Mommy Makeover: Stories

I am 36 and I have two beautiful children. I have been moderately overweight my whole life. I am 5'7" and bounced up and down between 180 lbs and 210 lbs for all of my adult life.

About a year and a half ago I got a wake up call and realized that I really didn't want to spend my life overweight. I began Weight Watchers and after I lost some weight, I began to work out regularly (kickboxing, yoga, strength and cardio). I started at 209 lbs and lost 54 lbs to get down to a pretty muscular 155. I have now kept that weight off over a year and feel fantastic. Unfortunately as a consequence of my weight loss, I lost the majority of my beautiful breasts (I used to be a full C and now I'm busy fooling myself that I'm a small B because they are probably an A). I also have a ton of stretch marks and loose skin from my pregnancies.

When making the decision to have a mommy makeover, I struggled a lot with trying to evaluate the reasons I wanted to do it. I also struggled with what and how to tell my daughter. At the end of the day I realized that I'm doing this BECAUSE I love my body. I'm proud of what I have accomplished and I want to celebrate it. I'm just giving myself back the things time and poor habits lost. I talked with my husband, best friend and mother about it and was surprised and elated with their responses that were full of support.

My surgery is scheduled for April 8th, 2011 and I have been lurking on this site for quite a while. After paying for the procedures yesterday, I thought I would introduce myself.

At this point, I have lost a lot of my anxiety over the procedure (I have spent more than my fair share of time stressing over implant size, what exact procedures i should do, whether I can really go without a breast lift, lipo or not, what im going to tell people, etc, etc, etc..... the list has been endless). My only really big concern right now is recovery time. I have to go back full time to my physically demanding job at the 8 week mark. I am hoping that because I am going into this in very good shape that it will help me recover sooner.

I just want to thank all of you for sharing your stories. They have been a big help to me. I will post pics in the next little while.

Ok, maybe I spoke too soon! The nerves and 2nd thoughts have come back full force. I can't believe there are only six days to go. I keep reading about swell hell and how it often lasts a really long time. As I'm going into this in fairly good shape, I know I'm not going to have immediate loss of size. I'm expecting to be larger than I am right now for a while and I'm not looking forward to that. I'm afraid it will make me become dejected and I might lose my will to stay small!

I'm still very excited about my new breasts though! ;-)

Five days to go! I keep looking at my tummy in the mirror wondering where the scar will end up. I'm planning on bringing my low rise jeans and a pair of bikini bottoms on Friday morning just to check that the scar is low enough. If I pull the skin up (like it will be when everything us pulled tighter), I think I will want the dr to put the scar about 1/2 " into my pubic hair line. Has anyone else's doctor done this or is it almost always above the hairline?

Tomorrow is the day..........I can't believe it is here. I am so very nervous.... There is absolutely no way that I'm going to be able to sleep tonight!

Ok, this is it! Today is the day I'm getting my new body! Heading to the surgical centre now. I'm still nervous but not as bad as I have been.

1 day post op! Feeling a lot less groggy so I thought I would give you an update cause I know how much I wanted to know how others made out!

I have to admit that the night before surgery I was a wreck. I was really scared I was going to die on the table. I kept hugging my kids and my husband. I knew in my head that it was not a reasonable fear and that there was more chance of me being in a fatal car accident on the way there. I read a lot of posts that showed that others had the same fears and I eventually talked myself down.

When I got up on the morning of surgery, I was doing much better. Still nervous but not bad. We got to the surgical centre and everyone was so nice. My doctor came in to take photos and marked me up. I asked him to put my scar as low as possible and asked if he could put it in the hairline so that when the skin was pulled tight that the scar would still be below low rise jeans and bikini bottoms. He told me that I had excellent, stretchy skin and that I had enough on top of my belly button to make that work....yay! I had been worried that stretching that tight would cause skin necrosis but he said it would be fine.

My doctor uses the progressive tension suture technique (I think that's what it is called) where he puts a ton of anchoring stitches between my skin and my muscle. Some doctors call it quilting. Because he does this technique, I don't need drains, my swelling will be minimized and I will have a better recovery. I didn't even know about this technique before I chose him to be my doctor and it makes me even more thankful that I chose him!

When I woke up in recovery, I was in incredible pain and I was shaking.... I was shaking so hard that I'm surprised the building didn't move. I had prepared myself for the pain but I usually have a great pain tolerance and I thought I would be fine. I was wrong! They gave me quite a bit more pain drugs and I fell asleep. When I woke up the second time, it was much, much better. I was down to about a 3 out of 10 and it has steadily gotten better and better. As I sit here typing, I don't feel any pain at all. I am taking my meds exactly on time because I don't want to hurt like that again! I was really surprised that I didn't get sick. I was elated actually....... I think it would feel terrible!

I walked out of the surgery centre 3 hours after my surgery. I have to walk hunched over but it doesn't hurt too badly. Once I came home, I went to bed. I wasn't going to buy a wedge pillow but I am now really glad I did. I am moving around and switching up. I have been dozing and sleeping on and off. I want to get better and resting will help me get better faster

They told me that women often having problems urinating but I didn't have any problems.

My day 1 post op went well, I watched 3 movies, dozed on and off and had my husband wait on me hand and foot! My two little ones are at grandmas and they are coming back today. My PS surgeon called just to check how I was doing. He answered some questions I had. I found out that it was ok for me to sleep on my side (yay, it was so much more comfortable last night), my skin was itchy and he said it was likely the iodine they used, he told me that it was ok to lift my arms up and that it wouldnt affect my BA, he also told me that I could straighten as much as I could and that it wouldn't pull the incision apart (because I had the quilting procedure). I have been moving around quite a bit and he said that was ok, that my body will tell me when I do enough. He also told me to rest as much as I can. DH has been fantastic for that so it's going well.

Its now day 2 and I had my shower! I got to see my tummy and my breasts for the first time. Im so excited. My tummy looks great! My husband kept saying that he couldn't believe the difference. My scar is so low! It will definitely fit under low rise jeans or bikini bottoms. To show how low it is, if you look at the pic, you will notice I have a tattoo on my right hip. That tattoo is right at the crease of my hip and my leg! I have a pool of swelling under my belly button. I hope that is normal. Im debating on whether to call the PS or not.

My breasts don't look so great yet because they need to drop. I hope they turn out as good as my tummy!

After my shower, I fell promptly asleep for two hours. It took a lot out of me. I guess I'm not fully healed yet lol.

I hope everyone else is doing well.

Day 3 post op for me. I didn't sleep well last night but I woke up with less swelling and less pain. I've been going against other people's advice and have been weighing myself every morning. Because I'm being very careful about what I eat, I know that any weight fluctuations are from swelling. Day 1 PO I was 9 lbs heavier than I was when I went in and this morning I'm only 5 pounds heavier. So I felt really good.

I had a shower and tried on the bathing suit I had on in the pre surg pics. Im really happy with how it looks now. Then we went to Costco. Dh picked everything up and I just kind of walked around but it was nice to get out for a bit. It's such a nice day, would be a shame to waste it.

I have a post OP booked for Thurs but called my PS today to ask him about the pool of fluid I feel under my belly button. It's about the size of a cantalaoupe and moves like a water bed when I touch it. It is really soft and is a bit warmer than the surrounding area. He said that it is likely fluid that he might have to drain with a needle on Thurs if it doesn't go away on it's own by then. He told me to come see him earlier if it gets hard or red.

And the big news of today? I am so much more comfortable after having my first BM!

I forgot to say Thank you to all of you who said such nice things about my pics. I am very happy with the results.

Well it's day 5 PO and I'm still feeling pretty good. I had a really good day 4. A lot of that had to do with the fact that I finally had a BM at the end of day 3. Let's just say (beware TMI) that I might not have needed THAT much senecot! Anyway, my whole body swelling had gone down. I could finally put my rings back on and I had gone down to my pre surgery weight! Yay! My belly still looks swollen but I found that I could fully stand up straight. What a difference that has made on my back! I am also now completely off narcotics which im extatic about. I went for a quick grocery shopping run and when I got back, I didn't even need to have a nap! My best friend came over for tea and I showed her the results. My breasts still look like alien breasts because they haven't even started to drop but my tummy looks good. She was excited with my progress! I may have gotten too comfortable with how easily I'm getting around though. Last night as I was rolling over in bed, I lifted myself up on one arm and I felt a sharp pain. I think I might have pulled a muscle on my left side because now every time I move a certain way, that muscle screams at me. I need to remind myself to slow down. It's hard for me because I'm usually extremely active. I will admit that I'm becoming bored very very quickly. What am I going to do for the next two weeks?!?!

1 Week Post Op! I can't believe that the time has passed so quickly.

I spent the morning of Day 5 resting (because of the muscle I pulled). Then in the afternoon I took my daughter to the doctor and then my friend's two daughters came over for several hours (my friend had to work). I helped my kids practice their piano, did their homework with them, bathed them and put them to bed. A pretty regular day under normal circumstances but I have to admit, it tired me out a bit. I had a shower then went to bed super early. The cantaloupe between my belly button and my pubic area had evened out a bit and it just looked like I have a round buddha belly under my belly button.

Then yesterday (Day 6 Post Op), I went to see my PS for a follow up. He was happy and impressed with my mobility and said that my under belly button buddha belly I had was just swelling and that I had a lot less swelling than others (WHAT??? I can't imagine how more swelling would look like!). He is a lot less restrictive about resuming normal activities than other PS's that I have read about on this site. He said that I could resume normal activities immediately as I felt comfortable doing them. He said that at this point, I am not going to damage any of the work that he did. I should let my body be my guide, it will tell me when I am overdoing things. That worries me a bit because I have a tendency to push myself hard and I really don't want to set myself back. I'm counting on my DH to reign me in when I need it.

As far as my breasts go, apparently I will be at about my final size for volume at about three weeks but that they will shift and change shape for up to three to six months.

The PS also said that I could take the tape off so I did that last night in the shower and saw my incision for the first time. It looks really good right now. Hopefully it will stay as super closed as it is now! I want to take pics of it (and my buddha belly) today and post them so stand by for an update.

My biggest concern/question right now is how do I start back into exercising? If there are any veterans who read this, I would love specific advice as to what you started doing and how you increased your intensity. How did your BA affect the workouts you chose to do? Before surgery I was very active and I would like to get my strength, power and conditioning back as soon as possible (without affecting my surgery progress).

I had a dream last night that my breasts had dropped and that they were beautiful and soft. Then I woke up to my hard football breasts..... :-(. I know its only been a week but I am really worried that they wont turn out to be anything close to the way I had envisioned.

I'm adding some photos that I took yesterday which was 10 days post op. I included one showing my swelling/Buddha Belly. I am doing well and even did a short time on the elliptical yesterday (12 minutes). It felt good but I don't want to do too much too fast so I am trying to slow myself down. Now if only my breasts will drop!!!