“Excited for a New Me - IL”

I am 29yr mother of 2 beautiful babies. My oldest weight 9lbs 9oz @ birth and my youngest 9lbs 12oz..yeah huge babies. Their weight is the reason why they are 4yrs apart and the reason as to why I am FINISHED having babies. lol I was finally tired of seeing my poor stomach stretched out to its maximum. I may add that I only weight 101 at the beginning of my first pregnancy. I do accept who I am and I was never a self concious person, nor did I have any issues with my breast. However, after having my 2nd child I thought I would do something nice for myself and finally went for it. I got tired of seeing my stomach and I figured I'd throw an extra perk while I was already under. =] October 10, 2011 was my big day. I got a Tummy Tuck along with a Breast Augmentation. I am only 12 days Post op.

Procedures: Tummy Tuck with Lipo on my sides and partical back.
Breast Augmentation: 400cc's, Silicone, low profile.

Weight: 126lbs, 5'2

So to begin with my experience I must just say that the tummy tuck was not that bad. I will say that the worst part of of it was the drains they put in my pupic area, (not painful just really uncompfortable) and the lipo on my side and back. As for the breast augmentation, it was not bad at all except for the next day after I got released from the hospital I ended back up at the ER with a Heamatoma on my right breast due to me using my arms too much to move around. That's usually common hours after surgery but it happened 2days after mine, which for my doctor it was only his second case of that happening. My doctor was great and immediately took me into surgery to fix the problem. I must say that that was very painful, but not life threatening. That only took about 30min and I was back out.

The first week was definatly my hardest, I could not get comfortable for anything and felt like a total ZOMBIE due to loss of sleep. So far everything is going great. My doc took the drains out on the following Tuesday after my surgery. I can walk a little straighter and my implants are starting to settle. I am very happy with both and every day it gets better. I felt some of my energy come back by the end of my first week. It was a step back due to the Heamatoma. I don't have any before or after pix but will get some from my doc and post some after. I love this website it really reminds me of how it motivated me to do this after reading everyones joy and now I am happy to say that I can be part of that as well. So as soon as I can I will post pictures. I am also swollen, I hear that is common. I am new to all this, so as soon as I can load up some pix I sure will.

Updated on 23 Oct 2011:
Day 13 - Still feeling good. Left my brace off last night. I started to get itchy with it and got a small rash on my left and right sides on my stomach. Nothing bad, just maybe moisture or something to do with my brace. I've had it on since I left the hospital. I also got some rest and the swelling is going down. I hear sodium makes you swell more. I will definately start watching my sodium intake.

Updated on 26 Oct 2011:
Day 16, Feeling so much better. I can walk straighter and sleep better. The swelling is going down alot, but I can see my left side more swollen than my right. My breasts are a little soar also, but nothing to where I need medication of any kind. Everything is going well. Yay! Will be posting new pix at the end of the week. I see my doc tomorrow as well and I'm even thinking about going back to work next week. Not sure yet. :)

Updated on 28 Oct 2011:
Day 19 - Well, still feeling better as the days go by. However, the swelling is still very much noticeable. Finally was able to take pictures and I think I'm starting to see a little bit of a difference. If only the swelling would go down, but I know that takes time. Doctor says it can take up to 3mos or so for it to go down. I found one of my nursing bras, size 34C, and I think I will be very happy with the results. Looks like I went from an A cup to a medium C and they're still high and settling, so time will tell and I'm still not purchasing new bras until I know the right size. So here are my new pix. Ps. Also Monday it will 3 weeks since my surgery and I start work on Tuesday. Still feeling a lot of back ache due to the lipo, but nothing I can't handle. 16 hrs is what I'm starting with for the week. :) Oh yes, one more thing, doc says I get before and after copies until about 6-8, I think mayb he said 3? but either I wont have any before until then. Sorry!!

Updated on 4 Nov 2011:
End of week 3 - Went back to work on Tuesday. First week went great and everyone was so helpful with me. I only worked 4hrs a day , 16hrs for this week. My belly button is looking pretty good and some days I'm still more swollen than others. Wish I had posted pix. yesterday, my stomach looked almost flat. But I am really starting to feel much better. I'm not as soar, still can't sleep on my side, just a lil uncomfortable. All going well.

Updated on 4 Nov 2011:
End of week 3 - Went back to work this week. Feeling great still. I'm still pretty swollen. I wish I had taken pix yesterday when my stomach looked a little flat, but the swelling continues on and off. I got a little preview of what it's gonna look like when it's fully healed and I cannot wait! But all in all it looks way better than what I had before...trust me. :) I am still very happy with my decision I know that this is life changing and I am very happy I did it. Work went great and I'm glad to be back. Worked only 16hrs this week. Very smooth transition back into work. Had a great week. Here are my newest pix.

Updated on 12 Nov 2011:
End of week 4 - Okay,,this week was a lil wierd. I had ALOT of swelling,,I really didn't want to post pix. Yesterday I was feeling sad, but I know all this is normal. ;) Woke up today feeling great and here are some okay better looking pix. It's all slowly coming together but patience is required.

Updated on 12 Nov 2011:
End of week 4 - I wanted to add these additional pix with clothes on,,,I took them this morning bfore work. I know I will be very happy once all this swelling goes away! ;)

Updated on 30 Nov 2011:
Week 7- Well all in all I'm feeling better. I haven't posted any pix as I'm still very swollen. It's discouraging but somedays it looks good. Still waiting to see my stomach without the swelling but for me that's gonna be a while it looks like. Wired but true. A lil sad but I know patience is required in all this. Implants look good still.