Can't lift forever with muscle repair????

I posted my initial review a few weeks ago but since then, lots of things have changed so I have postponed my surgery (no new date yet). First, my babysitter gave notice and with twin 3 year olds and a 7 year old who doesn't walk or talk, I need reliable and familiar help around the house, and to get them ready/drive them to school, put my son in his wheelchair, etc.

But the big question mark for me is that once I had to cancel, I made another appointment for a consult with a different PS I had heard about. He told me that with an intensive muscle repair, I wouldn't be able to lift my son (57 lbs) for at least 6 months and maybe forever!! If he pulled the muscles less tightly, then it would be at least 4 months, if ever. He said that the instructions to not lift for 6-8 weeks is up to 30-40 lbs, but for heavier than that, it could be forever.

Have you ever heard this?????????? YIKES!!!

I made another consultation for tomorrow morning to try to confirm or refute what this last dr said.

Thanks,
Lori

Hi all,
I am scheduled for surgery in a few weeks and am starting to freak out!

My main reason for having the surgery is to get some core strength back. I carried pretty big twin girls full term (7 lbs & 6.5 lbs). They are now 3.5 years old. But it's my 7 year old son that I'm trying to get stronger for.... he has multiple disabilities and is not mobile (although if you hold most of his weight for him he can take steps). That means lifting, positioning, moving him around, putting him in various equipment, etc. Since my stomach muscles are so separated, it seems I take the brunt of this physical activity on my lower back. He's only going to get bigger (57 lbs now) so I needed to finally take action now that my girls are old enough to do most things for themselves.

While I'm excited for the flatter tummy, I probably wouldn't be doing this if not for the strength issue. Plus my umbilical hernia needs to be fixed anyway.

I don't expect amazing cosmetic results - I am 5'7" and 200 lbs. I've never been thin, but I never really lost the baby weight from either pregnancy and my body shape now makes me still look 6 months pregnant!!

I guess my initial thoughts/questions are these:
- how do you explain mommy's tummy boo-boo and not being able to lift kids or have them climb on you? My twins are very attached to me and want me to do most everything with them even though my husband offers and my mom lives with us too
- honestly speaking, what kind of cosmetic results can you expect when you go in overweight?
- how the heck do you get through those first few days of intense pain???
- how long does the swelling really last? Seems that a lot of pictures show more swelling at 6 weeks than at 2 weeks! :)

Thanks all - I hope to go through this journey with you wonderful ladies by my side!!