12 Weeks Post Op, and doing SOME P90X

I am a 36 year old mother of one who is very petite. I considered myself very fit before my son, at just shy of 5'0" height I kept a healthy body weight of 95 lbs and exercised regularly and still do. I have a history of type ii diabetes in my family however and was diagnosed with gestational diabetes very late in my pregnancy (i was 29 at the time), but my diagnosis was really too late. I was practically eating bark and still gained weight. I think because my numbers always seemed in spec my OB never really thought my baby was that large.. 30lbs gained is a LOT for a 95lbs girl! well c-section and a baby 8 lbs 11oz 21 inches later, i was left with a 4 finger wide diastasis and suffered quite a difficult postpartum recovery. I tried EVERYTHING, PT, working out like mad, dropped all the weight would have a tight core (with the exception of the skin) but the moment i would have a bad spell of time consuming weeks at work and couldn't do my exercises my diastasis would return. I turned to the internet for help. I read you could have the laproscopic repair of the diastasis but I also had quite a lot of extra flap skin at my tummy. I researched and my insurance wouldn't cover the repair b/c you could do PT. Personally it has been frustrating me for years to be a size 0 but always had to size up in my shirts or my belly would look like i was couple months prego. Then when you have your tummy right my shoulders would look like i was wearing a trashbag like shirt because i'm very small chested too. I'd stare down and see a deflated baloon where I once had a cute belly button. I tried to ignore it, buying spanx, girdles, whatever to get my dresswear to look right, and always not feeling so great althought knowing overall I was as healthy as I could be without surgery. My husband could tell it was depressing me some, and encouraged me to research the options, save up and fix it while I was young if I could. I am so lucky to have such a supportive guy. He really was like "you don't need to fix it" but what he didn't realize is a lot of the physical anguish I was also experiencing from my diastasis. It is like a hernia bomb waiting to happen.. randomly lift something funny? ouch.. cough funny? ouch.. and I love yoga and was doing an armstand called "crow's pose" and gave myself a hernia in class and nearly passed out. (thank goodness for child's pose) I knew I had to do the surgery. I knew it would be a hard recovery, but after YEARS of battling the diastasis I knew I had to do something. And I read a LOT about how so many women like me had battle the complexities of a diastasis and finally got the Tummy tuck and were like what was I thinking waiting so long.

So I booked over the summer for October surgery. Fall was the right time, kid in school, cooler "baggier recovery clothing" like weather, out of bathing suit season. I nearly welled a tear when my doc was like "we can get you back in a two piece" as I had been so focused on fixing the diastasis, I forgot a lot of the cosmetic benefits I'd get from the surgery too. Friends were also very supportive, most not really understanding the challenges of a diastasis kept saying "you don't need surgery" but they understood once I further explained some of my challenges.

My surgery was Oct 9th and I am pretty sure this was worth the effort. Re: diastasis repair, there really is no repairing with physical therapy that will be permanent without constant exercise, you just DON'T have that tissue binding the rectus muscle together.. the scar tissue from the sutures is the only sure thing solution.

If you have had a c-section, recovery from tummy tuck is similar but not nearly as bad. I remember nearly wanting to pass out after sneezing coughing and that so isn't the case with a tummy tuck, its tight, that's just the overall feeling of tightness. It is very difficult to stand straight after surgery but each day I can feel myself getting stronger and stronger.

So far the outcome of my surgery is yet to be determined on the cosmetic side, but the medical side its been a success I think. I have quite a bit of bruising from some apparent lipo done on my left flank, but swelling is normal. I was off pain meds by day 3 and onto only tylenol, I did take some small 1/4 pain pills yesterday to help with a little cough going around from having school aged children running about.

My surgeon used a suture technique called the progressive tension closure that reduces need for a drain although I still had one in me for 4 days there really hasn't been much for fluid. My surgeon also used a substance called exparel which is like a 72 hr lidocaine at the suture sites and I really think so far I've had a successful surgery.

I wished I knew beforehand, that you REALLY need to take about 2 weeks off at least for the surgery. I'm back to work on Monday and although I do work from home (so I took off less than a week), I can tell its going to be quite a push to go back to work so soon.

I think all the advice I've read here and online at other sites is right on the money, just mentally prep yourself for the surgery, know why you're doing it, know it is not an instant recovery and accept help from others because you will definitely need it! Its important to know you must be healthy before going into the surgery. Eat right, follow doctors orders and you'll be ok :) When in doubt, ASK QUESTIONS!

I just got out of my first shower today post op which felt wonderful :) I've had a very supportive network of hubby, family, and friends to help out and although looking in the mirror I know its a long road to 100% recovery, I would recommend this surgery to any fit healthy stable weight individual dealing with a post partum diastasis that does not plan to have more children. Get the best doctor you can, don't go on cost, this is not something you want to go for discount groupon like deals it IS major surgery!

One week post op... and I've nicknamed my flank "the eggplant"

I think recovery's been just fine, but curious why is my flank so darned purple compared to the rest of the surgery pics I see on here :) seriously looks like i was in a street brawl and I have a lot of solid colored purplish bruising that just is a tad disturbing when I pull of my compression garment. Most the folks on here don't seem to have nearly any bruising where they got any lipo.

Day by day things are looking great, my stomach looks so amazing compared to before. Hubby cannot understand my complete fascination with my new belly button lol. wish now I'd taken a few before photos like the rest of you pros :)

I'm also getting the tingling kind of sensation at my incision area..I believe this is normal with nerve endings slowly waking up again maybe? the whole numbness feeling of my stomach is very weird, thank goodness for all the great readups of what people experience during this surgical recovery.

Standing up straight is still really tough when I've been somewhat sedentary but seems to be getting easier and easier all the time.

Researching this whole concept of lymphatic massage..

Don't know about the rest of you, but nighttime rest had been a challenge. I think I've found a good solution for rest. And i think it helps with lymphatic massage too.

I had my 9 day post op appointment Wed am, my mom drove me, and I found it quite comical when she saw me out of my compression thing and immediately exclaimed how amazing my stomach looked.. "oh your tummy was a big prune before" lol, gotta love Mom :) She has been awesome helping me recover too.

Doc said all was well but I needed to keep on the compression garments and be mindful of the fluid I have currently in my belly she expects my body to reabsorb, its not bad at all, but I wanted to research as much as I could about helping my body heal. Lymphatic Self Massage I found a good series on YouTube that may help people, its pretty easy.. here's the 1st of the videos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMljOuz_l_Q&list=PLiEjBjwGZ32PWZzB9phqJUJsYZvtAx7Se&index=1&feature=plpp_video

I did this yesterday afternoon, then also at night worked on the lymphatic breathing before I went to sleep... not sure but I think its helping! I slept in this body position that's on the video, which is significantly different from the 3 pillows semi reclining everyone always says to do, however with a 1/4 pain pill sleeping in this position, I got a pretty solid 7.5 hrs of sleep last night which is pretty great for me. This morning I felt like my belly wasn't as 'watery' feeling and felt very well rested.