Post TT Success!!

Ok so I don't have a ton to report, so I don't get on here anymore. But last night, I showed my husband my incision and he balked and asked me when my next dr appt was and got all worried, so figured my current issue was something to share even though I am not concerned. For weeks now, I've dealt with my incision being open in the middle. Dr fished around with tweezers last visit and pulled out a hair. So when I had another spot open up, I figure its the same thing and I'm not worried. But it IS annoying because I have to keep something covering the area or I get blood on my pants. So its a hassle. But I can't let it bother me a ton because it is what it is. Other hairs have grown in right at the incision so some are getting through at least. Today, I stuck a panty liner at the top of my underwear in front... soft side toward skin to absorb any blood so I don't have to wear tons of bandaids and deal with the sticky part in hair ugh ouch. Also, bandaid padding was pulling off scabs when getting stuck to it.. ordered some more gauze pads.. these ones will have sticky tabs on the ends... so can wear over the whole area lengthwise and not use a bunch of bandaids vertically.

Hadn't taken a picture of the incision up close, maybe I will take one. I've been more interested in taking pics of my profile in clothes, ha. I don't swell (at least not much?) so I'm happy. I'm a few pounds heavier than pre-surgery which I don't love. But I'm also BIGGER. I look better. But my pants are tighter. I actually gave in and bought a couple pair of work pants because I just can't be trying to squeeze into too tight pants and have them rub on my incision right now. Pre-surgery, I'd just wear the pants tight as motivation to slim down again! Not now! So hopefully I don't 'grow into' my new pants... my focus has moved from my tummy to my butt and thighs needing to be toned... so we shall see. I think because my stomach is good now, I've just found something else to work on!

Hope everyone is doing well! I do light cardio and carry my 3 yr old some now.. although maybe its from not doing it for a long while, but I have a lot of trouble carrying him now! I don't know how I did it before! I am definitely weaker! But it's a process I guess. I can put in a full day at work no issues and do housework and projects at home on the weekends with no issues. That stuff used to be hard. So I am trying to remind myself how far I've come.

An update hmm... 8 weeks now.

Well, I haven't posted in a while because not much has changed, not like the drastic changes and all the recovery involved early on. I see my dr every 2 weeks and he checks to make sure all looks well. It used to be weekly but then my belly button healed enough that he cut back my visits, phew. Then I had the hole open in the middle front that he was keeping an eye on... so this week he decided to 'dig around' to find the culprit... he said the skin won't heal if there's a hair trying to come out. So he dug.... ughhhhhhhhhhhhhh..... owwwwwwwwwwww... and found the hair! Argh! So I'm guessing those that don't have as much hair might have less of a chance of this happening. I had a 'happy trail' all the way up to my belly button that got worse with each pregnancy. So glad THAT is gone. But yeah, means right in the middle of the scar, there's more chance of hairs trying to get through my incision. Anyway, hope that it heals now for good.

Other than that, he pulled out a stitch that was hanging around at the end of one side of my incision due to a knot.. that didn't hurt though. And he said I can stop wearing my binder!!!! And I can lift my kids up again! I just can't be lifting things far away from my body, keep the weight close to me. Well, my upper body strength (lack of) means I do that anyway!

Some areas of my incision that weren't as flat have slowly flattened on their own. I worried one side was going to be all bumpy but, nope.

Scar is higher in the middle than I had hoped. I'll have to get all new underwear. I hadn't done that yet since I've been in the cotton grannies all this time. I decided no binder meant also no more cotton, even though the dr didn't mention that! So I'll go see what underwear will be high enough to cover the scar, grr. Sides are fine... its just the front. Doesn't dip low like my underwear and bikini bottoms do. Kind of disappointed about that. But oh well. Swimsuit season is pretty much over, so won't really bother me again until next summer and I can figure it out then!

One thing, I plan to make sure my scar is VERY covered... because RIGHT BELOW it is the pubic hair. So if a tiny bit of scar shows, hair is probably showing also. So that area was definitely LIFTED a LOT.

So that's the physical stuff mostly. Oh I sleep on my side fine. I don't swell. Although that may change since being out of the binder is a new thing. I've gained almost 10 pounds sigh. My pants are snug. I blamed it on the binder. Guess I can't do that now... but I am slowly starting to wear all my old clothes again... pants from pre-tt as long as they weren't super tight back then... and shirts from back when I was exercising a ton (and still self-conscious about the belly). So it's nice to wear regular shirts, not billowy ones, and not be looking pregnant! My figure isn't perfect but I can go out and feel 'normal'. And I think working out will really work now... I can stop fretting about my stomach... it wouldn't ever go away with exercise. Now I can focus on building muscle and shaping everything! And this past weekend was a turning point... I weeded my garden for the first time since surgery... and I didn't get winded and have to sit down during the singing at Sunday's worship service at church. So my energy is better.

And now to try and shed these pounds. Sigh. I am awful at losing weight. I tend to GAIN when I work out because I get crazy with eating. So I do better by really getting serious about my eating and skipping exercise. Well, I've been skipping exercise for a long time now, ha. But my eating must be not great to be gaining weight. And I think I'm less active overall because of being in recovery. The binder made me not want to be outside due to the heat, so that was holding me back too. And not carrying around my kids probably also made me less active. Try doing everything while carrying 35 pounds around. Ha. So I got used to not doing that I guess. So its time to get serious!! Brought workout clothes to work. Scared I will swell up like a balloon because seems like everyone on here swells with activity. Ugh. We shall see.

Gah. Went swimming yesterday. Correction, put on a suit and stood in the pool for a bit and then hung out by the pool in a wet swimsuit a while. Then I noticed I had a small hole in my incision! Right in front where incision had scabbard up more, more tension. I will call my dr today. Need to find out if I should still wear my binder... if there's anything I should do. Makes me nervous that it's going to split open more and more. Seemed healed, no scab left. Very deceiving!!!!!

Trying to still take it easy but feeling pretty normal lately. I have said no to boat trips on the weekends because can be bumpy/rough waters. I haven't exercised. I haven't picked up my kiddos... other than once to get my son on the potty. Oh and it's good I am doing well bc my son (he's 3) got this horrible stomach bug with tons of vomiting during the night fri night. So I stayed up with him... I risked getting sick with a violent vomiting bug, but all I could think about was how helpless he was, poor thing. Luckily, knock on wood, I'm still healthy! First time one of my kids threw up like that. Ugh!