The illusive "swelly belly" WHAT IS IT???

Hi ladies
The term "swelly belly" is not only mentioned a lot on this site, it's the raison d'etre for the generous sponsorship of the post op category.
Must admit I don't really know WHAT is swelly belly, what causes it and what (if anything) do we need to pay attention to.

I'd be real grateful if someone would take a few minutes and shed some light on this mystery.

Thanks tons
"Stay124"

Hi Stay124, The swelly belly is the "swelling" of the lower abdomen from the surgery. If you had your surgery over 2 weeks ago and have not experienced the swelly belly consider yourself lucky. YAY! I am over 3 months post op and I STILL have the swelly belly. Its not as bad, but it is there, especially when I overdo it during the day. Some of the women here still have it after 6 months to a year.

hi {{stay124}}} if you go to the forum called "articles and resoures" there is a VERY informative article on swelly belly............tells you what it is and what causes it............ `s to you Renee P.S. the link to get to "articles and resources" is at the top of the page....blessings

Mine did not start until week 4 or 5 and I now know exactly what it is and can't stand it. I guess all of the resting I did early on kept it down. Maybe I will go and rest now

Thanks gals for taking the time to post answers and for sharing your experiences. I'm starting to "get it" but I'm still a tad confused. :-)

I have a horizontal incision. Sometimes (usually later in the day) a pouch-like area appears on my stomach just above the incision. The pouch sticks out above (and hangs over) the incision similar to a fold. (it's rather ugly I must say!)

Is what I'm describing "swelly belly"? If yes, then why is the swelling only in the area immediately above the incision? There doesn't appear to be swelling off to the sides of the incision.

Also, is it safe to assume that the swelling is some kind of fluid build-up that will dissipate over time? Or is it something else?

Thanks for reading this message and for helping out if you can.
PS. Thanks Ms Kitty for pointing me to the great hystersisters articles. In case anyone else is curious, here's the link to the swelly belly article:
https://www.hystersisters.com/vb2/article_163685.htm

For me that is originally how it was until I became more active. Now it is the whole stomach. The more I do the bigger it gets.

Dang Swelly. I don't think mine is ever going to go away! But it is good to know, at least around here........We are not alone! TC and let's just keep the faith that it's going to leave eventually