Mommy Makeover
As a mother of two, Dr. Wong understands a woman’s concern of not having the pre-baby body you once had. We love our children (of course!) and we didn’t necessarily think we were swimsuit models to begin with, but it can be disappointing to not have your body bounce back. You have tried dieting and exercise, but none of this has helped. This is because the breasts and abdominal area have undergone permanent changes in anatomy. To make improvements that are drastic and effective enough, surgery is recommended. Some women hide their problem areas with clothes, but they are still bothered enough by their changed bodies during times of intimacy and looking in the mirror without clothes on. After being so dedicated to your wonderful family, it is exciting to get to do something for yourself to boost your self-esteem, fit into clothes better, get your body back, and then some!
It is undeniable that a woman’s body undergoes permanent changes after being pregnant and breastfeeding. The physical changes impact the areas of the breasts and tummy the most. The breasts become saggy and are flattened on the upper portions (or deflated appearing). The quality of the breast tissue itself also does not feel as youthful and robust as it used to be. Some women may even have either smaller or larger breasts permanently after pregnancy. The tummy (or abdominal area) is another area that is noticeably affected with saggy skin, stretch marks, “muffin tops,” laxity of the abdominal wall, stretch of the muscles, loss of the hourglass contour as the torso appears more “square shaped,” and excess fat.
A Mommy Makeover Surgery describes a combination of surgeries to improve the appearance of the breasts and tummy. To improve the appearance of the breasts, breast augmentation, breast lift, or a combination of the two are options. (Please see the Breast Augmentation and Breast Lift pages for more detailed information on these surgeries) To improve the appearance of the tummy region, a tummy tuck and liposuction is usually necessary. (Please see the Tummy Tuck Surgery page for more information.) Every woman’s problem areas are different; Dr. Wong will perform a detailed examination and personalize a treatment plan to your goals and needs.
Customizing Your Mommy Makeover
Patients who need a Mommy Makeover Surgery to achieve their goals can choose to do it in one surgery or two separate surgeries. The breast surgery can be performed at the same time as the tummy tuck surgery. The advantages of this is only 1 time under general anesthesia, 1 recovery downtime period, and is less expensive (1 facility fee). Depending on how much surgery is required, this surgery may be done in an outpatient or inpatient setting. In an outpatient setting, patients go home the same day after their surgery. In an inpatient setting, patient stay at least 1 night in the hospital. This will depend on what Dr. Wong thinks will be the safest for your particular case. The disadvantage of doing this surgery in one surgery is that the recovery downtime period is longer and it is a longer total time under general anesthesia.
Some patients may be better candidates for two surgeries (having the breast surgery and tummy tuck surgery each at a different time with at least a few months of recovery in between the two). You can have your breast surgery first and then your tummy tuck later or vice versa. Patients may choose to have their Mommy Makeover Surgery divided up if they cannot take long extended time off of work all at once or do not want to stay overnight at the hospital. The disadvantage is that there is a separate facility fee and anesthesia fee pertaining to each surgery. We have had patients choose to have their surgery done both ways.
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Candidates for a Mommy Makeover
To have Mommy Makeover Surgery is an exciting decision for our patients. It is important to keep in mind that these can be big surgeries and are completely elective. Therefore, it is especially important to optimize your safety. Some things to remember are:
-Mommy Makeover Surgery is not a weight loss procedure. Ideal patients are those at their goal weight and in good health. Your BMI (body mass index) should be 30 or less to optimize your safety for this surgery. Use the calculator below to see if you are at a safe BMI range for surgery. If you still want to lose a significant amount of weight, Dr. Wong will recommend that you do that first and achieve a stable ideal weight. It would be disappointing to go through the entire process and recovery of a Mommy Makeover Surgery only to have the surgical results change because of large weight changes.
-If you plan on becoming pregnant in the future, wait to finish completing your family first. You will have better results with the Mommy Makeover Surgery once your body has stabilized for at least 6 months after you are done breastfeeding.
-Make certain that you have adequate time for recovery and that you are able to rest appropriately during your recovery period. You don’t want to have to lift and chase after small toddlers who are kicking and screaming while you are recovering from surgery! It is recommended that you have a family to help out with your Mommy duties so you can peacefully recover.
Recovering from a Mommy Makeover
Depending on what type of occupation you have and if you chose to have your Mommy Makeover Surgery in 1 or 2 surgeries, most patients take approximately 6 weeks off from work. There have been some patients who go back to work earlier, but if you need the recovery time, listen to your body. 6 weeks is a relatively longer time for recovery compared to other surgeries and is due to the muscle repair and having so much surgery done at one setting. We don’t realize how much we use our muscle for day to day activities. The better the muscle repair, the stronger and longer your result will last. You do not want to do any heavy lifting or extreme exercising during this recovery period. This does not mean you should be lying in bed all the time or under house arrest though; walking is encouraged, especially with this type of surgery!
Schedule Your Mommy Makeover Consultation
Congratulations on wanting to do something nice for yourself! Mommy Makeover Surgery can drastically improve a woman’s shape and make her feel good in her clothes and bathing suit again.* It is fantastic to feel vibrant and youthful again while being there for our families. Dr. Wong will work with you to achieve an attractive and natural result. Call and schedule an appointment with Dr. Wong today so she can optimize and personalize this surgery to you. She looks forward to meeting you!
*Individual results may vary.