Tummy Tuck for Hernia and Muscle Repair - Enid, OK

I am the mother of a 4 yr old daughter and 8 mo old boy/girl twins. After the twins, I developed a hernia. Had a CT scan and determined that I had that along with diastasis recti (ab muscle separation). My belly only gets larger with exercise. Very bloated and I look very pregnant all day every day. Plastic surgeon recommended a tummy tuck to repair the muscles, and will repair the hernia as well.

I had a c section 8 months ago and the pain is still fresh in my mind. At least I have an idea of what to expect. It was a huge shock when the mess wore off from that surgery. I'm very happy this process has been quick tho. I had my consult a week ago, then my preop two days ago. Now my surgery is less than a week away. Glad I don't have too much time to think about everything. I'll take before pics for next post.

Holy Stretch Marks

As I get closer to the date, I'm realizing I may not have enough help lined up. My surgery is on the 27th, and will have family here until the 3rd of January (only 1 week post op). After that, my sister just told me she can't stay any longer, so it'll just be my husband here with my 4 yr old daughter and 8 month old twins, and he goes back to work 1 week post op. I can't be alone with the twins that early can I? Can anyone tell me when they were able to be home alone with their babies? I was thinking I'd need some full time help till 2 weeks, not 1. I have friends in town, but they have their own kids, so there help would be limited to preschool pickups/dropoffs/hr long visits…that sort of thing. I'm considering paying for my mother in law to stay from 1-2 weeks postop, but she may not be able to. How much of a bind am I in here? I'm stressing now, and I'm only 5 days pre-op. As a last resort my husband will beg for more time off, but that's risky at this point.

So excited. My family will start arriving today for the holidays and I fully intend to enjoy Christmas cause my surgery is 2 days later. So my new year will be a little crappy but it'll be so worth it. Getting my hair colored and gonna buy some dry shampoo so I can look descent while I'm not able to shower. Also I started taking a vitamin D supplement and drinking orange juice every day for the vitamin C. I wanna be healthy so I heal well. Not sure what I'll be eating after but it intend to stay healthy. 4 more days!!!

So Christmas was great. A nice low key day at home with 2 out of 3 of my sisters staying with me. My 3rd shows up the day after my surgery. Can't believe in 48 hours the surgery will be over and I'll be on this couch resting. I can't wait to get it over with. I'm going to post some more before pics tomorrow. I just had a big lasagna dinner and my belly looks absolutely huge. I look about 8 months pregnant. You can see my umbilical hernia and how round my belly looks. I'm not sure how flat I can expect to be based on these new pics I took. I know I need the Muscle Repair, but my belly is soooo round, can it really be flat after surgery? I'm 5'4'' and currently 200 lbs, so I really have no idea how I should expect to look. Getting scared, but hey, it's not like my stomach can look any worse after the surgery so I'm still excited. Pics later to come.

Omg I can't believe this is really about to happen. I'm still nervous but I know it'll be worth it. Hope I can some quality sleep tonight and that my stomach cooperates with me in the morning. I also just started my period today, so I was a little bummed I'm going to have to deal with that along with my recovery. Oh well. More to come

So happy it's over. Woke up today so hungry. I think my body just knew I wasn't allowed to eat right away and the food my family made smelled so good. Anyway, I'm about 4 hours post op just chillin on the couch. Got to the surgery center at 9:30, went in at 10. Got into my gown, provided my urine sample, and sat in the preop area. Doc came in and drew on me then I got a small needle in my hand to numb it...best thing ever. I HATE IVs and this numbing solution made it painless. I was so happy after that cause I dread IVs more than anything. Gave hubby a hug and kiss, then walked into the OR. Took quite a few deep breaths into the mask before falling asleep. Woke up in some pain but it was ok. I can honestly say my c section was worse. Didn't expect that. They gave me hydrocodone for the pain. Got dressed shortly after than walked extremely hunched over to my wheelchair. Getting in/put of the car was a little rough but as long as I remember to stay very hunched over I can walk slowly just fine. I have two drains. Everything feels ok I'm just loopy from the meds. Happy in my recliner:) I don't even have a compression garment on. They said I'd be put into spanx for a week at my first follow up. K nap time. Pics to come soon.

I'm about 6 hrs post op and feel ok, except I think the zofran they gave me there is wearing off. I am a little nauseous right now. I wish they prescribed me some to take home. My only prescription is the narcotic so I've been eating lots of crackers. I'm also trying to drink lots of water.

Just had my surgery yesterday. I was tired and nauseas when I got home but I think it was just from coming off the Anastesia. If slept in our living room recliner and I have to pee, but my babies are waking up soon so I'm trying to hold out on asking hubby to help me since I want him to be well rested and happy while he cares for me. I can wait for now. He's going to give me a spong bath later today so that'll be a little refreshing.
I'm kind of surprised that I'm not in too much pain. If I stay still on the couch I feel good. Just tight where the MR happened. That part hurts more than the incision when I walk to the bathroom. I feel weird he didn't put a CG on me. Hope my results are just as good as those of you who wear one. I want to wean myself from the Norco slowly so I don't get too constipated. Taking 2 every six hours but I'm going to take 1 my next dose and see if I can handle it.
That's it for now. I'll snap a pic before my sponge bath.

Today was harder than right after the surgery. While it wasn't awful, it wasn't fun either. The MR is what hurts most. Very tight and extremely hard on my back when I walk to the bathroom. The incision feels fine but omg I feel like I got kicked hard in my stomach. Hoping day 2 feels better than day 1. Can't wait to see my tummy in 2 days at my first follow up. I have no idea what it looks like right now.

I'm standing up straighter today. I made myself stand up straighter because there was no way I could walk over completely hunched over like I did yesterday. My back hurt way too much. Today ismt horrible, but I can't wait to take my Norco every 6 hours and my ab muscles hurt. I'm not wearing a garment, but it's still tough to take a deep breath. Hoping day 3 is a little easier tomorrow. I get to see the dr tomorrow morning to change my dressings and take a peek at my tummy. Maybe get one drain removed since it's not draining as much as the other. I think the worst is over but I can't wait to feel a little better.

Went to my surgeon yesterday to get my dressing off. I was surprised he didn't put new ones on. He gave me spanx to wear but I cannot for the life of me slip into it so I'm actually not wearing anything (no dressings, no CG, nothing) on my tummy. All I have are my drains hanging from my bra, so I hope everything heals well. I hear about everyone wearing CG's and gauze all over their tummies and I'm only 4 days out. I trust my doctor, but I'm not sure how I should be treating my stomach now that their is no dressings on it. My belly button is exposed, and I'm allowed to shower now, as long as I keep the dressings out of the direct shower flow. Has anyone else had this experience, having their stomach exposed so early on? ….
On another note, yesterday morning I woke up with a huge headache when it was time for my next Norco dose. I think my body started depending on it, which I didn't like, so I'm mostly switched over to Motrin, with just a little Norco when needed to get through something a little more tiring. I don't want to be on Narcotics anymore. The pain is bearable, and I'm almost standing up straight…I have this weird fear that I'm going to get new stretch marks since my stomach is being pulled so tightly. I'm very prone to them so I'm trying not to analyze my stomach this early on. I'll take pics next time Im near my mirror since everything is easy to see now.

4 days post op

Today I went to lunch with the family. I took a Norco just before so I can tolerate any pain. I'm actually not doing too bad. Only complaint right now is the drains. I cannot wait to get them out. I'm freaked out when I feel them in my skin the way they are. I'm almost walking straight. I also bought two compression tanks at Walmart and huge sweatpants that I'll be hanging out in at least till the drains come out. I think they will be coming out on Monday (5 days from now). I know the left one is about ready to come out, but the left one is still draining about 40 cc's a day so not yet. The left is only making like 15 cc's a day. Can't wait. Anyway, I feel pretty good considering I'm 5 days post. Nothing compared to my c section. I'm taking 2 matrons every 3.5 hours to keep up with the pain. I think I need to watch my meals more though. Too much sodium. We've had company so my hubby keeps ordering takeout. I always feel like crap after eating it. Gonna take it easy.

Omg I think I need to start just drinking my shakeology for a while. My family keep getting takeout and my tummy has no room to expand anymore. I feel so tight it hurts a lot. I don't think I should be so uncomfortable at 6 days post. I don't know. I'm just afraid I'm eating badly and my body doesn't like it. I need to stick to my nutritional shakes till the bloat/swelling goes down for a while. I've been able to have a bm a few times but I just feel overstuffed. Can anyone offer nutritional advice that worked best for them?

I am soooo excited to get these two drains out tomorrow. The left one is especially irritating. I'm counting down the hours. I'll take some pics tomorrow after they come out. I'm not a big fan of my belly button at this point. Hope it improves a little....on a side note, I had my first sneeze at 8 days post op. Wow I can't believe I was able to go so long without sneezing. I was terrified but by 8 days post it wasn't too terrible.

So happy. I feel like a new woman. I'm finally drain free and it feels amazing. Taking them out felt weird and hurt just a tiny bit but it wasn't bad. It hurt more leaving them in honestly. They were getting irritating. The nurse also took out my belly button stitches. I'll post pics soon, but my belly button looks weird. My surgeon said my bb was wrecked and was so deep he had trouble fixing it, but he will likely fix it and make it look better when I go in for my Breast lift in 3 weeks, so I'm not worried. I'm healing pretty well though. Now that the drains and stitches are out I feel normal. Still taking it easy but I'm so happy now. Now I have a chance at a real belly after I start working out. So excited.

Feeling pretty good. Just trying to lay down as much as possible while my mother
In law is here to help out. Sleeping in my own bed. Scar looks like it'll heal nicely. Now just gotta fix this belly button and lose some weight around my hips and belly and my final results will be great.

Well it's been 4 weeks now, and I think it's going well. My scar looks pretty light and the scabbing has pretty much all fallen off at this point. I wish I was able to relax a bit more, but i don't have too many people around to help while my husband works, so lifting the twins gets pretty tiring after a long day. I can do it, but it doesn't feel great. I'll post more pics soon. Now I just need to get rid of that small amount of fat under the muscle I had for a while now. But I'm super excited to work back into working out again in 2 weeks. I miss it, and I plan to get in awesome shape for the summer now that I can wear a two piece. I don't care about the stretch marks. I had 3 kids…I'm not trying to fool anyone. I'm pretty comfortable sleeping on my sides, and really want to try my stomach soon, but I'm just not ready. I miss sleeping that way. Used to be my favorite way. Oh, and my last pic I had a weird looking belly button, and it still looks a little weird on top, but I think it's slowly starting to form into a normal looking one. We'll see.