20 days PO getting better. New pictures- before and after- San Francisco, CA

Well, I'm 39, 5'6" and have never had body issues. But then I started poppin' out dem babies and "poof" the body that I thought I would have forever was gone.

I'm so nervous and scared - the big day is TOMORROW! I've been in a literal haze since I decided to get a TT. Everything has moved super fast for me. I had my fourth child last year and I just got tired of people asking me if I was pregnant again - one year later!! The last straw was when my electrician said to me a few months ago that I must be tired. I said "why?" and he pointed to my stomach - then said "what are you ... like three months pregnant?"

Turns out I have an umbilical hernia and so no amount of exercise would have helped get me to the flatside. So here I go, to repair my hernia and as the cherry on top get a TT and lipo of the flanks.

Hello lovely ladies! Just had my hernia repair, TT and lipo of the flanks yesterday morning. Can you say TERRIFIED. I was sure to give my husband a long list of to-dos in the event of my untimely demise :) the scariest part was actually signing the anesthesia waiver that included risks like hemmoraging, heart attack, broken teeth and DEATH? Now what's up with the broken teeth!!?? Anyhoo, the last thing I remember was telling the anesthesiologist that I would haunt him if I didn't wake up. Woke up in a shared recovery room with a gaggle of folks -- okay, like three people. I'm sure I looked like a hot mess. The pain has been more than I expected. I was taking one tablet of hydrocodon every 4 hours, but took two pills last time and that seemed to give me a bit of relief .

Besides the pain, the other hardest part has been getting in and out of bed to pee. I managed to take one picture with my iPad. But it's not very good. Hubby confiscated my camera so I would "relax". HA! Spent the afternoon eating jello and soup with like 4 crackers with my first-grader sitting next to my bed reading me stories.

I noticed a lot of people stacked up on supplies before their procedures. Not me. Only thing we made sure to have in advance was jello:) Also, unlike a lot of people that were dieting before surgery, I was living it up - eating whatever I wanted. Now I have no appetite.

Had my TT/lipo/hernia repair on Friday and just went in today for my first PS post surgery visit. Is it me or does my stomach look like a cone shape? He says the swelling will go down a bit more -- "a BIT"??!!! he even said he lipoed part of my stomach to give me a two-pack, which will be noticiable once the swelling goes down.

What do you gals think? Be HONEST!!

I read all these stories about women feeling great 3 to 5 days after surgery, so I am feeling a little discouraged. I am 10 days postop and am still hunched over and in pain. What's up with that? I have my third doctor's visit this coming Thursday. Hopefully I will finally get my drains removed.

I really wonder about all the women on this site that were able to squeeze into their dream bikinis / outfits three days after surgery. I'm not sure if it's because my Dr used glue and not tape on my incision, but I didn't like clothes rubbing against me so I've been wearing the surgery bodysuit corset 24 hours a day, every day and only yesterday felt good enough to try on all those vacation swim suits I've been storing in my closet.

So everything fits WAY better, but I'm still swollen, especially at the end of the day. I go back to work in a couple of days and am worried about getting tired and driving a long distance, but hey - gotta earn that $$$$ ! Anyhoo, I'm liking my tummy better these days, but am looking forward to the day the swelling will disappear and the scar will be less noticeable.

Forgot to mention, finally got my drains out. Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!