Hello Sharon,

Somen women complain of occasional bloating and also tightness. These tend to get better over time. If you constantly look and feel bloated this far out from your surgery and you now "look 6 months pregnant", I'm a little concerned that this is more than bloating. My concern is that you may have a bulge (weakness in your abdominal wall). This isn't an emergency and it's not dangerous, but it can get worse and can also develop into a hernia. The only way to be sure is to get it checked out.

Hmm bloating after DIEP surgery is pretty common because of the nature of the surgery. Most women report being bloated weeks, sometimes a month or two after their surgery, but it usually goes down pretty soon after. It does seem strange that you are still bloated, and getting bigger, after 9 months. You might want to try talking to your doctor to see that everything is healing correctly and you don't have some underlying condition that is causing the bloating. Bloating can be caused by a variety of things, and it may not be something to worry about at all, but considering your surgery it's better to be on the safe side. Until then you should try to avoid doing any strenuous things with your abdominal muscles to let them heal and to avoid more bloating.  Good luck!!