Is this normal healing for a Laparotomy? Please respond ASAP!

[Claire409]

I had a vertical laparotomy to remove my right ovary (and the 8cm benign tumor encompassing it) and Fallopian tube about 9 days ago and I’ve been home for almost a week.
The incision is fairly small, ending an inch or two below my belly button and does not have staples (my surgeon said she did a plastic surgery close?) and there are a series of steri strips over the wound.
My incision had gradually been feeling better each day and I’ve been able to get up and do more every day.
I’m not walking a whole lot because I can’t stand up straight yet and it’s very hard on my back (of course I still up several times a day to use the bathroom, get food/drinks, wash dishes etc but I only get up if I need to.), but I know I shouldn’t lay down all day so I compromise by going to the living room and sitting upright and try to stay longer each day.
A few days after I first got home I finally bathed for the first time with it (which was scary) and when I took the dressing off that day I noticed the very bottom steri strip on my incision had come off which worries me because it seems too soon for them to be falling off and I’m also pretty sure I can see the bottom of the incision now which scares me too because part of it is basically bare. My mom said it’s not a part of my incision even though it pretty clearly looks like it to me, but I tried not to worry about it.
I’ll admit I haven’t really cleaned the incision because I honestly don’t really know how and it makes me too nervous to try. The packet I got just said to wash it daily but nothing about what to use or anything and I feel like the dollar soap we use probably isnt good for it. When I showed I let some water run over it and very lightly tapped the incision with a soap-covered rag but I don’t know if that’s considered proper cleaning?
The past few days I’ve felt pretty good (and haven’t taken pain medicine, not that they ever really helped anyway) so I’ve spent most of the days out of bed sitting up and drawing. Since I’ve been up more today and yesterday I’ve started to notice this pinching sensation in my incision.
Now, my incision stopped “weeping” (aka light blood leakage) several days ago but then today when I went to change my bandage I noticed it had started to weep at the very bottom (where the steri-strip had fallen off) and I changed the bandage. That was about two hours ago. Now when I checked my brand new bandage it’s still weeping at the bottom and now there’s a solid dark red dot of blood near the top of the incision and both parts of the incision sting even when I’m not moving. My mom again said it’s normal and it’s not a big deal but it still worries me.
Is it normal to just start bleeding and hurting again after it stopped? Is it bleeding again because I’ve been sitting up straight for too long? Could this at all mean it’s getting infected?
I was gonna try putting some hydrogen peroxide on it in the morning, would that help anything?

I have also been laughing a bit the past few days which hasn’t really hurt so much as made me sore, could that be part of it?

My mom has to work on weekdays so most of my time since coming home has spent alone (I’m talking 10+ hours a day) and I’m afraid that I’m doing something wrong,

[old_before_my_time]

What you describe is probably typical for being 10 days post-op. But just to be sure, you may want to call your surgeon's office tomorrow and run it by them. Also, it's good to get up and walk a little throughout the day while recovering from surgery. You did mention that it hurts a lot to stand up straight. That should be gradually improving. If it isn't you should notify your doctor.

Feel better soon!