34 Yo, 2 Kids, Diastasis Recti Full TT, Lipo on back Bra line - Wellesley, MA

So it's day 3 or 4 or this productive cough. Some coughs bring me to t are because it feels like day 1 burning pain. I've been so afraid of damaging the muscle repair. Turns out my md says I can't hurt anything at this point as long as I use a pillow to splint the cough. So here's my tip for anyone who deals with this issue. I use my laundry basket and push it into my stomach while the other end of against the counter. Md says that fine, it's the only
Thing I find that prevents the stomach from stretching out during the cough. Either the basket or any hard surface. Lifting a 10# bag of anything is not doable for me. Anyways, had my 2 week follow up today. I had concerns with my tiny bb and after removing some scab, the bb opened up and looked much better. Since I have no open areas ony incision, I hit the green light for silicone treatments. He suggested biocornium since it's a cream. The scar strips are a pain due to falling off so I just went with his recommendation. Exercise and any weight lifting is no sooner than 6 weeks. My lopsidedness is swelling from lipo that was done on one side. And my stomach has a little pooch in the middle that comes out like a v. After watching him poke and prod, he said it's definitely fluid but not nearly enough to warrant extracting it with a syringe. Time will help with that and nothing to worry about. He also said a stage 2 garment isn't really necessary. I could if I wanted to but just keep my cg on 24/7 for 2 more weeks then I could go nights w/o if I want. I mentioned the cg is getting a little looser so he recommended using the dryer at this point to shrink it. It's not loose by much just looser compared to day 1. Standing pretty straight, off to do my first grocery shopping date with hubby. How exciting!

I meant to throw in weight loss. On surgery day I was 168, today I weigh in at 160. With all the low-sodium and low bloat foods I eat, I think the calorie intake is just that much smaller that weight loss is inevitable. My proteins are also lean such as grilled chicken grilled salmon straight tuna from the can and boiled eggs. I find that redmeat can be constipating and the fattier meats make me cough which is a whole separate issue I've been dealing with the past three or four days. So any foods that make me cough such as dairy and fats I am staying far from. But I do miss my Greek yogurt!

So at the 12 day mark and I can say I no longer feel the need to walk hunched UNLESS I walk too fast or I just get up from sitting for awhile and I will slowly straighten out for about 10-20 seconds. Swelling is only a problem towards the evening the past 3 days. I walk around the house, do dishes, pick up kids toys and hubbies clothes on the floor using my 3 year olds claw toy, which by the way I would recommend to anyone having the surgery. Go to Toys "R" Us, and get the five dollar o'clock pick up toy. I stay away from lifting anything for fear of busting a stitch. As I've said before, my mother had the surgery and popped a stitch during her second week picking up the vacuum. I will never do this again so I am being more safe than sorry. As for tell me appearance, I still feel that 12 days is too soon to be critical. However I think my bellybutton is really small and the scar is lopsided. I believe my ps did a small amount of lipo on one side and I'm hoping that is swelling. If not I'm sure I can take care of it with exercise after my six week mark. A lot of us mention that the surgery is as much mental as it is physical. Anyone considering a tummy tuck has to understand that your expectations need to be realistic. I never expected perfection, I only expected my tummy tire to be gone so I'm thrilled no matter what the outcome with the asymmetry. My two week follow up is tomorrow, I will post after it's done. I have been creating a list on my phone and adding to it over the past week with questions I have for my doctor. This way I know I'm not going to forget anything when I see him. Have a restful day everyone who's healing up!