27 Years Old, One Daughter, Tummy Tuck with Vaser to Flanks. London, GB

In 2009 I gave birth to my beautiful baby girl. Being only 20 at the time I would say I was Nieve to think my body would Spring back to its youthful tight skin. I have never had a tight flat tummy that most desire, however, I was comfortable back then. After I gave birth I didn't even recognise the women standing in the mirror. My new undesired figure took its toll on everything, the way I dressed, my confidence and sex life. I felt such a mess but my husband always said it never bothered him, it must have surely?

From day one of giving birth I knew I wanted to change. I tried dieting and exercising and it just didn't get better. I finally joined slimming world and lost 2stone and felt great but my forever hanging tummy just got more and more loose. I joined a gym which made no difference at all expect waste my money each month and cause me increasing frustration.
Due to my fold, apron, mummy tummy, what ever you want to call it, I used to get sores that would bleed and cause me so much pain. I would try and hide these from my husband and pretend it wasn't that bad. I became a real professional at hiding my body and dressing in a way no one really knew the depth of my unhappiness. I went to many doctors appointment and tried several creams to clear it all up, none really worked and they would just return. The doctor told me I would never tone that skin or muscle as they were broken due to pregnancy.

My husband knew I wanted a tummy tuck and 7years on this finally came true! I was so happy but there was a slight guilt in me as I was cutting away evidence of ever giving birth to my wonderful daughter, not to mention the cost ????

I went for my consultation and after leaving I couldn't contain my excitement. I knew I wanted it and I knew I wanted them to do it.
After several days talking to my partner about it I decided to book it. The relief of just booking a date was massive. I then started to worry about what people would say. Was a being vein? Were they going to judge me? I started by telling my family and in-laws. They were all fine about it but I found myself justifying why I was having it done. I would take pictures of my tummy and show them even though I just wanted to hide it away from the world. I found this helped me with my emotions and anxiety about people knowing and judging why I was having it done. They all responded in the same way, "we had no idea you looked like that". I think this is beacuse I came so clever at pretending and hiding it.

I had a 5month wait till my procedure which felt like a lifetime!

On the 3rd October 2016 at 11:40am I went down for my surgery. I went down wearing a hospital dress and the ever so attractive paper knickers, no make up and feeling very vulnerable. I was down for 2.5 hours. On my return to my room I had to move myself from the theatre bed to my own bed. When the nurse said this to me I felt fear takeover. I didn't want to move a muscle! I managed this and the nurses helped, it wasn't as bad as I thought. I soon got comfy on my profiling bed and spent two nights in hospital as planned with my surgeon. I had drains in which I expected, however, what I didn't expect was that these came out of my pupic mound. It was so uncomfortable, the tubes were stitched to my skin and caught every now on the garment I was wearing. I didn't know about this otherwise I would have tidied up the bush ???? It Just something to think about ladies.
Over these tubes they placed a dressing which as you can imagine hurt when pulled off as it was stuck to my "tidy" patch of hair.

On my first night I was so tired and just wanted to sleep. Food and drink was the last thing on my mind, but my blood pressure kept dropping really low and the nurses kept encouraging it. They brought me in a lovely spicy chickpea salad on flat bread which looked great. I attempted to pick up my fork, to my surprise I started to be sick, the smell was so overpowering. God did it hurt to be sick, I felt like someone was repeatadle kicking me in the tummy. The nurse took it away and I managed a slice of toast and tea.

It felt like I had been asleep for days and my two night stay was over and had come to an end. The nurse came in to remove my drains which didn't hurt, but was very uncomfortable. A very unusual sensation. You feel the unexpectedly long tube slither out after one sharp pull. No stitches were required after, just another dressing, again on top of my hair!????

The journey home in the car was interesting. You feel every bump in the road and going around corners was horrible. I found myself holding my tummy as it felt like everything was sliding. My husband was driving and said he was really nervous about hurting me or worse, having a crash.
Once home safe and sound, I rested on the recliner in no pain at all. My husband waited on me hand and foot. That took some getting use to! Didn't take me too long though ????
I managed to go upstairs by climbing like a monkey. I was so hunched over, which caused me to have so much back pain.
As the days went on I started improving no end. I wasn't so hunched over, I didn't take pain meds after 4 days as it just wasn't needed. I would say the most challenging thing for me was goin to the toilet. I have to wear a all in one body suit for 6weeks plus a binder on top for 4weeks, 24hours a day. I can't even take it off to go to the toilet.
I have a small hole which allows to pass what I need to, needless to say this took me a long time to get use to. At first I kept peeing on it where it would just run down my bum and leg. I soon found that if I sat as far back on the toilet and lent forward I could avoid this happening. It's very unnatural to pass anything whilst wearing clothes and I found running the tap really helped me, otherwise I would sit there for ages.
Another thing which is hard is having a poo! ???? I know this is probably too much information but you need to know. You get so constipated, it was 6days before I passed anything, I overdosed on laxatives just to be able to go. When I did it was such a relief and the tightness on my tummy went down.
Again with too much information, plan your dates. I didn't once think about my period! It wasn't till 3days post op when this occurred to me because I had come on. It's absolutely horrendous and if it can be avoided, avoid it!
I was told I can't bath or shower for 3weeks! I fell absolutely disgusting but managing with a good wash and a hair wash every now and then.

I had a check up at 7 days post op when I first got to see my new tummy. It looks great, obviously still looks a mess with blood and healing etc but overall I am very happy with the way it looks. The cut is very neat and low and my belly button looks petite. I can't wait to see the full recovery soon. I only managed to get pictures of my new tummy laying down as my blood pressure goes into a friendzie when I take my body suit off so I can't stand for too long. I start seeing stars and then pass out ???? I'm hoping this is going to get better.

I am now 13 days post op and still walking with a little hunch. I couldn't imagine going back to work right now and wouldn't advise it for anyone. I am due back on the 3rd Nobember and hoping I'm going to be ready.
I am doing a lot more walking and getting in and out of sitting and laying down by myself. Everyday I am getting stronger, needless to say I have bad days of low energy and tightness. My tummy seems to swell at night still and if I do too much during the day I really ache.
My advise would be rest and let people do things for you. It's a long process and we just have to be patient. I have put some picture on here for you all to look at. I am due for my two week post op appointment on the 17th October so will try and get a few more pictures for you.

Just a few pictures for you all to browse.