Finally comfortable in my own skin!! 12 weeks PO tomorrow!

I'm 29 years old, 5'9'', 159 lbs, and will be 30 in June. I have three gorgeous children who are 15 1/2 (he's actually a brother I have custody of. LOL)5 1/2 and 3 and an amazingly supportive husband. If you look around my family there is not one.single.flat.tummy. so I just kind of assumed that I'd always have to deal with this ridiculous spare tire around my waist.





In the process of a 3 year battle with infertility I was diagnosed with PCOS and started on Metformin, within 3 months I lost over 30 lbs and that left me around 173, which is where I stayed after the births of both of our children. Then in April of 2010 my husband and I started weight watchers and I got down to my goal of 150 lbs. I was excersizing 5 days a week for about an hour a day and I STILL had a fat tummy. It was begining to take a major toll on me, and that's when I decided it was time to see a PS. I work in the medical field so I asked the drs around and they recommended I consult with 3 surgeons and gave me the names of the three best guys around. I left the first consult extremley depressed, and I'll tell you why. I took my BFF (hubby had to work) and as I was getting in my robe she said "seriously...if your body is my "after" I would be thrilled (she's on ww too after her last birth 1 year ago) so I was feelin' confident when the PS walked in. "I'm not that bad, I bet he may even say the surgery isn't worth it." I was thinking...WRONG! He grabbed my stomach and said "look at this catastrophic damage, those kids really destroyed your belly." I was SO deflated at that point. He quoted me $10,900 for tummy tuck with lipo of the flanks and I left. Second consult went better, but I still wasn't thrilled, and then I met Dr. Leonard.He was AMAZING, down to earth, (as PS go,LOL) and willing to address the fact that I've had a DVT in the past. The other PS didn't want to treat with blood thinners for fear of a hematoma after surgery. I'd rather have a bruise that, well...die. LOL. So, here I sit, I have my surgery scheduled and I am beyond excited, but still somehow I try and talk myself out of it almost every day! MY husband is so supportive, but as a mom it feels so selfish. Which is why I'm here. Few of my friends know I'm getting it done, and most say "I'm just fine the way I am." well they aren't with me everyday that I get dressed...I hate the tummy I have going on!Anybody else have experience with Tummy tucks and people that have had DVT's? Mine was a fluke, no congenital clotting disorders were found, but it's weighing heavily on my mind! :)Updated on 19 Dec 2011:Arrrggg, "before pics!" Guess I better post them since surgery is only 42 days away. I HATED the picture taken from the back, if anything could convince me that I should have the lipo to the flanks it's that picture. I hate that word anyhow...I thought only horses had flanks! ;)Updated on 20 Dec 2011:Met a woman at work today that had breast reconstruction surgery after breast cancer and a tummy tuck with Dr. Leonard, she LOVED her experience with him. Helps to hear that other people have gotten through it with my dr and loved their result!Updated on 21 Dec 2011:Getting closer! I've decided to be fairly strict on my weight watchers until my surgery, I need to stay focused but who can concentrate with all these yummy treats everywhere!

Well, about a week ago I started weight watchers again so that I could be a lil closer to my goal weight when surgery day comes. I decided that I wanted to lose 10 lbs in a month (which is totally do-able in a month) and I weighed today and lost 7 in a week! Now, I know that before I started again Iwas drinking alot of soda,and that makes me retain water like crazy so replacing that with 60-80 oz of water aday prob took 5 of those pounds off all on its own!





We successfully got through the holiday's without anyone in the family finding out about my surgery, YAY! I was so nervous that someone would accidentally spill the beans and I really didn't want to deal with the drama of their judgement! I honestly can NOT believe that my surgery is in a month. Seems the closer I get to the actual surgery day, the more I try to talk myself out of it. I know I can't wait to get rid of these fatty flanks and icky stretch marks, but the surgery is scary!

Phheewww, all the holidays are OVER! And we successfully got through them all without the majority of the family finding out about my surgery, I didn't want to deal with the judgement. Now, I have less than a month until my big day and I'm starting to freak out a little bit! All you experienced TT'ers out there...what are the must haves I should buy to have post op?