Mommy Makeover: Stories

I have 4 kids ages 7, 4, 3 & 16 mos. After my 3rd was born I worked really hard & went from 180 to 131 lbs (I'm 5'9") but still had skin that hung over my pants when I sat down. I just figured that was what I would live with. My husband really wanted to have one more baby but as he travels for work so often I wasn't as excited about the idea; plus I had worked so hard to get my body back! After 10 months of trying and 1 miscarriage we decided our family was complete (phew!) Then I found out the next day I was pregnant!

Our 4th is our only boy & he is such a perfect addition to our family but during this pregnancy I ended up with an umbilical hernia which opened up the idea for a TT to me. After he was born I visited a PS. He asked me if I was within 20 lbs of my goal weight but I was at 165 so I didn't want to do the surgery at that time knowing where I had got down to before this last pregnancy. Fast forward 11 mos later, after struggling with some post-partum depression & emotional eating leading to another 10-12 lb gain, I had managed to get back down to 143 with my new final goal being 135. I did the Insanity workout along with the Eat to Live diet and started running 3 days a week. I felt healthy and was ready to start thinking about the TT. Then a couple wks ago my son started to climb on me and stuck his toe in my hernia and ripped it further, it burned so bad! This set my thinking about the TT into action about the TT.

While looking at my side profile and imagining what I would look like after the TT I started looking at how flat and saggy my chest was from nursing 4 babies and then also from all the weight loss/gain over the years. Talked to DH & he was on board for a full MM if that's what I wanted. Scheduled the consult w/ the PS again, then set the surgery date for two wks later.

My surgery was last Fri, 10/26! I had TT, BL, BA (300cc), hernia repair & Lipo on flanks. This was my first surgery ever (I panicked every other day up until the surgery.)

I have two drainage tubes & I had a pain pump as well that was removed 3 dpo. A General surgeon did the hernia repair during the middle of the TT portion. The PS said he gave me over 200 stitches so I need not worry about anything coming undone. That was a comforting thought on Fri after the surgery when I was throwing up and it felt like my mid-section was on fire & was going to rip in half! Boy is it hard to stand up straight too! I'm managing when I walk around to stand up at about 85% straight but it is a workout! The chest really hasn't been an issue other than feeling like a baby elephant is sitting on me, but my right side incision from the TT burns quite often & seems more swollen than the left side. I have an appt tomorrow in which I am hoping one of the drainage tubes will be removed. Before surgery the PS said 1 wk for the first tube and 2-3 wks for the second. So far, I like what I see, although I'm going to have to get use to this new belly button! A bonus was that the tattoo that I had on my stomach is now gone. I have not taken any post op pics yet, so hoping to do that tonight. The incision lines look pretty straight & smaller than what I expected them to be. I'm down to 1 pain pill & muscle relaxer at night & then 1/2 a pain pill twice during the day. I have some crazy dreams on those things! I've been sleeping in the recliner in our bedroom since I got home. They had me stay in the hospital over night after the operation & then DH & I decided to have me stay another night since I was going to be at home by myself as he had to be at our kid's school all day Saturday for their Fall Festival (he signed us up as Co-VP of the PTF!)

The thing that has been the hardest for me mentally was after the first shower putting some lotion on my stomach. To see it and touch it but not being able to feel anything really did a number on me. I don't have a weak stomach normally but this made we nauseas & then I started to black out so I sat down quickly. Tears followed & then later I jumped on realself & read many post about everyone's joys of their new body & also the ups & downs of a MM which made me feel tons better. That's why I decided to write a review, to pay it forward I guess. It made me feel so much more normal & a lot better to know that those moments of Holy Cow What have I done?? are normal & will pass & that I'm not alone in having those moments! Thank you to all those who've taken the time to share your journey, it really has helped me in mine!
Happy Healing!!

Just needed to take a moment to vent... on the emotional roller coaster of MM I am struggling with the TT incision and how high it went up on my hip bones. I have a f/u appt this morning and I want to say something about it but am never good with stuff like this. Also, it's not like there is anything that can be done about it now. That's the line I used with myself the other day to get past the first freak out with this. My underwear does not cover the incision on either side for about an inch of the incision (and these are the underwear I used during pregnancy, not small & pretty pre baby undies.) When he marked me for surgery it was about 10 mins before I completely went black and don't remember anything from that point. It's not like I was able to focus on what he was doing at that time and have a conversation about incision height and bathing suit coverage. I was too nervous and focused on the fact that I was getting ready to go under and be cut on. I figured the previous conversations in the consult and pre-op appt covered my desires to hide as much as possible, not to pull the stretch marks down a couple inches, still have them show and add new scars on top of that to the mix. Struggling with a was this really worth it moment?!?! Love the new boobs though... on a more positive note!

So this mornings rant was a crying bout saver! Thank you for the encouraging words in a much needed time! At the f/u appt the PS said that my scar would not be any lower but that he had to bring it that high to connect the skin. He also reminded me that I am swollen still as well. He also said that with the way that I'm healing that over time he didn't think that the scar would really even be an issue for me. I do have to say that from day 1 I felt like he did a great job on how straight and small the incision line is. So, time & patience! I teach my kids this, just need to do a better job at remembering it myself! No drains out today, one more wk.

If you feel like a laugh... I kept rubbing a place just below "the girls" in the center top of abs that was sore & felt a bulge then two lines going down each side of my abdomen that I thought "OMG is this going to be what the outer lining of my abs pulled together is going to look like once the swelling goes down? I don't want to look like a freaking body builder." A good but painful laugh with the nurse today... It's the drainage tubes! I'm blaming that one on the pain pills! :)

12 DPO... Yesterday I had another f/u appt. I've been off pain meds since 6 dpo & on advil twice a day for swelling since day 7. PS said that he was going to remove one tube at 11 dpo f/u & 2nd at 14 dpo f/u. I did get one out yesterday & though it didn't hurt it definitely felt weird being pulled out. PS says now though that the other tube will stay in till next Tues which is 18 dpo. Thankful for the work that the drainage tube does but boy am I counting down the days till I am done with these things completely!
Really struggling with eating right this week. It is so hard not to sit around and eat out of boredom. I've managed to stay away from all but 4 pieces of halloween candy but now we have tortilla chips and guac in the house & I have pounded it today. Realizing that will not help with swelling, I need to get my head on straight and run in the other direction (or walk slowly, hunched over :)
Will try to get some pics posted here soon! Hope everyone is healing well and getting plenty of rest!

14 DPO... All in all things are going pretty well. I think the biggest change in the past few days is that I started using the breathing/lung capacity measurer again. I barely used it after the first two to three days after surgery. But as it seems all of our kids plus my husband have a cough and sinus thing going on, I figured when I felt my chest getting tight the other day that I better jump back on it. Coughing a lot myself today and sneezing some. That's a lot of fun with stitches (note sarcasm!)
The second drainage tube comes out next Tuesday. I really thought that after the first one was removed this past Tues that the amount the other was collecting would increase but it really hasn't. I'm at about 22ml per 24 hrs. Had "Swell Hell" one day this wk then it was my TOM the next day so it made sense. That was also the day I posted about pounding the chips & guac, which also makes sense now.
Still sleeping in the recliner. Really wanting to return to the bed but I'm not brave enough to try it yet as my husband wrestles around in his sleep & jerks the covers. Afraid he might hit me in the stomach or chest or catch the dt w/ the covers & pull. So maybe I'll make it to the bed once I'm drain free & then I'll build a protective wall w/ pillows so I don't end up a casualty of his fitful sleeping habits!
Got on the scale this morning and I was 141.8! I was 143 the day before surgery so that is encouraging. I have all these clothes that I ordered in 2010 literally THE DAY BEFORE I got pregnant with our 4th (thinking we were done & I had kept off the weight for 6 mos.) By the time they came in 6 wks later (it was one of those CaBi shows where they don't close the order for two wks) my stomach already looked 4 mo prego so I wasn't able to wear any of them. They have been sitting in my closet with tags on them staring at me for 2 yrs. I'm not talking a small amount, this was a closet makeover (as I went from 180 to 131 working my tail off at bootcamp!) My PS said I could start running again at 6 wks so I'm thinking with my new body shape & a little working out (not having to try to fit the extra skin in my pants and shirt) that I will nicely fit into all those clothes very soon!! Sorry for all the extra babbling on this but I am sooooo excited about this and figured this would be the most understanding place to share it!
Have a great day everybody!

Triple whammy... got hit with TOM pretty hard this weekend, waking with bad headaches every morning since Fri (thankful they at least weren't migraines), and got the horrible sinus/cough thing that the rest of my family had. I have put my stitches through quite the test with all the sneezing and coughing. My stomach burned all weekend from stressing my core! Plus the entry site to my drainage tube looks infected. It's very red, burns & has scabbing all the way around it. Even my husband (who didn't understand why at 6 mos pregnant I wouldn't dive on my stomach to save a volleyball during a game & says things to our kids when they are bleeding like just go rub some dirt on it your fine) said he was sorry bc it looked really infected & painful, that's not a comforting thought! Figured since my appt is tomorrow morning I would just ride out the drain thing today.

I ordered a CG today as well as a silicon sheet & scar treatment cream. I've not had the nerve to pull up Spanx over this painful drain tube so I've still been wearing the tube top garment that they have at the PS office. They've given me a couple new ones since they stretch out, but after all this sneezing and coughing I would like to have the extra support!

On a funny note, I received an e-mail from my 4 yr old's teacher asking if I was ok. She said my daughter came to school saying that her "baby brother had scratched a hole in mommy's belly and they had to take her to the hospital and cut her open and sew her back together again." Though it makes me sound kind of like humpty dumpty I told her teacher she was basically right, as I had a hernia from the pregnancy repaired at the same time. I love getting to hear what is going through their little heads. They have been so good through this process. Very thankful for that!!

FREEDOM!!!! All drains are gone! Drove for my first time today to my appt to get my final drain removed. Still coughing, sneezing, w/ pain coming from the drain entry area but to look at me you would've thought I had just won the lottery. I was smiling, singing, so happy, on my way to have my little friend removed! He removed the scab that had grown over the tube,which hurt like crazy, so the whole was a lot bigger than the actually tube once he did that. Still, all smiles!! He showed me the massage technique that I could start using to get my right implant to drop some. Said my scars were looking really good and wants to see me back next week to check swelling. Now, time to get out of this parking lot and head home a drain free woman! Still, all smiles! It's a good day y'all!

21 dpo... I slept in our bed for the first time last night. It was difficult to turn from one side to the other but it was nice to be back in the bed instead of the recliner. Both sides of my TT incision where it goes across my hip bones burn today, guessing maybe from sleeping on them. I've been up and around a lot more the past three days driving, walking, helping out with the kids some (but not lifting) and I'm a little swollen in the afternoons/night but not too bad. Wearing Spanx since my PS doesn't do CGs and cannot wait to get out of these things. I wore them a lot before the surgery, thankful this won't last forever!! Posting a couple new pics. The right breast has more upper pole filling and the left has dropped. Kind of wishing the left hadn't dropped and they both just stayed like the right. It's not extremely noticeable but you can tell when I turn to the side. Going to get some rest now. Hope everyone is having a great day!