Time for a New Tummy

Hi All - so it basically has been 12 weeks as of this Wednesday and pretty much I am back to a normal life. I can finally shower like normal, which makes me feel human again. I also no longer have to wear the binder and foam. I only wear the compression garment which makes me feel completely normal now (for the most part). The only thing i still notice is that when I sit for awhile and then get up it’s not necessarily a fluid process for me, but still feels like I do that in a take two process. Like I stand up and I’m sort of bent over and then I have to straighten out the rest of my body until I am standing up straight. At that point I feel my midsection stretching and it doesn’t hurt, it just feels weird/tight. The bottom half of my stomach is still numb, I can feel when I place pressure on it, but it still has a numb sensation and is very strange to the touch. I have heard that this can last up to a year. My incision while scared over and healing is also sensitive to the touch, although I really only notice it when putting on the scarring cream or trying to slip into my compression garment. My sides are the most sensitive of everything though. I still have a love hate relationship with sleep though, it gets better every week and I am more comfortable on my sides now, but it’s almost like I got used to sleeping on my back so I don’t quite sleep how I used to before. I do love the results of my surgery so much, everything is even on my stomach and best of all... no dogears! The doctor did a great job and as I mentioned in my other reviews the rest of the staff has been amazing as well!! My belly button still looks funky sometimes, but seems to look better every week. The doctor warned me the belly button has a healing process of its own. I still swell throughout the day and salty foods are not my friend at all, I can when I eat them. I did start working out about a month ago and have been doing cardio (stair master or treadmill) and weight training. My body actually feels stronger, especially when I am working on my legs. The only thing fairly difficult is chest pressing and my hubby usually has to spot me or place the weights in my hands and then take them away because I feel the stretch in my stomach. After workouts I am swollen (every single time) and I am assuming this is from working out, but I can see the swelling!! I am down 17.5 lbs since surgery and I was down a total of 18.5lbs from surgery until I started working out lol. I know muscle weighs more than fat so I am going to stop weighing myself or I will get discouraged, however I am so motivated now to keep working out. My pants size is between an 8 and a 10, (previously between a 12/14) but closer to the 10 range with them being loose around my stomach/legs and tight around my hips , but ever since I had kids my hips have expanded and I doubt I will wear a size 8 in most clothes. As for my clothing sizes I wear a medium now in Spanx and other leggings. In shirts, I am down from an XL to a medium and sometimes smalls, the same with dresses they are all consistently medium if not small, so the scale might hold still at 167, but I was 130 at my smallest and that was before having kids so I doubt I have much wriggle room. I know I carry a ton of weight in my boobs now because they are huge and much larger then prekids! I have so much more confidence in myself and feel so much better about myself. I know I have mentioned it before, but this surgery is the single best thing, I have ever done for myself. I would spend the money and go through the recovery 1000 times over, in fact I have already blocked from my memory the hardest part of the recovery. When I tell you everyone notices the weight loss, I mean everyone notices it, and they are literally shocked, it really is such a remarkable change. It’s amazing how removing 5lbs of skin can really make a difference in your life! So much so that I have decided to get my boobs done (lifted/reduced) and finish the transition to what I call back to prekids.
I am scheduled for that surgery on December 10th and starting to prep for it now! I really am trying to bring some goods things out of this horrid year and leave all of the negativity and the fat in 2020!

So today marks 8 weeks! Woohoo! I can’t believe it has been 8 weeks! Not much has changed vs. week 6th. I feel completely back to normal, I haven’t started working out yet so maybe that is why I feel so normal, but I plan to gradually start next week working out. I can still feel myself swelling and I believe it has gotten better, but since I am always wrapped tight it is hard for me to tell. I still am on the 24/7 compression garment/ foam /binder with only 8 mins off 2 days per week for a shower. I still hate this thing so much and have been stuffing it with lambs wool, per a suggestion from another real selfer and it has helped tremendously to relieve the pressure on my crevices (inner thighs, etc)! My biggest disappointment has been in my nightly sleeps, I was hoping I would be able to sleep comfortably now that I can sleep however I want, but that never seems to happen. I wake up every night feeling uncomfortable and find myself plopping up with pillows to try and get comfortable. I don’t know if it is just in my head, but I can no longer find a comfortable way to sleep which does really suck lol. I have also been itchy still and some nights require Benadryl, but overall the itching has gotten much much better. On the positive side I took my measurements this morning and my waist was at 30.25 so it continually shrinking so I am guessing that is the reason I have to keep the all the garments on. Keep in mind before surgery my waist was a 41 or 42 so it’s amazing how many inches it has went down! I also weighed in at 166 this morning with my pre-surgery weight being about 185 so I am very happy with my weight loss. I am so happy I did this surgery at the end of the summer/fall. I couldn’t imagine wearing all of these garments in the warm summer weather. It was just by chance that I scheduled my surgery in Sept, but now that I know better I am so thankful that I get to wear all of these garments in the winter vs. the summer! I peeled out a couple of dresses from my closet and was able to fit in several that are like 10 years old including my little black dress. I will include some updated pictures, but all and all still the best decision ever to do this surgery!

So I had my 6 week post op appointment today and I am cleared to exercise again and to sleep normal. Yay! The only thing I cannot do are strictly core exercises for the next four months. Unfortunately I will be staying in this compression garment for the foreseeable future, I hate this thing so much! It will be well worth it in the end, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t drive me nuts! It’s crazy the difference a year makes. I found a picture from October 2019 and I was floored at the comparison from then to now. Last year was really when I was decided to stop being the frumpy mom of kids and to do something about my weight. I started to work out and eat healthy and knew I was going to look into getting this surgery because of all of the extra skin I had on my belly from the kids. I will post a picture of my 2019 before pictures because my before surgery pictures (I had already posted) are after I had already lost 30+lbs from 11 months of changing my life. Post Pardum depression is real and the depression from gaining weight makes it even more debilitating. I felt so guilty for doing this at first because of the money and recovery time, but I am so happy that I pulled the trigger. I am also so glad I have these pictures to remind me of where I have come from.