A life saver if you can't get a flat tummy with exercise alone. I had a mini-tuck after the birth of my second child by C-section. Two C-sections, I believe allows any female a free "get out of jail go straight to tummy tuck" card. 
Tummy tuck surgery, also known as abdominoplasty, is a major surgical procedure that tightens a person's abdomen by removing excess skin and fat and firming up the muscles in the abdominal wall. It needs to be considered very thoughtfully. The recuperation time can be lengthy and I won't lie to you - there is pain post surgery.
In abdominoplasty surgery, the patient receives general anesthesia. After the patient is asleep, the surgeon makes an incision across the patient's abdomen, right above the pubic area, and around the navel. Next, the surgeon removes excess skin and fat from the patient's abdominal wall, stretching from the pubic area to the rib cage, including the area around the navel. The surgeon also tightens the patient's abdominal muscles with sutures to further flatten the abdomen. The surgeon then creates a new hole for the navel, pulls down and trims any excess skin, sutures up the incision, and applies a firm elastic dressing to the patient's abdomen. In some cases, small tubes will be inserted through the incision area to allow fluid to drain out of the area.
Because I had a mini tuck, I stayed in hospital only one night while other, patients who do the full tuck usually remain in the hospital from one to three days. I did experience pain and discomfort for a week or so but was up and walking the very next day. There is no question that the better shape you are in before surgery, the easier your recovery will be. I had numbness and bruising around the area for a few weeks. I was unable to get back to the gym for four weeks and also needed to wear an elastic compression garment, much like a girdle, for up to three weeks for additional abdominal support during the healing progress. This was much more uncomfortable as the weeks went on but here's the key point: The minute you take the support girdle off......your body will stop being constricted and the fluids will take up the space unavailable before. DO NOT TAKE THIS GARMENT OFF TOO SOON - you can achieve the slimmest silhouette by keeping it on the recommended three weeks.
The incision scars on my tuck are MUCH better than the C-section scars and faded fully in a year. I had my surgery in 2002 and still love the effects. If like me a pregnancy left your stomach muscles very stretched, you may want to opt for a full tuck. The upper part of my abdomen is always an area of concern and I am often tightening the muscles on my own to keep the entire belly from breast bone down flat. A full tuck for me was out of the question due to healing time involved and the fact that I had two children, one of whom was only 8 months old.
I never did like the look of my new navel, if I had known better in advance, I would have talked to my Plastic Surgeon about the kind of navel I wanted.
