Mommy Makeover: Stories

My journey actually started in 2005. I have 3 beautiful kids who are 21, 18 and 13. When I got pregnant with my oldest, I gained about 100 pounds! And did not lose the weight and just kept gaining. Finally in 2005 I had it! So I had lapband. I loved my band! I lost about 80 pounds. Then in July 2011 I slipped my band. So I had the gastric sleeve revision. Anyway I am happy with my current weight and have maintained the weight lost. So now after losing the weight I want to lose this huge flap of skin. I have very small breast. I do not even fill out an A Cup. So I decided to shoot for the stars... Mommy makeover! Tummy tuck, breast augmentation, breast lifted liposuction of thighs, flanks and back! My husband is wonderful. He loves me unconditionally and tells me to make myself happy because he already is!
I am scheduled for September 24 and expect to spend at least one night in the hospital.

I am getting pretty anxious. I went on youtube and watched a few tummy tucks and breast augmentation. Not a smart thing to do.
But I am still doing this! I went back to ps to ask about the lipo. He tells me he can do it but I am still going to have the flabby legs and that I will probably need thigh lift to get rid of the flab. The
House definitely won't do it with mm. He said recovery from all of these would be too much. In fact he suggested I spend 2 nights in hospital because of all the lipo.
PS suggested that I get 400 to 550 cc implants. I have very small books so he said these would give me a Call cup. Notsure which size to get. I don't want to do too small and regret it but I also don't want Dolly Parsons books either. My hubby says go big!

20 more days!!! Wow getting super excited and a bit nervous. My hubby works overseas so he won't be here for the surgery. We are hoping he comes back about 3 weeks post-op...By this time he will have been gone 10 weeks. I will be a new person. That is a little daunting. So what about sex? How long after surgery do I need to wait. My PS said it is up to my body and comfort level. That doesn't really answer the question through.

I got another quote from my PS to add the lipo to inner and outer thighs and upper back...another 5000...then he said that next year I might want to think about thigh lift to remove the extra skin on my inner thighs. So since I am still going to have the extra skin is it worth it to do the extra lipo and the pain with it or wait and do the thigh lift next year?

I just spoke with my PS. We have moved my date up. I will have full tummy tuck with lipo to flanks and breast augementation and lift done on September 17. I decided to do the lipo on inner and outer thighs and upper back after I have recovered. My sons, 18 and 13, are going to be taking care of me and I think the lipo will just make it harder to them to help me. Besides to add the lipo is another 5000. It will be easier to do that later ( I hope).
So excited to move up my date!! Can't wait. 10 more days to the flat side!

It is getting very real now. I went to pre-op yesterday and made my full payment! I finally decided to go with the 500 cc silcon implants. Now the hard part....waiting until Monday. The only problem right now is that my daughter was going to come take care of me but now she has a job interview today. This would be her first "adult" job so I can't ask her to not take it if the job is offered. Oh well I will make do. I will be spending the first night in the hospital anyway. Then my sons will be here to help me. My oldest has school until 12...so it will really only be a couple of hours that I will be alone.
I am so excited. It is funny a lot of you ladies question spending the money. I don't. I work hard and have dedicated the last 21 years to completely focusing on the kids. It is time for ME! I am doing this because I am tired of this big belly apron. I worked hard and lost the 80 pounds. Now I want to remove this belly!!
My real concern is my boys. They are 18 and 13 and boys at this age are so focused on boobs! Their friends spend a lot of time here and they are a little worried that their friends will notice and say something! My daughter is so pro me doing this. She is hoping to get this job so she can save to have a breast agumentation too...poor girl inherited my lack of boobs.
I am so hestiate to post before pics....but I will attempt to do that tonight after the boys have gone to bed. I definitely don't want them to see me posting naked pics of me on the internet!! Talk about scarring them for life

Ok so I finally did it. I have 2 pre op pics to add....boy do I hate these pics. And to top off this wonderful experience I got on scale...up by 2 pounds.. WTF!! So for you girls who are searching to try to find a body that looks like you ( i still do this). I am 41 years old. I am 5'1" and weigh 190 today. I have had 2 babies both delivered naturally.
I can't wait till next Friday. By that time I will be post op 5 days!! I have a question for you ladies who are already post op. My son has a baseball tournment 6 days after my surgery. I have a zero gravity chair...Can I comfortable go watch him play? I have NEVER missed a game!! My oldest is going to drive us and carry the chair.

It is very real now. I went in to the hospital to sign consent and make my payment to them. I have not questioned my decision to do this until today. Now I am " WTF am I thinking.... 15 grand and volunteering for this pain. Have I lost my mind?" But I pretty much felt the same way when I did my lapband, gastric sleeve and hysterectomy. So I just think it is cold feet. Too late! Paid in full this train is leaving the station at 9:30 Monday morning!
My other concern is my kids. DH works overseas and is in Isreal right now. He won't be home until the middle of October and we don't have family near us here. So my kids will be taking care of me. They are great and older ( 21, 18 and 13). The hardest part is going to be to let them take care of ME!! Instead of me taking care of them
I think I have everything taken care of. Going to go to Walmart to pick up a few groceries on Sunday. Got meds filled. Go to the bank and get some cash for the kids. Finish all laundry on Sunday. Got my stuff all together and organized. Bills paid until October. Dentist and doctor visits done until end of October. What am I forgetting?

One more night! A little nervous about my surgery. But also excited!!

3 days post op and just don't know what to think. My boobs are huge which is not what I wanted! And I hate my compression garment. Everything hurts!!! The pain meds make me sick to my stomach.Right now I think I have lost my mind. How long does your stomach hurt when you cough?

Drains finally removed on post op day 8. Yay! what freedom! I still hate my compression garment. But it is a necessary evil. My biggest complaint is that I went too big on the boobs. I went 500 cc. I wish I had gone 400cc. I am sleeping in the recliner but think that tonight I will try my bed. Getting up and down has gotten much easier. My stomach is still really numb in most areas...anyone know about how long that is going to last. And the itching has started. I don't have much swelling except for my hips...they are black and blue and swollen. Overall I am pleased. My doctor is fantastic!! He has a wonderful bedside manner and is always available to answer my crazy questions.
My son is home from school. He goes back on Friday. Once he goes to school I will update my pics.

Today is post op day 18. I am not having any pain really jut some discomfort when I sit too long. I still think I went too big with my girls. Hopefully some of this is still swelling. I am so glad I decided to wait on the inner /outer thighs liposuction because flank liposuction has been the most painful. My back is still pretty bruised and that makes getting in and out of bed painful.

I am a little more than 4 weeks post op. Most of the pain is completely gone. The lipo of the flanks continues to be the source of my discomfort. Overall I am pretty pleased with my results. My boobs are still a little tender but wow they are certainly not sagging any more. My husband is still out of the country. He has not seen me since about a month before the surgery. So he is in for a huge shock!!
My tummy is pretty flat. My hips and lower back is still a little swollen. I can't wait for that to go away. And I really can't wait until I can comfortably sleep on my side!!

Finally! So I am 7 weeks post op and feel pretty great. I think my recovery was pretty typical. I had some swelling for about a month. But never anything really bad. I didn't go through swell hell like a lot of people. But I think that is because I eliminated salt completely about a week before my surgery and am just adding it back now and since I am a stay at home mom with olderkids. I think that because I could just relax and heal it eliminated a lot of swelling.
My ps took off about 8 pounds of skin and liposuction about 2.5 liters from each h flank. I went with 550cc silicon implants. Those took some getting accustomed too. I still think I went too big. But my dh loves them.
I am back at the gym but find it very difficult! Running is not easy so I guess I will go back to walking and thebike for a while. I love putting on my jeans and having to pull them up all day. I am putting off shopping for another month.
I love my flat tummy! Now I am working on hips and thighs! This was the best decision for me.