4 Kids and Needing a New Tummy (5'4", 145lbs, love to be active)

Today I am 3 weeks post tummy tuck. I had a lymphatic massage yesterday and feel it has helped with some of my swelling. I have another booked for next week. I am feeling fine at this point, no complaints. Happy with how my scar is healing and I think the scar gel the PS office gave me is helping a lot already. I remain unhappy with my belly button and today found a stitch coming through - I guess this is what others call "spitting stitches"? And I am keeping an eye on the very midline of my incision at the site of my old belly button - it remains puckered and is not healing as well as the rest of it but it doesn't appear infected so I am just watching it closely. I am certain these 2 areas (my belly button and the midline of the main incision) will require a revision in a few months. Kind of bummed that my scar peeks out above most of my underwear, especially on the right side however I am trying to be positive and I am confident my scar will fade to a thin line and be barely noticeable. The massage therapist yesterday shared with me that she had a tummy tuck in the past and showed me her scar - I actually had to look closely to even see it! So that is something to look forward to! And since that ugly tattoo (you guys never saw it because I edited it out of before pictures) and that horrible hanging apron of skin are gone I am beyond happy with that! That is after all the whole reason I did this. I am still wearing mostly yoga/workout pants, I have 1 pair of loose jeans I feel comfortable to wear. I can't quite fit in to my other jeans comfortably yet. Hopefully in another week or two the swelling decreases even more and I can get them back on. I go back to work next week at the 4 week mark. I feel like I will be more than ready by then. If I had a less physical job I would have easily went back at the two week mark.
Nothing else to report. I have posted some pictures.

Yesterday was day 14. What a good day it was! I finally felt as though I was standing all the way up and I put on a pair of jeans for the first time! Granted they were my "fat jeans" but whatever - it was nice to get dressed in proper clothes. Thus far I have been in nothing but sweats and hoodies. When I picked my kids up from school in the afternoon (also first time for that) I parked and walked up to the class to get them. They were all surprised as I had told them originally that the oldest would walk the little boys down to meet me. They were also shocked to see me wearing real clothes! Based on their reactions alone I would say it time to ditch the post-op "uniform"! I saw the nurse in the morning and received some instructions on massaging the scar and was given a tube of cream to help with the appearance and fading. I was also given advice to try lymphatic massage as I remain quite swollen. I have seen many comments on here saying how helpful it is and I plan to call and book something today! I was told I can ditch the compression garment and switch to a spanx type. I bought some long shaper tank tops before my surgery and some high cut tummy control panties so today I am going to wash this garment properly and use the panties and tank together and see how I feel. I will likely use the garment at night to sleep and may consider it for when I go back to my heavy job but we will wait and see what the next 2 weeks brings. I was given the ok for light activities with nothing strenuous until 4-6 weeks (as I expected). I plan on walking on the treadmill today since it is raining where I live and I don't feel like getting soaked. I don't have to go back until the 3 month mark unless I have any concerns before that. I asked the nurse about my swelling and of course we are all different and she said likely it will stay for a good 4-6 weeks and may persist longer, just as I have read everyone here say. I also asked her about my belly button. I am not pleased with it at all. It looks like an "outie" now. At first I though it was just really puffy because of all the initial swelling and that was part of it. Some of that has relaxed however it has not gone back to being an "innie" yet. And to me it doesn't look like it will. Quite frankly I hate it :( I asked her about it and she said she can't guarantee that it will go back in but of course to be patient and give it until the 3 month visit. If I am still not happy then she said it can be fixed up "easy-peasy". I hope she is right! Not that I walk around showing off my belly button all day but I did want to be able to confidently wear a 2 piece again. I also need to keep an eye on the middle of my incision where my old belly button was. The skin remains puckered and a bit red and raw in that area. I am almost certain that area of the scar will also require a slight revision. Despite all of that and the remaining swelling (you can REALLY notice it in the mons pubis area) I am happy with my curves and that extra skin being gone. I tried on my workout outfit from my pictures a few days back and even with the swelling you can see quite a noticeable difference in my shape. I can't wait to be able to comfortably fit into my normal jeans. Although I am moving around the house and walking upright now I am still a bit slower than normal and have to be conscious of my body when I reach up too high for things in the cupboards or when I climb into the van or twist too far. It is not like any of these things hurts me at all it just feels weird and slow and like my body will only move so far even if I try. It will be nice to just hop up and go like I am used to! Ah well that will come with time - something this busy momma of 4 is not used to waiting around slowly for!

So the last 3 days have been really good! It seems the day after my last post was a bit of a turn around day for me. I feel I am moving WAY better now - still not 100% upright. I saw my brother yesterday and he told my sister-in-law I still looked pretty hunched over so I guess I am feeling better than I am looking maybe!
Yesterday I had a shower entirely by myself and I stood for the majority of it. That is a HUGE improvement in just 2 days since my last shower. I got out of my garment, stood to wash my hair and body and then only sat on my shower chair to really try and clean my incision. I tried to gently pick off some of the surgical glue that is stuck on it and remove some more of the permanent marker marks that are left over on my skin. The incision looks way better as now I can finally start to see what it actually looks like. I am still swollen obviously but it is starting to ease up the tiniest bit too. I took some pictures and I am happy with my scar - there are a couple spots where I got all the glue off and the incision in nice and smooth despite the swelling and I can just tell it will heal nice and thin and flat. There are a couple other spots that are a bit bumpy due to the swelling and in my pictures you can see a bit of puckering right in the centre from where my old belly button was. I can tell that skin is from just above my old belly button because I had funny X shaped stretch marks above my belly button.
Over the last 2-1/2 days I did Easter crafts, folded laundry, did our taxes, and generally tried to do some stuff around the house. I am getting a bit stir crazy and so I drove to my mom's house while the kids were entertained by my hubby. She only lives about a 3 minute drive away and I have to admit driving felt really weird. It's not like it hurt really just kinda didn't feel like I should be doing that yet. I see the nurse again on day 14 so I will get a clear idea of all my restrictions then. I am a nurse though so I have a pretty good idea it will be no exercise for at least 2 more weeks, no lifting heavier than 10lbs and otherwise listen to your body and respect what it is telling you - that is my professional advice to patients who are post-op unless there is something really specific that I am missing?
As I said I am going a bit stir crazy. My back still hurts at times and I do require time to sit when it gets sore but I am not taking any pain medication other than occasional Tylenol and Advil. This morning I let my hubby sleep in and I went downstairs and fed and cleaned up after 5 kids (we had an extra from a sleepover the night before!) and did some daily homework stuff with them, emptied the dishwasher and filled it back up again, washed dishes in the sink, and baked Easter cookies with my youngest - just Pillsbury pre-made ones but still he thought it was baking! The kids just got home from skating with my hubby and while they have been gone I have been doing laundry and finishing up my craft. When I write all this it seems like I am doing a lot but I feel soooo bored and held back! I am normally a busy full time wife and mom of 4 very active young boys and a full time nurse and it is hard for me to sit still! I want to go workout and walk the dog and get to the grocery store, and go skating with them, etc, etc. I am listening to my body and have slowed down tremendously and am obviously not lifting anything heavy or bending too much - using my good body mechanics and squatting down to pick stuff up instead. The first week was rough for sure but once that back pain started to ease up and based on how I am feeling now I can see how you could totally take 2 weeks vacation from a less active desk type of job and be able to go back to work at the 2 week mark. Before my surgery and during that first week I couldn't imagine that but now I can hardly imagine being off for much longer than that! I still have to fill out some forms for work and obviously I can't go back to my full nursing job just yet since it entails walking constantly up and down long halls and lifting, hoisting, twisting & bending, for long, busy 12hr shifts but I may consider asking the surgeon or my family MD what their thoughts are on seeing if my boss can give me some light duty project or something to work on at a desk. Maybe I am stupid and should just use the time to myself for once but really my husband goes back to work on Monday and my kids will be at school all day and I am not allowed to do any of the things I find enjoyable (workout, play with our big Bernese dog) or do any spring cleaning stuff I need to get done around the house so I might as well be contributing at work somehow!

We will see, for now I will include some pictures from yesterdays shower (day 9)