Now, the exercising is still really light but I feel better doing it. I've been trying to "walk" 30 minutes a day on my elliptical, plus I've been using my 5lb weight to do a few moves for my shoulders, biceps and triceps, and doing squats and lunges. I definitely feel a bit more flabby not being able to do my usual workout but this is a step in the right direction.
I've realized I'm still moving more slowly than I'm used to and get tired much faster. Before surgery my morning would be get kids dressed and fed, pick up the kitchen, do my daily housecleaning, workout (45min-1hour), and shower... Usually I'd be done with all of this around 10 or 11. With my new slowness I have a hard time finishing all of this by 12 and half the time I don't get the walk in until the afternoon (if at all)! At least I'm trying and moving! I feel pretty good to be doing things for myself.
Sleeping has been getting better, I really enjoy sleeping in my own bed. Especially with the binder on I've found that moving in my sleep can be difficult, I wake up just to roll to my side and adjust. That, and getting out of bed reminds me of when I was really big and pregnant because of how I move, lol.
So last night since I was four weeks post-op I decided to sleep without the binder on. At first it felt strange and even cold, but after I relaxed a bit I was much more comfortable than I have been. I am looking forward to wearing my binder less as time goes on, except for one thing, SWELLING. I have been taking the binder off for 2-3 hours in the evenings after the kids are in bed and I'm mostly sitting reading or watching tv and my waist will gain 1-2 inches in that time! I definitely feel that my swelling is less than it was. Before this week I bulged out a bit above my scar and even in the mornings my waist was about 31inches (before surgery it was 29) and would grow as the day went on even with the help of the binder so by the end of the day I could be up to 35 inches in the waist!! But the past few days I've been at 29-30 inches in the morning and no more than 32 in the evenings... So definite improvement!
I mentioned hypersensitivity in my blog title here, and it was awful!! As I've mentioned before I've been having some pretty bad itching along my scar (specifically along the front right side), but Tuesday morning about 30 minutes or so after I put on my new set of silicone scar strips that area started BURNING like I was being attacked by fire ants!! Any time I moved or something touched that area it brought tears to my eyes, it hurt that bad. Tylenol did absolutely nothing for it and by the time the kids were in bed I broke down and took a Percocet, which only helped in the sense that I was too loopy and nauseated to care that I hurt, it didn't get rid of the pain. When it wasn't gone Wednesday morning I called my doctor. His response... Take off the silicone scar strips! I had no signs of infection or anything else other than pain, so he feels that I need to wear the strips less. I have been wearing them nearly 24/7 because the box says to wear them at least 12 hours a day, so more must be better, right? Apparently WRONG! He said some people can be a bit sensitive to the scar strips and wearing them for too long causes itching, irritation, and hypersensitivity. So he has me going two days without any scar strips on and then I can only wear them at night. Although I feel a bit disappointed because I can see how much the strips have helped my scar already and I want that to continue, but the strips have been off 24 hours s far and already the pain is almost completely gone, my scar is just a little irritated.
Wanna see some pictures?? I feel so much more confident in my body, I can't wait for clothes shopping!!
This is a close up of my scar, the lower red spot is where my drain came out-
The bumpiness along the top is really just the texture differences with my stretch marks. There was no way the doctor could completely remove all of my stretch marks, they were all the way up to my ribs... Now they're just above my belly button! And I honestly don't care about getting rid of my stretch marks, they're reminders of my pregnancies and deliveries.
And here's my four week tummy shot!
Sooo much better!
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