Big old belly flaps/redistribution? Fat? Skin? How to tell?
Even fertile women in their 20s....statistically, women don't get pregnant on the first cycle they try...so I'm suggesting that you start trying naturally when you're about 18 months out. Buy an ovulation predictor kit, and go at it. :-) If you don't get pregnant within 4 months....go see a fertility specialist right away.
Something you could do now....get your FSH tested (this is a simple blood draw) on day 3 of your cycle. If it's normal, that will tell you something. If it's already elevated....you have to move up your timeline.
FSH is follicle stimulating hormone. As we age, we produce more and more of it because our bodies ability to stimulate our follicles declines. When we hit menopause, it's skyhigh. It has to be done on day 3 of your cycle to be meaningful. Look for a number under 7 for your age.
Besides FSH, the other issue is chromosomal....as we age, our eggs are more and more likely to be chromosomally abnormal. That's the other reason not to wait. The longer you wait, the greater the likelihood is of Downs, etc etc
Something you could do now....get your FSH tested (this is a simple blood draw) on day 3 of your cycle. If it's normal, that will tell you something. If it's already elevated....you have to move up your timeline.
FSH is follicle stimulating hormone. As we age, we produce more and more of it because our bodies ability to stimulate our follicles declines. When we hit menopause, it's skyhigh. It has to be done on day 3 of your cycle to be meaningful. Look for a number under 7 for your age.
Besides FSH, the other issue is chromosomal....as we age, our eggs are more and more likely to be chromosomally abnormal. That's the other reason not to wait. The longer you wait, the greater the likelihood is of Downs, etc etc
It's not fat at all and like NYB says nothing except a plastic surgeon's knife will fix it. Your goal weight has absolutely nothing to do with skin.
Honestly when I had my plastics I didn't even have any fat for them to lipo - it was all skin. I had been working out quite extensively before my plastics so I had very low body fat. So now other than my flat tummy I'm still pretty squishy. I'm alot older than you so for me that's what comes from being morbidly obese my entire adult life.
I remember a conversation I had with a plastic surgeon when I was shopping around. She didn't do my plastics but I remember she said that no matter how much plastic surgery I have I will NEVER look like what I imagine/hope to look like after surgery (simply because I was too fat for too long and the skin had lost all its elasticity). Someone on this board or the other DS board has a tag line in their signature block that always made me smile -- I want to look good naked. I smile because no amount of plastics would make me look good naked.
Honestly when I had my plastics I didn't even have any fat for them to lipo - it was all skin. I had been working out quite extensively before my plastics so I had very low body fat. So now other than my flat tummy I'm still pretty squishy. I'm alot older than you so for me that's what comes from being morbidly obese my entire adult life.
I remember a conversation I had with a plastic surgeon when I was shopping around. She didn't do my plastics but I remember she said that no matter how much plastic surgery I have I will NEVER look like what I imagine/hope to look like after surgery (simply because I was too fat for too long and the skin had lost all its elasticity). Someone on this board or the other DS board has a tag line in their signature block that always made me smile -- I want to look good naked. I smile because no amount of plastics would make me look good naked.
Janet in Leesburg
DS 2/25/03
Hazem Elariny
-175
Oh yeah.
Plus there are areas of the body that are much more fixable than others. For example my tummy is flat as a pancake - it's awesome. But despite my full LBL, my upper thighs (although better than they were before the LBL), are still saggy and squishy. There is NOTHING that can be done about that.
Plus plastics in some areas, because of time and gravity, will not last so so long. Perky, surgerized boobs will sag with time (and sometimes oddly), asses will still work their way downward, etc etc.
I had my turkey waddle chin fixed, but I already know that in a few years I will want some work again on my chin area (lower face lift). It sucks, but time and gravity are not on our side.
(FWIW, I had a baby in January. I'm way in my 40s. It took 5 years of fertility treatments. DO NOT WAIT)
Plus there are areas of the body that are much more fixable than others. For example my tummy is flat as a pancake - it's awesome. But despite my full LBL, my upper thighs (although better than they were before the LBL), are still saggy and squishy. There is NOTHING that can be done about that.
Plus plastics in some areas, because of time and gravity, will not last so so long. Perky, surgerized boobs will sag with time (and sometimes oddly), asses will still work their way downward, etc etc.
I had my turkey waddle chin fixed, but I already know that in a few years I will want some work again on my chin area (lower face lift). It sucks, but time and gravity are not on our side.
(FWIW, I had a baby in January. I'm way in my 40s. It took 5 years of fertility treatments. DO NOT WAIT)
Fo' Shizzle My Sizzle
on 12/8/11 9:51 pm
on 12/8/11 9:51 pm
On December 8, 2011 at 4:17 AM Pacific Time, newyork***** wrote:
Oh yeah.Plus there are areas of the body that are much more fixable than others. For example my tummy is flat as a pancake - it's awesome. But despite my full LBL, my upper thighs (although better than they were before the LBL), are still saggy and squishy. There is NOTHING that can be done about that.
Plus plastics in some areas, because of time and gravity, will not last so so long. Perky, surgerized boobs will sag with time (and sometimes oddly), asses will still work their way downward, etc etc.
I had my turkey waddle chin fixed, but I already know that in a few years I will want some work again on my chin area (lower face lift). It sucks, but time and gravity are not on our side.
(FWIW, I had a baby in January. I'm way in my 40s. It took 5 years of fertility treatments. DO NOT WAIT)
5 years! Wow, congratz on the baby, it sounds like it was one heck of an uphill battle.
With luck hubs will "slip one past the goalie" before I hit 38, crossing my fingers!
Thanks. He's almost 11 months old and resisting his morning nap as we speak!
Just make sure you have sex at the best times...use an ovulation predictor kit. And you might want to consider having your husband's sperm tested just to be sure, so that if there's an issue there, you don't waste any time. You'd be surprised at how many men have sperm issues.
Just make sure you have sex at the best times...use an ovulation predictor kit. And you might want to consider having your husband's sperm tested just to be sure, so that if there's an issue there, you don't waste any time. You'd be surprised at how many men have sperm issues.
Fo' Shizzle My Sizzle
on 12/8/11 9:47 pm
on 12/8/11 9:47 pm
Thanks for the reassurance, it is so hard to tell by looking at the tummy, but all the posts here are helping me realize it's probably stretched out skin. I was SMO since age 7, thinned out a little at 13 (I hit a growth spurt and grew out of some of the weight, but was still chubby in my teens), but then ballooned to over 250lbs in college when I started BCPs. From then on it was a 20 lb yo-yo (plus friends on the rebound) up to 297 pre-op. So my poor skin has been through the wringer; I didn't expect to look perfect at goal, but I hoped to look feminine since I was always curvy in the hip area and didn't think that would change.
Now that all the weight has come off, I have no ass and my hips shrank entirely! So it was a bit of a surprise with how my shape turned out with no feminine curves at all.
Now that all the weight has come off, I have no ass and my hips shrank entirely! So it was a bit of a surprise with how my shape turned out with no feminine curves at all.
(deactivated member)
on 12/9/11 1:09 am, edited 12/9/11 1:09 am - Woodbridge, VA
on 12/9/11 1:09 am, edited 12/9/11 1:09 am - Woodbridge, VA
My middle looks TERRIBLE. Some is still fat (never got below 175, and I'm about 5'6), but some is definitely skin. I was just over 2 years out before I got pregnant, but the stomach never got any prettier. It just is what it is. And I was only 26 when I had my surgery, so being young didn't even help me!
But, now I'm pregnant, and we plan on having another one in the future, so only after that will I even consider plastics. Until then, I don't really plan on prancing around in a bikini anyway, so I'm really the only one it bothers!
Oh, and I find shaping undergarments give me a great illusion of smoothness. I wear Maidenform brand shaping camis, and they help smooth out my sides, tummy, and back (because, yes, I also have drooping lumpiness on my BACK - lovely). I look like I have a normal shape. I get super push-up bras to wear under them so my boobs don't get "shaped" away :P
But, now I'm pregnant, and we plan on having another one in the future, so only after that will I even consider plastics. Until then, I don't really plan on prancing around in a bikini anyway, so I'm really the only one it bothers!
Oh, and I find shaping undergarments give me a great illusion of smoothness. I wear Maidenform brand shaping camis, and they help smooth out my sides, tummy, and back (because, yes, I also have drooping lumpiness on my BACK - lovely). I look like I have a normal shape. I get super push-up bras to wear under them so my boobs don't get "shaped" away :P
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