mums who have had an umbilical hernia op- tell me about it please

[sunglasses]

I have an umbilical hernia since having two children ( age 7 and 5) It's not causing major problems, I have had it looked at by a consultant a couple of years ago who said because its not urgent to operate maybe wait and see if it causes problems in the future. Also have muscle separation but have made some improvement to that with a personal trainer and the correct core strength exercises. BUT
I still have a pregnant looking tummy which gets progressively worse around the time of my period and I can't wear the same clothes I used to pre pregnancy. So... I am looking at the following options 1. have a full tummy tuck done privately or 2. have the hernia repaired and hope this helps with flattening out my tummy as my muscles are stronger now and I can continue to improve them after recovery from op.
I am not keen to go down the tummy tuck route as its major surgery and so was wondering about the hernia op. I know it is still surgery but was wondering exactly what was involved and wether that would make a big difference to my appearance or not.
I would appreciate any ones experience- where did you have the op? private or NHS ( I am in London if that helps) Has anyone had it done by keyhole surgery or how were you cut? whats the scar like? Did you have the muscles stitched in any way? or a mesh repair? was it worth it appearance wise? core strength wise? what was the op and recovery/ pain like?
I really want to make the right choice and don't want any surgery really if its not going to make some improvement to my poor tummy. I am a size 10 and not overweight anywhere apart from this bulging tummy. please help

marking place as I have the same problem.

Personally I don't think a tummy tuck will do anything for you. I am a size 10 too and I am bulging from inside if I have any internal problems (gas, periods...) but I have almost no fat on my belly to get rid off (which is what a tummy tuck does isn't it?).

Yoga seems to help a bit and staying active. Hoovering is really making it worse though

I am delaying doing anything to it because of 2 CS and the hernia is not painful anymore after I had DD2, but I am careful apart from the hoovering which I can't avoid for now, no heavy lifting, no exercises which needs the core to be pushed out (ei. pilates, sit ups ...).

I feel a bit that I have been asked already 3 times if I was pregnant again at the school gate though (usually when I have my periods)

I think the tummy tuck actually can sew all the rectus muscles back together, sort out the hernia and get rid of any loose skin etc and with a scar in the same position as a c section scar although a bit bigger i think. I think the results can look amazing but obviously its major surgery with risks so I don't want to go down that route if I could achieve a reasonable result just tackling the hernia. Its horrible people thinking you are pregnant isn't it? A shop assistant once asked me when I was due and was horrified and embarrassed when I told her I wasn't actually pregnant I was really quite slim before kids and could pretty much wear anything so its quite annoying to have to choose clothes carefully to hide the bump!!

bump! No pun intended

I did post to have more infos on diastasis earlier this year and had no answer, bumping anyway...

I had one about 7 years ago. Although my circumstances not quite the same. I didn't know I had one but was in hospital about to have gall bladder removed. The surgeon discovered it when he made an incision in my belly button for one of the instruments. So he repaired it with a mesh. So now I have a slightly different shaped belly button and a very faint scar line running done from it to the bikini line. I still have the pot belly I had before.....

Oh and I still have my gall bladder as it was actually fine, although I no longer have my appendix as it turns out it had burst and was causing the problems, so I have a scar on the right side too.

Thanks for the reply crazycarol. So you say you still have a pot belly you had before... is this from having muscle separation or diastisis recti as its known as? Did the hernia op tighten up the muscles in any way?

sorry for the delay sunglasses. I have the pot belly because I am a bit overweight nothing to do with the muscles.