5 weeks

I had my final check up with Dr. Robbins today. He said my scar looks great and to keep doing what I am doing. I mixed coconut oil, vitamin E and lavender oil. My belly button is almost healed. I have been having some burning pain in my upper abdomen and I asked him about it. It is my muscles and nerves coming back to life. I don't have to wear my binder or compression garment anymore. I may still wear it to work depending on how my swelling is. I still swell easily. Most of my swelling is in my upper abdomen and my sides and hips. I can't really do anything about so I am trying to just manage the pain part of it. He also said I could go back to exercising. Just to ease into it and of course not to do any core workouts. I am trying to decide how best to ease back into exercise. I have lost 4 lbs and have about 10 more to lose. I mainly just want to tone up my legs and back. So now I am just trying to ease back into my old daily routine and add in some exercise.

A little video blog

I have found some really cool video blogs. I kinda wish I would have done this from the start. I just found that it helped to hear people tell their story instead reading about. i am an open book so why not. i will do a couple video and post them here.

4 weeks post op with pics (lots)

So I made it a month. It has been a long month. There are so many thing I haven't been able to do. I can't be on my feet for long periods of time without fatigue and swelling. I can't lift more than 10lbs, or exercise. I am pretty much standing straight up. My main issue now is the swelling.  I took my pictures in the morning because swelling is less. I have lost 7-8 lbs. On an average day where i am up and running around for a few hours I will swell and put on about 2 lbs. Its painful but I take ibuprofen. I made a lotion mixture of coconut oil, vitamin e and lavender oil. I rub that on my stomach, hips and thighs. Most of my swelling is in the hips and thighs. My belly button is healing nicely. it is the last place to heal. In my pictures you can see marks on me that is from wearing my binder at night. I can take the big white binder off. I am more comfortable in my tan compression garment when I am out and about. I see mt surgeon next week. He will redefine what I can and cant do. I go back to work tomorrow. I am nervous, just because I can't lift a lot and I will need to sit often. I was so excited. I was able to start wearing jeans yesterday...finally, no more yoga pants. I put them on and they were huge. So off to Maurices I went. I was able to go down a size. those are the tan shorts in the picture. I am excited for Dr Robbins to hopefully clear me for exercise soon. My scar looks really good. I am pale so it will show up more red. it is very thin and will continue to fade. I still have some numbness in the area and it hurts less to rub the scar. I muscle repair is feeling good. My back hurts sometimes if  I over do it but nothing like it did before the surgery. Once again I will post a side by side before and after pic. Let me know if you have any questions. I love comments.

Two week post OP - pics included

Today is 2 weeks since surgery. Its been a long two weeks. I go back to work in two weeks and school within a month or so. I am not upto housework yet. I have driven a little. twisting is hard so I try not to drive if I dont have to. I would advice people to photograph in the morning as swelling is better. By noon I am really swollen. I have been tired. Not sleepy. I actually don't nap or sleep well at night. Its a lack of energy throughout the day. When I do run to the store or go to dinner and I get really worn out quickly. I am learning that patientce is important. Its is a long healing process. Now sayign that I still feel 2 weeks later it was worth it. Am i compltely happy with my results. Not yet, but I am still swollen and my finally shape will come. My muscles are still tucking in and my waste is swollen. Muscle spasms have gotten better. They dont hurt they feel similar to full term baby kicks.
 I took some pics this morning in my pajamas lol. My front view you can see my scar is healing nicely. I am pale so my scar is vivid. It is thin. I am kinda bad at scar therapy. It hurts to do. My scar only hurts when I start touching it. its very similar to my c-section scars.My belly button is still healing. It looks dark because I still have stitches in. It had to be anchored to my abdominal wall. I should get the stitches out when I got back in 3 weeks. The marks on my stomach are from the binder. I still have stretch marks and I don't like the way they look but I am told  they will get better over time. Also you can see I am still really swollen on my sides. I chose to not get lipo. Reason 1 is the added expense and Reason 2 is I feel I shouldn't get any work done  that I can fix myself. I can work on my love handles with exercise. If you don't want to deal with your sides or your back, then I would say lipo. I have discovered I am in the minority. Most people get a lot of lipo. I am a curvy girl, I don't mind. If I drop 10 lbs and the swelling goes down I will be happy. My side view. I like a lot better. My swelling in the front is not as bad as the sides in the morning. You can see how far to the side my scar goes. My is very low on my sides. Where mt drains came out is healing.