Tummy Tuck: Stories

Hey everyone. I've been following this website for the past 3 months (and I love it!). I feel like I know you all just from following your stories. :o) This website is awesome! I love reading everyone's updates and getting an idea of what I can expect day-to-day.

A little about me - I am 30 years old and a mother of two awesome kids under the age of 3. I was unfortunate to get really bad stretch marks with my first pregnancy. I only gained 24lbs and then managed to lose 40lbs after having my daughter. However, my stomach was left a mess. I knew right then that I wanted a TT but I knew I needed to wait until I was done having kids. Fast forward two years and I had another wonderful baby. Unfortunatley that weight hasn't come off as fast as the first time. Now that I am done having kids, I'm ready to get nipped and tucked. I am having a tummy tuck done with lipo of the flanks,a breast reduction, and lipo of the inner thighs.

I want to thank all of you that have posted your stories on here. I feel like I can relate to a lot of you. It's crazy how much you body image can affect your life. I am so embarrassed for my husband to see me naked (which I never cared about before kids). If my husband is in our bedroom while I am getting ready, I go and hide in the closet to get dressed. I don't let him in the bathroom while I am showering. That's not how we should be around each other. We've been together 10 years. I want to be able to walk across the bedroom naked and not care what he thinks. :o) He says he thinks I look fine (um, whatever, lol) and he said he would support me in whatever I wanted to have done. Once I had my consult I was so happy. I am so pleased with my PS. Even my husband said he could tell a difference in my mood. I guess I didn't know how depressed my body was making me. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulders.

I look forward to sharing my journey with you all. And I plan to ask for a lot of advice. :o) I'll get up the nerve to take some pictures and will post them soon.

So you know your body must be bad when you are super excited for a procedure that you know will cause so much pain, lol.

I went out and bought a raised toilet seat today after seeing everyone's comments on it. Did anyone have any problems with stairs? I have A LOT in my house. Do you think it will be a problem? Were you allowed to go up and down the stairs? My doctor hasn't told me I should avoid them, and I heard walking (a little) is a must. So do you think it will do any harm?

I am starting my guilt stage early. I feel so bad that I am basically leaving my husband to deal with our kids himself while I recover. And how to I not pick them up and cuddle?? Was there anything special you could do with your kids that didn't hurt your tummy but allowed you to have some mommy time? Anything special I should do for my husband so that he doesn't feel overwhelmed with being on 24/7 kid duty (well, at least morning and evening duty since they are in daycare during the day)?

And how do you stay home and rest? Will I be so tired and sore that I won't want to do much? Even when I'm home sick I find myself picking up toys, doing laundry, dusting, etc...I'm afraid that the pain medicine will work so well that I won't realize how sore I am and I will end up over doing it. Or is that completely insane and I will be so sore that I won't want to move? Those of you who have been through this are probably laughing thinking "this girl doesn't realize what a world of hurt she will be in.." lol.

Sorry for rambling. Let me know if you have any helpful hints for things I should buy to help the process go smoother once I am home.

Oh, did you all wear nightgowns or pants and a t-shirt? I'm not sure if I should get yoga pants or not even bother with pants...

Love reading all of your post. I'm getting so nervous. Any tips to help calm my nerves? I'm starting to worry I might have trouble going back to work. Surgery is on the 17th and I start work on 01 Oct. I have a desk job so hopefully that will help? Did any of you have trouble going back? Any tips? Thanks!

Tomorrow is the big day! My husband is more nervous then I am, lol. I posted some before pictures. I haven't seen anyone with stretch marks as bad as mine, so I decided to suck it up and post these for those that are in the same boat as me. Having to have my husband take those pictures was horrible. I wanted to cry. Hopefully tomorrow will change everything. I know I will be left with some stretch marks, but whatever they do to me tomorrow has to be better than what I have now. Wish me luck!

Can anyone tell me how to load more than one picture?? Thanks!

Well, I made it. I got home around 4pm on Monday. Had to go back to the dr's office at 10pm to get a catheter because I couldn't pee. It was actually a blessing because I was able to sleep through the night w/out having to get up to use the bathroom. I highly recommend the raised toilet seat for the first couple of days. Being tall, it helped not to have to squat down so far.

So my biggest issue, I had lipo done on my inner thighs as well as the TT w/ lipo of the flanks. Well the garment they use for my thighs after surgery is like spanxs and hurt my stomach so bad. That with my TT wrap, I couldn't breathe. My husband went to Walmart and got me some shape wear and I cut slits in the top so it wasn't tight on my waist and then we cut a hole in the crotch. I hate not wearing underwear and peeing while I have these on, so today we are going to try something different. The dr wants the compression on my thighs, so we are going to wrap an ace bandage around each thigh then i only have to wear the TT wrap. We'll see how that goes.

Oh and I've been camped out on the couch. My hubby went to bed bath & beyond and got risers for the couch (about $10). Those have helped a lot.

I'm on my husbands iPad right now. Once I get on my laptop I'll post some pictures.

So I know I'm swollen and bruised in the new pics, but I really like the results so far. You know what's funny. I'm embarrassed to send these pictures to my mom and sister (they supported me having the surgery), but I don't mind sharing them with you all.

We got the kids back yesterday afternoon. The in-laws were a saint and kept them an extra day for us. My three year old walks in and starts making jokes and acting silly which made me laugh. Now I thought coughing put me in pain...laughing was by far worse! I thought I was going to die. My poor baby thought she made me cry. I tried to explain that mommy was laughing but that it made my boo boo hurt real bad. She's such a sweetie though. And then not being able to hold my youngest made me start crying. It was a rough and draining night.

The brown tape they put on the incisions, they said to change if it got real wet. Is that the only time I should change it or should I be doing that like every day? I've only showered once since being home and I'm in no rush to do that again soon, lol. I'll call and ask the nurse, but thought I would check with you all real quick.

I just realized it had been a week since I had posted. All is well in the recovery world for me. Today marks 11 days PO. I feel great! I did have a cold earlier this week. Complete with coughing fits and sneeze attacks. Can we say ouch???? Holy moly. I think I learned a new curse word everytime I sneezed.

Recovering with kids at home has been easier than I expected. I can't really hold my 9 months old due to the BR (she likes to smack my chest). But my 3 year old has been great. She asks everyday if my boo-boo is getting better on my tummy. If I take of the TT waist wrap for a couple of minutes to give my tummy a breather she comes running over and tells me to put it back on so that I can heal faster. :o)

Oh - a quick tip for anyone getting a TT. Go to bed bath & beyond or target/walmart and get those little claw pincher things (I don't know the correct name). It's a pole with pinchers on one in and a handle at the other. It helps to pick up things you drop on the floor. This was awesome!! I can't tell you how many times I dropped my chapstick, remote, phone, and this thing was awesome in helping me to reach everything. I was even able to do some light house cleaning and pick up my kids toys as well as reach cereal off the top shelf in our pantry. It was $9.99 and I would recommend everyone getting one.

I'm healing pretty well. My belly button is a little red, but nothing my doctor seems concerned about. I'm still having to have my husband help me get the tummy wrap on. I can't seem to get it as tight as he can. I put it on one day and about 6 hours later was suprised at how sore and swollen I was. He came home from work and put it on really tight and it felt so much better. So I have him put it on me after I shower every day.

I start work on Monday. I'm getting nervous. I'm not sure how my body will react. Luckily I have a desk job, so I will be sitting all day. Did anyone take a small pillow to work to either sit on or put behind your back? I'm wondering if I will need one. I also feel silly that people are going to know I had something done. Luckily I am starting in a new department on Mon, so most everyone has not seen me before. But those who have, what should I say? I know they are going to say something. I don't want to sound vain and admit to the TT but do I just straight up lie and say I have been working out? Since I will still be wearing the wrap around my tummy I have some blousy shirts picked out to wear next week. I don't want people to be able to see I am wearing the wrap, but that will also help hide my new shape.

On a side note, I tried on a tankini top that I bought last year. Bright colors, very fitted. Of course I ended up not wearing it to the pool this year. I tried it on this morning and omg - I looked awesome! I haven't said that about myself in 15 years, but damn I looked good. Haha. My husband came in the room as I was trying that and a bikini on. His eyes lit up and he said I looked amazing. I doubt I will ever have the confidence to wear the bikini outside my bedroom, but it was still fun to prance around in it. :o) My husband is so happy I had the surgery done. He said he has seen me naked more in the past week then he has in the past 6 months! And he loves my new confidence. It totally made this surgery and those horrible sneezing attacks worth it!

Hi ladies. Happy healing to all! I have a quick question. How long after the TT did you wear that wrap around your stomach? My dr said definitely the first 2 weeks and then after that I could wear it as needed. Did you feel you needed to wear it longer than the 2 weeks? Did you buy something else like a tummy control slip/tank top instead? If so, did that work as well as the wrap? I don't like the idea of people seeing the wrap under my clothes and I'm too afraid not to wear the wrap and then get swollen and uncomfortable. I start work on Monday so I'm trying to get a feel for what I should do.

Thanks!!