{Recovery Part #2}

It has now officially been a month since my surgery. At 2 weeks I wrote this post on my progress. Now that I am at 4 weeks, I wanted to share with you a few before and after pictures. Seriously, if you have a gag reflex or vomit at the site of something horrendous ... don't look :)

You may also remember this post, explaining why I went ahead at got the surgery done in the first place. In short, I was miserable. I was constantly asked when I was due, my stomach muscles were 5 1/2 inches apart {sitting on either side of my stomach}, and I had developed an umbilical hernia. Put it all together = mommy's tummy tuck. Believe you me, I wish I could have done this own my own, without going under the knife, but it wasn't possible. Although the surgery and recovery has been painful, I don't have any regrets. So here is the last 2 weeks recovery process ...

For the most part I have a flat stomach. It's actually amazing to me. I can eat a good dinner, and sit on the couch and nothing hangs over my pants. I still have quite a bit of swelling on either side. They call it a "shelf", where there is a large dip. I am just waiting for those to go down. I still have to wear my compression garment most of the day, but I have become accustomed to it. It really doesn't bother me anymore. My stitches came out about a week ago, and it HURT like mad when they were taking them ... I was told it would not hurt ... LIES! But since my stitches are out, I really had a good first look at what my scar looked like. YIKES, not pretty. But from everything I hear, scars get worse before they get better. And I was told it would be about a year for the scar to begin to really fade ... I'll keep you posted. Luckily, the scar is low, which means I can still wear a bikini, and you really wont see it that bad, which I am really thankful for.

Since I have got a lot of emails from all of you asking about all sorts of questions, and wondering what I look like now, I will be as honest as I can, and I will also show you some before and after pictures. Again, please use this as your last warning ...
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I warned you ...
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Last Chance to cover your eyes :)
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ok, here are the before and afters {4 weeks post surgery}

{Before}




{After}



Look, no strech marks!!! Didn't think about taking a side shot, I guess I forgot, I'll try to do that at 6 weeks out. Anyways, these pictures don't do justice. I feel so much better and am a lot more confident.