My stomach looked like a ‘sunken pie’ after I became a teen mum – so I burned my skin with hot needles to fix it
A MUM-OF-TWO has told how she forked out a whopping £15,495 on a mummy makeover ahead of her fairytale wedding and honeymoon.
Rachel Walker, 31, who lives in Sheffield with her two children Ella, 13, and Emilia, 3, and husband Karl, 33, says she was left with a tummy that looked like a "sunken pie" after falling pregnant at 17.
With her wedding day just around the corner along with a week-long honeymoon to St Lucia, the occupational perinatal mental health nurse, who hadn't worn a bikini since she was 17, was determined to feel confident and beautiful on her big day.
So, she booked in for six hour surgery with Mr Amer Hussain at Pall Mall Cosmetics, Newton-le-Willows, which included a tummy tuck, liposuction, muscle repair, breast enlargement and breast uplift - taking her from a 32D to 32E.
Speaking exclusively to Fabulous Digital, Rachel recalls: "I was 17 when I became pregnant with my eldest.
"I’d never really heard much about stretch marks or excess skin, I just assumed I would 'bounce back' but that never happened.
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"My post-baby tummy initially looked like a sunken pie, very wrinkly around my belly button with a pouch at the bottom.
"My biggest insecurity was definitely the loose and wrinkly skin on my stomach.
My post-baby tummy initially looked like a sunken pie, very wrinkly around my belly button with a pouch at the bottom
Rachel Walker
"You couldn’t even see my belly button as it was concealed in this big wrinkle, and it had a massive pouch at the bottom."
The mum-of-two says she was also selective of what clothes she'd wear because of how her stomach looked.
"I was so self-conscious, and it made me feel sick with anxiety so most of the time I'd just avoid going out full stop," she recalls.
"If I did go out, I always had to plan ahead and think about what
I was going to wear to make sure that I was completely covered up so nobody could see my stomach."
"I was 17 the last time I wore a bikini.
"I'd never get my stomach out at all and would wear shapewear to suck me in under pretty much all of my clothes which was really
uncomfortable.
"At one point I was going to the gym 7 times a week on a restricted diet but that didn’t really help either.
"I was very self-conscious and still so embarrassed of my stomach."
Rachel met her husband when her eldest daughter was five and recalls how he'd always tell her she "looked beautiful."
However, she says that while her loose skin didn't bother him, it didn't stop her from feeling self-conscious.
"I became pregnant in 2019 and we had our second daughter in 2020," she continues.
"My stomach didn’t look any worse after this pregnancy, but it didn’t look any better either."
Rachel tried every cream you could think of and even spent thousands on skin tightening treatments that she
thought would help, but nothing ever worked.
"One was a kind of needle/pen which burns the skin to try to tighten and rejuvenate it," she says.
"They usually use this treatment on wrinkles...this particular treatment was SO expensive and painful and didn’t do anything at all."
The mum-of-two had always spoken about wanting a tummy tuck but knew she wanted more children.
So, after deciding their family was complete, and with her wedding planned for September and honeymoon booked, she looked into it in a little more detail.
I felt amazing on my wedding day, honestly. I didn’t feel self-conscious about how I looked at all and, best of all, I didn’t have to wear the uncomfortable shapewear!
Rachel Walker
"When we booked the wedding, I knew I didn’t want to go if I was going to look c**p and feel uncomfortable the whole time so," she explains.
"So, at the end of March, I enquired about surgery at Pall Mall Cosmetics in Newton-le-Willows to see what could be done.
"I saw that you could have a mummy makeover which I thought would be great as my breasts were also very saggy after pregnancy and breastfeeding."
On 14th July, two months before her wedding day, Rachel went under the knife in a bid to get her dream body.
"The most painful bit was definitely the muscle repair," Rachel recalls.
"I honestly didn’t feel anything else other than that as it was so painful.
"When I came round, I felt a bit sick and was worried about
actually being sick due to the muscle repair pain on my stomach but thankfully I was fine!
"The team at Pall Mall were all amazing and really looked after me.
"It was initially quite hard to move, and I needed help getting out of bed due to stomach muscle pain, but I was fine once I was up, it was just that initial movement that was a bit difficult.
"I didn’t eat a huge amount initially due to the nausea but after a week I was back to eating normally."
After two weeks Rachel had her drain removed and it wasn't long before she was feeling well enough to return to work.
Around 8 weeks later she felt fully OK again and was back at the gym - and before she knew it, her dream wedding day had arrived.
Speaking of how she felt in her figure-hugging white lace bridal gown, she says: "I felt amazing on my wedding day, honestly.
"I didn’t feel self-conscious about how I looked at all and, best of all, I didn’t have to wear the uncomfortable shapewear!
"My honeymoon was just a dream. I know that I’m never going to be a supermodel, but I’m so much happier with how I look now.
"I wore a bikini for the first time since I was 17 which
felt amazing...I honestly never thought I’d wear one ever again.
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"Having a mummy makeover was the BEST decision I have ever made.
"I feel so confident and happy I literally haven’t stopped smiling since. It was worth every bit of pain."
