Glad It's Done - Brooklyn, NY

So, today was the first day I went out without a compression garment or girdle of any kind. I felt great. Didn't miss it like before...the sense of stability and support it provided. Monday, I will be 3 weeks PO and I feel great!!!

It's a decision I have been wrangling with for a very long time. My oldest child will be 15 in June and my youngest is 5. I have 3 daughters. The middle one is 10. I was a track athlete and in the army prior to having children. Great musculature around my abs...so much so that when I found out I was pregnant, it was because it was a threatened miscarriage...due to the musculature around my abs causing the follicles that stretch the uterus forward during pregnancy too much resistance. I did well bouncing back after the birth of my 8lb 10oz daughter. 4 years later, I had my second daughter. She weighed in at 9lb 2 oz. I bounced back even faster with her. I started out at 157 pounds but believe me...at 5'5" most of that was muscle. I work out hard, lift a lot of heavy weights with my husband and the military life made muscle synonymous with my body. After my first daughter, I went up from a size 7 to an 8-10..depending on what I was wearing. I was bigger...but mostly fuller around my hips and more shapely. I like it. After my second daughter though...I went up to a 12...which honestly speaking, the number bothered me more than the size. Because I continue to work out, no one ever guesses my size or weight accurately. At 190lbs, people look at me everyday and say....."you can't be what...more than 160-165"? I look at them like if they are CRAZY!!!. I needed to do this for myself. I wanted to feel good about myself again. We go away on vacations and I will not swim or go in the pool because I'm sooooo conscious of the way I look. The rest of my body I can work on, but regardless to how many crunches, sit-ups, Rocky sit-ups, leg raises, planks...aerobic exercise..etc...I would lose weight all over and my stomach looked even bigger. At one point, I realized I was letting the rest of myself go because I just didn't feel good about the way I looked. I wear leggings and my husbands sweatshirts or big T-shirts everywhere. I hate that when we go on vacation, he looks soooo good in his clothes and I look relatively good until I eat breakfast...then, the rest of the day goes to hell. The more I eat as the day goes by, ie...lunch, dinner, snacks...the worse it gets, the bigger my stomach looks and the more pregnant I look. I hated looking at other couples and everyone is dressed so nicely and I look the way I looked next to my husband. I would dress and look very nice….but I looked like I was expecting…and I was not!!! He always reassured me, but you are your own worst critic and if I didn't feel it, it just didn't matter what he or anyone told me. Finally, I got fed up enough to just take the plunge.

I had my surgery....abdominoplasty of course with muscle repair...no lipo, on Monday 5/21/2012. I am now 5 days post-op and I can stand up straight and do just about everything for myself. I am aware of taking it easy....don't want to over do it and hurt myself unintentionally and prolong my recovery. But, for the most part, I feel really good. I only used the pain meds on Tuesday and one dose on Wednesday...I had Tylenol with codeine....not Vicodin, Percocet, Hydrocodone or any of the other stronger narcotics. I was sore yes.....but the best way to describe it is to say...I felt like I over did it on 5000 crunches and made myself super sore. Couldn't laugh, cough, sneeze nothing!!! Horrible.

My biggest problem was the gas in my tummy afterwards. I could not pass gas through my bottom at all, and burping only relieved what was in my upper stomach. IT was horrible for two days dealing with the gas. The gas pains caused me more pain and discomfort than the surgical scar and the surgical procedure. My first BM was no problem at all. I don't like taking medication, hence the very few Tylenol #3. It's killing me to take the antibiotics....instead of 4 times/day, I only take it twice a day. Everything nauseates me!!! So, I didn't take any stool softeners or anything, but I guess just like how they say, every person's body and recovery is different. I just got lucky in that regard.

So, in regards to the difference in my body. Yes, stark difference. I do look relatively flat. There is of course still swelling. I am encouraged by what I read on here and am trying not to worry about it tooo much although I am an instant gratification person, so this is kind of hard. The drains...one on each hip area are annoying. I want them out ASAP. I know the purpose the serve, but....it would be just soooo much more comfortable without them. Waiting to see what happens as my recovery continues. Thanks for all the wonderful posts...the information is great. Good to know that others have been there/done that and I'm not re-inventing the wheel...lol.