When you first had the procedure, you may not have considered the implications of pregnancy after tummy tuck operations. Pregnancy after tummy tuck operations, however, is a common thing and many women have experienced them before. Here are the considerations.
Pregnancy after Tummy Tuck Erases the Tuck
During your original tummy tuck, you may remember some talk about whether you planned to have another child. Often the main reason we have tummy tucks in the first place is to get rid of excess pregnancy fat that wouldn’t seem to go away despite our best efforts.
You may not, however, have considered what happens if you get pregnant again. After all, we cannot always plan these things. Often, a pregnancy is not really planned. Our best defenses fail us.
The main problem is that the new pregnancy will undo all the effects of your tummy tuck. In other words, it will be as if you never had the tummy tuck. This, in itself, can sound pretty depressing, given that painful month you spent “taking it easy,” before going back to work. It’s as if you took the etch-a-sketch of your surgery and just shook it.
But having a pregnancy after a tummy tuck operation is not completely a breeze, as some plastic surgery sites would have you believe.
Possible Complications
Some women worry that a tummy tuck will hurt their babies. The big fear, of course, is that the baby will strangled because of the lack of room. So long as there were no serious complications during the original abdominoplasty, however, your womb was in no way affected by the surgery. Your womb will grow to its normal size.
In fact, the main difficulty is to your own health. Minor tummy tucks just remove some fat and skin and will not affect your pregnancy at all. However, if you had a major abdominoplasty where you had your muscles “realigned,” this may cause some complications. The “tightening” of those muscles during your tummy tuck may make it so that they have difficulty withstanding the pressures and stretching put on by pregnancy. This could lead to tearing of those muscles during pregnancy.
This is thankfully relatively rare, but you should keep your doctor informed so the two of you can plan for this possibility.
You may also feel as if you stomach is much tighter than it was during your first pregnancy. This is probably indeed the case, though part of it no doubt psychological. If you are worried about your tummy tuck creating a constrictive space for your baby, you may imagine yourself as much tighter than your are. Try not to worry on this front. Our bodies are made to handle the rigors of pregnancy.
Immediate Pregnancy after Tummy Tuck
Another possible complication is if you became pregnant right after your tummy tuck or if you were unknowingly pregnant during your tummy tuck. This is very rare but it can cause problems as any surgery early in pregnancy can. The recovery from your abdominoplasty will complicate your pregnancy and your pregnancy will complicate your recovery. Even as your body is trying to heal from the surgery, it will also start preparing for your baby. These two simultaneous activities may lead to interference between the two.
You will definitely want to discuss matters with your doctor and see what special precautions he or she recommends.
Psychological Considerations
Finally, there are the psychological considerations. Few women want to go through a second tummy tuck operation. Knowing that you will be back to the same weight problems you had after your prior pregnancy can lead to problems of body image and may sour the joy of pregnancy.
If you find you are inordinately depressed, you may want to find a professional counselor to help you through your psychological issues. After the pregnancy, you may opt for a second tummy tuck. You might also, however, consider the benefits of other, less costly and invasive methods of weight loss. The key, however, is to leave those considerations until after your newest little visitor arrives and to take joy in the blessing which is a pregnancy.