Belly Envy

Greetings Cook Boy Chronicle fans (all five of you ;).  It's been 21 days since my last confession, er, I mean post.  Trust me though, there is a good reason.

Big news on the Mom front.  9 pound baby, 5.8 gallons of amniotic fluid and a 50 pound weight gain (X 3) wreaked havoc on this previously hot little body.  I decided that while I am still somewhat young, I needed to repair the irreversible damage done to my mid-section.  I'm so proud of myself for making this decision and following through on it because far too many people look back and say shoulda, coulda, woulda.  Oh, and there is no way I was going to walk around with a gaping hole in my stomach muscles and a belly that rivaled the Wonderbread factory.  

Hi-ho, hi-ho, off to surgery I go.  (*this is where you may want to cover your eyes if your of the squeamish type - ahem... Corey*)  It was a pretty massive three hour surgery - one hour per baby, I guess.  I have an incision from side-to-side (all skin about an inch above my belly button and below was removed) and three layers of stitches were placed to pull my stomach muscles back together (that were 7 inches apart by the way - no wonder my ribs were rubbing together!)  The stretched and unrecognizable tattoo that previously occupied my stomach is completely gone, all but one tiny corner anyway.  I like to think of that little corner as a sweet reminder of the dough belly that once was.  

Today is 4 weeks since the big day and I'm doing wonderfully!  I haven't regretted the decision for one second, even at the worst of it when I felt like my body was on fire.  Swelling can take three to six months to completely resolve.  When that happens, I promise to post a pic of the beautiful new belly and enviable new belly button.  

A big THANKS to family and friends for chipping in and helping out while I was down for the count.  It wasn't always easy with Mom out of commission for so long, but we all made it through - and now we've got an even happier and more confident Mommy on the backend.