Get online and find local surgions in your area. Then check each one for references, education, experience and so on. Find out how many of that particular surgury do they do each year. If you go to a group office they may have thier doctors specializing to where there is one who does nothing but tucks and liposuctions.
Call the offices. Or email them with your informations and one of thier people will call you. They have people who's job it is to explain things to you. Ask if the surgury is done there or at a local surgury center. If they quote you a price find out if it includes the cost of anathesia (sp), surgury center costs, follow up treatments and so on. With a tummy tuck you will have to have a little more follow up visits because of the drains and the surgury is more expencive because of those. You also may have to figure in the costs of a hospital stay over night, hotel room if you are away from home, lost wages, and there will have to be someone there to take care of you for a few days.
Many places do have financing options though
Also look up the risks of tummy tucks such as dimpling and so on. Another thing to remember is if you are still planning on having kids, wait. A pregnancy can loosen the muscles and stretch them out all over again basically making the earlier surgury a waste.
I called a doctor I really liked for costs and such. The cost they quoted me included the consultation vists, the surgury, the anathesiologist and sugury center along with after vists. They did warn if there were complications or the surgury took longer then planned the cost would go up. Also the cost of the surgury center and for the anathesiologist had to be paid on the morning of the surgury.
I think the boob job I want is something like 3-5,000 with the tummy tuck being around 2,000 more. (SO threw out my paper work the stinker) If I had them both done at once the cost is reduced due to there only being 1 surgury center and anathesiologist fee as well as the doctor reducing his for the combo.
I think I'll get the boob job in a few years and wait on the tummy until I am done having kids.
In relation to a c-section it can depend. The c-section requires the muscels to be seperated. The tummy tuck may just take place on top of the muscles making it less evasive (p). Someone on this site had one of those done. If they are going to remove any fat located under the muscles or do anything to tighten up the muscles (I seem to remember the 90210 doc doing that, but I just watched like 5 mins) then it will come with much the same limitations and such as the c-sections do. I had 2 c-sections the first unplanend and the second planend. With the ease of the second one and quick recovery time I'm not really afraid of a tuck. The drains however are different and may pose different problems.