevator to the 6th floor to see a sticky note on the door. Geez.

I've decided who my doctor is going to be. I'm going with Dr. Brian Kent. We really liked his analytical approach and you could tell he was thinking the whole time. He also seemed to have a sense of humor which is great. My 16 month old was getting antsy at one point and he stopped what he was saying, waited for my husband to deal with the kiddo and then proceeded with what he was saying. Most doctors just keep talking while you can only half-listen. I liked the fact that he measured and re-measured and pushed and pulled on my stomach quite a bit. I felt like he told us everything we needed to know. He told us the risks, downtime, drew us pictures of what he'd do, etc. He was very informative. His before and after photos are awesome and he gets amazing reviews across many different ratings sites. I'm really excited about having him do my surgery. :)

Now I just have to figure out the when. The holidays are approaching and we're supposed to be making a thirteen hour car trip to my home state around Christmas. I'm still not sure if I'd want to do this before or after that. Of course it all depends on the doctor's schedule too.

I'll post pictures soon. Maybe tomorrow if I get a chance.

Just posting some before pictures. :)