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Mommy Makeover! The good, bad and disgusting!

by Christin Lucero

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So, I figure because its such a hot topic right now I would go ahead and write the post about my Mommy Makeover! I want to start by saying EVERY BODY IS BEAUTIFUL! Mine just had some extra baggage (literally) that reminded me of a very hard time in my life that I needed to move on from. We all heal in our own ways and this was part of my journey to healing from the self hate and self ABUSE I went through for 2 decades.
 
I guess starting at the very beginning to my life is probably the best place to start on this one. I have ALWAYS been on the "chunky side". Since I was a baby, I have been a rolie polie. When I was in grade school, I was usually the chunkiest kid in the room. I wasn't GIANT or anything but I definitely was NOT shopping at the Limited Too! (You're welcome for that flashback!) I hit puberty early at the ripe old age of 11. I started my period a month after turning 11 actually. As you can imagine, that only added to my body issues. I never grew boobs but I certainly grew some giant hips and booty! This is the time I started to really become aware of my body. Until middle school, I never cared what I looked like. Like, mom was lucky if I brushed my hair most days. I was a tomboy who played outside with the boys every single day. WHO CARED WHAT I LOOKED LIKE!! Well... apparently the whole damn world, that's who.
 
Middle school was rough with other girls teasing me about not having boobs and being jealous that I had a big butt. Boys would tease me about my butt and it made me really uncomfortable at first. But, eventually I used it to my advantage and, by high school, most people knew me as either "BBG" or "Big Booty White Girl". Side note: I was an active child. I was a cheerleader from the time I was 7 and I played outside, HARD! So it wasn't like I was just a couch potato who "let myself go". I cheered, competitively, in high school and that helped me A TON. If you have ever been a high school or competitive cheerleader, you know that the conditioning you have to go through is CRUCIAL! Like, looking back... IDK how the hell I am alive! We would get to school early to workout, shower, and head to class. Then, after school we would go at it again for several hours. This was every single day...year round...summers included. During competition time, well... we died. Even on weekends, we were in that gym sweating our butts off. So, as you can imagine, my body changed a lot. I got pretty slim and VERY MUSCULAR. This is when I learned I would NEVER be a size 00 or a Barbizon Model. I actual tried that one and well... "Come back when you've lost about 40 lbs and gain 5-6 inches". Oh sure... let me call the leg stretchers. Ya'll I was 115lbs soaking wet! That was the first time I was told I wasn't good enough because of my body size. I just had to be ok with being "thick" and muscular.
 
Fast forward to Junior year of high school and I couldn't cheer anymore after an injury and I was in a deeeeeeeeeeeeep depression. I actually ended up dropping out of high school in January. GASP! WHAT! YOU DID?! BUT..... Yes, I know.... you'd never expect it looking at me now! That's a story for another day. I was depressed and no longer active every day. I started eating my feeling, and everything else around me obviously. By the time I was 18 I was about 190 lbs. That's A LOT of weight gain over 3 years. Like most 18 year olds in this town, who didn't escape to college, I moved out of my mom's and was trying to go to college while working a full time job just to pay my rent. I couldn't afford to eat healthy and I worked in a restaurant where shit food was my only option. Thanks ole Shrimpy! Annnyyywayyyyss, 3 weeks after I turned 18, I met my first husband... remet? Whatever. By June 19th (less than a month later) I was pregnant with my first boy, Lane. We got married that September and my world was turned upside down.
 
We were young and BROKE AS A JOKE. I was depressed my entire pregnancy and that made me eat. See a pattern? I am, for sure, an emotional eater! I am also 500% sure that I had gestational diabetes even though they never diagnosed it. My sugar was high the entire pregnancy but I somehow didn't fail the 3 hour test or whatever it was. Then I developed high blood pressure and the swelling started. I was basically one giant water balloon. That's when I was diagnosed with preeclampsia. During the course of my pregnancy I gained another 75 lbs. I delivered Lane, via emergency c section, in March of 2009. I was 265lbs... at 19 years old! Let's think about that... that means that in just 4 years, I gained 150lbs! Imagine the damage that kind of weight gain did to my body, inside and out. Now add in an emergency c section... it was just horrid.
 
I tried every single fad diet, pill, starvation method, and workout regimen known to man! BUT I NEVER STUCK WITH IT! I was so tired. I had a new born and was working 2 jobs. Ya girl was dead most days. Fast forward to my 21st birthday and my husband and I separated. This meant I was living on my own for the first time EVER and again, broke. Like too broke to eat unless I went to my moms. THANK GOD FOR WIC! I also started taking phentermine. Yep.... those fabulous weight loss pills that EVERYONE was taking in the early 2000's. Nevermind that they were terrible for you. My doc kept prescribing them. I lost about 70 lbs and felt great! I decided, for health reasons, to stop taking the pills and guess what happened? I GAINED EVERY SINGLE POUND BACK.... Plus about 20lbs. So now... I am 22 and 285lbs. My husband and I got back together and life was seemingly normal. Until we decided we wanted another baby. That's when we found out I had PCOS and type 2 diabetes. Every doctor told me "it's just because you’re obese". NOT TRUE YA'LL! But I will save that high horse for another day.
 
So, we gave up on the baby idea when the docs said it just wasn't gonna happen. I knew it was a miracle we had Lane to begin with and I didn't want to be stingy. But again, I was depressed and eating. When I was 25 I was 310lbs. This is when my health REALLY started to decline. Keep in mind, I am only 5'2". So 310 lbs put me at 56.7 on the BMI chart! They say that anything over 25 is overweight and anything over 30 is obese. I was MORBIDLY OBESE. My sugar was out of control. My PCOS was getting worse. Then.... my blood pressure started creeping higher and higher. I went to the doctor and they sent me to a cardiologist after a bad EKG and ECG. Turned out I had all kinds of valve prolapses. At 25 years old, my doctor looked me dead in my face and said "You will not see your son graduate. You will be lucky if you live to turn 30 at the rate you're going.". Like.... what?! I mean I obviously knew that being overweight wasn't great. I watched my grandmother (on both sides), my mother, my aunt, and several other family members struggle with weight my entire life. But none of them were DYING over it. But let me tell ya, friend.... being told that you won't live to turn 30 and that you won't see your baby graduate (he was 5 at the time).... that's a kind of reality check that I could've never prepared myself for.
 
My very best friend in the world, Kimi, had just had her gastric bypass surgery after years of struggling with all the same issues I had. She lost a ton of weight and a lot of her health issues resolved immediately. At first I was like "oh that's the easy way out" and "that's cheating".... but ya know what's better than death? CHEATING! So, I went to the bariatric surgeon and jumped through every hoop known to man, for over a year, to get my insurance to approve my surgery. On, August 12, 2015 I had the gastric bypass surgery weighing in at 315lbs.
 
I won't get into all those details because I have already spent enough of your time, but it was NOT by any means the "easy" way out. Nope. Hell nawwwww. It was actually MISERABLE for years. But, I lost 125lbs in the first 6 months and by 1 year post op I was down 155lbs. My sugar was great. My blood pressure was normal. I got a period again! I was able to play outside with my kid and even fit on fair rides again! But... it wasn't enough. By two years post op I had lost exactly 200lbs and weighed 115lbs. However, this new body at 28 years old looked nothing like 115lbs Christin from 12 years ago. I was sick. I developed an eating disorder and my body started failing again. My heart was under too much stress and my brain was NOT HEALTHY. I had to really really fight to get to a healthy weight. Thanks to the support of my family and my psychiatrist, I was able to gain about 15lbs and get to my "goal" weight of 130lbs. That put my BMI right in the middle of the normal range.
 
Now imagine.... gaining 200 lbs over 9 years.... then losing 200lbs over 2 years. What do you think my skin did? It sure didn't just snap back! It was stretch marked and saggy. I had soooo much excess skin it was DISGUSTING. I felt good inside. I should've been over the moon that I was given the opportunity to live my life with my family! But, imagine waking up every day and feeling like one person but being reminded by every mirror and picture that you WERE NOT that person on the outside. It was horrible. I have always struggled with body dysmorphia but this skin made it sooooooo bad!
 
I told myself by the time I was 30 I would get the skin removed. I had a good job, made great money, and felt that I deserved it! I went to a local plastic surgeon's office and had a consultation where I was told that it would cost me $20,000 to have the surgery. 20 WHAT?! I mean.... I made good money but not THAT kinda money! I also was going through a divorce so I really didn't have it like that. So my dreams were basically set on fire. 30 came and went. I didn't meet my goal. But... I told myself that one day I would do it. ONE DAY I would be in a position to just do it!
 
Fast forward to Fall of 2019 and I am 30 years old and newly engaged. GUESS WHAT! I was NOT infertile like I had been told for a decade. I got pregnant again with my Nolan! I told myself this time would be different and I would NOT gain all that weight! By this time I was about 150lbs. Which I felt was still a healthy weight and I felt good! JOKES ON ME! I gained about 45lbs. This time I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes and that contributed, a little. But mostly, I was just happy! See... not only do I eat when I'm sad, I eat when I'm happy. Food is my emotional support animal. Never lets me down l0l
 
So I delivered Nolan, via c section, in May of 2020....IN THE MIDDLE OF A FRICKIN PANDEMIC! No gyms. Hell we weren't even supposed to leave our damn houses. My family met my son at almost a week old. It was crazy! Again, story for another time. But c sections alone, for people who aren't unicorns, make it pretty difficult to "snap back" into shape. Then add on the pandemic where I think we all just gained 30lbs for the hell of it. I went through some post partum depression which was not helpful. So here I was back at 190lbs. No, it wasn't 315 but I was right back to where it all started in 2008. 190lbs and my "tool" (gastric bypass) wasn't helping much anymore. So I was starting all over. I lost about 20 lbs dieting and again, not happy with my body. I couldn't fit in clothes right because I was tucking in loose skin and even more stretch marks. I was miserable with who I was on the outside which did a number on my mental state.
 
I told my husband that NO MATTER WHAT, I was getting the plastic surgery done and he was 100% on board. He hated seeing me hating myself everyday. He was willing to do whatever it took to help me be happy again! Well, we sold our home and made a pretty good profit and I decided between that and taxes, this was the year! Now, I had been researching surgeons for a while. I spoke to several of them stateside and then started researching medical tourism. Yes... Mexico. BLAH BLAH BLAH i CaNt BeLiEvE yOu WeNt To MeXiCo FoR sUrGeRy! Well... believe it!
 
In January of 2022 I had a virtual consultation with a plastic surgeon in MexiCali and they had a date available the next month! So I booked it, booked plane tickets, hotels, and was READY! My husband was not going to be able to travel with me but, because I am insane, I was ready to go by my damn self. There was NOTHING and NO ONE going to stand in my way of having this done. My mom, begrudgingly, decided that she was not ok with me going alone and booked a plane ticket. THANK GOD! IDK what in the hell I was thinking! There was no way I could've done that shit alone!
 
So on February 24th we flew from Pensacola to San Diego. We stayed at a hotel overnight and at 7:30am the next day, our "Uber" picked us up. He wasn't exactly an Uber but, someone from Mexicali, who had a visa to cross the border, worked with the surgery center and was willing to make that VERY LONG drive. So.... we drove about 3 hours to Mexico where I checked in at the clinic and had preop labs drawn. We then were taken to our next hotel where we slept all day! We were friggin exhausted! That night I showered (and flooded the hotel room), said goodbye to my skin, ate allll the goodies, and went to sleep. On Saturday, February 26th, our driver picked us up at 7am to take us to the clinic. I checked in for surgery and we had to wait for 6 hours before I was taken back into surgery. Longest day of my damn life I tell ya! The doc came in and marked me up. I had my husband on FaceTime so he could have an opinion on the size of implants and which tummy tuck option we were going to proceed with. We decided on a 360 tummy tuck (or lower body lift), 360 lipo, and 380CC implants. Here's the kicker.... NO ONE SPOKE ENGLISH! Ok, not no one... but 99% of the staff, including my doctor, did not speak English. Imagine having to have this consultation with google translate and one person who could speak broken English to translate. Ya'll, I speak ZERO Spanish. I can order a beer and that is about it! But... I knew going into this that the language barrier may be an issue and I was prepared. Anyway, I kissed my momma, called my husband and sent my friends and family a text letting them all know I loved them and would check in when I woke up.
 
So... here's the ugly part. During surgery, I woke up. I guess the anesthesia wasn't the right dose or something but, I WOKE UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OPERATION! All I remember was being flipped onto my belly and suddenly I'm awake. I thought maybe the surgery was over and they were moving me from the operating room to the recovery room. NOPE! Then I felt the doctor start his lipo on my back. Luckily, I had a spinal block and was numb from the waist down. So, I didn't feel much pain.... just pressure and a lot of "what the hell?!". They had already done my breast augmentation so I could feel how sore my chest was, too. I tried to tell them I was awake but they didn't care much. The anesthesiologist shoved my head back down and then I was out again. I guess they gave me more meds...idk. So.... fast forward and I am waking up in the OR, again. This time PRAYING that the surgery is finished. It was. The doctor showed me a picture of my new body and I COULD NOT BELIEVE IT! HOOOWWWWW could that be me?! No excess skin and BOOBIES! Remember, I have been pretty flat chested since birth so these things were a whole new adventure!
 
They wheeled me to a recovery room where there was NO ONE! I was the very last patient of the day and this place was dead. I had one nurse in there with me, who also didn't speak English, who was very sweet! I remember laying there, for what felt like 3 days, waiting on them to let me go into my room and see my mom and call my husband. Then.... I hear a guy come in and say something in Spanish to the nurse. Then in English he said "Is that your mom?". I laughed and said "Oh god! What did she do?!" That is about the time that my momma walked her happy butt right into the recovery room, where she was NOT supposed to be, and told them that she had waited long enough and was ready to "PUT EYES ON HER DAUGHTER!". They let her in for just a second but, she had to stand at the door and just say hi and bye. A short while later, they took me to my room where momma bear was waiting. WITH PIZZA! Yes, I ate pizza an hour after a mommy makeover. Would you expect anything less?! Come on!
 
I don't think I have ever been so happy to see her! Like I said, I could NOT have done this without her! I was still really numb and on some pain meds so the night wasn't bad. They came in the next morning to take off all the dressings and put me into my faja (compression garment) and kick my ass out! The clinic offered us to stay, for free, at their recovery house but they didn't have great reviews and I was simply not comfortable staying there. Before going to Mexico, I did research and found an AWESOME recovery house right up the road! The owner's name is Cynthia and I cannot rave enough about that women! She is incredible! She and her husband picked us up from the clinic the morning after surgery and drove us to her recovery house.
 
The recovery house included a power recliner to help me up and down, a bed for momma, a big TV for my binge watching pleasure, 3 cooked meals a day, round the clock nurse care, someone coming in to change my dressings and measure my drains, help showering, etc. It was GREAT! The next day, we noticed that one of my drains was stopped up. So Miss Cynthia called my doctor and told them we were otw! She drove us to the clinic, sat with us for my appointment and to help translate some, and then took us back. Oh! Side note... on the way back to her recovery house I was craving potato chips bad! Buuuuttttt, she had me on a strict diet to help with healing and wouldn't let me get any at the store. We get back to the house and a few minutes later she walks in with some veggie straws and gummy candy and chocolate for my momma! That sweet angel had gone to the store and bought us snacks!
 
The next day, the driver came and picked us up and drove us back to San Diego. The line at the border was super long and it took us way longer to get back to Cali than it did leaving. We got to San Diego around noon, I think. The drive wasn't AWFUL but it certainly was not fun. My brother is stationed in San Diego and picked us up from the driver to have lunch. That was a nice little treat! Then he dropped us off at San Diego air port where the real hell began. Our flight from San Diego to Atlanta was 4 hours. Keep in mind, sitting straight up was hella hard and HURT! I brought a boppy pillow to help support me on the journey but it was NOT enough! Luckily, I sat next to the sweetest lady who had just had her boobs done two weeks prior so we talked and she gave me some great tips! By the time we got to Atlanta it was 9:45pm EST. Ya girl was exhausted! We had about an hour layover but, because I was in a wheelchair, we got to board first and go ahead and get settled in. The flight home from Atlanta was, indeed, an awful one. I was in so much pain. I was exhausted. I was emotional as hell. I was READY TO BE HOME! We landed in Pensacola, VERY ROUGHLY, at 11:10pm CST. When we landed, boy did that hurt. I tensed every muscle in my body and it felt like I had been hit by a truck! I sobbed. Then I sobbed some more. And then I sobbed some more. No....... the pain was not that bad. I think all of the anxiety, the stress, the pain, and the fear of the entire trip was just finally letting itself out. Until then, I had been cool as a cucumber.
 
We got off the plane and they wheeled us out to the front where my sweet husband was waiting. Anndddd... I sobbed some more. Seeing him just sent my emotions into overdrive! Yes, I love my momma. Yes, I am so grateful she was with me. But, he's my person, ya'll! I finally had MY PERSON. He wheeled me out to the car while momma waited on our bags. When we got in the car, he opened up a cooler in the backseat and handed me ice packs. YOU GUYYYSSSSS! He brought me ice packs because he knew I'd be sore! Ugh, I just can't!
 
Anyways..... the next few days were great! I was able to go to the bathroom alone since day 1. I was able to get up and down with little assistance. My pain was VERY minimal. Oh, did I mention that they don't believe in pain medicine in Mexico? They gave me none to take home. So I was living on Motrin and Tylenol. I did purchase a few supplements and things that made the process of healing MUCH easier!
 
The compression garment they sent me home with was HORRIBLE. It was so uncomfortable and not made for short waisted people like me! So my hubby and I tried to rig it to be comfy and well.... I lost some of the compression when I did that. At week 2, I woke up and felt REALLY bloated. Like, I had been swollen and bloated but this was way worse. I went to the bathroom and tapped on my belly and instantly know... seroma. A seroma is a build-up of clear bodily fluids in a place on your body where tissue has been removed by surgery. Basically, when you have a tummy tuck they lift your belly skin away from the muscle to do the muscle repair and then they lay the skin back down, pull it tight, and sew you up! While the skin and tissue is trying to basically re-adhere and scar itself to the muscle and tissue underneath, you need to be compressing so that no fluid can build up between and cause these pockets of fluid, called seromas. Oh I forgot to mention, this happened about 2 days after my drains were removed. The drains are there to help drain the lymphatic fluid that your body builds up after surgery and the fluid they fill you with when they do lipo. So once the drains were removed and I wasn't using enough compression, the fluid said HEYYYYYY! I called the doctor and they had me come in where they drained 100cc of fluid off my abdomen. I felt 100 times better after that! The difference was insane! They also put me in a new binder. Well actually two of them and lipo foam. They said the more compression the better to try and eliminate any pockets for fluid to build up in. I went back the following week and they drained 60cc of fluid and again, felt even better! I think that the double binding, with the lipo foam, and trying to take it easy is what made such a difference in the amount of fluid drained.
 
At 4 weeks, I went to Soma and got a new bra! No longer needed to be in a medical bra! I just can't have underwire yet. That same day, I put on a pair of jeans, tucked my tank top in, put on a belt and boots and went to a Cody Johnson concert! No, I did not wear my binder because I was ready to feel cute, damnit! Did I regret it? Oh yeah! For 3 days, I sure did! But I can honestly say... I have never felt so good in my skin! I had a sappy moment at that concert. I was standing there talking to my son's friend's parents (had met the dad but never the mom) and this lady was DROP DEAD GORGEOUS! Usually when I am around skinny, pretty women, I get really insecure and spend the entire conversation figuring out how to stand to hide how hideous I am. FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, I stood there as confidant as could be! Feeling every bit as sexy and pretty as that woman. Not self conscious AT ALL! We left and as we were walking back to our seats, I realized what had just happened. I stopped my husband and just started crying. That one moment made this entire journey worth it! This is the Christin I have always felt like. FINALLY the outside matches the inside! No, it isn't all about looks. But when you feel shitty on the outside, it can be REALLY hard to feel good on the inside!
 
So.... here I am. Almost 5 weeks post op. I still wear two binders and lipo foam every day. I sleep with one binder on. My incision is healing great! Every day I can do a little more and feel a little more "normal". I bought a bathing suit and don't hate me in it. I wore a crop top for the very first time and felt FABULOUS! I don't cringe at the thought of my husband seeing me naked anymore. Hell I prefer to be naked now! This is where I am going to say IF YOU ARE MY MOTHER, GRANDMOTHER, OR ANYONE WHO DOESN'T WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE "ADULT" MOMENTS IN MY LIFE..... Love ya, mean it! Thanks for stopping by.... close the page now!
 
Ok, if you're still here, you have been warned! The answer EVERYONE wants to know is when can you have sex after such a huge procedure? Well.... it depends I guess. The doctor said 4-6 weeks. My body said 2 weeks l0l It was nothing crazy obviously and it wasn't exactly comfortable. At 4 weeks, everything was back to normal in that department. Yes I was sore the next day from using my ab muscles that have been ripped open, sewn back together, and put through hell this month.... but the "during" part was fine! I am in no way telling anyone to disobey their doctor's orders and I have seen people with VERY DIFFERENT experiences. Remember, everyone is different and the key is to listen to your body! Don't push it to do things it isn't ready for.
 
Would I do it again? Yes.
Would I do it again, in Mexico? No.
Where will I go in the future? Miami.
Am I happy with the size of my implants? Not right now. Hoping that changes with time.
Do I regret doing this? HELL NO!
Am I ready to be back to "normal life"? More than you can even imagine!
 
As you can tell, I am a completely open book! I am positive I didn't answer all the questions and I know I will re-read this and say "damnit I forgot to add xyz". If I come up with more, I will make another post to elaborate. If you have questions, leave a comment and I promise to address them all! Go check out my TikTok for more from my trip and after! The link is at the bottom of the home page! Overall, this journey has been great. Don't let people scare you out of it. Not a single person I talked to before surgery had as good of a recovery as I have. People don't talk about the good stuff. They only talk about the bad things because it's what we remember most! Thank ya'll for sticking with me and supporting me through this! I appreciate you reading and stay tuned for more unapologetically unfiltered posts!
 
XoXo- ThatOneBish
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