Mommy Makeover: Stories

We are finished having kids, and i'm ready for my mommy makeover. I have researched cosmetic surgery for the last 7 or more years. The doctors that I chose to interview were: Dr. Saltz ($95 consult fee), Dr. Angela Keen ($100 consult fee), Dr. Rose (no consult fee), Dr. Crofts (no consult fee). I had also interviewed Dr. Berg in the past and a Doctor in Dallas as well. I also did three phone consults in California. Needless to say, I think I have done my home work. In the end I chose Dr.Rose because he said he could put the new belly button scar inside the belly button, which no one else did. I am also thin and all the other surgeons said I would have to have a T scar, because there wasn't enough skin to completely remove the old belly button.

I will be staying in the surgical center the first night and then seven nights at Michelle's Retreat, a cosmetic surgery recovery place. With three kids and a wonderful husband I wanted to do this the safest way possible. I chose Michelle's Retreat because I wanted 24 hour medical care, by a nurse specializing in cosmetic surgery post care. It's an extra $1500 for 7 nights, but if it's as good as I think it will be, it will be worth every penny.

Well I moved up my surgery date today. I will now be having surgery on Friday April 27th, so that's in exactly two months.

The recovery retreat cost $550 the first night for around the clock care, and $250 afterwards for daytime care. If you stay seven nights they give you a break in the price. All meals, care, accommodations, and one transfer are included in the price. The owner lives at the recovery center, so if she is on vacation the facility is closed. She is on vacation right now, so I don't know if they have an opening for my new surgical date.

Today I went into my PS's office for Botox. It made me even more excited for next month when I get my mommy makeover. Today I rescheduled my recovery retreat, now that my surgery is going to be in April and not in May. I was a little bummed that they have raised their prices, and that it would affect me since I was changing my date. I was going to stay 7 nights for $1500, but now i'm staying 4 nights and it will be $1,100. I decided to stay less time, because my hubby has to go out of town, so i'll be at the house with someone taking care of me and the kids. This should be interesting, but I am still so excited. I had a baby on Dec. 12, 2011 and i'm just about to my original weight, which they said I needed to do for the best results. I really like my PS because he really educates his clients. Today before he injected botox he got out an illustration of the facial muscles and explained why he would be injecting certain muscles and how each muscle would react to it. I have done botox before, but the previous person didn't explain anything. Dr. Rose's staff is wonderful. I absolutely love Jodee, she is wonderful.

I am reallly excited, but I feel like I need support. I'm sure most my friends and family are going to get sick of talking about it before next month. Thank you for sharing this journey with me, it's nice to have a place to turn. Does anyone have any idea what to pack for the time i'll be in the recovery retreat?

My breast milk still hasn't dried up. I am wearing an ace bandage and taking a lot of sage. I am also taking an antibiotic, because when I first stopped nursing 9 days ago I ended up getting Mastitis. I am surprised that it is taking so long to dry up, but hopefully it will soon. I really don't want to change my surgery date, because I want to be all healed by summer. I have so many fun activities planned for the kids and I don't want to take any of that away from them. I hope i'm completely dry in 7 weeks. In the past I have always dried up fast, but this time, not so much. I have three kids ages 5, 2 1/2 and 3 months. All of them were delivered via c section. I have always healed quickly from my c sections so i'm hoping the same will happen when I have my mommy makeover in April.

My husband has been very supportive through this whole process, and has started working out a ton, he says he wants to look good for me too. I can't believe my surgery is only 7 weeks from this Friday. I'm not nervous, but I have been planning this for many years. I also think the fact that I will be staying at a recovery facility helps too, because I know I am doing everything in my power to reduce the risk. I also have a nanny that helps me out three hours a day, because i'm planning on going back to work. It will just be from home two hours a day, but the fact that she is already with us helps my anxiety, because she will be here almost full time the couple of weeks I am healing, to keep the kids enterained. She also knows our schedule, and how I like things, so i'm hoping everything goes smoothly.

Telling The Kids:
I wasn't worried about telling the kids. We just pointed to my littler girl's tummy and said this is what a tummy looks like before having three kids and then pointed to my tummy and explained this is what a tummy looks like after having a ______, _______, and ___________(named each of the kids). I then explained that mommy was going to have surgery next month to make my tummy look like what it did before kids. I have had c sections and have always shown them the incision, so this didn't seem that different to them. I just explained that mommy would have to take it easy and the incision would be a little bigger than my c section scar. They actually thought it sounded cool to go and get my tummy back. Just like my c sections I will go through the hard part before they even see me, which I think makes it easier. This is another reason I liked the idea of the recovery center.

Testing:

Test I will be getting in the next couple of days. I am very healthy as far as I know, but I think it is very wise to double check before doing any elective surgery.

1. Mammogram
2. Full Blood Workup
3. Physical and EKG

Prevent Blood Clots:
I called the hospital today to see if I could rent a Sequential Compression Device. They make you use this after a c section to help prevent blood clot, which makes me surpirsed that they don't tell us to use one after tummy tuck. Anyways they weren't open today, but the website said they did rent them out. I'll call on Monday and hopefully get one rented

Preventing Blood Clots cont'

I am so excited my plastic surgeon actually provides his patients with a Sequential Compression device to take home with them to help with their recovery. I am so impressed. I had looked into renting one, but to find out it's just included is a very wonderful surprise.

I moved my surgery up a couple of days so I could go ahead and change back to staying a full week in the recovery center. After reading the new Misty's post about the pain, I knew I would need more recovery time before heading back to kids. I've also been looking online for shows and movies to put on the ipad to entertain during recovery. I spoke with Michelle, the owner of the recovery center, and she said the hardest part of recovery is people get bored. I hope I can come up with enough stuff to entertain myself. I will probably try to sleep as much as possible, because it helps in the healing process. I will miss the kids so much, but i'm glad they will not see me in a lot of pain. With each of my c sections I was in the hospital 5 days before the other kids saw me. It was perfect, I wasn't completely healed, but much better than day one.

Mammogram:

Ok so my mammogram didn't go so well. I have to go back for a second one just to make sure everything is good. I am a pretty level headed person, but this journey has been a little crazy for me. Also, my breast milk still hasn't dried up completely so it looks like i'm going to have to change my surgery date again. My full blood workup and EKG came back excellent, infact they asked me if I was an athlete. I'm not an athlete. I chase three young kids around and I go to the gym 3-5 times a week for about 30-45 mins. each time. After reading the new Misty's blog, I may end up being glad to have my surgery at the end of summer, if the healing process is so hard. I don't want to be in pain for so long, but thanks to her I can prepare for reality. All of your post have really helped me get prepared. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Well I had to change my date again, because my breast milk hasn't dried up completely yet. My new date is going to be July20th. I also don't want to stay at the recovery center anymore. It was a great idea, but they have terrible customer service. I have tried several times to set an appointment to go and see the facility and to meet the owner, but she always says she has other plans. The more I talk to her the more it sounds like she's just renting out a room in her house, when she can. That may not be accurate, but how am I suppose to know, If I can't get her to meet with me. My new idea is to pay my friend who is a nurse to come check on me once a day. If I only have her come once or twice I wouldn't pay, but if I need her everyday then I think it is only fair to pay her. This has definately been a process, and each day I feel like I get a little closer.

Update on Medical Tests:

Mammogram- At first they thought I may have breast cancer and then two weeks later got me in for a second mamogram and ultrasound, to find out that it wasn't anything but breast milk.

Blood tests all came back great, but they did call me a week later to say they would like me to come back in in a couple of weeks to check my white blood cells again. They were a little low and they said that was probably from having a baby three months ago.

EKG- Excellent

I am also taking my vitamins and working out a lot, i want to be as healthy as possible when I go in for elective surgery.

3 days PO
I feel great, this hasn't been nearly as hard as I thought it would be. I think the SCD machine that my surgeon has all his patients take home and use for the first week makes a huge difference.