Hi Colleen! Yep! I've had five kids - all C-sections, too!
Plus I have a major sit-down job (medical transcription) which I've been doing for 25 yrs now! Fortunately for me, I didn't start having problems w/ my weight until after my last child (mostly due to the fact that the last two were only 16 months apart!). UNfortunately for me, I didn't decide to seriously do anything about my weight until my 40th birthday was approaching - and I saw myself in a few pics! Ack! THAT'S when I decided to get serious - along w/ the fact that there's a very strong family history (maternal) of adult-onset diabetes - grandmother diagnosed at 80 (diet-controlled), mother at age 60 (on insulin), me at age 40 - HELL NO! I've managed to dodge THAT bullet so far.
As for the "mommy belly", yep! It's still there, but thankfully getting smaller as I go along....so just hang in there - it DOES get better w/ time.
I've been LCing for two years now and the first 6 months were by far the easiest in terms of weight loss...then came along all the LC products, etc. I've gone "back to the basics" now and my "winter gain" is starting to come off...albeit sloooowly. And, of course....it went ALL to my mid-section!
I'm only an inch shorter than you, so yeah, 145 isn't an unreasonable goal. My youngest is 15, so "taste-testing" isn't an issue anymore - unless you count my granddaughter! However, having 2 pizza-lovin' teenage BOYS and a hubby who won't go near anything low carb IS a challenge.
If you would like a buddy to help, feel free to stop by my journal anytime, k? You CAN do this!