Anxious, Excited, Nervous - Rockville, MD

It's been six months and it feels like time has flown (after the first few months, lol)! My belly has definitely gotten softer, I still don't have feeling in my ab area, and it feels weird to do ab exercises (so I limit what I do still). Of course I can't wait for my scar to lighten (I hope it does) and I wish my belly were flatter (I'm working in losing 10-13 lbs so I'm not considered overweight). Other than that, I'm so happy I did this and I'm basically back to normal. I've attached pictures to show where I am.
Happy six months to me and happy Mother's Day to all the mommas!

Here are the pics I took at 3 months & some bikini pics (woohoo! It's an option :)

It feels like such a long time ago since I've had the surgery, I can't believe it. As some of you who have read my updates have probably noticed, I have been absent for the last month or so. I felt like I was paying too much attention to how my abdomen had changed. I am (unfortunately?) one of those people who had their ab muscles relax after the surgery, which has been a little challenging to deal with, especially when I was so flat after surgery. I was also frustrated because my waist size did not go down (the last time I measured it)! Even though I'm not flat, I am completely happy with my results...they are 1000% better than pre-surgery.

So what's been going on? Well, it no longer feels super weird to toss and turn at night :) I still have numbness in my abodomen. Every once in awhile I'll feel itching behind the skin like others have had and boy does it feel weird. My scar is a nice deep purple right now but still very nice and thin. It's great! I have some asymmetry but hopefully that will work itself out. I'll post some pictures soon.


As for workouts, I've primarily been running on the treadmill for a couple of reasons. 1) My doctor wanted to be conservative, given the muscles changing, so he didn't want to put stress on my core by me doing squats. 2) I'm training to run a 10k in mid-May. I still can't reach up and do a really good stretch. Today I tried to do lat pull downs again, and it feels weird, like a slight pull on my muscles. But the weight was light, so there was this conflict of 'I can go heavier' but my abs were saying 'no you can't.' I did squats today, and they felt great. As a matter of fact, I'll probably transition to the squat rack soon.

I am about 2-3 pounds heavier than my pre-surgery weight, but I'm in my normal range. I need to lose about 7 or so pounds to be at my ideal weight/look. Because I like working out, I am getting ready to start training with a personal trainer (online) to give me a little more structure that I need to get back to where I want to be. It's very much focused on weights and I'm very excited and a little nervous about the amount of effort it's going to take. But, I have a goal and I'm looking forward to working on it. In November, I did my first Whole30 and I'm currently doing my second one. It's a little difficult, but not so bad, and it helps me hit the reset button on my eating habits.

And lastly, I have bought two bikinis (yay)! Even though I want/need to do a little work, I think I can still rock one, even with the non-flat abs. The surgery was totally worth it and I am so much happier than before.

Take care, y'all!