Mommy Makeover: Stories

I'm a mom of three children, a 10 year old & twin 5 year olds. I'm 42, 5'2 and 115lbs. Being petite and breatfeeding my first child did take a toll on my body but it wasn't until having the twins at 37 that my bikini days were gone for good. I used to weigh 100lbs and wore a size zero until my 20's when the weight started to creep up. Darn that metabolism! I was able to lose weight and maintain atleast 120 or less up until I got pregnant with the twins. I gained about 45 pounds and it was alot harder to lose this time around. Through diet, exercise and time I have lost the weight but couldn't do anything about how my breasts and tummy looked. I've been thinking about doing this for myself for the past 4 years but it wasn't until this year that we had the finances and opportunity and with my hubbies support I'm going for it! :o) I'm getting a FTT & BA/BL. I might be getting lipo on the hips too but won't know until I see the doc. Personally, I don't think I need it. I had my initial consult yesterday and set my tentative surgery date for 2/14...yup Valentine's Day. LOL! It was the only date that worked for me. Today I have my consult with the doc and we will determine the size of implants and other details. I've only had the one consult as I felt comfortable with my choice of PS due to being referred by a friend and reading loads of reviews. I even talked to one of his patients when I was scheduling my mammo yesterday. I was giving my info and stated who my referring doc was and the girl on the phone said that he was the doc who did her BA/BL last month...what are the odds! She said he was excellent and that she loved her results. Yay! I'm excited but nervous. I've done tons of research including reading alot of info here. This is such a great resource! I'll update again after my consult today and try and upload some before pics soon.

So I had the doctor consult this afternoon and I have to say I liked him very much.
I was also very happy to find out that, in his opinion, I don't need the implants or the lipo! :oD Anyone else have that happen?

My preop is 1/30. It seems so far away yet I know it will sneak up on me.

Getting my mammo tomorrow morning. Sure hope they don't find any problems.

My doc called this morning with the mammo results and it was graded 0 Incomplete so I had to go back in and get another mammo(OUCH!) plus an ultrasound to be sure.
The good news is everything looked fine so now I'm cleared for my pre-op on Monday. :o)

Sorry I haven't updated, just been busy plus kiddos getting sick etc.
I had my pre-op on Jan 30th and everythng went well. They still say I probably won't need drains, yay!!! I picked up my prescriptions a couple of days ago and am getting anything else I need this weekend plus getting the house ready. The scrips I have are Vicodin(pain), Valium(muscle relaxer), C(antibiotic), patch(??) and Phenergan(nausea). I'm also picking up stuff for any possible constipatation issues.
I have to admit I'm getting more and more nervous each day. They won't be giving me anything before the surgery to calm my nerves so that worries me. I was told if my blood pressure is too high they'll have to cancel the surgery so I have to make sure to calm myself somehow before going in to the OR. I'm the type of person who freaks out just getting blood drawn so it should be interesting! :o(
I haven't posted before pics yet so I will have my hubby take some this weekend. My surgery is at 8am Tuesday and I have to be there at 7am. I imagine I won't be getting much sleep the night before. :oP

So apparently I can't edit my posts?? Arg! Ok the antiobiotic is supposed to say Clindamycin. The patch is Transderm SCoP but I can't remember what it's for, I'm supposed to put it on before surgery. I sure wish you could edit posts!

Today the nurse called and told me the surgery was bumped up by 30 minutes so I have to be there at 6:30am for surgery at 7:30am. Also she suggested 2 more prescriptions she could call in, Celebrex and something else I can't remember the name of so picked those up tonight. She said they will help with recovery. I'm super nervous!! I'll try and update tomorrow if I can. And yes I know, I never got before pics posted. I'll have to post before & after at the same time. Guess I better get some sleep! Eek!!

Surgery was at 7:30am and took longer than expected but went very well. The worst part to me was coming out of anesthesia. The effects are finally wearing off. The pain is definitely manageable. I'm not as hunched over as I thought I would be. So far taking 1 Vicodin once every 4 hours and had my first valium this evening as I was starting to notice back and muscle pain. I've had soup, jello and pudding plus lots of water. No issues with gas, constipation or swelling. And no nausea either, yay! Can't wait to see how I look tomorrow at the post-op.!

I'm in a little more pain this morning so will probably take more pain meds, particular before bed...though I did sleep well. I can tell my tummy tuck incision is very low and I'm really happy about that. No drains in my tummy but 2 for chest. Hubby has been great about emptying them. I forgot to mention also that I had to bring home these leg constriction things that help circulation since my surgery was longer at 4 hours. I haven't had problems goIng to the restroom, no riser needed. I've been using the walker a friend lent me which has been great. I'll be going in for my post-op today at 3pm. Can't wait!

so post-op day 2 was no picnic. More pain, nausea and general awful feeling. Guess all the drugs given for the surgery had worn off. Back starting to really kill me. Started MoM to get the bowels moving. Post-op at the doc yesterday went fine. My tummy has some swelling so doesn't look flat yet but I know that will change. Really happy with how my "girls" look. In fact the nurses thought I had gotten implants. :-) Rough night last night but better today post-op day 3. Finally had a bowel movement, yayyy!!! Other than tightness in the tummy and lots of itching my major complaint is bigtime sleepiness. Overall I feel I'm doing a lot better. Stopped taking valium, reduced vicodin dose and am about to be done with my antibiotic. Hopefully things will get better from here.

post-op day 4 has been an emotional rollercoaster. Sometimes I feel good, sometimes crappy. The worst thing for me right now is that I believe my belly button is way too high. This is really upsetting me and it can't be addressed until Tuesdays appt. I've tried to convince myself it's due to swelling or something else but I'm pretty sure I'm right. Even weirder, I can feel where it is supposed to be. I just don't get how this can happen. I thought the belly button stays put and they just cut a new hole for it? How can it have gotten so high? It's centered practically under my ribcage...over my stomach. Soooo depressed right now. :-( Has this happened to others??

What a change a shower makes! I feel so much better!! After getting clean and getting a nice gentle massage by my hubby and a critique of the belly button it seems like it might be better than I originally thought. It still seems it might be high but I'm hoping after the swelling goes down it will look better. Overall everything looks good.

post-op day 5. Slept better last night. Still not off pain meds mainly due to back pain. Even though I've been taking MoM I'm continuing to struggle with bowel movements so will try senna tea suggested on another review. I had one night of burning pain over my tummy incision but think that was due to my cat lying across that area while I slept. Mainly I have tightness across my belly. Boobs have been fine other than where the drains are located. Can't wait to get them out! I was getting rubbed raw where the drains are under my "bra" so hubby put big bandaids there. I should definitely be getting these things out Tues. Eating well and having cravings. Had to send hubby out yesterday for some mac n cheese and cranberry juice. LOL! Still sleepy, taking frequent naps. About to take one again now...night night...

post-op day 6. Not doing well emotionally, seems everyone around me expects me to be back to my old self already. In fact when I tried to express my feelings yesterday to my husband he got defensive and stopped talking to me...seriously. I have had plenty of time since yesterday to reflect on the past week and have realized while I've technically had someone here to do things for me I have had no emotional support. It could have been anyone here...a paid nurse. Though a paid nurse would probably not have stopped keeping track of my meds around day 3 or emptying my drains, etc. I never received anything for Valentine's day. Yes I know I had my surgery that day but technically a card, flowers or just an I love you would have been nice. I haven't received any cards, flowers or anything for after surgery from anyone. No visitors, etc. I feel like I'm in an emotional black hole. I miss my mom so much right now it hurts. She would have been here for me, making me feel better. I overdid it yesterday because I didn't want to ask for anything from him. And I've had a low grade fever on and off, hoping that's normal. It was 99.3 last night. I figure as long as it isn't 100 or more it's probably nothing to worry about right? I felt really hot though. I'll ask the PS about it tomorrow. Not sure who is going to take me. The nurse originally said I could drive myself if not on meds anymore but I still am and not feeling up to driving yet anyway. Does anyone else feel they can drive? Should I be feeling good enough now?

Personal update: I'm so sorry to everyone who may have been following my review. I had originally meant to post again the next day but ended up having issues with my PC and then just got busy with life in general. In any case, everything is good with my hubby and I. We had a heart to heart and it turned out my husband was still overwhelmed with just getting back from Iraq in December and then dealing with major health problems with both his parents plus the stress of looking for a new job. It was probably bad timing to do this surgery now but he didn't want me to have to wait so didn't tell me how he was feeling which ended up causing him to be emotionally distant. He felt really bad about it and after we hashed it out he was back to being his wonderful supportive self, plus the very next day he got the job he wanted. :-) I was such an emotional mess that everything was amplified. To anyone reading this who is going to be doing this surgery be fully aware of the emotional toll as well as the physical and make sure your friends and family are aware of this as well. Ok, back to the review.

Post-op day 7 was a huge turning point. I felt so much better when I woke up that day and for the next 4-5 days. Unfortunately, that meant that I ended up doing more than I should have and am paying for it this week, more about that in a sec. I went to my 1 week post op that day and got the drains in my breasts out. I was so happy to get those annoying things out of my body! Didn't feel a thing either. Hubby took me to lunch and to the store to get a stage 2 compression garment. Couldn't find the perfect one but found something that would do and am still looking for something better. It was a beautiful day and was so nice to just get out and about.
Beginning week 3 however I started getting a pain by my belly button that was driving me crazy. It was the worst Monday and Tues(po days 13 & 14). I called the PS office and they suspected a muscle spasm or pulled muscle and told me to try valium. It has helped and also helped me to sleep better at night since I'm now trying to sleep in my bed. Seems I'm getting feeling back in my tummy area and now I am feeling a lot of pulling and such in and around my belly button which is difficult for me to deal with since I'm the type of person who doesn't even like to touch my own bb. I really hope it goes away because it is making it hard for me to function.
I was losing weight, got down to 111, but it is eeking up again so think it is due to swelling. Still can't stand up straight fully. More hunched over this week due to the bb issues too. I also verified that my bb is higher than it used to be when I put on my jeans. My jeans are mid-rise and my bb used to be under the waistband and now it is above. I had asked the PS about it at my 1 week and he said it can't be higher but it definitely is. I'll just have to get used to it because at this point I would not want a revision. I really hope the pulling/tight feelings around my bb go away because if they don't I won't ultimately feel this was worth it.
Love my breasts but I have to admit I kinda wish I had gone for implants after all. My husband noticed that they're smaller. However I'm still very happy with them and I know I won't have any discomfort wearing bras, exercising, etc and if I ever decide to go for implants I know I can do it no problem. The breast surgery has been a breeze! I tried on some of my bras and found that I am a 34C. I love that I can wear shirts, tanks, etc without a bra. Amazing!
Overall I think my tummy and breasts look good and hope the issues I'm having will get better day by day. I have pics to upload this afternoon.

PO Day 23: While there are still ups and downs overall I am doing better day by day. The new thing this week is swell hell! Ugh! The first morning it started happening bad I weighed 110 and then later when I noticed I was really feeling swelled I weighed 113. Yikes, that's alot of fluid in my tummy area! I wish I still had my binder from the docs office but I threw it away. Need to get a better compressions garment to reduce the swelling.
My breasts are starting to feel more and more normal however that also means the swelling in them has gone down and my size may be smaller. Time to fo to VS and have them tell me what I am. Still wishing I had gone for implants but showed my hubby how I look with a t-shirt and no bra on and he was impressed. :o)
I'm also dying to try on bikinis. They're everywhere in the stores now. But, I'm geussing no string bikini based on the incision placement. Though it is quite low and doesn't wrap around as much as somwe I've seen, I can still see that it may peek out of string and super high waisted bikini bottoms. Guess I'll find out for sure when I try some on.
Speaking of the incision, I am super happy at how low it is and how it is looking. The strips are not coming off as quickly as I would like(don't awnt to just rip them off) but the ones that have dcome off jave revealed a nice-looking scar that I can see seriously fading over the next year to nothing. That happened with my c-sec scar so I am pretty optomistic!
Ok finally adding before/after pics. I have some of the day before surgery in an old bikini, including a pic from a vacation a few years ago when I had to wear it as a backup. My hubby took a picture of me napping by the pool in it. I could have killed him when I saw the pic later! :oP That was the last time I wore it too. And then the other pics are 1 day PO. I will take some pics today to show the impovement over the last 3 weeks. I go for my 3rd doc visit after spring break. Hoping not to have any fluid drained. Eek!

Uploaded 2 new pics of PO day 23 results with old bikini on. Sure wish I had more cleavage! A different style bikini top should hopefully do the trick.