“Dreams Can Come True - TT/MR/Hernia - Ohio”

I can't believe the day is finally almost here! I am 38 years old with 4 children and a wonderful husband. I am 5'4" and weigh 133 pounds.

I had a lot of loose skin after baby number 3, but after baby #4 I had pretty bad muscle separation. I can actually stick my fingers in between the muscles (or lack of)! In fact, my stomach sticks out so much from the separation that I look like I am pregnant all the time even though my friends say they can't even see it. Yeah right! I also have had an umbilical hernia since baby #3 (9 years old).

I have been dreaming of a TT since I had the stretched out skin and didn't think I would really do it, but here I am...going tomorrow to get my new, flat belly! Woohoo! I am so excited!

I can't believe I am actually going to show pictures. :( I'm so embarrassed.

Updated on 13 Jun 2011:
I did it! My surgery was Friday morning. Fell right to sleep and next thing I know, I'm in recovery.

I felt really good on Friday and Saturday. Sunday was a different story and I pretty much felt pain the whole day. I kept feeling this stinging/burning feeling on my right side. PS says it is the nerves reattaching.

Until today I wasn't able to eat more than a few bites of anything before I felt full. Today, I was able to eat a whole piece of fruit! Hooray!

I had an appointment with my PS this morning to change dressings, etc so I got to see my belly. Oh my! It looks incredible! Bikini body, here I come! My husband said he couldn't believe how awesome it looked already!

Updated on 16 Jun 2011:
So I guess it has been a few days since I have posted. The last few days weren't that great for me.

On Tuesday, (4 days post)I felt a little better and missed my family, so I spent some time downstairs, ate dinner down there, watched kids playing in the backyard, etc. It was only a few hours and all I really did was sit! I had felt chills all day and attributed it to the cool temperatures (upper 70s instead of mid 90s we've had lately). Turns out I had a low fever. Took some Tylenol and went to bed.

Yesterday, I felt kind of depressed. I think I am missing the hustle and bustle of my regular life. I am not one to stay home and lay around all the time so this has taken a toll on me. It did help to talk to some of my friends yesterday on the phone, so I recommend that highly!

I did get to finally take a shower! Oh my gosh, it felt incredible. I wanted to stay in there all day! Truly amazing and the best part of my day!

I continued to have the fever yesterday, so I called my ps and he had me come in. They ended up pulling out one of my drains which didn't hurt at all even though I thought I was going to pass out from being so nervous about it! Ha! They also took the stitches out of my belly button. The other drain will come out on Monday.

I had to start wearing my "pantie girdle" last night. I swear, that thing is SO tight! Anyway, until Monday, I am supposed to wear the pantie girdle (kind of like a spanx but supposedly "hospital grade") and then wear my binder over top of that! I swear, I feel so claustrophobic! I was practically crying trying to put it all on last night and falling asleep was a whole different story! I swear, these compression garments are going to be the death of me!

Today is Thursday so 6 days post op. I need to get a picture of my belly to show you guys. I can't believe how flat it is despite the swelling. I can't even get on my pre-op shorts that were too big for me before. I don't really look that swollen, but apparently I am.

Anyway, may try to get some pics today so I can update. I know people love seeing the pictures!

Updated on 16 Jun 2011:
Sharing some new photos - 6 days po

I can't wait until the swelling goes down. Also, I have been assured that the shiny area you see above my incision will heal perfectly. I can't believe the difference from less than a week ago!

Updated on 17 Jun 2011:
One week post op today and I felt like I could do tons! I still stayed in the house all day, but was up and around and was able to do the stairs many times instead of only once daily. I almost felt like me again....well....as much as I can feel like myself with a drain stuck out of my side. Ha!

I seem to be paying for it tonight with all the swelling. Yuck. I could never see it in the photos when people would say they were swollen, but WOW, you certainly can feel it!

Updated on 21 Jun 2011:
Well, today is 11 dpo and I feel so great! I was pretty swollen last night after such a busy day, but today has been really good and I'm not really swollen at all.

I did several loads of laundry, unloaded and loaded the dishwasher, made breakfast, lunch and dinner for all of us, changed the sheets on the bed, put the laundry all away, played with the kids, etc. I feel so great!

My husband can't believe how well I am doing already. He is totally amazed and proud of me!

As for the physical, my incision isn't hurting *at all*. My bruising is almost not visible anymore. My belly button is still healing up, but looks cute.

Updated on 22 Jun 2011:
Today is 12 days po and I slept great last night. Best night of sleep I have had in weeks.

Feeling good again today and got the chance to take some pictures to update so these are from this morning.

Updated on 28 Jun 2011:
So, it has been a few days...or maybe a week? I've been feeling better and better every day. I STILL am not standing completely straight up and today is 18 days po. I do ok for the first half of the day but is worse after I eat. Guess my ps made me tight!

I had another post op appt. yesterday. My incision was a little swollen so he used this HUGE needle and poked it in my incision to make sure there wasn't too much fluid underneath. Fortunately, he found none, but I don't do well with needles and literally almost passed out. I was seeing spots and all so had to lay down. They said it's normal and happens all the time. :)

PS told me that I can start doing more but not doing anything that gets my heart rate up too high. I've probably been over-doing it already though.

Last week, I went shopping at the mall, met friends for lunch/dinner/movies. I swear I thought my incision would bust while watching Bridesmaids. SO, so funny! My birthday was last week too so it was a busy, fun time.

Anyway, I will try to get new pics up soon even though I don't feel I look too different. Not really swelling much the last couple days so that is good.