“40th Birthday, Here I Come - Clarkston, MI”

When I was 19, I was 5'6" and weighed 110 lbs. When I turned 20, I had my first child, and while I loved being pregnant, my skin wasn't a huge fan of it. I remember at the end of my pregnancy if I sneezed, my skin would POP and I would see a huge split that would later become a horrible stretch mark. The women in my family were horrified at the damage being done, and all the creams and lotions my doctor gave me didn't help. I went up to 175 lbs, and after delivery, went back down to about 118 pretty quickly. I had another child six years later, but the damage had already been done with my first.

I currently weigh 130 lbs, which is a good, healthy weight for me. However, my belly is a mess. In fact, the more weight I lose, the worse it looks. It is emotionally difficult for me when I look at my ravaged belly. My boyfriend of two years doesn't have a problem with my belly, but it kind of disgusts me. I don't like to be naked, I pull at the bottom of my nightshirt if it creeps up during sex. It distracts me and prevents me from feeling sexy. I'm going to be 40 in March 2012, and we have a Vegas trip planned for May. My goal is to wear a bikini at the pool for my 40th birthday.

I'm scared to death, by the way. Reading these other reviews has made me feel both more excited and more anxious about it. I am pretty tough, pain-wise, but I am still scared. I am only taking two and a half weeks off work for this procedure, and I'm really hoping I will be okay to come back on January 3. And of course I'm worried about the scar...

Updated on 17 Dec 2011:
Surgery went very well. I was pretty nervous, but the staff at the surgery center was great and made me very comfortable. The admitting nurse was so good that I didnt even feel the IV needle go in. I don't remember much of anything after that. Dr Ali put a LOT of local anasthesia inside while he was doing the procedure, so I was pretty comfortable post surgery until about three in the morning. Luckily, my boyfriend was diligent about making me take my oral meds on times, so even when it was at its worst, it was tolerable that first night.

The hardest part was getting comfy to sleep. Both nights have been hard, and both nights I moved in my sleep and caused myself pretty excruciating pain in my abdominals. My incision has barely been noticeable at all, but those abdominal stitches really hurt. You don't realize how much you use your abs until this!! For example, I had a little coughing episode that nearly made me pass out it hurt so badly. It took almost 20 minutes for the pain to go away. But when I'm just resting and not coughing (or crying, or blowing my nose, or laughing)I really do feel fine.

Today it is actually more comfortable to sit up on a hard chair than to recline for me. I also took a shower this morning and it was kind of scary. My shampoo bottle slipped, and I grabbed at it. Bad idea. Any sudden jerky movement is a bad idea. So hopefully I will stay clean for a couple more days, because I'm not looking forward to that.

Updated on 3 Jan 2012:
As my doctor promised, every day gets better. Went for my 1 week checkup and the doctor removed my drain tube... thank goodness because I did not want to be stuck with that over the Christmas holiday. Dr Ali and his staff laughed at me because I arrived with a stretchy glove over my drain bulb so that nobody had to look at it. He said it looked good and that the surgical tape might start coming off. He said that I could remove it myself, or he'd take care of it at the next appointment.

Being the impatient girl that I am, I removed the surgical tape from the incision three days later. It didn't hurt anything, except for my feelings, because it looked HORRIBLE (see picture). The scar was all puckered and red, and so swollen. It was ridged like a football. I was horrified. I even cried. Then I came on RealSelf and read that it was normal (I love this place).

Still having trouble with the abdominal stitches pain. MUCH MUCH better than before, but dear GOD don't let me sneeze again.

I did one (or three) really dumb thing though. I had sex. I couldn't help it. :) It didn't hurt until later. In the moment, you forget about your abdominal muscles because your focus is elsewhere, but then you suffer for DAYS. I recommend waiting a little longer than two weeks, ladies, no matter how sexy your significant other is.

I started working today, and it has been fine. I have my first week back scheduled so I am mostly at my desk. Next week I'm back to training (on my feet for two-three hours in a row), so I'll let you know how that goes.

Updated on 17 Feb 2012:
I haven't been on in a while, but I wanted to give the two month update.

I had to go in to see Dr. Ali because one of my stitches was poking out. He cut it out, it didn't hurt at all. Everything is looking really good... except that without exercising I've put on a little bit of weight that I had lost. So it looks kind of funny to me to have a perfectly flat tummy and small love handles in the back. My weight has been fluctuating, probably due to diet. If I drink lots of water, my weight goes down two pounds. If I drink coffee or alcohol, it goes up.

So, I started working out two weeks ago, been taking it easy, mostly just cardio. Haven't had any problems at all. Actually, I have bronchitis right now and all the coughing has been making it sore right at the center of my incision. I'm not sure why, but just little sharp pains when I cough.

Went bathing suit shopping... I was really nervous. I'll post some pictures so you can see how easily my scar is covered up. Vegas in three months! I'm ready!