sweater / denim / boots / bag / watch / earrings
Happy New Year babes! Here it is, my first post of 2018! Sorry for being such a slacker with my posts on here lately, the holidays is such a crazy time for my family! Between holiday birthdays and Christmas it feels like we always have so many get-togethers and places to be. I’m not complaining though, I kind of love it! Anyway, I just wanted to take a minute to sincerely thank you all for following along with me in my little corner of the internet here. You all have helped me turn my dream into a reality, and I can’t wait to see what comes of it this year. So THANK YOU!
Okay, so I’m sharing the outfit you see above in this post, but I am ALSO sharing all about my recent experience with Kybella. For those of you who don’t know, Kybella is an injectable medicine with the active ingredient being a synthetic deoxycholic acid, which is a naturally occuring substance in your body that aids in the breakdown and absorption of dietary fat. So basically, it is an injectable that helps to rid small areas of your body of unwanted fat. The most common place Kybella treats is underneath the chin (to help get rid of a “double chin”). Recently doctors have started seeing results using it in underarms (to help get rid of the “bra bulge” underneath your armpits) and on the stomach area to help with stubborn areas. My stomach is where I had my Kybella treatment done.
I have had a lot of friends and family ask me why I even felt the need to seek out this kind of treatment. I get told all the time that I “look great, especially after having two kids” and that people “hope they bounce back like I did after having kids”. And while those compliments are so great to hear (really, they are), I knew what I looked like underneath my clothes. I knew that I felt uncomfortable in a bathing suit, or a fitted dress, or anything fitted for that matter. I knew that when I sat down and my stomach spilled over the top of my jeans (not a ton, but it did), that I found physically uncomfortable.
I had two scheduled c-sections, so yes, they cut through all my muscles twice. After the first, I actually felt pretty good several months after having Liv, and breastfeeding definitely helped my stomach go down. I also had Liv a whole month early, so my stomach didn’t stretch as much at the end as would have happened if she had been full term. With Mason, I had a scheduled c-section at 39 weeks, so I got a lot bigger. It turns out actually, that he gave me a hernia during the pregnancy. I remember telling my husband while I was pregnant that it felt like my belly button was tearing, and apparently it was. When I went in for my Kybella treatment, the doctor asked me if I was aware that I have a hernia to which I replied, “Oh my gosh that makes so much sense!”
Anyway, my point is, that even when I did work out regularly and eat healthy, I felt like my stomach just didn’t look any different. I would notice improvements in my legs, but never in my stomach. When I tried to do ab workouts, I could barely even do certain ones because of the hernia (I could feel pain, I just had no idea why until recently). And honestly, my stomach is so weak at this point after the two surgeries, and with a hernia (which I know I need to have fixed), working out is HARD. Not to mention finding the time to do it as a stay-at-home mom who also works from home. My kids are in school two days a week for a whopping 5 hours, and I do get some help from my mom, but I don’t have a nanny or daily childcare so working out either doesn’t happen or I have to do at home during nap time (when I want to nap too).
After a lot of research and positive testimonies, I decided I wanted to give Kybella a shot. I contacted who usually does my Botox to ask her about it, and ended up scheduling an appointment with Dr. Forrest Roth of WestAve Plastic Surgery in Houston. He took a look at my stomach and told me where all would be the best places to administer the injections. He marked up my stomach to make sure we got all the right places. I had decided to go with 3 vials of Kybella, which I believe was around 15 or so injections all across my abdomen, per Dr Roth’s suggestion.
The needle going in really wasn’t that bad, but honestly, shots don’t bother me so much. The most painful part was that the Kybella starts to burn once injected (but that means it’s working), and I am not going to lie, that was a little hard to get through. It burned at an uncomfortable level for a good 6-7 hours. I had the procedure done in the afternoon, so by the time I went to sleep that night it wasn’t too bad. I felt a little bit of a burning sensation for the next few days, but nothing that was bothersome to me.
The next day after the procedure, and for about 10 days after that, my stomach actually got larger. For the first week they told me it was probably swelling from being injected. I actually called the doctor’s office after the first week because I was afraid it wasn’t working. My stomach felt VERY jiggly and just gross to be honest. When I asked them about it they told me that that feeling is completely normal, and that a lot of people report the treated area “feeling liquidy” on the inside, which again, means the treatment is working. It takes 6 weeks to see full results with Kybella, and I will say I really didn’t start to see a difference until 4 weeks later. But at 6 weeks, I felt pretty good about my results! I posted some pictures at the end of this post to show you all the before and after (sorry, the before ones are super close up).
So what I had done is one round of three vials of Kybella. This cost around $1800 ($600 per vial), so it’s not cheap (but wayyy cheaper than lipo)! A lot of people who do have this treatment done end up doing two rounds of it. The good thing is, it’s a permanent treatment, unlike so many other injectables. I would love to do another round, but since it’s a bit pricey, I might give it a little while. But I am definitely happy with my results. I feel so much better IN clothes and out of them, both physically and mentally. I by no means have a perfect stomach now, but there is a definite improvement.
I am sharing this all with you not because I think everyone needs to go have cosmetic enhancements done to them, but because I know I have a lot of readers who may not even be aware of this kind of treatment, but might have an interest in it. And let me clarify, I think ALL women’s bodies are beautiful, this was just something I wanted to do for myself because it made me, personally, feel more comfortable on an everyday basis. So anyway, for those of you have been interested in Kybella, I definitely recommend it, and I highly recommend Dr. Roth!
xo, Loren
Above photos my Julia Arceri Photography
BEFORE MY KYBELLA TREATMENT
9 WEEKS AFTER MY KYBELLA TREATMENT (only because I forgot to take pictures after 6 weeks)
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