Mommy Makeover: Stories

Mother of four kids ages 11,9,6, and 1. I have a lot of stretch marks and loose abdominal skin. have wanted to have this done for years ,but have been terrified after seeing what a friend of mine went through after her tummy tuck! I honestly was afraid she was going to die from pain and the infection!

So, I have finally got the nerve to do it. Scheduled Feb 4th Full tummy tuck, love handle lipo,breast aug revision (going bigger), and full thigh lipo. Does anyone think this is way too much to do in one surgery?

Uploaded my before pics!

getting really nervous as the time nears.

getting closer And really worried.

Went for a pre-op appointment today! Surgery has been scheduled 4 days earlier now for February 1st. Full procedure will be; implant replacement with 600cc high profile implants,t-mastopexy,liposuction of flanks, and abdominalplasty. I have to go in a double weeks and get CBC and chest x-ray prior to surgery.Still real nervous but starting to get excited about the results.

Only 15 more days! Still nervous but after looking at my pics today kinda getting excited. Anything will be an improvement? I've been working out everyday,taking my vitamins,and eating right. I've never had so much ambition on a diet but making sure I'm health and recover well for surgery has really got me motivated. Wish it was tomorrow so I could stop stressing.I am wondering how much weight I will gain in the weeks after surgery .I've worked so hard and I so don't want to gain this weight I've lost back from laying in bed during recovery. Also when did most you ladies get back into ur pre surgery clothes and they fit looser after surgery?

11 more days....

Well, one week from today this body will be different! I'm at the point now where I just wish it would hurry up and get here. I have to go this Friday and get my CBC , chest X-ray ,and pre-register at the surgery center. Then to see my PS for my final appointment before surgery next Tuesday. I have so many questions to ask him I may scare him away from doing my surgery. Lol... I've got my mother coming to stay with me for a week after surgery so she should be great help. I'm not the best patient, so I may run her off! I'm stressing cause "aunt flo" is suppose to come visit the day of surgery. Im not looking forward to that with all the other body stuff I will have to deal with. I have so many questions.......

Was anyone prescribed a blood thinner post op to prevent clots?
How bad is the swelling?
Will I gain weight in the days after surgery?
When will I be able to get into my pre surgery clothes again?
How bad will the pain be even if I have the pain pump?
Will my stretch marks that he can't remove appear larger since they will be streached out?
When will I be able to make it out of the house?????????????????????????

I could go on and on...

Only 5 more days now! I go to the doctor and surgery center both tomorrow for pre-op testing , pics and of course to hand over $15,000,OUCH.... I will let you know how that goes

Well 4 more days. Went to PS for pre op today and then surgery center for pre registering and tests.PS appointment went well.I have to be at the surgery center Tuesday at 7:30 am he said surgery will start about 9:30. They better give me something to relax when I get there or I will be a nervous wreck for that 2 hours. He estimates surgery to last about 6.5 hours.

Breast he said he will try to do the lolipop lift but I still have some excess tissue at the bottom may have to do the full inverted t or anchor lift. He said he will reduce the size of my areola and do an internal bra procedure to keep them implants from falling. remember,I want them high. He order high profile saline implants at 560 cc that can be filled up to 675.

Tummy, I will have a pain pump and two drains put in. Also getting lipo on flank area.

Got 6 prescriptions,oxycodone,stool softener,vailum,blood thinner injection, nausea med, and nausea patch for pre surgery,also got some stuff to wash with prior to surgery. Lots of written instructions of course.

Dr said when I wake up breasts will be in ace bandages and tummy in a binder. I will wear that till one week later when I get my drains and pain pump out, then I transition to the one piece binder.

pre op stats
Height 5'4
Weight 137
Waist 30
Hips 40

Well, Made it through surgery. The surgery took a little longer than anticipated (7 hours). PS said he filled the implants to 660 cc, took off about 2 pounds with lipo, and muscle separation was worse that he thought. When I woke up had some nausea of course. The pain has been very tolerable so far,and to tell u the truth I don't even notice my breasts and lipo area. Stomach burns and feels like I worked out really hard. Still in hospital bed, catheter in! He said I will be able tot go home tomorrow night. I'll update more later. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers.

It's been 4 days... I took some pics and I will post them in a bit but I can't stand up straight so it looks funny. I wish i would have taken a pic right after surgery,cause i have swelling now and look larger.Pain is still better than expected. My incisions burn,hurts to get up and down, and drains are annoying.I would at this point do it over again in a heartbeat. I'm curious about the drains? How much did y'all drain and what color was it? I'm day 4 ,it's still bright red and about 100 cc outta the left drain and 50cc outta the right drain daily. I don't have hardly any bruising from lipo. Still have dilated pupils and blurry vision which dr told me was probably from meds or anesthesia and will go away. Can't wait to get my drains out and see the scars with the tape of. I pray it looks good. Oh and I don't remember if I said before or not but the dr said I had 4 inches of separated muscle in there and I can already see the vertical line of definition in there. Yay

Went for one week post op today. PS was really happy with how fast im healing and how well I am getting around! Yay
Drains were taken out,didn't feel a thing, and all steristrips were removed and replaced with new ones. PS gave me a new one piece garmet to wear 24/7 for 6 weeks. He said i still have alot of swelling and it will probably get worse before it gets better.

1 weeks stats
weight 137 (still)
waist 27
hips 38

I'm almost 2 weeks post op and I'm wanting some of you ladies to give me scar treatment advise. I want my scars to heal as light ,flat,and thin as possible ( as we all do)!
I have bought every scar lotion, tape, oil,and creme known. Now what do I do with them? My dr said all were great but didn't specify the sequence and weeks to do what. When I had my breasts done the first time,all I did was use paper tape on the incisions around the areola for 3 months to keep pressure on the incision ,and had scars you couldn't even see. I know this surgery was a lot more evasive and the scars are wider so I need some advise. The last two weeks I've been just using the steristrips, now that they are falling off I'm putting scar guard on them and covering them with paper tape once a day.... Have to admit the scar guard burns in a couple of places... Help me out here...

Posting 2 week post op pics. I will take the 3 week pics today and post them later. I dont have any pain just mainly swelling these days. Weight is up 5 pounds now. Uhhh

I posted my Implant progress pics from the last 2 years...

3 week post op pic posted. Feeling great these days. Still get real tired by the end of the day and swollen, but pain is pretty much gone.Yay

4 weeks post-op today! Yay.....
Decided to reward myself and go off my low calorie diet for the day! Bad idea, ate way to much and now my upper abdomen is swollen and I am miserable! Lol,that is what I get,I guess. So im gonna wait a couple days to post my 4 week post-op pics and take them later. I don't want to scare the crap outta you ladies.
Im still feeling really good and scar looks great, but seems to be getting redder this week!

Well I'm five weeks post op and still very happy with my results so far!
Breasts are not sore at all... scars seem to be redder lately but I hear that's from blood flow and healing at this point! I do have some unhappiness with the incision underneath the breasts? They are very long, but dr said I had to get rid of a lot of skin under there to get them higher! So I'm ok with that. These scars also seem to have stretched a little in width but I think that's cause my implants were so large! My vertical scar looks great so far, there is a little stitch sticking out that I'm waiting for to go away so I don't have to go to the doc to have it removed! My areolas are a little uneven but hey I can't have perfection.
Belly button I have had no problems with, just can't wait for scar to be less noticeable.
Tummy tuck has been so good thus far! Have to admit I hate the swelling but my scar is very thin and finally laying completely flat! Still have some stretch marks but I knew that was gonna be the case.
Lipo, thus far not thrilled with it! I really can't tell a difference!
All in all! I'm very please! I guess I just need to be more patient with the swelling and my scars healing!

Tomorrow will be 6 weeks post op,Yay!!!!!!! I'm finally about 90% back to myself. My engery level is great, and no pains at all! Swelling has improved so much for me,it onlybegins to appear around 6pm from the day,when I wake up it's gone! Finally began hitting the gym again but I'm taking it easy ,just elliptical for awhile. Word of advice, your period will be late! I think the surgery screwed with my cycle. My breast have hardly dropped,which I like cause they were never too high! Honestly I wish they were higher. Seems my scars are a bit redder these days but doc says it from healing! Still totally happy I had it done and would do it over again in a heart beat, but I may woul have skipped the lipo, cause thus far I see no difference.
6 week stats
Weight 135
Waist 27
Hips 36
Breasts at( nipple) 39

7 weeks yay!
I'm feeling great, back to working out 5 days a week and weight down 4 more pounds,still have some mild swelling at the end of the day.... So happy I did this it's life changing! My friend says I have a glow about my face now,lol
Breasts- have healed good, no pain just some itching on the lift incision on the sides of my breasts. One nipple seems a bit higher than the other and one breast a bit more squared, but I noticed this with my first set of implants also! I wonder if it's from always holding my 22 pound son on that side of my hip and my chest muscles are firmer over there ,idk! I do the silliest things to try and correct it,I try to lift him more on the opposite side, I try to swap which side I sleep on every night because for the first 6 weeks I only slept on my left side! I don't sleep on my tummy anymore cause I'm afraid that will make my breasts drop! My husband says I'm silly that he can't tell and he's the only one that see me naked ( except u gals) but I want perfection! Lol
Tummy Tuck- so happy with it,my scar look like a small pencil line it's so thin and flat! I do have one pea sized lump under the skin near the incision line that's a little sensitive, I'm sure it's a suture! Belly button looks good, just wish the bullseye scar around it would hurry and fade!
Lipo- still see no difference from before, but I hear swelling from that takes a long time to go away!
All in all I'm thrilled I did it and would do it again tomorrow!

Tomorrow will be 8 weeks! Gonna wait till April 1st and take 2 month post op pics! Yay , I have really seen an improvement in my scars and their color over the past week! My PS told me to be patient, I guess I should have listened! I do have one areola a bit larger than the other, but oh well, I can like with it . hope everyone is doing well, best wishes to all!

2 months post op....
Well I've made it to full recovery pretty much! Everything feels and looks good thus far, still a bit of abdominal swelling at the end of the day! Started back to un- restricted workouts this week! Wow I was sore! My trained was amazed at the inches I had lost on my waist and hips!maybe the lipo on the flanks worked better than I thought! Idk, I really don't see much difference in the lipo areas! Totally thrilled with results and ready for scars to fade

Have to say to everyone thinking about doing it, do it! This was an amazing experience and all the ladies on this site are wonderful! I'm sure I've saved many phone calls to the plastic surgeon from this site! All my questions have been answered here! I want to thank everyone so much for all their help! I'm 2 months and feeling great! I ran 6 miles tonight and felt totally refreshed afterwords! Swelling these days is very minimal! I know there is never perfection so I do have some complaints! The lipo so far I don't think was worth it, but he also only removed 1000cc from my flanks so maybe it's just not as noticeable to me! Idk... I'm blessed with my tummy tuck and belly button scar, but wish my breast lift and implant scars were not quite as red, hopefully time will change that. If it don't ,oh well! Whose gonna see it besides me and my hubby and of course you gals! Lol

11 weeks post op today! Doing great, scars don't seem to be as red this week,except for after I workout! This week I have noticed a stitch that hasn't dissolved under the skin near my tummy tuck incision! What should I do about that? It kinda feels like a small hard knot but u can't see it! All in all, everything is great! This has been such blessing for me and I love to see everyones transformations!

Need some help!!!!! Anyone have any advise on swimsuit tops for 34 DDD-F size implants that have had a full lift! Can't do the triangle cause it shows my scars on the side!

3 months post op! Everything is good! Swelling is few and far between and minimal! Breasts are great except I got some hypertrophic scaring under them and around my belly button, but I can't complain! Having a hard time finding swimsuit tops that fit........ Still so glad I did this and good luck to everyone else.