Flat tummy! I’ve noticed a huge difference

Hey all! I'm currently 22.5 weeks out from my surgery. It's been a while since my last update, so I wanted to keep you all posted. I had a few hiccups with my surgical incision after my infection, but now the site is completely closed! No more packing yay! I went down to a comfortable size 4 in my high waisted jeans. For reference, I'm 5'2" and currently weigh roughly 137 pounds. I was always relatively small framed until my 4th kiddo came along. This is the smallest that I have been since having my last child. So... if you know about wearing high waisted jeans, then you know the risk of having a "muffin top" or "front butt" LOL! So, with high waisted jeans before surgery I wore a size 8 just to play it safe. After surgery, I can fit easily into a size 4 now. Low waisted shorts or jeans may be roughly the same. A lot of my previous tight shorts or jeans now have wiggle room (sometimes too much). My confidence level being in form fitting clothes has went up. I'm so loving it and despite my surgical hiccup, I would do it all over again. Through it all, Dr. Angelos has been amazing. I couldn't have asked for a better doctor. He has great bedside manner and was always getting me in earlier (sometimes same day) appointments if necessary. Nurse Chelsea is also my favorite! I couldn't have asked for a better medical team.

As far as my tummy treatment goes I am actually for the most part still wearing my abdominal binder when I'm not in dressier clothes. Dr. Angelos said that I could ditch it, but I've become so used to it and I'm afraid that my stomach will pooch back out. Yes, I know it won't but my neurotic part of my brain won't let me chill out : ) Also, I still have numbness in at about 1 inch above my belly button to about my incision line. It feels weird. If you've had a c-section before then it feels like that. I'm sure it will go away in due time. I've posted some additional pics. While the recovery period can kind of suck, I'm sooooo happy I did it : )

Aside from having to still pack this wound with Iodoform, I feel great! It’s annoying and a bit of a setback, but I’m getting through it. The hole is like the size of 2 pencil erasers. He had to cut the incision open slightly. The wound is more hollow from the swelling as opposed to deep. I’m praying it will close up in a month! I’m going on vacay soon! The other "white spot" is nearly healed now. I still apply Neosporin to it with gauze. From the pictures I seem pretty bandaged up, but I'm wearing a big ABD pad because I still ooze blood from the packing wound. (Yes it's gross and I'm over it). I'm following up at Dr. Angelos’ office every week to keep an eye on this wound. I'm still on antibiotics. My stomach is looking good and everything else seems to be healing well, with no more issues thus far (praying it stays that way). I still have muscle tightness especially if I’ve been sitting for a while. It’s not nearly as bad and I don’t find myself hunched over like an old lady. I'm still wearing my binder religiously. I purchased spanx and of course it makes me look awesome in clothes, without the bulkiness of the binder, but my binder is giving me more of the tightness that I want for now. I hate wearing it, but I want my stomach to stay tight while the Muscles are healing. I still have some swelling, but it’s looking better everyday. I purchased by first bikini since I had kids! I can’t wait to see what it looks like on!

Mmmkay, long post for those that have nothing to do. So earlier this week everything was fine and dandy. Worked. Went on a few errands. Swelling was still there, but then noticed a lot of fluid had shifted into my pubic region. Like it looked like I had a FUPA or something! I was worried because it was along my incision line and I didn't want it to start separating the incision. Then I started feeling achiness in my hips and knees leading down both of my whole legs. Feeling slightly chilled. Feeling just off. I'm thinking hmmm, well I have endometriosis and I'm coming into my first period since my TT. It was getting worse and I found myself taking Motrin and Tylenol around the clock to mainly relieve the hip and leg achiness. 2 nights ago it was the worst night ever. Felt like I had the flu. Of course my unreliable digital thermometer said my temp was 96.9. I'm like no way. Didn't sleep at all. Was waiting for 4 Motrin and 2 Tylenol to do it's job. Yes, it was a lot, but I felt like crap. If it wasn't going to get me through the night, then my hubby was taking me to the ER. Fell asleep around 3am and woke up at 5am dripping in sweat. I'm like umm yeah I probably have an infection going on. But I felt way better. I emailed the nurse and worked from home for a couple of hours. I was like "man, whatever that was, I feel way better!" I went to the bathroom and I noticed that I had a little bit of blood on my shirt, and then a little on my underwear, and then a little bit on the gauze. I had on a small incision that was beginning to open around the swollen area that the gauze was on. Well I removed the gauze to change it and it was like a river of blood that exploded out of my stomach. It looked like a crime scene in my bathroom. I will spare you the gory photo that I sent to my Doctor. Ok so I will explain that I am in the medical field and I've done acute care for 15 years. I immediately thought...."that was fu**ing gross" and "that's why I was feeling like sh*t." So I didn't bleed profusely and I'm still around telling this story. It was like if you had a big pimple and you popped it with all of that lovely fluid inside. It was like that, but waaaay bigger and more disgusting. Anywhoo, my lovely doctor saw me within like 2 hours. I discovered that I had a refill on my prophylactic antibiotic that I never knew about. Whoopsie! So he described this blood sac as a seroma, but I was under the impression that a seroma's fluid is clear. This just seemed like a pocket of blood. But hey, I learn something new everyday. They cultured the site. Tried to drain more of the crap out, but that wasn't before the Doc had to cut my incision a little open. (That was real fun, let me tell ya!) After he cleaned me up, he gave me a revised lesson on what it's like to do wound care and yes I mean packing my wound twice a day with Idoform. Gross yes, but it's so important to let the skin heal from the inside out. (Can I stay out of the OR please???) This has to work or I'm going back under to fix this puppy. On top of that I have a small area that looks like a "white patch" on my right side along my incision. (Lord Jesus anything else???) So he cleaned that up and told me to apply Neosporin at least three times a day to the area. I also had the end of my incision become irritated because of the dumb dissolvable suture. (My body hates those.) He removed that and my skin likes it without it. I also have to apply Neosporin to that area. This all happened yesterday and I will tell you that today I feel like a million bucks since that fluid came out. No more body aches! He started me on Doxy and Cipro, but once my cultures came back, he discontinued the Cipro. Gram Positive Cocci was my fun bacteria. We all have it, but don't let it get inside open wounds and have a party in there. Now I hope I didn't scare anyone : ) If you are considering a full TT, just keep in mind that is surgery is no walk in the park even if you had c-sections. I've had 4! I had complications with my second c-section. There's a risk for everything. One thing is just knowing your body and keeping an eye on your incision. The next thing is having a doctor that will address any concerns quickly and not put you off. I'm so very please by the nurses and Dr. Angelos for communicating with me and attending to my needs so quickly. I even had the nurse call me today to update me on my Blood Culture and go over any questions that I had. I'm so very appreciative of Dr. Angelos and his team. I'm hoping I can heal through this process quickly! It's driving me a nuts! Where's the easy button????

On a side note. My tummy looks pretty good LOL. Swelling is still there, but its taking shape. I left some fun photos including my bandaged tummy. Enjoy! Hopefully I come back with better news!