2 weeks {rhinoplasty blog}

Well hey there! I am 2 weeks post rhinoplasty/chin implant and feeling good. Looking just ok, though. 

My face is still bruised under both eyes, and a greenish color bruise on the entire left side of my face. My eyes are probably the worst, bright red. Still loving the nose, although I feel like the swelling has made it look similar to the old nose. You have to be very patient with rhinoplasty, the nose I saw right when the cast came off was about 80-85% of what the final result will look like. But right now, with no cast, the tip is really swollen. Ew I said tip. The majority of the swelling will be gone by 6 months and final result will be a 1 year wait. 

 A little profile shot for ya. 

My eyes are still disgusting. People stare.

Bruises are almost gone.

Day 7 {rhinoplasty blog}

Today is the day I've been waiting for. The big reveal. But more importantly, the day I got those splints out of my nose. Do you see how big these things are? And they are like 3 or 4 inches long. Can you see why mouth breathing was my only option? I could get a little whistle-y breath of air through them, but sometimes even that was impossible. 

I had Lauren (my assistant) pick me up this morning and drive me to my doctor appointment in Dallas. I took a pain pill just in case it hurt removing the cast and splints. 

I nervously went into the exam room and got on the little chair eyeing the cups of liquid, large tweezers, gauze, a sucking machine and other frightful looking tools laid out on the counter for my appointment. 

Dana, the precious nurse came in and got immediately to work clipping out my stitches. No pain there. They said as long as I kept them clean they would come out easy, and I did, and they did. 

Next up, the cast, that also peeled right off and it felt awesome! 

I did a sneaky little glance at myself in the side mirror to see if I looked awesome and I looked pretty much the same. Which was good because I knew I didn't get a Latoya Jackson nose, but was bad because I wanted to be blown away by the first look. 

My mind was still focused on the upcoming scary task, splint removal. Dana got the sucker machine out, it was similar to the sucking tools they use at the dentist. She stuck it up my nose to get anything that may have been dripping, got the tweezers, and pulled the splints out with NO PAIN! Whew. I had read mixed reviews on the removal of those and was pretty freaked out. It was nothing to be nervous about. They came right out and I took the best breath of my life. I can not even tell you how much better my nose functions, which wasn't even the reason I wanted nose surgery. But what a nice added bonus to looking good. 

Then she taped it up for me and taught me how to tape it, which I will have to do for another month and she showed me a little massaging exercise and Doctor Hackney came in.

He was so pleased with how straight he was able to get my nose. He had told me over and over that cartilage doesn't like to change shapes, like when you bend your ear and it flops right back into place. And since noses are mostly cartilage there was a good chance it would never be completely straight. I was totally fine with that, but am so happy that he got it all the way straight. He examined my nose and we looked at in the mirror and he let me know there was still a lot of swelling. My official after pictures aren't for another three weeks. I can't wait to see what it looks like then with all these nasty bruising and swelling gone. 

So here is the new nose from the front (which looks very similar to the old nose from the front, just straighter and a tad smaller)

And the new nose from the side. I love my profile now, I never thought I would ever utter those words.

And a side by side profile comparison of old and new nose. I am so pleased and so very glad I did that. Best money I've ever spent on myself. I feel pretty and feminine and just cute. 

Day 6 {rhinoplasty blog}

Day six turned out to be far better than my depressing day five. I kept reading that there is a small window of depression that you go through after plastic surgery. Mine was quick and over with, but I was very annoyed during that little time.
When I removed all the chin tape and got a good look at my chin, it looked like one side was bulging out in a weird way and it hurt so bad to touch it. This was the first actual pain I had experienced during the process. Now I am not one to call doctors unless I am damn sure there is a pressing issue. My kids have only been to the pediatrician for well checks and I think I called Dr. Zwernemann's office one lone time in all three pregnancies before I took some cold medicine when I was teaching. My mom and I both decided I should call and we thought, you know since we are basically like plastic surgeons after all this internet research, that my chin implant must have moved out of position and was shooting out making a big lump. So I called Dr. Hackney, they said to go ahead and come in at lunch, drove an hour over to his office, saw him and he was all, "oh yeah, that's just a little swollen spot." I felt like an idiot for doubting his expertise and thinking he would do some botched chin implant and for even calling. But I signed some waiver saying that 1 in 50 chin implants move out of position requiring further surgery and thought, well darn, I'm that chosen 1. Thank goodness, I was not. I got peace of mind and got my appointment for the big reveal moved up to wednesday instead of thursday. That means just one last night of sleep with splints and mouth breathing. I can do this.

day 5 {rhinoplasty blog}

I'm not going to beat around the bush on this one, today sucked.
Here's why:
1. I think I'm really getting tired of looking in the mirror and seeing a freak show. I mean, the UPS guy was knocking on the door and I let him drive away with a package I had to sign for because I was too ashamed. I actually get embarrassed too sometimes. Plus, I practically know this guy since I get client deliveries most days so I didn't want to have to explain myself.
2. The adhesive on the chin tape was pulling at all my little face hairs and starting to irritate my skin. I had to pull it off which was alarmingly painful.
3. Upon pulling of chin tape, I noticed a big swollen weird lump in the right side of my chin implant. I don't know if this is normal healing process, but to me it feels like the implant is all off. Definitely something to ask Dr. Hackney on Thursday.
4. My lower lip and entire lower chin has that novocain wearing off feeling, like when you leave the dentist.
5. My smile is grossly off center and ridiculous looking. I'll post a picture of that tomorrow...all just part of the healing process, but still.
6. I'm queasy and light headed.
7. I'm exhausted from night after night of horrible sleep.

On the bright side, pain is still at a 1. Bruising and swelling is slowly going away. Countdown is on to the big day on thursday! I can not even imagine how great it's going to feel to get this off my face. And to just hear the doctor's (hopefully) reassuring words about healing nicely and looking wonderful.

Still glad I did it, just a little annoyed. Thanks to my saint mother, saint husband and saint assistant who are going out of their way to be awesome.

Day 4 {rhinoplasty blog}

Hello Day 4! Swelling was down, bruising is turning into a nice yellow to match my house and shirt. I actually went to my mom's yesterday to get out for a bit. I also ripped off the foamy piece of tape that was on my chin. It was only about half way on and I was so sick of it.
I would do this again in a heart beat, but the worst part so far has been the mouth breathing. O to the MG. I wake up with my tongue feeling like a cactus and my whole mouth feeling like sandpaper. It's just beyond anything I've ever experienced as far as dry mouth goes. I can not wait for thursday when I finally get to take a deep breath into my new straightened nostrils. I had slept like crap the past two nights, I guess a combo of the mouth breathing and not being as drowsy since I stopped the pain and nausea meds.
The kids don't think I look like a monster anymore, which is encouraging. I have a tiny numb spot in the middle of my bottom lip.
I'm super tired today and my mom is here helping with Avey, so I'm hoping to get a nap and get through some work.

Day 3 {rhinoplasty blog}

Here we are on day 3. Swelling is down some, I can actually see through my puffy eyes. I took the mustache bandaid off since I'm not bleeding anymore. I switched from pain meds to tylenol so I may not be so sleepy and can get some work done (non strenuous work of course). I'm feeling fine and getting better all the time! Not too much to report.

Day 2 {rhinoplasty blog}

Now before you freak out, let me tell you that I am not in ANY pain. None. On a 1-10, I'm at a 1. So don't feel sorry for me. The only thing that is bugging me is the swelling and having to breathe out my mouth most of the time. 

So this was me the day after surgery. I could barely see since my eyes were so incredibly puffed up. The mustache bandage had a lot of blood on it and I was still very sleepy. Like watching tv for ten minutes was exhausting.  

I slept most of this day, texted with friends some and it's a little fuzzy due to the pain meds, but I basically did a ton of relaxing. In a way it was really nice since I never let myself do that.

I woke up from one of my many naps at about 8:10 and was confused if it was morning or evening. Turns out it was evening so I watched tv for a little bit and went back to bed.

Surgery day {rhinoplasty blog}

My alarm was set for 5 am, I took one good last look at my face as I knew it and was ready to roll. I wasn't too anxious, I knew I was in good hands with Dr. Hackney.
At the surgery center I had to change into a gown, tight compression hose, socks and a hair net. They, weighed me, got my vitals and then I just hung around for a few minutes until Dr. Hackney and the anesthesiologist came in to talk a little bit before the procedure.
At about 8:30 it was go time.
I was given some medicine to relax in my iv and then pushed into the OR. I was looking around at lights and tools and people and then the anesthesiologist gave me the good stuff and that is where my memory stops for a long while.
Next thing I know I am waking up in recovery with Dayme, trying to figure out if I should put my bra and panties on or just skip that step altogether and put on clothes. I think Dayme made the executive decision to just put on my yoga pants and my jacket with no underwear. I remember stumbling to a wheel chair and being pushed out to a teeny car. Dayme usually drives a Yukon, but today she was in a BMW convertible. I was probably the most unlively car ride companion in the world. I kept dozing off, would catch myself snoring, try to look out the window to see where we were and then dozing off again. It felt like a three hour road trip. I was never in pain the entire first day, I just slept a ton. I ate a little bit and was just glad to be home.
Sometime that night I threw up, so I have been taking some anti nausea just in case.
I can't really see much of what my new profile and nose is going to look like, but surely it's an improvement. The surgery took much longer than anticipated, so I wonder what was going on up in that nose of mine.

Night Before Surgery {rhinoplasty blog}

As I have told many of you, I will be blogging this very exciting plastic surgery journey. So let's get started.

Today is the day before my surgery #1 of 2. Tomorrow I will be having a rhinoplasty to improve the shape/size of my beak nose and a mentoplasty to balance my face with a small chin implant.

My surgeon is Dr. Hackney. He is wonderful, my consultation with him was like an hour and a half, my consultation with the first doctor I checked out was like five minutes. I'm sure both are wonderful surgeons, but Dr. Hackney was my selection for several reasons.

At first I thought a chin implant sounded like a weirdo thing to do, but a chin implant is actually a nose job's best buddy. I think I am going to be really glad I did it, my chin is really small which can make your nose appear larger.

So I'm working until I pass out tonight since I may be feeling lazy the next couple of days. I will post sometime tomorrow about my experience. In detail.

I'm not really nervous, just very excited. I've been thinking about this for years.

Will you?

You know how much we love Rene. When she was in town for the birthday party she had a very special and memorable way of asking Blake, Kylie and Aven to be her flower girls!!!!!!! They are so excited, Kylie thinks she is going to be in charge of the whole wedding as well as the "petunias", Blake and Kylie have both been practicing walking down the aisle holding a pillow with a ring on it (they may be a tad confused about their actual duties) while saying "step together. step together." 

First she gave me the sweetest, mushiest card. We just know that God brought us all together and it's the most unique yet wonderful friendship. I couldn't be happier that we have stayed in touch all this time across the big old state of Texas. 

Then there was a knock at the door! A cookie bouquet that says "be my flower girls?" Just precious and sugar cookies are my weakness.

I can not wait to see them all dressed up and I am so thankful that Rene has let them be a part of her big day!

Avey.

You are loved. 

Daddy Milestone

This was a huge day for many reasons.

1. The reason Kylie even got a new bike was because she finally, finally, FI-NUH-LY, pooped in the potty. This has been, I don't know, like a year long struggle. A battle. A power war. An all out pain in the ass, sometimes literally for poor Kylie. She was pee potty trained a long time ago, before Aven was born, but we kept her in pull ups at night so she didn't pee in her bed. This turned in to holding poop until the pull up was on, pooping at night, coming to get us and telling us she pooped, us cleaning it up with the worst attitude ever. repeat. repeat. repeat. repeat times hundreds. When I had just had enough, we did away with pull ups altogether. When it was time to poop, Kylie would panic and hold it for days. Until we would give in for health reasons and give her a pull up. So one day I got even more serious and decided there was no going back, no matter what. So we sat on the potty for 2 hours, and I got very stern and wouldn't let her leave the bathroom until she pooped. She had been holding it and crying, and it was way past time to nip this in the bud. Or butt. After a couple of hours of this I guess she decided she would try it so she didn't have to spend her entire childhood in the restroom. It wasn't that bad and the next time she had to go we had this same scenario, but it only lasted for about ten minutes. After that she was good, and we never looked back. Her reward was this bike. Hootie hoo! 

2. Isn't this such a daddy milestone? Dad's probably think about this day long before it ever goes down. Holding on to the handlebars, giving their baby a push and watching them take off on their first solo bike ride. It was so cute to watch. 

3. This is our first kid to even attempt a big bike. Blake isn't all that interested yet, but Kylie was all about it. 

Aven's Birthday Party!

Aven's first birthday was celebrated at the Little Gym. A nice little go to place for birthdays when you are entertaining young kids and babies of all ages. I think everyone had a great time except for Aven. She would rather just be at home snuggling. Oh well. 

My beloved friend and ex babysitter, Rene and her sister came in town from Houston for the big celebration. We are all in love with Rene! 

The theme, if you can even really have a full on theme at a little gym party, was rainbow hearts. The cake from www.confectionsincake.com in arlington was just so fun, cute, and delicious.