You love your kids and wouldn’t trade them for the world. But there might be times when you wish that pregnancy didn’t change your body so much or when you long to have your pre-baby body back.
Enter the mommy makeover. It’s a series of procedures that can reverse or minimize the effects of pregnancy on the body. Whether you’re dealing with sagging breasts after breastfeeding or a tummy pouch when you had a flat stomach before, a mommy makeover can help you feel more confident about your appearance post-pregnancy.
What is the Goal of a Mommy Makeover?
Pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding change the shape and size of certain areas of the body. The most notable changes occur in the breasts and abdominal area. While some might say that the goal of a makeover is to restore the breasts and tummy area to their pre-baby state, that’s not always the case. Some women might want bigger breasts than they had before. Some women might never have had a flat stomach, but decide that post-pregnancy is the ideal time to get one.
Ultimately, the goal of a mommy makeover is to change certain things about your appearance so that you feel confident and happy about your looks.
Procedures Included in a Mommy Makeover
The makeover process is truly customizable, based on your areas of concern and your goals. Often, women consider either a breast augmentation to enhance the size of their breasts or a breast reduction to reduce the size. A breast lift can help to elevate sagging breasts and might be combined with either an augmentation or reduction.
Since pregnancy and childbirth often have the biggest effect on the abdominal area, that’s the area many women focus on during a mommy makeover. A tummy tuck removes extra loose skin from the abdomen and helps to tighten the muscles in that area, creating a smoother, flatter look. If needed, the tummy tuck can be combined with liposuction to remove extra stubborn fat that might linger around after pregnancy, even after a woman has gone back to her pre-baby weight.
Some other procedures can also be included in the makeover process, even though they aren’t usually connected to pregnancy. For example, some women decide to have a Brazilian butt lift at the same time. The procedure requires taking fat from one area of the body and injecting it into the buttocks. It’s a good way to make use of the fat that’s removed during a liposuction procedure.
How You Can Get Ready
You’ll want to prepare for the procedure both physically and emotionally. Physical preparation means stopping any habits that can increase your risk for complications, such as smoking. Your surgeon will likely recommend avoiding some medications and supplements in the weeks leading up to your surgery.
You’ll want to wait until you’ve lost all your baby weight before you schedule a mommy makeover. While losing a few pounds after your procedure won’t have a big impact on your results, losing 20 or 30 pounds can change results considerably.
Preparing for the procedure emotionally is also a must. Having a support system at home, whether it’s a helpful spouse, a parent to look after your children while you recover, or friends to lend a hand and provide some assistance is essential. During the few weeks of recovery required after the surgery, you’re likely to find that it’s difficult to do things that are usually easy. Having people by your side to help out and to provide mental and emotional support can make a big difference.
What to Expect After Your Mommy Makeover
Since a mommy makeover involves surgery, or in some cases several surgeries, the recovery period afterwards can be quite long. Often, it can take a full six weeks for complete recovery after the surgeries. Many patients are able to resume everyday activities after a week or two, though.
How you prepare before your surgery can really influence how your recovery goes afterwards. Following your surgeon’s instructions, for example, can make recovery much less stressful both physically and emotionally.
Talking About Your Mommy Makeover
Depending on how old your children are when you decide to have a mommy makeover, you might not be sure how to approach the subject. You probably don’t have to tell an infant about your surgery.
But older children, even toddlers, will know something is up. Your two-year-old might wonder why you can’t pick her up or play with her, for example. You might be concerned about the message you’re sending to a teenager or preteen.
It’s best to keep things as simple as possible when talking about your surgeries. You don’t have to explain that being pregnant changed your body or that you aren’t happy with your body. It’s often easiest to say that you are having surgery on your tummy and that you’ll be a little tired afterwards, and to leave it at that. Your kids might ask a lot of questions, but most likely they’ll want to know what they can do to help mommy feel better.
About Dr. Rubinstein
Dr. Ran Y. Rubinstein, a board certified plastic surgeon, regularly performs mommy makeovers on patients at his practice in Manhattan. He can work with you to help you decide which surgeries and procedures will best help you reach your goals. In addition to mommy makeovers, Dr. Rubinstein offers patients a variety of procedures, from facelift to rhinoplasty, at Laser & Cosmetic Surgery Specialists, PC in Newburgh, New York. To schedule a consultation with Dr. Rubinstein, call 845-863-1772 today.
