47 Yr Old Mom of 3...abs Were Wrecked!! Full Abdominoplasty W/ Muscle Repair

14 days away and trying to get organized... nervous and stressed right now, trying to get it all together.
Reading everyones suggestions and have got a new motorized recliner. Trying to cook and get all help needed all squared away. We have 3 kids, ages 11, 9, & 7...no wonder my belly never recovered! Feeling excited to be on the other side of this surgery and also super grateful that my husband has taken a few weeks off work to support me and our family through this. HUGE bonus that he is an ER doc ;) There are times when that really that comes in handy, like now. When he is working long hours on major holidays, not so much!
The count down is on...pics to come.

Getting very anxious, and just trying to get everything in order before focusing on one thing only: resting and healing. At this point, as much as I am nervous and scared, getting to take a "time out" from my busy life of a mom of 3 kids is sounding pretty good!
I have been cooking, planning, and just trying to tick off all the boxes to get ready...
and now, its countdown! I took these pictures today and felt so ready to be on the other side. My youngest is 7 and I still look 6 months preg! And I have been doing barre class for years...its time to get the surgical help I really need. I hope my "after pictures" are as good as so many I have seen here...anything will be an improvement! ok, see you all on the flat side!

So, surgery was today and now I am home resting comfortably in my new power motion recliner. SOOOO grateful for it! Only $500 which was the cost to rent, so decided to buy it and its actually a pretty nice looking one. Also got a toilet seat riser, which was a good move. Drains are less gross than I thought they would be. Although I am all bandaged up so can't really see anything, I can tell it will be.vast improvement. Taking meds and and comfortably numb. Much better than I thought I would be!

Doing pretty well, all things considered. Living in my recliner chair and getting up every hr or so to pee. Moving slowly and hunched, but to be expected. Still on Norco/Ibuprofen cycle and drinking lots of liquids, mostly water. Eating small meals and snacks as well. Drains are still draining but a lot less liquid. Haven't showered in a few days and that hasn't bothered me as much as I thought it would...using these little lavender EO wipes and that has felt refreshing. Being waited on hand and foot for a while feels like a welcome break from serving others!!! Grateful my family and friends have been so great!

Looking forward to getting the drains out and getting to shower! I have been more okay with the not being able to shower than I thought I would be, but now, at day 4 feel like a good clean up would be nice! I have been living in my husbands' big cotton boxers for underwear and a zip up fleecy robe and cozy socks. I bought new granny panties as my doc sugggested, but the boxers are more comfy. I do not have a binder, just lots of tape over my incision. Feeling achy and hunched, and weaning off the narcotics and starting to go with just ibuprofen. I was worried about constipation with the pain meds, but am thrilled to report I had success yesterday with out having to resort to serious intervention. I have been taking colace, drinking prune juice mixed with water and made a delicious prune, apple & ginger crisp before I went into surgery, just to eat post op. Think it did the trick! Will load some after pics tomorrow when the drains come out.

I am like a new woman! That first shower was heaven. I brought a little stool from outside into my shower and mostly sat down, using the hand held shower head. I had a HUGE knot in my hair, from being in the recliner...word to the wise, if you have long hair: Braid it to a avoid a serious snarl situation!
Drains were removed today and that feel very odd, but not painful. Having all the bandages removed was great, as they were pulling my skin and I think making it even more challlenging to try to stand straighter. My back is super sore and weak from the hunching situation. As long as I am in the recliner, I don't feel it as much, but when I take my hourly jaunt to get up to pee, I can't wait to recline again because my back is so tweaked. Now that tape is off and drains out, I will slowly start trying ton straighten up, while still being patient. I keep[ reminding myself I am not even a week post op, so all things considered, doing great.
My doc told me I was doing pretty well in the hunch dept. Though my results are an immediate and vast improvement, I know I feel so much better when my posture is good and swelling is down.
That being said, I am posting a few after pics!

Still taking it pretty easy...my 7 yr old son told me he thought I was "milking it"! Ha :) I am getting up and out of my recliner and hanging out at home a little more. Walking 10-15 min a day and showering 2 x/ day, per PS directions. My belly button is healing slowly, so she has me doing a wet to dry dressing after my showers to help healing. I have a follow up today, so we'll see what she says about how that has been working this last week. Still pretty tired and low energy. Eating a lot less than normal, though the abdomen pulling feeling that had me joking that I also had lap band surgery is dissapting slowly. Still slightly hunched, but much better. I def am tilting my pelvis a bit forward to compensate for the pulling feeling if I was standing with a more normal posture...overall, feeling pretty good. On motrin 3x a day. Using Micropore tape on my incision and changing it every few days. A bit more swelling by the end of the day, like most people. Trying to find the right super high waisted undies that are comfy, not too tight, and go right up to my bra line, as not to "cut" into my poor numb belly at the wrong place...any good suggestions , ladies??

Feeling better each day. Doing more and more in the effort to get back to my normal life. At almost five weeks, I am still feeling a bit of pulling in one spot on my right side, but am standing up 98% straight...when I feel the pull, its a clear sign to chill out! Still taking ibuprofen 3 times a day. Also, not really back to my same energy levels yet. Last night, went out to dinner and had one cocktail with my meal and then came home and felt super swollen and bloaty!

As far as compression undies, I found these on Amazon and they rock: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01F0B7OFM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

My favorite so far...I really need something that went super high to go all the way over my abdomen to not sit somewhere where work had been done. Though my belly is still pretty numb for the most part, I can feel it when the undies are not in the right spot.

Incision is healing well...using micropore tape and changing every few days. Per my PS, thats all I am supposed to do at this point for scar healing.

Over all, I am loving my results. I feel like my body is back in the proper proportion. I love just putting on a t-shirt and not having to see my belly stick out. I never really had a flat belly, even before having kids, so my new tummy is truly a vast improvement!

Like so many, I wanted to to this but put it off because of the perceived pain and challenge to make it happen. I think the key is just get really organized and prepared to truly "check out" for a good month! Have help lined up for kids, household, driving, and food needs. Take enough time off work to heal properly. Don't push it with housework. Yesterday was the first day I folded some laundry a and put it away. I thought that sitting on the sidelines and watching the buzz of my busy family swirl all around me and make a mess would really bug me, but in all honesty, it really didn't. Post op, I really didn't care how messy the house was. A nice exercise in releasing, which for moms can be hard. As far as pain, I actually never really was in true pain as much as just a discomfort from moving around in the early post op period. Tenderness, sore, and tired...yes. But pain was really controlled.
Will post more pics soon.