Tummy Tuck's and Pregnancy

[Selenium 0]

((Appology in advance if this is rambled and full of misspellings. I'm going on an hour of sleep in the last couple of days. Exams = pain :cool:))

Hey all! Just have a question I’ve been trying to get an answer to for awhile now. I’m one of these people who like to know a bit about everything before delving into something – even if the subject is so far down the road.

I haven’t been banded yet but have my first consultation on the 1st of august (yay!). My mom and I got to talking about cosmetic surgery afterwards if it is needed, and I mentioned an Abdominoplasty if constant exercising didn’t help me reduce some of the left over skin. The moment I mentioned it she went pale and started talking about how a co-worker said you couldn’t have children if you had the procedure. I didn’t want to take it at face value, so I looked it up and did some research…

Which didn’t do much good at all. I was assaulted by mixed results of people saying yes- and people saying no, and even more people saying yes but with complications. So I decided to give up weeding through the trash, and just ask you guys since you are probably a much better resource than ProQuest which gave me 80k results to sort through, and PubMed that gave me none. Haha.

So what I am getting to is:

If push comes to shove and I do end up needing a Tummy Tuck, would it affect a future pregnancy? I’m 20 years old, and I’m in no hurry to have children – I want to get into and finish med school first and that’s going to take a looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong time. So that’s a long way off. Long way off or not though – I won’t risk a future child. I love kids too much, that I’d rather have some skin blowing in the wind.

Had to ask. Not only for a learning experience for myself – it’ll also insure that my mom stops walking around the house as if she will never have grandkids (though she has three already).

[bosteph 2]

I have no intention of having more children. That being said, I did ask my PS before my recent Tummy Tuck and he said that the "official" recommendation is that you not become pregnant within the first year of a tummy tuck.

[losingjusme 12]

my PS recommended 6 months. i'm a tad shy of that... ok ok ... 3 months.

[lo2us 1]

I talked to my OB about it this past April and she said to have to kids first then to tuck, to avoid extra surgeries. I think I may invest in some kinds of semi-comfy compression garment until I have another baby in the next couple of years. On the bright side...maybe you won't need a tuck. My lapband doc swears that I won't need one if I lift weights, she said at most a little laser Lipo that tightens the skin too.

[Selenium 0]

Thanks guys! Sorry for such a slow response - got really busy with school. I appreciate all the answers, and they helped.

*Sends love and hugs to all.*

I'll talk more about it when I see my doctor on the 1st. :tongue_smilie:

[slcmommy4 0]

I actually did things a bit backward. I had 3 children then a Tummy Tuck and Lipo. I then got pregnant with my fourth child. After my fourth I went and had the lap band. I actually had made a decision not to have children after my tummy tuck because I was so worried about ruining my tummy tuck. Although my pregnancy didn't undo my tummy tuck, I did get the stretch marks and my stomach isn't as flat as it was. That being said, you can get pregnant after a tummy tuck, it doesn't affect the pregnancy at all.

The question is whether you are willing to go through the expense and pain involved just to have to do all over again. If you are willing to do it again then don't worry about it. Getting the tummy tuck was the most painful thing I have ever gone through in my life. You can't even sneeze without being in the most extreme pain ever, but I would do it over again if I had to. Good Luck making your decision.

[Jerro 0]

Selenium, I'm so glad you started this topic! I'm 23 yrs old and have lost 60 pds since I was banded in Sept/07. Already my stomach is starting to get wrinkly and flabby and I have a LOT more weight to loose!! I just got engaged, but I don't want to get pregnant for at least another 4 years. I won't let anything jeopardize having kids, but at the same time how will I do the baby-making if I can't stand to look myself in the mirror naked? I'm going to start researching it a bit, but hopefully most cases will be like Slcmommy, where your tummy is fine, just not as firm.

[Dr. Schulman 2]

I thnk this was also brought up on the "Ask Dr. Schulman" thread.

While it is best to have a TT after you have all your children, there is no danger to you ro the baby if ou get pregnant after a TT.

Pregnancy after a TT may reverse some of the results - the belly skin will stretch, the muscles will separate. These are all things taht happen normally during pregnancy - regardless of whether there has been a TT or not. The disadvantage is that your stomach may not be a "good" as it was after the TT and may require a revisional surgery.

Many of my patients have gotten pregnant after a TT. Some of them are still happy with what their bellies look like afterwards, and some request small revisions. IT really depends on how your body reacts, but like I said, it is not dangerous to you or the baby.