The Truth Behind a Tummy Tuck- Why This Mom Got Plastic Surgery

The Truth Behind a Tummy Tuck

I'm normally an open book but wasn't quite sure how I was going to approach this topic on my blog, so I guess I will just dive right into it. Almost two years ago (May 2010) I had a full tummy tuck. The technical term is abdominoplasty.


At 5'2" and 105 pounds, most people are surprised that I would need a tummy tuck. In fact, when I went in to interview plastic surgeons, they both assumed I was there for breast augmentation...
until I took my clothes off! Well, let's be honest, even then they probably thought I could use a boob job...but number one priority for me was getting rid of all of the extra skin from pregnancy and tightening up my abdominal muscles.

My body bounced right back after baby number 1. I literally walked out of the hospital after having my son in my size 1 jeans. I was young, and in pretty good shape.

Baby number 2 did more of a number on my body. 

My stomach shrank back quickly but there was definitely more stretching this time around. Think of a sock that has lost its elastic. My stomach had definitely lost its elasticity. It was after baby number 2 that I realized that I had to tuck my skin into my pants.

I couldn't wear what I wanted anymore.

As what would seem was becoming a common occurrence, baby number 3 entered our lives.
If I thought the skin in my stomach had lost its elasticity after baby number 2, it was really stretched with baby number 3.

This was me with two weeks left to go! It literally looked like I ate a watermelon the wrong way.


You can even see that my maternity shirt didn't fit and my stomach was hanging out of the bottom. Holy cow I was huge! Turns out my "little guy" was nearly 9 pounds! That's a big baby for a little mama!

Tummy Tuck Mommy Makeover

Instagram Vs Reality

One thing I wish got more attention in fashion/health magazines is that not everyone comes out of pregnancy looking like the stars on the red carpet.

We've all seen the pictures of celebrity new moms just after giving birth looking amazing in two-piece bathing suits or crop tops.

I remember seeing new mom Mariah Carey in a bikini on the cover of a magazine after giving birth to twins and I was pissed. 

The article had a subtitle that said "The Easy Day-by-Day Plan That You Can Do!" Makes you think that you too can have a flat belly just 3 months after having twins.
 

Sometimes No Workout Routine Will Replace a Tummy Tuck

I saw this quote with Gwyneth Paltrow on Pinterest. It really frustrated me.

Do you want to know why?

Because I was working my butt off at the gym 5-6 days a week for one and a half to two hours at a time doing hardcore workouts with a trainer, and yet, no amount of exercise was going to fix my sagging skin and belly pooch.

I was going to a 5:30 am strength training class lifting weights for an hour, then following that with forty-five minutes of cardio on the stair climber or elliptical.

On the days I wasn't doing strength training, I was going to boot camp for an hour, then running a 5k.

Once a week I would work out with a trainer that was notorious for his very difficult military-style workouts, think P90X meets Biggest Loser workouts.

There is article after article about flat tummy diets, but no amount of diet would have helped my problem. Only a tummy tuck would fix my issues.

Is a Tummy Tuck a Medical Necessity?

I ended up with abdominal muscles that had a five-inch gap between them (thus giving me the poochie tummy look). The surgery to fix my diastasis recti (the medical term) is not considered a medical necessity, thus, it falls in the category of plastic surgery. It's one of my biggest pet peeves to think that just a few more sit-ups or an extra mile on the treadmill will fix whatever tummy pooch you have when in reality no amount of exercise will help.

No amount of work at the gym was making a difference. I hated tucking my tummy into my pants and at 105 pounds and someone who was working out hard like I was, I felt like I should be able to wear what I wanted (like a bikini) without being embarrassed or even having to think about wearing a tummy-slimming line of clothing! 

Tummy Tuck Before Photos

Just a little visual for you. This is how my stomach looked when I would bend over. The extra skin would just hang. If you look at the picture on the right, you can see there is a hole that would form in my stomach when I would bend over.

Why I Decided to Get a Tummy Tuck

I talked to several friends, did a lot of internet research, and settled on two local plastic surgeons that I went and interviewed. I had never had surgery before. And while I have a very high pain tolerance, I also have a weakness for needles, so going under and having knives slice me open wasn't exactly enticing to me. I may have come close to passing out several times upon the description of the surgery.


One surgeon told me I didn't have enough skin to stretch and that I wouldn't be happy with the results. The other told me he felt like he could get me the results I was looking for but that I would probably still be left with stretch marks from my pregnancies.

Honestly, it would have been nice to wipe the slate clean so to speak, but I earned those stretch marks.

I suffered from morning sickness that lasted all day for a combined total of 17 months. I was pregnant for 121 weeks of my life. I nursed three babies for a total of 60 months. I am a mom. Stretch marks came with the title.

My Biggest Hesitation With Getting a Tummy Tuck

One of my biggest hesitations with this procedure is the hip bone to hip bone scar that is left.

These are the drawings the surgeon made the morning of the surgery. Anything inside the black was going to be removed. Below the line and above the line were pulled together and stitched back up.

Fixing diastasis with a tummy tuck

While I was open, my abdominal muscles were brought back together fixing the five-inch gap that had been made through multiple pregnancies.

I didn't realize that the gap separating my abdominal muscles was so large. 

Recovery after a Tummy Tuck

Is Tummy Tuck Recovery Painful? 

The recovery is one of the worst plastic surgeries to recover from I am told. It was about a 2 1/2 hour procedure that cost us $7000 out of pocket. It was an outpatient procedure that required my husband to be on duty for round-the-clock care for the first week. 

 
I opted to get a pain pump to pump medicine directly into the affected muscles (you leave with two cocktail straw-sized tubes attached to a constant drip of medicine, attached with a fanny pack...and really, you can't go wrong with a fanny pack!), and I had two drain tubes that totally sucked...literally and figuratively. The drain tubes suck out the fluid that collects in your abdominal cavity and needs to be "milked" twice a day. It's disgusting. Not only that, they are uncomfortable because they are held in by a stitch in your pubic area. They came out 8 days post-op.

Before the procedure, I went into the pharmacy with a list of about 7 pain medications that I filled. Some were for controlling muscle spasms, and others were for the pain. 

Is a Tummy Tuck a Hard Recovery?

The meds I took had me in a daze (mostly sleeping) for that first week. I had to have my husband at home. After the pain pump ran out, and the anti-nausea patch came off, the daze sort of lifted. I don't actually remember much for about a two-week period. While I was recovering my husband and I watched the whole Arrested Development series from start to finish. I could watch it today and it would be like the first time I was seeing it! Don't do drugs kids. 

The pain was never unbearable because I was able to stay on top of it with the pain medication. I had stitches from hip bone to hip bone and on my new belly button for about 3 weeks. My skin was so tightly stretched that I wasn't able to stand straight up for about four weeks. If you look closely at the picture below you can see two little dots on the sides of my belly button. That is where the pain pump tubes were.

Swell Hell with a Tummy Tuck

Is Your Stomach Flat After a Tummy Tuck?

You think you will see instant results, but there is a lot of swelling, so I looked pretty bloated for several months. I had to wear a girdle-type garment to snug me in and protect my belly for about 8 weeks. I went off all the pain meds after the tubes came out 8 days after the surgery. My husband headed back to work after the first week and I was at home taking care of my youngest son, who was four at the time. It took me about five weeks to feel like I was back to normal again. 

Here's a side view of me at 8 weeks post-op. Such a difference from the before photos.

Exercise and Life after a Tummy Tuck

I started training for my first half marathon when I was five weeks post-op. I didn't mean to, I was dying to get back to working out. I started out by slowly jogging and ended up going 5 miles. Less than four months post-op I was running my first half marathon. I really feel like being in shape helped me recover more quickly.

Would I Have a Tummy Tuck Again?

Now nearly two years later, I am still glad I had my tummy tuck. My saggy stomach was something I was so frustrated with because there was nothing I could do to change it no matter how hard I tried.


I still hate those women who can pop out babies and look amazing without having to have work done.


I'm not one of the lucky ones, no amount of exercise was helping and I was getting so upset at the magazines that were telling me how easy it was to get a bikini body. My abdominal muscles had separated nearly five inches, there was no amount of exercising that was going to make them go back together again.

pictures of me nearly 2 years post op

                                                                                           

Will a Tummy Tuck Get Rid of Stretch Marks?

As you can see, I still have stretch marks. The stretch marks you can see just above my bikini bottoms are the stretch marks that were above my belly button. 

I can wear a bikini to the beach now, but the reality is, as a mom of three in my 30's I wear a bathing suit just several days out of the year. On a daily basis, I can wear normal clothes. I am not limited by the extra skin in my midsection. When I work out my core, I can see results. I'm not self-conscious if my shirt raises up a half-inch when I lift my hands above my head. 

The downside is, I do have to work around my scar. Because I didn't have a ton of skin to stretch (even though I felt like it was a lot), my scar ended up being higher than I would have liked. The scar continues to fade but it does make it an issue when I am searching for bathing suit bottoms. I didn't lose weight, I didn't change sizes, I just lost the extra skin that I was carrying around after gaining and losing a collective 97 pounds. The biggest benefit by far was fixing the diastasis. 

So yep, I had a tummy tuck. I went under the knife and got plastic surgery. What's it to ya?

Update 2022:

It's been more than 13 years since I had my tummy tuck surgery. 

Here are some questions I get about my surgery still.

Can Your Stomach Get Fat Again After a Tummy Tuck?

I have gained about ten pounds since my initial surgery. My stomach is still generally tight and firm and my weight gain seems to be more in my flanks than in my middle. But everyone gains weight differently and it is definitely possible to gain weight and "ruin" the results. It just hasn't been my experience. 

Is it Easier to Lose Weight After a Tummy Tuck?

After my tummy tuck, even though the skin was removed, I didn't lose any weight. I didn't change pants or dress sizes. Literally, nothing changed for me. If you see the question above, you will see that I have gained weight since my surgery. Some of that is just normal fluctuations that come hormonally and as part of metabolism slowing down. I don't think weight is easier or harder to lose with a tummy tuck. Don't get it thinking you will lose any weight. I definitely didn't. 

Are there any Long-Term Effects of a Tummy Tuck?

I'm more than a decade out of surgery and I have no real long-term effects of my tummy tuck surgery. Initially, one of my regrets was not getting a breast augmentation done. I'm now seeing many of my friends who had implants, getting them removed because they are experiencing long-term (negative) health effects. I have had nothing like that from having a tummy tuck. 

The only long-term effect is that I still have a hip bone-to-hip bone scar. It has faded, but it's still visible. But health-wise, I haven't experienced any long-term effects and am generally glad I had the procedure done.