Mommy Makeover: Stories

I am a 41 year old mother of 5 amazing kids ages 20, 19, 14, 12 and 2 (gave birth to 4), I have lost 45 pounds with 12 more to reach my goal, and have realized that my breasts are no longer full and perky and my apron skin tummy is quite unattractive to look at. My husband and I had discussed the possibility of a mommy makeover when I first started to lose the excess weight but I can honestly say I never thought we would really make it happen. As our conversations got more serious I decided I should start researching surgeons and making some consult appointments to make a choice. My husband and I went to my first consult and was completely comfortable with this man, he explained the entire process thoroughly, looked at my body and showed us what he would advise, and his manager was just as knowledgable, I knew without a doubt hat he would become my surgeon. My hubby and I went out for an amazing dinner and discussed the financing. The next day we had the financing taken care of and we scheduled my BA & Lift, TT & Smart Lipo for my flanks. Now.... The fear of the unknown has began to set in a little. I have been reading through some of the stories on this site and they have really helped me to put everything into perspective, thank you all for the great stories! It is very nice to see the honesty!! I have already arranged my time off of work, have my mom scheduled to come stay with us or a week to help me with my toddler and my husband is finding us a recliner for my post-op resting. I have my pre-op and final fitting on the 17, I don't want to go too big but I do know that I want to be a full D. I look forward to any good advice hat any of you may have, any pre-surgery prep ideas, etc.. Good night everyone and Healthy Healing to all of you!

Well, down to 30 days for my MM, looking forward to it, but very, very nervous. I have been looking at lots of pics and even watched a video on the TT, which was actually pretty awesome, but boy does it bring it to reality for what I will be having done. I have also been researching everything that I will need to do to prepare for these procedures, and my gosh there is so much to soak up! LOL if anyone has any good advice for me I would greatly appreciate it. What will I need post-op for a comfortable recovery, etc.. HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE !!!!!!

Well, I am at the 4 week count down and getting more and more excited as each day passes. We have made arrangements for extra help after I return home, Mom :), and I have made a list of 2 weeks worth of dinners that I will have premade for my recovery period. I have only taken off 8 days of work (12 days with weekends) and am hoping this will be enough. I will start picking up the necessary supplies throughout the next few weeks. Good Luck to all of you who are going in soon, wishing you all healhy healing!

I have been reading through the stories and I am trying to figure out how much time to figure that I will be "down for the count", I have only taken off of work for 8 work days (12 total), is this gong to be enough? Or am I fooling myself? Any advice? My job is not overly strenuous but can require some up and down movement. I work for my family physicians office, So I will have constant supervision from him.... Any advice is well appreciated! Thanks ladies!

Well, we are getting closer to the big day. I have to be honest, I am nervous, I have never had any major surgery. But on the other hand I am so ready to have my TT with lipo, smart lipo on the flanks and BA with lift sone, I have always done everything for my kids and put my desires last to their needs, the usual for most mothers :) i am excited to have a flat stomach, I have always had the "pooch" no matter how small I was and I am thrilled to be able to "reflate the girls" and add some extra volume while we are at it. I am still trying to imagine having a stomach with out stretch marks and the line of hair that goes from my belly button to my pubic line. I will post some pre-pics soon so you all can see what I am talking about. To all of you who are going on this week... Good luck, and to thos who have went in recently happy healing!

Time sure does seem to be flying by, I have my pre-op on the 17th and only 2 weeks to go for my MM! I had my bloodwork done today and talked to my family doc who also happens to be my boss and he was so great aout it! It makes me feel much more at ease to know that he is only a call away if I need him for anything after my MM. He was a plethera of knowledge and explained what happens and some of the things to expect after the TT, which is the thing that I am most nervous about. I am really looking forward to the pre-op to be able to pick out implant sizes and talk about the procedures and what to expect. My hubby and I have been compiling a list, thanks to all of the great suggestions I have read, and will be more prepared than we would have been if I wouldn't have found this site! Good Luck and Happy Healing to all of you ladies who are going in soon. I will post pre-pics soon.

I had my pre-op yesterday and it went amazingly well. I feel so much more at ease after talking to my Nurse and my doctor's asst/mgr, they are all so amazing and answered all of our questions, which were many! LOL

I have decided to go with the moderate profile 500cc Memory Gel Silicone, I loved the way they looked and felt, I had actually forgotten what it was like to have boobs and I am so excited to not have to wear the VS Bombshell Bra anymore!

My TT incision will be very low, only a few cm off the top of the labia line, very excited for that too! My PS doesn't use drains so that will be one less thing that I have to worry about my 2 year old son messing with. :0) I have been looking into renting the lift recliner and a walker, wondering if this will be worth the money?

Well, now its just time to get all of my meds filled, buy some yoga pants, a new zip-up sports bra, a couple of button-up flannel shirts, some Pure Vitamin E Oil, get our motel room reserved..... :0)

Good Luck to all of you ladies who are going in this week, happy healings to all of you!

I think I had a fairly productive day, I was able to get my RX's dropped off at the pharmacy, bought a cheap shower curtain to use to lay on, a new memory foam pillow with cooling gel (not really a necessity but it looked amazing LOL), did some deep cleaning and restocked my household supplies so the hubby shouldn't have to do a lot of shopping and the best part of my day was having lunch with my Best Friend. She had so many questions, and is so excited for me to have this done for myself, I even had to send her a picture of me in my VS Bombshell bra (with a shirt on) so she could show her hubby what my new boobs were going to look like, LOL I cant believe I am down to 10 days before I get to have my MM! I am so excited to be rid of my excess tummy fat and skin and back fat and to reflate and lift my breasts. I will be thrilled to look good in AND out of my clothes :0)

Wow, 9 days before the big day, I cannot believe how quick this going by! I have become a RS junky , checking in all day just to see how everyone is doing and the stories, what a great group to be a part of! I will upload some pics tonight. Good luck for anyone going under this week, happy healing to all of those who are recovering.

I cannot believe how fast this time is flying by for me, I am less than one week out! I think I have gotten many things ready and we will finish up this weekend for some of the prep needed around the house and some of the meals put into the freezer. I am so lucky to have my family here to pitch in and pick up the slack, it is going to be a crazy couple of weeks. My husband went out and bought me a recliner for my recovery, I am such a lucky lady to have such a wonderful man!

Does anyone have any idea how long it will be before it ill be possible to sleep on the belly or side again? That is going to be so hard or .me to adjust to.

Happy healing to all of you going in this week!!!

Here it is ladies, 9 hours and counting!!! I am so excited for this to be done. I suppose if there are things that need done, we will figure it out along the way. I have my nausea patch on, I have shaved everywhere I was instructed, I have taken my anti-biotic and will have nothing more to eat or drink until tomorrow after surgery. I will post my before pics when my husband does them in the morning. So.... Until tomorrow... See you all on the flat and perky side! Happy Healing to all of you ladies!

Feel like I was used for a practice punching bag LOL i didnt get the boobies done as planned, when Dr. L said there wasa lot more muscle damage than he had anticipated, apparently the 4 pregnancies separated my muscle about 4" and by the time he finished up the repair he felt that he better err on the side of caution and postpone the boobs, so sad! ButI am glad that he issothorough and honest I felt ok when leaving the surgery center I was actually walking almost straight up. i have been tryong to do smalllapsaround our hotel room. My goodness i feel like I am going to pop a stitch everytime I try to readjust myself or even when I walk. please twll me thatthis gets better each day! My husband has been absolutely amazing, poor fella. He said that Dr. L told him that I was foing to lovemyresults, that my TT looked absolutely amazing... YAY! Well thenarcs aresetting in now, getting tired so I willpost again later. GOOD LUCK to all of you going soon. I am hoping to get the boobs done nextweek so I dont have ro takeany additional time off.

Can anyone tell me ifI am ok with using my muscles to be readjusting myself or when getting out of bed? Damn it is painful!!

I have posted my pre-op photos, I will postmore today after my post-op

Well we scheduled my BA/BL for Feb 20, which gives me a little less than 3 weeks to heal from my TT/smart lipo. Still having quite a bit of pain, so I upped my hydros to tablets every 4 hrs for now, tried getting by with 1 but just cant do it yet. Went to my post-op and was a little more swollen than normal but nothing to be alarmed about. My poor "hootenanny" is swollen and purple, another common occurrence on some women, lucky me! LOL well I feel the hydros kicking in, so I will post again later! Happy healing to all of you ladies!

Day 2 post-op... Feeling ok today, still moving VERY slowly but having a little less pain as each hour goes by. I will post a couple more pics as soon as my hubby changes my dressings tonight. Goodness the itching is annoying!! I had to call my PS and ask about the continued swelling and bruising in the vaginal area, he said this is normal and to try to lay flat on my back with the knees propped up and to use an icepack for 10 minute intervals , this helped a lot, yay!! I am so thankful to have such an amazing group of caregivers, my hubby, my mom and my life- long best friend. My BFF came down here to spend the night and make me some homemade chicken noodle soup, biscuits and fresh strawberry jam.... Mmmmm heaven! It is very hard to sit back and do nothing, well, hydros are kicking in again so I will post again soon! Good night and happy healing to all of you!

Day 3 Post-op; my swelling has finally went down in my hootenanny and the dark purple is slowly fading as well. Bad part was that it had actually swollen so tight that it broke open and stated bleeding, ugh! I am looking forward to tomorrow to be able to take off the CG and wash it and give myself a shower too! I had a request into my Primary Doc ( who I also work for) to decrease the dosage on the hydrocodone, the PS gave me the 10's and they knocked me out within about 20 minutes, so my doc lowered me to the 7.5's, I am thrilled with that! My best friend came down and spent the night last night and visited and then she made us some home made chicken noodle soup, homemade rolls and fresh strawberry jam, OMGoodness it was wonderful! And she also did 4 loads of laundry, I am so lucky to have such an amazing support system. Well, I am getting groggy so I am going to sleep for a while, happy healing everyone!

I finally got a shower today and it felt great! My mom washed my CG While I was showering and i laid down on the couch while it dried. I could definitely see what everyone meant about feeling vulnerable without it on! But man, in just the 30 minutes I was out of it I had swollen even more and boy did it feel even tighter than before I showered. Is there anything we can do to lessen the swelling? I will post the photos later. Happy healing everyone!

Went to my post-op today, PS said all is well. My swelling is normal for one week out and he said I will be loving my results. He said not to rush the trying to stand straight, I will get there slowly within the next 3 weeks, yay!! Just in time for the new boobies :0) He also stated that with the amount of damage and the extent of the repair that it is no doubt that I am sore. I had some fluid that had started to build at the base of my breasts but it has absorbed back into the body as it should, so no seroma! My incisions look and feel great. Very excited to hear that. I am feeling pretty good, the showers are amazing. I SNEEZED for the first time today, HOLY BURN!!

PO Day 6, I pretty much just slept today and watched TV, decided to catch up on a few of my recorded shows, was great but OMG I had quite a few belly laughs.... OUCH! I have stopped the hydros and am doing just the ibuprofen and tylenol if I need it, sure feel less groggy.

Well, I will post pics later, Good Luck to everyone going this week, Happy Healing to all of you ladies who have gone through it!!

Well, its been 10 days and getting better day by day. Just using Ibuprofen now and tylenol when needed. Still not completely upright, both docs say not to rush it, and I should be 100% by 3 weeks and feeling comfortable with it and feeling normal at 6 weeks, so looking forward to that. I am back to work on Monday, still a little up in the air on how I feel about that but looking forward to moving around and getting back into a routine. My swelling has gone down quite a bit and incisions are healing nicely. I have been able to sleep a little on my sides which is great because my back was getting horribly sore. So glad I didnt have the drains to mess with! I had to have a PO with my primary doc yesterday so I can go back to work on Monday, he said as long as I can handle it. He is very impressed with the work and I was impressed with my weight, Even with the swelling I am down about 3 pounds, no complaints here! I am impressed he most with how the toghtning of my stomach muscles has really tightened up my rib cage, it is so small! My hubby is now worried aout my 500's being too big, but the PS a d I both agree that my chest wall is wide enough for them, LOL.. my boob man is worried my boobs might be too big!! LOL well, off for a nap, I promise to get some current pics soon. Happy healing eveyone!

PO Day 14... Well, I started back to work on Monday, I have to say I should have eased in to it with half-days for a week or two before starting the full 8/9 hour days. I am walking about 90% straight, better in the mornings and gradually hunching a little more as the day goes by, by the time that I am ready to go home my belly is burning and I am exhausted. I have had to shut and lock my door and laydown with my feet up in between seeing patients LOL today I actually got in a good 45 minute catnap. My manager has been great, she said she would rather I take the breaks than to have to try to find a replacement :0) I am getting excited to have the breasts done next week, not even nervous, I think after having the TT it wont be as difficult to deal with. I hope everyone is doing good, Happy Healing ladies!

Well I have survived my first full week back to work... Did ok for the first half of the day but was swelling and painful by 5 each day. i am so looking forward to having my boobs done on Wednesday so that I look more proportioned again, I feel very flat chested with my new flat tummy LOL. Well back to bed, HAPPY VALENTINES EVERYONE and Happy Healing to all.

Woohoo I am so glad to be finished with the surgeries. I went in yesterday to have to BA/ BL done and was there an hour early so we were able to be completely ready by the time my surgery was scheduled for. Surgery went very well, Although recovery was a bit sad, it appeared that my Rt breast had a leaky vein which caused a blood build up and the Rt Breast area was swollen twice as much as the Lt , so They had to put me back under the anesthesia and go back into the Rt Breast area, take our the implant, clean and drain the area, cauterize the vein and then replace the clean implant and sew me back up. I have to say that My breats felt much better after he did that, because before he had came in I had told the nurse that my right side was in a lot more pain than the left (now we know why lol) My amazing husband has been right by my side every step of the way, I am so blessed to have him to help me out!

I went with the 5500cc Moderate Profile, under the muscle implants AND all I can say is ..... WOOPWOOP, I HAVE ME SOME NICE BOOBIES! I will post pics this afternoon. I think I will be a D/DD but hubby is thinking a DD+. LOL

Happy Healing to all of you...

I forgot about the TT update PO 3weeks).... Tummy is looking amazing and 80% of my swelling has gone down still have some in the abdomen and upper abdomen area but bot really too bad. Doc says it looks great! I am now full upright for 90% of my day and getting better and better with each passing day. I had been a little worried about being hunched this week, My husband and I met the cCatholic Bishop on Monday for our Rite if Election and I really didn't want to be still hunkered over for that, so Thanks Be To God for listening to my prayers and helping this girl out! :0).

Now comes the time to heal up so I can on my shopping spree weekend with my hubby and his brother & wife in April! I wore jeans for the first time yesterday and they went right on, and will be loose once I am out of my CG, soo happy for these great results!!!! I did buy the Danskin Zipup sports Bra in a 38D, hubby thinks it will be too small, hope he s wrong LOL. HAPPY HEALING EVERYONE

I just read my update from early this morning... I actually had 500's not 550's, dang fat fingers LOL had my one day post-op today, it went really well, and I am so glad to be home! Happy Healing to all of you ladies!

Feeling pretty good today. Breasts are less painful and bruising is going down, I can actually touch them and not wince. Nipples are still numb but I am told this is normal for the first few weeks, will be glad when things soften up a little. The wickedest thing is when I move just right and they make noises, my PS said to expect this as there is always some air and fluid in the pocket and moving them around can cause them to make weird noises.

The L-breast looks bad because when I had to go back in to have the R-breast drained they had to betadyne the entire area and they didnt want to disturb the stitches on the L-breast.
I will try to get some new pics of my TT on here soon.

Happy Healing ladies and good luck to all of those going in soon.

Well, it has been 3 weeks since my BA/BL! Things are going great as far as my breasts and tummy are going. I went to my PO today and my PS was great as usual, took the tape off the breast incisions and boy did it make them sensitive! My feeling is coming back around all of my incisions and in my nipples which I am so happy for. I don't have to wear the CG unless I want to, which is awesome, but I have to say I have grown accustomed to it at night. My hubby and I tried to follow the directions on the Victorias Secret online bra size measurements and kept coming up with 38 A, LOL! Pretty sure we aren't doing something right since my 38D sports bra is a perfect fit! LOL My oldest boys have been amazing, they told me what a great mom I have been, how lucky they are and how they were proud of me for doing this for myself and the best compliment of all was them telling me how Amazing I look... Yep... I shed a tear or two! I have enjoyed shopping with my oldest daughter (14yrs old) who is a definite fashion diva, and my 2nd son looked at the pic and thought it was my daughter, which of course made me smile big! I am so pleased with my results and have not had one single regret thus far. Although I do have to admit that I have wondered about the breasts being big enough now that most of the swelling has gone down and they aren't as big as they were even a week ago. My hubby reassures me that they are perfect :0) Well, off to bed... Good Luck to all of those who will be going on soon and Happy Healings to all of you who have already went!