Friends look at your stomach like a guy checking out cleavage, quickly and secretly, eyes always returning to the object of fascination. Your mother-in-law gazes at your belly pooch, colors, and retreats. When you’re alone with your husband, you open fire, “Your mother thinks I’m pregnant again, doesn’t she?” Six months after giving birth to your second child, you lost the extra baby weight but you have Buddha belly. Blaming the husband won’t help. You probably have separated abdominal muscles, a common post pregnancy problem that can make you look 5 months pregnant.

If you can’t stand your belly pooch, you’re not the only one. The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery reports that tummy tuck (abdominoplasty), with a total of 144,929 procedures, was the 4th top cosmetic surgical procedure in 2010. Ten years ago, these procedures were performed on affluent women of society. Today, women under the age of 35 with 2 young children are driving up the statistics.

If you’re lucky enough to have the funds (over $5000 for the procedure alone), childcare and a supportive husband, consider getting your shape back with a tummy tuck. But NEVER get it in a foreign country; your risk of a blood clot, higher with tummy tuck than with other cosmetic surgeries, will be magnified by the plane ride home and follow up treatment will not be readily available.

According to the April 2011 issue of Redbook, a tummy tuck is not easy. You will hurt; your medical team calls this “having discomfort.” It will be weeks before you can resume activities. With a tummy tuck, your skin is purposely over tightened, so you may walk bent over, counting every crumb on your carpet but unable to vacuum.

Normal functions and physical intimacy will also have to take a back seat. A thin tube may be placed under the skin in your groin to drain any excess blood or fluid.

You will not be able to care for the kids. Ask the mother-in-law who thought you were pregnant to stand in for you. Because of your pain medication, you will not be able to drive until you are off your pain medications and not in any pain.

There are many factors that determine whether or not you’re a good candidate for tummy tuck. Contact a board-certified plastic surgeon from the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery for an evaluation.