More Tummy Talk

So yesterday (tuesday) I was sooooooooooooooooooo (breath) ooooooooooooo swollen!
I looked like I could have been about 4 months pregnant.
And my belly was really hard and when I pushed on it, it hurt so bad. OWIE!

Anyway I didn't want to be a whiner, but I told my mom and sister about it.  They told me "call the doctor...you paid a lot of money for this surgery and that is what he is there for."  But I didn't want to.
BUT my sisters mom-in-law works for the surgeon so she called her...anyway short of the long...I went into the doctors office.

He poked my belly with a really long needle to try to get fluid out of my belly.
He didn't have any luck.....so they took me back to the operating room and put back in a drain to allow my belly to drain.

I now look maybe 12 weeks pregnant....so the swelling is going down.

I can't wait till my belly is FLAT...eeek!

Me and My Tummy

I am 13 days post op..yay....and I have decided to blog a little about my recovery from surgery.

The first few days (days 1-4) after surgery were the worst.
I remember saying to Dave "Why did I do this."  I even said "I want to die".
It was horrible.

Day 5 was turn around day.  I started to feel better and thought "I just might live".

Once my drainage tube was taken out on Day 8 I felt a lot better.  That thing is so bothersome.

In the days to follow I would have good days and bad days.  On the good days I felt like I could do a lot.  SO I DID.
The next day I felt like poo!  I knew I over did it.
I don't think I learned my lesson because I've done this twice now.

Today I noticed on my incision a possible site of infection, so I will going back to the surgeon today to have him check it.

HOWEVER....I may only be 13 days out but I can already say it has been worth it.
Although I am super swollen still I can see a huge difference.
I have a lot of life to live and I am excited that I can live it with more confidence.

I am praying these next 4 weeks go  by fast as I am tired of this binder I have to wear and I really would like to see the swelling go down.

XOXO

Catching up on Buddy

Buddy the Elf is such a joy to have around our house.  I love that my girls love him so much.  Although when I was really down Buddy just hung low not causing much problems.  He was very considerate.

Here is a catch up on what he has done some of the time while he has been with us (some days I didn't record because I was down)record because I was down)

He was hungry

He loves Hot Cocoa

Stuck in the Ice Dispenser 

Love Notes

Love Notes

He Hijacked my Camera and did a photo shoot setting the camera on self timer.  Silly Elf

Pose 2

Pose 3 {Ta Da!}

WOWZA the splits

Elves Love Syrup

He turned our Milk Green

I am living.

Well folks, it's official I didn't die.
YAY I am alive!

Okay so what did I have done? And why did I do it?

I decided to have an elective surgery.
Some will say it's vanity others will say 'good for you'.
I don't think it's a good for you or  a vanity thing.  For me this surgery was necessary and vital to my emotional and mental health.

Okay out with it right?

I had a tummy tuck.

So to lay the rumors to rest I have decided to blog about it.

This is nothing I am embarrassed or ashamed about.

I think there's a lot of negative opinions about cosmetic surgery and that is fine but I should share my experience.

Here goes.

I have gained a lot of weight and lost a lot of weight numerous times.  With each weight gain I gained a lot of weight fast.  Now let's add two babies to the mix.  Say hello to more stretching.
Hang on there is more.
Then there is the rapid weight loss from my {former} eating disorder.

So when I decided to get in to shape this time I decided that it had to be 100% healthy.
I have been working really hard.

I have lost nearly 45+ pounds all by being healthy.  BUT I have really bad skin.
I have hardly no elasticity in my skin.  So the more weight I loss the more my belly would hang and sag.  It was hard to feel confident in my transformation when  I was so discouraged.  I was working so hard but felt like I was looking worse.
So I decided to take it to someone who could answer if they could help me.

I went to a fabulous plastic surgeon. {in Utah?  Need a referral?  He is fabulous and I highly recommend him} I was afraid that he would tell me that I wasn't ready or that he couldn't help me, but instead he was really filled with confidence that he could give me a good result.

You have to understand that I will never wear a bikini, or get a belly piercing.  It to me isn't about having a beach bod.  To me it's about getting rid of something that reminded me of the abuse I did to my body (both with eating disorder behaviors weight gain while recovering from the eating disorder).
I worked so hard to lose weight  y  ring healthy and it was so discouraging to not be able to see the results because the fat was hidden by saggy skin.

So I did it.  I had a tummy tuck.
It was hecka painful.
My surgery was a little more than 6 hours I think.
I currently feel like for 6 hours straight a group of gorillas beat me with clubs..having no mercy.  HOWEVER I no longer have a hanging belly and it is going to look amazing once the swelling goes down.

So there you have it.
I had a tummy tuck.  Not for vanity reasons but because it is something that I needed to do for my my emotional and mental health.
Although I am still in a lot of pain I am happy with my choice.