This is my first time posting here and I have really enjoyed reading everyone's reviews, experiences and seeing their before and after pictures! So I thought I would start to share my journey! I had my first son 7 years ago. I gain 70 lbs with that pregnancy, I started with a flat tummy but it never bounced back. I have my second son 13 months ago and again was left with lots of skin and a bulging belly. I am asked constantly when I am due, people that see me at work have even speculated that I might be expecting again! Its so frustrating because I have been trying to lose weight and I have lost 50 lbs since my pregnancy but still I look pregnant. I have thin legs, arms and face but that stomach is all I see when I look in the mirror or try on clothes. My husband looks at me like I am beautiful but I want to feel beautiful! After much thought I decided to consult Dr. John Polley and I love his office. I scheduled my surgery for Dec. 2nd. This gives me enough time to lose another 10 lbs (hopefully) schedule time off with work and have my Mom here to help me after the surgery. This is the first time Im sharing photos but so many of you have helped me feel comfortable by sharing yours so here it goes! Updated on 19 Oct 2015: I was laying on my bed this morning and had to take some pics! I can't wait to lay on my back and side and not have all this flab rolling around! 43 more days! Updated on 25 Oct 2015: I'm SO tired of people thinking I'm pregnant!! I'm so self conscious all the time of anyone looking at my stomach! Today at work (I'm a RN) another nurse told me to be careful lifting a patient because she didn't want me to have a miscarriage! Ahh!! Sorry had to vent! Updated on 2 Dec 2015: Waiting to see Dr. Polley and get marked up! Surprisingly calm at this point. Here are pictures from this morning! Updated on 3 Dec 2015: Im so happy! I have only gotten a peak but I'm so happy it with the way it looks so far!! Updated on 5 Dec 2015: I'm hoping this buldge is swelling and will go away! Updated on 6 Dec 2015: Day 4 post op I believe and woke up and had my first BM today with no pain what so ever! Then later in the afternoon my son so kindly passed the stomach flu to me and I have been throwing up for the remainder of the day! Nothing worse then not being able to bend over the toilet, and puking with a fresh surgical incision across your tummy! Worst day ever! Updated on 7 Dec 2015: I have an 18 month old son who loves to be held and it kills me that when I stand up he puts his arms up to me like he wants to be held. I am having such bad Mom guilt right now!! Updated on 10 Dec 2015: Just had my one week follow up with my Dr and he made me feel so much better about my progress! I've been feeling really down on myself for being exhausted and not being able to do much with my kids. My mom extended her stay and will be here for 10 more days! My husband and I couldn't have done this without her! I've made the apt to have my drains removed Dec 22nd is the day and will be the best Christmas present! Updated on 18 Dec 2015: 5 more days with drains! Some swelling has gone down! Excuse the bed head! Updated on 22 Dec 2015: Christmas came early for me and I got my drains out today!! I'm so thankful my husband came with me and held my hand because wow did it hurt!! I accidentally dug my nail into his pinky and made a mark...whoops! The pain was worth it though, the drains served their purpose and I am so happy to be free from those anchors!
After "stalking" this site and researching Mommy Makeovers for about 2 years now, I'm SUPER excited to say that my dream of having my body back will be coming true on January 13, 2015!! I have 3 children (14- boy, 12- girl, and 6- boy) and have been married to my truly dedicated husband for 13 years! My husband has been super supportive and has encouraged me to push through with having this procedure done. I have always put everyone else first and felt horribly guilty for spending this money on myself when I should just be happy with what I have. I exercise atleast 5 days a week and eat very healthy and my weight is just not moving down like I hoped it would. In 2002 (on todays date, November 30th, to be exact.. haha) I gave birth to our daughter and had gained 40 pounds with her. A few months after giving birth I packed on another 20 pounds topping the scale at 210 pounds. Being 5'6", I was absolutely miserable and in 2006 I decided to put myself first and start working on losing some weight. I dropped down to 165 pounds! I felt AMAZING! In October of 2007, I found out that I was pregnant and in June of 2008 I gave birth to our handsome son. I managed to keep my weight under control and weighed in at 184 pounds. After giving birth I once again lost focus of myself and my weight went out of control again! In 2010 I topped the scales at 250 pounds and was ABSOLUTELY MISERABLE! I decided that once again I needed to focus on myself and get myself together if I wanted to be around to see my kids grow up. I was able to lose weight and am now down to 195 pounds. The weight has not come off as easily as it did the first time. I am severely disappointed and embarrassed in how my body looks and NOTHING fits me right. After much encouragement from my husband we had a consultation with Dr. Polley in late October. My husband and I immediately felt comfortable with him as he was very attentive with my needs and what we are hoping to accomplish. I don't have any desire to look like Barbie I just want my breasts to be a full perky C and my tummy to be shaped and flat. He informed me that my muscles in my stomach are separated so no amount of exercise would EVER get rid of my bulge that I have in my stomach area. I was so excited to hear that he was confident that he would be able to provide me with the look I am hoping to achieve which requires a full tummy tuck, Mastopexy (breast augmentation and lift), lipo of the flanks and inner thighs, and mons reduction. He is an OUTSTANDING doctor and would recommend him to ANYONE! I am so excited to have this surgery so I can finally feel confident with my body and maybe for the first time in my life wear a bathing suit. I am very blessed to have a husband that is so supportive and is willing to take care of me during this whole journey. He is excited to see the outcome as well and can't wait to have a "refurbished" wife. LOL! Updated on 29 Dec 2014: After much encouragement from my husband, I am posting pictures so I can share with everyone my progress. I'm hoping that my results (before pics compared to after pics) will help encourage others to make the decision to help yourself feel better. I can't WAIT to see the NEW ME! Updated on 9 Jan 2015: So... Tuesday is the day that my magical transformation will happen! I'm SUPER excited, but the nerves are setting in. I'm nervous for the healing process. I'm not a very patient person and I'm often very hard on myself so this will definitely be a trying experience. I'm a very independent person and I don't like being "waited on". My husband tells me every day that he can't wait to wait on me hand and foot. My doctor even made me PROMISE that I'd let my husband take care of me and the house for atleast the first week. LOL! He told me that he wouldn't do my surgery unless I promised him. haha. So of course I gave in and made the promise that I would sit back and take it easy for atleast the first week. I'm not one to sit still either so this is gonna be one tough ride for me! :-) Updated on 16 Jan 2015: First of all, I hope everyone that has had their surgery is healing very nicely. I had all intentions of coming home after surgery and updating everyone, but I've been too darn tired. So, while my hubby took the kids to a basketball game tonight, it's quiet here so I'm going to update everyone on my progress. My surgery was scheduled for 12pm on Tuesday the 13th. I had to be at the hospital at 11 for pre-op. Once I got there, they got me right back, gave me a urine test, took my vitals, and Dr. Polley was right there. He took over and started marking me up. He was so diligent as to where he was putting his markings. He measured twice, drew a line, then stepped back to admire what he could envision as the end result. He was super happy and took about 45 minutes to do the markings. I unfortunately couldn't get any pics cause as soon as he was done with the markings, he was heading in to get scrubbed up and to wait for me to arrive in the OR. The nurse came in to start the IV, took my temp again, and then put a happy cocktail in my IV. I was READY to go. I remember being wheeled in to the OR and Dr. Polley was standing there. He put his hand on my shoulder and said, "You are going to look absolutely beautiful". Then I woke up in recovery. My surgery took 5.5 hours (he took his time to perfectly sculpt my body... lol) for the TT, Mastopexy, Mons Reduction, and Lipo of the flanks, inner and outer thighs. I woke up with no nausea just really bad shivers. I didn't feel cold, but the nurse said that getting the shakes is normal as your body tries to get rid of the anesthesia. That went on for about 1.5 hours. They asked if I wanted to try and get up to use the restroom since they had to make sure I could pee before I could leave. I made it to the restroom but started to feel really faint. It took all I could to get back to my chair and sit to let it pass. I took some sips of apple juice and ate a cookie and finally I felt much better. I was able to leave for our 1.5 hour car ride home. We got home about 10pm and my hubby made a bed for me on the recliner. The first night was ok. The lipo areas hurt the worst. They were burning. I was up and down alot to use the bathroom and work my legs to prevent clots. My breasts and TT incision didn't hurt, just the lipo areas. Finally after taking 2 Norcos at 12:30, I was able to feel pain free and relax. I fell asleep and my hubby slept on the floor next to my chair. I have a reminder on my phone for meds every 2 hours and made sure to get up every time so I didn't miss one dose. The next day my breasts were really heavy. They didn't hurt, just felt really heavy. My TT still hasn't hurt and my lipo areas feel much better! I've been rotating 2 Norco's and Motrin 600 every 2 hours. I've also been taking Clindamycin (I'm allergic to penicillin). My doctor called me to see how I was feeling and advised my hubby to have me take a valium at night to give me a good rest. My surgeon had some BEAUTIFUL flowers delivered to me. I was very surprised. All in all everything went well this day. I ate very little, mostly crackers and chicken noodle soup when it was time to take my meds. Thursday was my post op appointment with my surgeon. It was also the BIG REVEAL! I haven't been able to peek at anything and according to his discussion with my husband after surgery, he was STOKED at the outcome! He ended up using 400cc's for my implants and they feel amazing! I can't WAIT for them to settle in to place. Dr. Polley was very pleased with the transformation of my body. During my appointment he had me lay down to check the areas around my binders as well as the lipo areas. Everything looked great. When he removed the binder I could not BELIEVE the difference! OH MY GOSH!! I am STOKED at the results. I can't wait to see the changes my body makes as each days goes on. My next appointment in Wednesday. Last night as I was sitting slowly back on the couch I felt something snap in my lower left abdomen almost like I popped a stitch. It stopped me for a few minutes and felt really warm. I thought I was bleeding, but nothing came thru the steri strips. I felt it a few more times throughout the night. Very uncomfortable. Today... Friday, Dr advised me to take the binder and bra off to take a shower. He said to stand in the shower and wash my hair and let the water run down my body. Of course hubby had to help me as I still get tired really easily. I was able to wash my hair, while my husband held the shower sprayer on me. Once I got out of the shower the doctor advised me to lay out on the bed and let my incisions and belly button dry out before putting the binder back on. My husband used the blow dryer (on the cool setting) and waved it over my body for about 5 minutes. Then I just laid there in all my glory while he washed my garments. He has been AMAZING through this whole journey. I'm not sure that I could do this without him. As the day went on, I felt that snap a few more times in the same area (lower left abdomen). We called the surgeon cause I was also feeling nauseous when I would take my antibiotic. Dr. Polley explained that I may have popped a stitch inside but to not worry cause he put MORE than enough stitches in there. He is also calling in a script for Zofran to take 10 to 15 min prior to my antibiotic to alleviate the nausea. All in all everything is looking great! I'm so excited to see how my healing process continues. I absolutely love my doctor and his wife (his practice consists of he, his wife, and their office manager). They are all SUPER SUPER Outstanding people! They are like family to us. Ohhh btw... I asked Dr. Polley how many pounds of skin he removed. He said that usually he weighs it, but he didn't this time. He said he was so SHOCKED how much excess skin he removed that he didn't think of weighing it. He did measure it at 36 centimeters of skin across the abdomen which equals 14.17 inches!!!! HOLY CROW! The photos below are from the doctors office yesterday. I have more that I will post once I get them off my phone. Updated on 17 Jan 2015: So, today I think I hit my breaking point. I'm sick of feeling dirty, I'm sick of lying/sleeping in the same spot/position, I want to take a nice long shower standing up right without my back hurting and me feeling wobbly and tired, I'm sick of all the meds, I'm sick of feeling nauseous, I hate the feeling I get sometimes when I stand up and feel a stitch pop. I'm just ready to turn that corner and start feeling better. Today I broke down and cried. I'm not in any pain, I just want to enjoy the "new me" and I'm frustrated that I can't. I took these pictures yesterday and wanted to post them to remind me that all these feelings are worth this new body that I was given. I'm forever grateful for my PS and my family for helping me thru this journey and I'm forever grateful for my RS friends to share my stories and triumphs with. Thanks Ladies!!!! Updated on 19 Jan 2015: Day 6 post op and I am super overly emotional today. These feelings of not doing enough to aid in my recovery are getting really old. I feel like this surgery should have come with a booklet explaining pre-op care, post-op care, how to properly clean and dress your wounds to avoid infections, what the normal progression of the healing wounds should look like, etc.... All this just to ease my mind. As I sit here and look at my drain port holes, they are red and irritated and to me look infected. I'm on antibiotic which should prevent any infections so maybe the redness/irritated look is normal. I don't know. I see my doctor on Wednesday, but until then my mind races. This is my first major surgery other than a laparoscopic tubal last month which was easy breezy. My wounds (cuts, scrapes, bruises) usually heal super fast. I'm just a worrier and I'm a control freak, throw in my OCD and that will explain why I'm a wreck. Sorry for the ramblings, I just needed to talk to someone. My DH is probably getting sick of seeing me crying and today was his first day back to work and all the kids are off to school which leaves me here with an empty quiet house to think....... Updated on 20 Jan 2015: I was SOOO excited today that I was able to take a shower on my own. I don't have anything to sit on so Day 3 PO, hubby helped wash me up, Day 5 PO, I did it by myself but was very hunched over and it hurt like a mutha so it was a quick wash with the hair, and now today Day 7 PO, I took my time, soaped and conditioned my hair good, washed my body thoroughly with soap, shaved the pits, and felt so good! I was still tired when I got out, but I felt so accomplished!! Now I sit cozy in my recliner letting my incisions air out and am ready to doze off. I took a few pictures for my 1 week PO, but I'm going to work on putting them in a collage and post them later. The swelling (atleast that's what I think/hope it is) was a little depressing to see in the pictures, but it's a big change from the chunk I had before. LOL! Happy healing to everyone and good luck to those who are entering into this adventurous journey! Updated on 20 Jan 2015: I have a lot to be thankful for!! Making these collages helped me to realize just how horrible I looked before surgery and how far I've come these past 7 days. I still have areas to work on, but that will all come with time. This is a huge improvement and I'm really liking what I'm seeing! I have my post op appointment tomorrow at 2pm so I'm excited to hear what Dr Polley has to say about the healing progress!! Updated on 23 Jan 2015: Ok... So I know in a few days late but I wanted to share a few pictures that I took when I went to my appointment on Wednesday. I'm really liking what I see! There has never been ONE moment that I have ever regretted having this surgery done. Happy healing to all my RS Sisters. ???? Updated on 2 Feb 2015: I'm on CLOUD 9 today!! Tomorrow I get both my drains removed (my surgeon won't remove them prior to 3 weeks PO) AND I get my stitches removed from my belly button. I'm gonna feel like a whole NEW person! PLUS... I was excited to receive my Victoria Secret order in the mail today! I have NEVER EVER ordered from that company!!!! I have to say, I'm in LOVE! I was so excited to buy such cute items (panties, a new bra, and even a surprise for hubby on V-Day.. hehe). I even had hubby help pick out the panties. LOL! Tomorrow after my appointment (I scheduled it for 9:45am as it's a 1 1/2 hr drive) I'm going to come back home (we usually stay in the city and shop) and try on my new panties and all my old clothes. I'm hoping that I can widdle my wardrobe down so that I can go shopping and buy nicer clothes that I can feel more confident wearing. I'm so used to wearing baggy clothes that don't really fit cause I had a lot to hide. I'm hoping to "come out of hiding" tomorrow!! LOL! Wednesday, I return back to work. I asked for it since I'm getting bored at home and I'm sure my co-workers are sick of covering my caseload, but once my drains are removed I will feel like a "free woman" and won't get to experience it since I'm heading right back to work. So I'm regretting asking to go right back rather than waiting till Monday. BUT... atleast I can ease myself into a full work week. I will work Wed, Thurs, and Friday.. have the weekend off then start a full work week. Either way... It's inevitable, I have to go back to work SOME TIME! BOO-HOO! Healing: My breasts are healing very nicely. The incisions are VERY thin and hardly noticeable. The incisions are still taped and the nipple incisions are barely noticeable as well. I'm SUPER impressed!! My right side of my tummy tuck incision is healing beautifully and you can't even see the incision along my pubic bone. CRAZY! My left side however is being a stinker. I have one spot about an inch of the incision that scabbed over and was pulled off somehow (either while showering, changing the tape, changing the steri strips, etc.). So my husband has been "nursing" the wound for me to try and get it to scab back over again and heal nicely. So far he's doing a great job. I just looked at it after my shower today and you can see the white scab on the inside that's working it's way out (sorry if that seems gross to some). I was worried cause I thought it was infected even though I'm still on antibiotics cause of my drains. But I was a mess and cried most of the day on Saturday cause it just wasn't healing "the way I wanted it to heal". I just need to realize that healing takes time and not everything heals the same. The right side is perfect, but the left side needs a little more help. It'll get there. :-)) Anyways, I've been peeking in on everyone's progress and I have to say that our January board is looking PRETTY HOT!! Everyone is healing very nicely. I haven't updated much because there's been nothing to update. Once I get my drains out tomorrow, it will be another step forward. More frequent updates are coming............
