“3 Weeks Until My Tummy Tuck! - Edina, MN”

I have been wanting a tummy tuck since after my first child was born 3 1/2 years ago. I now have 2 children and am going for it. It still does not seem real to me. I am sure once I shell out the money next week it will start to kick in. I just hope all goes well and I can be back to my normal self as soon as possible to run after my 2 little ones. I would like advice from anyone who has had it done and has little ones at home.

Updated on Aug 5, 2010:
added before pictures

Updated on Aug 16, 2010:
So my surgery is paid for..still doesn't seem real. Less than 2 weeks away, time is going by quick! It has been a bit stressful around here since I just lost my job and I can't really start a new one until after my recovery from surgery! I'm sure everything will work out just fine though!

Updated on Aug 20, 2010:
One week until my surgery!! Thought I would post a little info about me in case there is someone similar to me who can give me some advice or learn from me after my surgery.. I am 25 years old, 5 feet, 100 lbs. I don't exercise often, I hope to start more often after my surgery. I tried yoga for the first time a few weeks ago and loved it! I had my daughter at age 21(she is 3 1/2 years old) and my son at age 23(he is 17 months old). I am a single mom and they are with me 24/7 so I am worried about having to tell them they can't hang on me for a while! My daughter is very smart so she will understand but my son won't. I am also a clean freak(kind of OCDish). I am probably going to be stressed out looking at how messy my house is going to get with me not being able to clean like I do constantly! I am just hoping I have an uneventful smooth sailing recovery(doesn't everyone)!

Updated on Aug 26, 2010:
So tomorrow is the big day! I know I already posted before pictures but I wanted to post ones from the day before my surgery. Unfortunatly my tattoo will be gone after surgery. I wish the one on my back could be gone instead..I don't like it anymore. Anyways..I will update this sometime in the next few days. Wish me luck!!

Updated on Aug 27, 2010:
So I am home now. I have been napping/laying in bed watching a movie. Eating fine. The pain was kind of bad at the surgery center afterwards but I feel fine now. Keeping up on the meds works great. Walking around a bit. My mom is here to help me get out of bed and empty my pain pumps. I have a catheter in and my mom is supose to take it out tomorrow afternoon. Things seem to be good now. I hope my tummy looks good!

Updated on Aug 28, 2010:
The first night went well. I set my alarm for every 4 hours to take the pain meds and my mom came in to empty all my fluids. I can't wait to see the results. I guess the doctor decided I didn't need the lipo on my back/love handles(I wasn't very happy about that but I supose he knows best! So I just got lipo on my inner and outter thighs. I only weighed 98 lbs going into my surgery so I'm sure he didn't want to take too much fat off of me. My first post-op appt will me on Monday with another Dr. because mine is out of town.

Updated on Aug 30, 2010:
I had my 1st post-op appt today(Monday). It went well. One of the 3 drains came out. He said the other 2 will probably come out on Friday and I can remove the pain pump on my own in a day or 2. There is an indentation above my belly button that my sister and mom said looks like another belly button. My doctor is out of town but the doctor that I saw today said there are probably internal stitches that will dissolve and that will flatten out. I am still wishing more lipo would have been done! I have been getting up and around on my own fine..going to the bathroom is a hassle when having to take the garment off but it gets easier and easier each time. All together..I am happy with the amount of pain I have had. I thought it would be way worse.

Updated on Sep 1, 2010:
I went into the docotor today(5 days after surgery) to get the pain pump taken out and one more drain out. Just one more drain to go. I drove myself to the doctor. This is the first day I was alone with my kids for most of the day. It was a little hard.

Updated on Sep 3, 2010:
3rd drain came out today(1 week post-op)..yay! I am free of things hanging off of me! He took the icky tape off of the incision and put clean tape on. He also took the stitches off of my belly button. I have become a pro at picking things up with me feet haha. I can't stand a messy house and that is the only way I have been able to pick things up! My doctor will be back from out of town next week so I will see him finally! Just to check if there is any fluid build up and I am also going to ask him why he decided not to do as much lipo as planned!

Updated on Sep 10, 2010:
I had a check up appt yesterday. It has been 2 weeks today. The appt went well, doctor said everything looked fine and I didn't need to have any fluid sucked out of me! I have been starting to see some stretch marks come back under my belly button so I am not too happy about that. I liked how it looked a few days after surgery! My tummy is still pretty swollen so I guess I will have to wait and see what it looks like once the swelling goes down. Doctor said I can stop wearing the garment if I want. It felt weird not to wear it so I wore it today but I might try to do without it tomorrow. I have been doing normal activity for a few days now(and normal for me is cleaning the whole house). Doctor told me to come back in a couple weeks.

Updated on Sep 28, 2010:
posted 1 month post-op pics

Updated on Oct 28, 2010:
2 months post-op pictures added