If you are sick and tired of being trapped by your saggy, lifeless, flat breasts and hanging skin with stretch marks after pregnancy and breast feeding there is something you can do about it.

Plastic surgery to remove all that excess skin and fat and lift your breasts to their original position with fullness on top can be achieved safely.

If you are looking for a MOMMY MAKEOVER, you have found the right person in Dr Michele Koo, MD, FACS, St Louis, MO, who is a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon. She will listen to exactly what you want and be able to get rid of that frustrating hanging large belly that has made you depressed for years with liposuction and a tummy tuck (abdominoplasty). At the same time you can address your breasts which may have lost most of the nice sexy full volume and is now hanging on your abdomen. She will examine you and determine if you need a breast lift alone or a breast lift along with a breast implant (breast augmentation) to achieve that full, firm, sexy and lifted breast that you used to have.

MOMMY MAKEOVERS addressing the breasts and tummy in one operation is very safe and Dr Koo will let you know how much can be done at one time safely, and whether you can achieve what you are looking for with only a breast augmentation and liposuction or if you need more contouring by removing skin with a breast lift and tummy tuck.

One of the most important aspects in the success of any surgical procedure is the physical condition of the patient at the time of surgery. Even though liposuction, breast augmentation and a tummy tuck are elective procedures, Dr Koo assesses you using the same standards as those used for anyone who is undergoing any type of surgery. This is very important for your safety and well being. Dr Koo emphasizes your safety above all and ensures that you will have an excellent outcome safely.

Dr Koo specializes in contouring the body after pregnancy and weight loss. She obtains a thorough medical history from all patients who are to undergo a MOMMY MAKEOVER and a diligent physical examination is performed. Surgical history, including previous procedures is obtained for the YOUR safety.

Patients with comorbid conditions such as tobacco use, hypertension, coronary artery disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes mellitus, hepatitis C, and human immunodeficiency virus are screened carefully. Patients with a history of pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis, or blood clotting disorders require added precautions, such as chemoprophylaxis and sequential compression devices.

Dr Koo uses sequential compression devices in the majority of liposuction, tummy tuck, and breast lift and breast augmentation procedures. Conditions that may increase the risk for deep venous thrombosis include chronic venous insufficiency, family history of thrombotic syndromes, obesity, trauma, severe infection, polycythemia, central nervous system disease, malignancy, homocystinemia, a history of pelvic or lower extremity radiation therapy, and use of birth control pills or hormone replacement therapy.

Medications that the patient may be taking is reviewed, as many common prescribed and over-the-counter medications may affect wound healing and blood clotting. Medications such as aspirin, nonsteroidal antiinflammatory agents, birth control pills, vitamin E, and herbal preparations such as St. John’s wort are recognized to interfere with the coagulation mechanism. Dr Koo recommends avoidance of such agents before surgery. Some medications may also interact with medications used during surgery.

MOMMY MAKEOVER BLOG continues on next Blog

Dr Michele D Koo, MD, FACS, St Louis, Missouri, 314-984-8331, Board Certified Plastic Surgeon, Member of the Aesthetic Society believes that weight loss after pregnancy can be achieved with sensible eating habits and increasing one’s activity level. She does not think that one should worry about the weight gain during the pregnancy as long as your OB-GYN is following your rate of weight gain and which trimester you gain the most weight.

Fat deposits and weight gain is a normal part of pregnancy and is necessary for the healthy development of normal birth weight newborn. Fat accumulates during pregnancy in the same areas that plague most women even when not pregnant. The most common female areas of fat accumulation are the abdomen, hips, waist, inner and outer thighs.  The areas of fat accumulation are genetically determined that cannot be altered with diet and exercise. These are the areas that increase in size first any time there is any weight gain regardless of pregnancy.

The fat that is accumulated with pregnancy is a rapid weight gain type of fat that increases the size of the fat cells over a short period of time. There usually is not enough weight gain of 75 lbs and up that might actually stimulate the body to trigger the cells to multiply and increase the actual number of fat cells.

Short term weight gain such as with pregnancy should actually be easier to lose than weight that has accumulated over a long period of time.  Fat that has accumulated over a long period of time of years may be a result of an increase in number of fat cells and even fat deposit in the composition of muscle and internal body fat gain.

The body’s physiology may also have been altered in terms of its insulin release and response patterns, fat storage, other endocrine functions, and possibly set points for “normal weight.” However, during the post partum period, the woman may be recovering and exhausted from a newborn and perhaps other small children and attempting to return to work, and, therefore, not really devoting time and energy into healthier eating and exercising habits.  The weight then seems to be extremely “stubborn” and resistant to exercise and weight loss, but in fact the fat is very readily reduced with the same diligent adherence to exercise and healthier eating.

It is my opinion that if after 1 to 2 years post partum, a woman has not lost all of her pregnancy weight, she will not be able to do it. More importantly, even if she achieves her pre-pregnancy weight, she will not look the same unless all of the skin has tightened which becomes less and less likely with each subsequent pregnancy.

My recommendation to my patients is that, they wait 6-12 months after they have stopped breast feeding or at least 6-12 months after delivery prior to undergoing any liposuction procedure as at that point, the post partum weight is relatively stable.

It has been my experience, however, that most women after pregnancy will need some type of skin removal procedure, i.e., tummy tuck, breast lift in addition to liposuction to achieve what they are looking for. The likelihood of needing a skin resection procedure increases with a C-section and increases with the number of children a woman has had.  I discuss this at length with my patients, the pros and cons of the permanency of the scar versus the great shape that can be achieved with the addition of the skin removal.

My patient’s ultimate goal of how flat she wants her abdomen or smooth her thighs will determine whether she would be better served with liposuction alone or liposuction with skin removal. The amount of time to recover after a liposuction is not any different for post partum patients; the amount of time to recover is dependent on the amount of fat removed and the number of areas liposuctioned.

With each pregnancy there will be weight gain and skin stretching; if one is considering any kind of plastic surgery for post partum changes for unwanted fat and skin, one might want to wait until they are completely finished with having children. The most important thing that one should always know is, “that there is nothing that pregnancy or weight gain can do that Dr Michele Koo can’t fix.”

DR MICHELE D KOO, MD, FACS, ST LOUIS, MISSOURI, 314-984-8331 for individualized personal care that will change your life and let you take charge of your own destiny.