100lb Weightloss Aftermath. Charlotte, NC

I am 26yrs old will be 27 next month. This is my birthday from my husband. :)
I have 2 kids, a soon to be 4 year old and a soon to be 2year old, both July birthdays and csections.
I had severe hyperemesis with the first and needed a Picc line hospitalization and then home nursing, I went from 180lbs to 124 at birth.A month after birth I started packing on the pounds uncontrollably. I tried to exercise, eat right nothing worked. By time my son was going in for heart surgery on Dec 1st of 2011, I had gained 60lbs.he was born with several heart defects because of the antinausea meds I was on.
By the next year in May I was at 200lbs and by his first birthday 224lbs.I had given up at this point I was always tired and despite watching what I ate nothing was working.
Found out we were expecting our 2nd in November of 2012 at that point I was 246lbs.
I got hyperemesis again but not as severe, I needed a medication pump but no PICC line. By 26 weeks I was fine unlike my first where the nausea and vomiting was there until a week after birth.
I was 200lbs after birth and again one month after birth I started gaining weight uncontrollably. Again nothing I did worked.I was loosing so much hair, my skin was dry and flaking.
This time I was determined to find out what was wrong. I found a pcm and she was very kind and listened to my concerns. She ran a thyroid panel and B12, vitamin D..... Basically checked all the things she thought could cause it, my b12 was super low, so was vitamin d and iron. My thyroid was also very low.
She put me on synthroid and vitamin replacements and b12 injections and for the first time in years I felt great.The first week I lost 6lbs.The second week I felt weird, I went back to being so hungry and my heart would beat so fast at times I thought I would pass out.
I went back she ran my thyroid panel again, it came back very hyperthyroid!!
She said no something has to be wrong here the synthroid dosage should not be doing this. She found the nearest endocrinologist and put in for an emergency consult.
By the same week I was in to see the endo who is usually booked out 2 months ahead.
She ran tests and took an ultrasound of my throat.Despite having stopped the synthroid my thyroid levels were very high.
She called me back 3 days later and ran the panel again and I was again hypothyroid.Very low my hair was falling I had gained back the 6lbs plus another 7lbs.
Apparently the hyperemesis had made my thyroid go hyper in order to feed me and my babies and was having trouble adjusting back to normal after birth. After a year of being on low dose synthroid and following her exact diet plan and exercising I lost 100lbs.
From 264.8lbs to 164.8lbs :)
But this meant am left with hanging belly and skin. Long drives make my legs numb because my belly overhang cuts off my circulation.
So this year my husband said you have worked so hard for this , hell and back a couple of times and am not going to let this hold you back or stop you from being the you that you want to be.
And with that I started looking around for surgeons. We had a couple of scares with his pending deployment, they kept shifting the dates. But they finally got a date and I was able to schedule my surgery.
I met Dr Kortesis at Hunstad and Kortesis in Charlotte. Of all the doctors I met he resonated so well with my goals.He is funny and personable. He listens and doesn't push any procedure,his goal is an ultimately happy you.
Of all the solutions I had heard from different doctors , his made the most sense. Despite the fact that the quote was higher than I had from other doctors, I knew he was the doctor for me.
I booked the same day and made my payment.
I will be doing a fleur de lis tummy tuck and liposuction of back flanks and of my now mild buffalo hump ( this thing was so big last year I could not sleep on my back). And by the way he just threw the buffalo hump lipo in no charge. :-).
I had crossed that off the quote to bring the cost down a bit and when his surgery co-ordinator told him,he said oh no put it back no charge. :).garments are included and endermologie treatments after.
I am super excited. I still have my boobs to lift ,my arms and possibly thighs but I will stage those as the year progresses.
He is well worth the 4hr drive I made.

I can't believe I have only 3 days left before the surgery. I have waited for this for so long but now it feels surreal. I have been packing most of the day medications, lollipops ,walker etc. (lollipops have always helped me with post operative nausea)
I will post pictures tomorrow and again on Wednesday before am wheeled in.
I have been worried about how my husband could take care of me and two kids. Since my surgeon is 4hrs away I will be staying in a local hotel for a week.
This could be problematic in terms of how to keep the kids off me.if we stay in the same room. So I thought maybe get two rooms then 2 days post op my husband and the kids would come back home and I would take care of myself.
Well I told my mom about this plan. She is a nurse and very much wanted to come help me but could not secure that vacation time. Instead she has vacation that starts 10 days post op.
Anyway she wanted to hear none of that gibberish of me being on my own Lol.She offered to hire a nurse to come check on me 4hrs out of the day.
There is no way I could afford that extra expense, I was completely blown away that she would do that, so I have been crying on and off most of the evening. :)
This solves so much of the stress I was having. My husband is very capable of taking care of the kids and can do so with no worry that he is neglecting me. So yay for mothers.
I worked so hard to get to this point, and to feel that support from everyone around me has overwhelmed my heart with joy.
I have never been the smallest girl, I was always alittle bigger and taller until I hit 16 and everyone seemed to all of a sudden walk on stilts when my upwards growth slowed theirs picked up.
Anyway by belly has always had the baby fat look, but because I was a runner my legs were long and lean.So it was common place for random people and schoolmates to say. " you look 3,4 months pregnant, you look like a pregnant mosquito, maybe you should eat standing up so your food goes to your legs "
I tried that last one lol,knew that is not how it works but heck why not try .I was bullied a lot and it affected my self esteem greatly.I retreated to my books and graduated high school at 16. Anyway I would give anything now to go back to that belly a little pudgy but not hanging.
To be confronted by the idea that I might look better than that, that I can sit down without my legs going numb or I could run without a constant slap soundtrack!! Am ecstatic.
May 29th is my birthday a new year of life a new me.

I will get better photos at the doctors office tomorrow, the mirrors are making me look a lot smaller than I am I think.
It's weird but I still feel and think of myself as I was a year ago,until I put on something and realize "oh wait a minute this is too big now"
The Drury inn suites are wonderful though, spacious and the room is located near the elevator and next to the vending machine and ice machine.All around good placement and arrangement for recovery.
I will update in the morning and later on after surgery