I'm not talking from experience here, as I myself have my consult next week, but I've heard that you will not be able to take care of your kids alone for a minimum of 10 days and a maximum of 6 weeks. 3 weeks is the average amount of time for which people get full-time help. I posted this same question a few weeks back and got lots of responses, so thats where I'm getting this info from! You might want to search the archives for that post. I think the recovery depends on how extensive your surgery is, how well you heal, and what your threshold for pain is.

I think that there is no ideal time to have a tummy tuck. I mean, do you ever really have down time to recover from abdominal surgery? I think that if you want to get it done, you just have to plan accordingly. For me, I can't wait until my babies are in preschool. After all, thats ALOT of swimming pool time between now and then! I'll let you know what my Dr. says when I meet with her next week, but I'm thinking that I will get the surgery done in the beginning of summer, and that I'll plan on having 2 or 3 weeks of help. Luckily, my mom and my in-laws live in town and are always available to help so if the recovery stretched out longer than anticipated, it wouldn't be a huge deal.

Melinda
mom of Annabelle, Lillian and Charlotte, 2/25/03
35 weeks, 6 days