Ready for Normal

Had my 4 week post op appt with my PS yesterday. Great visit...I go back in THREE MONTHS! Found out he took off about 12.5 inches of skin. That just seems crazy to me. He was initially worried I had too much "junky" skin above my BB and was worried about how it would look after he pulled it down, but he was very pleased with the result. As I told him, I am so happy with the result so far - swelling and all! I was never a bikini girl before kids / surgery and don't know that I will be after. I was most concerned with the diastasis recti separation and that's fixed now...so it was totally worth it to me!

Leave in 2 days for vacation. He said I can go without my binder for about 3 hours a day (so no binder under my swimsuit while on the beach...whoo hoo)!

Funny story...my 7 year old was learning about marsupials (carry thrir babies in a pouch on theit belly). He looked at me and said, "hey mom....you used to be a marsupial until that doctor got rid of your big old belly pouch". Out of the mouths of babes! We both got a big laugh!

POD 22 today and feeling pretty good...just impatient. I want life to be back to normal and I know it isn't - can't be - yet. A girlfriend of mine stopped by this morning and she was "amazed" at how different I looked. Isn't it funny how quickly we forget what we looked like pre-surgery? When she said that, I just looked down and saw swelling...lots and lots of swelling. She hadn't seen me since the surgery so of course she was referring to the prego dome being gone, but I kinda forgot about that and just focused in on the massive spread of my hips, stomach and thighs. I know I am supposed to be patient, but patience never was one of my strong suits. Perhaps God teaches us lessons through tummy tucks, too!

I go back for my 4 wk PO appointment next Tuesday, then the Hubs and I are scheduled to fly to Aruba next Friday...I'll be 4.5 weeks PO. I'm starting to get a little nervous about the flight...blood clot paranoia. I have not tried on anything to take with me. Too scared to see if my old clothes still fit. And, how in the world am I supposed to take into account all of the swelling???

On a positive note, my recovery has been really good so far. I thought the recovery would be much worse than it has been. Some days are better than others, but that's life, right? :)

Posting week by week comparison...before and at 2 wks / 3 wks. I think it helps to take pics each week. Sometimes even we forget how much we improve week to week. Continued Happy Healing to all of my TT friends!

Well, my drains did not come out at my last appointment like I had hoped, but they DID come out today (at my 2 week PO appt) and I feel like a new woman. I was also able to stop wearing one of my compression garments (the one that went almost down to my knees because of the saddlebag lipo. It was a good day.

What I was NOT expecting today what followed my appointment. It was my first real outing by myself so I thought I would stop by the mall to pick up a couple of things for the kids. I wandered into a women's athletic section to look at new workout clothes and then it hit me...my belly bulge is gone. :) I have hated my belly bulge for so long...I loathed the fact that it dictated what type of fabric I could wear (nothing clingy), or whether or not I could tuck in clothes, or make me buy fitted shirts one size larger so it didn't show my dome. I realized today that once I am healed, I can (hopefully) wear whatever I want and I don't have to worry about it making me look pregnant. I can throw out the Spanx tanks that I've worn every day for the last 10 years - except when I was pregnant. I know this is silly, but I stood in the middle of that store with tears in my eyes. Part of me still can't believe this is all real and I want to pinch myself. Today I realized for the first time that I am going to have to totally change the way I view my body. I get to make amends with myself, and that feels really, really, good. I walked out of that store emotionally drained and really happy.

Adding 2 week PO pics today. Still swollen today but I don't even care...in a few weeks, I can wear whatever I want! LOL!