Halifax Tummy Tuck

I can’t believe it’s been more than a year since I had my abdominoplasty and diastasis recti repair. For the most part, I have no regrets: the DR repair, in particular, has been life changing in helping me achieve core strength and far reduced back pain. It’s also pretty great to have a proper pelvic floor connection and control again!

A full year later, though, I have the benefit of hindsight and I can see a few things I would have done differently. Would the outcome change? Maybe. But maybe not. Here’s what they are (in no particular order):

I would have timed it differently

The time of year? 10/10. It was cold and crappy out (November) and gave me just enough time to be well-healed for the holidays. But, major abdominal surgery with two kids three and under? Not my wisest pick. My youngest son was only 13 months old, and the middle guy wasn’t quite three, so their understanding of “why” Mama couldn’t lift them — or for the first week when I had my drains in, even cuddle with them — cuddle them.

If I was doing it again, I’d have waited until BOTH of my littles were out of cribs and more able to understand.

I would have rested longer

It surprised no one to learn that I had lifted my youngest before I was supposed to, and – while I technically got away with it – I definitely pushed it on the healing front. On the one hand, I’m glad I didn’t wait an extra hour to start moving gently (walking) but I threw myself back into real life much sooner than advised.

I didn’t have any serious side effects but some of the little issues included:

• pain at my incision site
• additional scar tissue
• infected incision
• bruising and swelling

I wouldn’t have skipped on compression so soon

I found my compression garments a bit annoying (and hot!) to wear so I DEFINITELY stopped wearing them sooner than I would, knowing what I know now. I got tired of trying to figure out outfits with the belly binder, and then with compression/shapewear, and stopped wearing them after only a few weeks.

If I was doing it all over again, I’d have kept wearing them a lot longer to help with my incision healing and helping my core feel supported.

I would have lost more weight

This one is pretty minor and probably the least important to me but I would have absolutely cut a bit more weight prior to surgery if I knew how I’d be feeling a year out. I had been advised to lose 5+ pounds more than goal weight in advance of my surgery for the best possible results. I focused, instead, on being strong and active – and I think that was a very OK plan. I did “bounce back” pretty quickly because my body was strong and healthy.

The reason I would have liked to drop a bit more weight before surgery is because now, if I lose weight, I’ll potentially be back to where I initially started with loose skin.

I would have held off on certain exercise for longer

I took an extra two weeks away from the gym post-op to give myself more time to recuperate, but I (admittedly) went back to taxing my core muscles sooner than I should have done. In fact, I went back to doing full ab work almost two months before recommended because I felt up to it.

But, I had several instances where I could feel the internal stitches – it felt like a pinch or sharp pull – either during or after workouts. This often resulted in me needing to take extra days off. The end result? I pushed too hard too soon and I think I ultimately hampered my overall progress.