14 months ago I had a baby.
A really sweet wonderful baby that left my body a not-so-sweet and not-so-wonderful wreck.
Unfortunately I already had two strikes against me:
1) I have had a child before so this isn’t the first time down “bigger thighs, hips and stomach” road
and
2) I had to have a C-section this time around.
All that being said, I have lost nearly all the baby weight. I couldn’t tell you how much I gained, (memory is the second thing after a good body to go) but I can tell you that I am a close 5 pounds from that pre-baby weight. Exciting, right??!?!
Notsomuch.
At 34 I am not the young 27 year old I was back then and my skins elasticity, memory, and fat in my stomach area hasn’t exactly “remembered” the “before”, even though my habits are the same and technically I get more exercise chasing around a 27 pound 14 month old.
Live with it? Learn to Love it?
Recently I started to ask myself: Do I have to live with this body now? Is this, well, mine? OMG, is this how every woman in the world starts to give up and cuts her hair off and retires to her couch in jogging pants?? A few friends of mine have jumped on the plastic surgery train the past few months and its starting to seem so normal, but I just am not really there yet. So recently when I heard about a new no-knife procedure called CoolSculpting I wanted to learn more.
About CoolSculpting
Procedures that use laser, sonic waves and even surgery to remove fat can actually destroy other tissue in the process by burning, shattering or extracting non-fat cells. This requires downtime for your body to heal. Totally uncool. Fortunately, CoolSculpting doesn’t burn, shatter or extract any cells. Developed by Harvard scientists, our unique, FDA-cleared, patented procedure uses a targeted cooling process that kills the fat cells underneath the skin, literally freezing them to the point of elimination. Only fat cells are frozen. Your healthy skin cells remain, well, healthy. No knives. No suction hoses. No needles. No scars. Once crystallized, the fat cells die and are naturally eliminated from your body. In a few months, boom: say hello to a new you.
Too good to be true, right? No knives? No downtime? Just fat…gone? Alright, Ill bite.
I headed down to The Martin Center, a local facial plastic surgery and laser center here in my town, and the only one that has the CoolSculpting procedure, to check it out. I was a bit self conscious but it was a beautiful office and they were having a very funny “Bootox” event which meant the entire staff was dressed up in a Halloween costume.
Nothing like meeting a Dr dressed like a Vampire.
After a few minutes they called me back and I had a discussion with the nurse regarding my trouble spots, what I could expect during the procedure, and she shared the equipment with me. The run down is this if you go to a CoolSculpting consultation:
1) CoolSculpting is NOT for everyone. You will watch a video on the procedure where it gives you some facts regarding it. A few things to keep in mind is that this is NOT for health. You do not get this done because you want to lose weight. It is simply to target stubborn areas of fat and eliminate them.
2) The Dr I talked to said they don’t like their patients to have a BMI of over 30%, but ideally like it under 25% before they treat someone. My BMI is 21% so I am an ideal candidate.
3) The nurse showed me a flip book of past results and we talked about my expectations.
4) This is NOT an instant procedure. Unlike liposuction, you do not just go in and wake up with less fat. You are literally freezing the fat, which kills it, where then your body absorbs the cells over 8-12 weeks and eliminates them from the treated area.
5) I was told it was not going to hurt but it would possibly be uncomfortable.
6) CoolSculpting will NOT tighten the skin. The Dr explained that at my age (34) my skin should have some elasticity and the up to 25% fat reduction I should see in that area should naturally reduce my skin but there are other procedures (nonsurgical) that I can do to help that if I am interested. Being a mommy is not for the faint of heart, you know?
The nurse then measured my body and showed me the suction cups that my fat *cough* was gonna be sucked into. There was some discussion on whether or not I would fit in a large one, but that if I did the large one would cover more of my body and hopefully produce better results. No matter what cup you use, your skin/fat must be able to be sucked in and go past a “fill” line so if you have a shorter span on your torso or less fat in the targeted area you may need a small one.
I was also told that cramps or bruising were normal afterwards and that if kept on for over a week they would give me a prescription.
And while I was getting a little internally worried here about this cramping and bruising, I reminded myself that none of it was the cutting, tearing, or stapling that Shasta did.
Before I left I took some “Before” shots at the office and signed up for my appointment.
Here it goes…this is me.
The AFTER “baby wrecked” body but hopefully the BEFORE of the “best has yet to come” body.
(These are not stretch marks…just jean marks!)
Stay tuned for my experience getting this brand new procedure done and video on how I felt during! I have actually already had it done and boy was it interesting.
Has having a baby messed up the shape of your body?
Have you considered doing something about it?
~Trisha
Disclaimer: I received complimentary treatment from CoolSculpting.
I too had a baby. Mine is going on 11 months. I had a c-section too. I have lost all my baby weight and am still trying to lose more. I am trying to be where the height/weight chart should be. So I still have a ways to go. I am trying to lose 25 more lbs. I am afraid even after that, that I like you, wont be able to get back to how I use to be. We are both the same age, and I really relate to all your stories. Thanks for sharing.
OK, I love this place just for the fact that they had “Boo-tox” and the doctor was in costume. That’s just awesome, LOL! So interesting to read how this works and looking forward to hearing more about your experience!
We will see how my body looks after i lose this weight and cross that road when i get there
This is a really cool (get it, because it freezes the fat!) concept! I can’t wait to see how it works for you! I would probably consider something like this – but not until AFTER I drop most of the weight I want GONE.
Wow. I would love to have the amount of ‘damage’ that you do. I’ve have four kids, working on my fifth and I’d say my fat is five times worse than yours.
I was all smiles looking at my belly pregnant up until 38 weeks when the whole thing became covered in stretch marks – seriously!? Anyway now I am trying to tone my road map and I’m self-concision about it. Then I look at my daughter and think it was so worth it and would do it all over again. The best tattoo a mother could have. Since I plan on more kids I won’t do anything, but depending out bad it gets after that round I’m all for something like this – I could never go under the knife.
Yeah this is probably not a procedure when you KNOW you are having more kids. I had a tubal ligation so we are set.
I can’t wait to hear what you thought! And see how you look! If you loved it, I’m next!!
I just gave birth to baby number 5 at the beginning of July and will likely go into a second surrogacy toward the end of next year which will be baby number 6. You look a million times better than my body could ever hope to look. For one, I am gigantically tall and have never been thin. I had a c-section with my oldest, so I have the infamous shelf too and I had stretch marks with all of my own children, but not with the surrogacy. The only thing I don’t have is loose or saggy skin, but that may come with some more weight loss. I am so interested to see how this works for you!
I would love, love, love to get this done! I can’t wait to follow to see how your experience is. I am wondering about the price of something like this. Can you give me a ballpark?
Its about $850-$1000 for 1 treatment and you can only get a treatment every 4 months.
Giiiiiiiiirl….I just had my third baby and I can totally relate with the wrecked body. It’s like my legs are normal-ish {could use a little more zumba action to tone} but my stomach and hips are my problem area. I weigh what I used to weigh but you can’t tell it by looking at me {in my opinion}. I would DEFINITELY consider CoolSculpting.
I can’t wait to see the results! I’ve been wanting to get something like this done because it seems like no matter what I do that “pouch” just doesn’t go away!
I’ve definitely given some thought to the CoolSculpting procedure but I just don’t trust the results on a brand website to not be photoshopped. I’d need to see some REAL mom results to put money into trying it. I can’t wait to see how yours turns out.
I would never dare share my before and after pictures Cat – but I had it done and can tell you – promise you – that it worked. I’m about to pay to go back and do it again – this time on my back fat.
I could get addicted to non-invasive plastic surgery.
Erika you totally should share the results, you’re a beautiful woman.
I agree she should share them. I read her post though while I was in the Dr office!
Seeing as this is my fourth pregnancy, I don’t like what my body has become and I’ll probably look in to doing something similar after I deliver.
I want to have a full body lift. No I’m serious. I absolutely hate my body and even though I know without a shadow of a doubt that my husband loves me and says he finds me incredibly sexy…I always ask why. Not because I want to hear it, but because I need to hear it because I just don’t get why.
I too had a c-section…two of them. I have that dreaded c-section shelf, love handles, the whole nine yards. I’ve lost 50lbs…still have some more to go, but once I get to my goal weight, I will be getting some things done…I refuse to lose over 100lbs and not have the body I worked so hard for, you know?