Breast Implants: Stories

I am a married, 50-year-old mother of 2 grown kids, one each, ages 24 and 22. I am wanting a BA to look great in clothes that I currently don't look good in. Also, I understand that after having implants, many women report enhanced sexual enjoyment, and we can all use more of that.

I have considered it for well over 10 years but was felt badly about being "so vain." Well, I am to the point where, although I care what other people think, it is no longer a motivation about whether I am judged for getting the implants.

I am 5'7", about 130 lbs. and am thinking of choosing about a 300cc implant.  I would rather err on the side of small (I know, many ladies say this) and would actually rather keep people guessing, which is harder to do if they are much larger. 

My family is not particularly supportive.  My husband is willing to take me to surgery and be with me for 24 hours afterwards, so that is nice of him.  Our standing joke is, "You're not going to make me take a taxi then?"  He's a nice guy who considers this unnecessary, but it's not about him, and I realize that and so does he.  My kids will be rolling their eyes when I tell them, but they will just have to get over it.

Ok, I told almost everyone that matters, and I'm glad that's done. I paid my surgeon bill and the surgery center bill today. I wish the surgery were today. Less than 2 weeks away, and I am completely psyched about it! The one thing I hate about surgery is that I have to give up my green tea, my raw vitamins, cod liver oil, and nearly every other supplement. I know they are very cautious about it because they don't want the platelets to not be sticky, but wow! I miss them, especially when I do an intense workout. The nurse told me not to take my hyaluronic acid in pill form or MSM, and I don't think it is necessary to give them up, but I am abiding by her decision. When I had another surgery, I was told the hyaluronic acid was ok. The nurse did say I could have Vitamin C because it is necessary (along with protein) for collagen rebuilding and is a great wound healer.

I appreciate all the information listed in other ladies' experiences. It is very helpful. I am going to try to take some breast pictures to post and also get my face off my icon on this website!

Wow. I knew my face was not very photogenic, but now I know my breasts aren't either, haha. I don't like to put down my breasts; they provided abundant milk for my two babies, are healthy, and have been well-received in the sack, lol. But after viewing my pics, I am glad to be upgrading soon! The plastic surgeon and an x-ray technician told me I have dense breasts, which means that the breast tissue is pretty densely packed. I understand that's a quality of youthful breasts, but it makes detection of any problems somewhat more difficult. I hope it's an advantage to making the implant look good as well, but I don't know about that.

On an unrelated topic, I am going to get a prescription for valium, which is supposed to help relax the muscles after surgery. However, there are muscle relaxers that don't have the psychological effect that valium does, and I am wondering if they prescribe valium to help ease into the psychological adjustment of having breast augmentation.

It's the day before! I am so excited! I am getting everything ready. Yesterday I went for a Brazilian wax, and it really hurt because I couldn't take any pain reliever beforehand. But I want to be ready for sex when these boobs are ready, so I suffered and got my wax! I have so many questions, and I know it's premature to even think about them. For instance, how long before I can have sex again, how long before I can drive, how long before I can work out again. I am so psyched for this, and when I start to feel nervous, I just think that all I have to do is lay there. The surgeon has the hard part. I think I can lay there and let them give me great drugs and install these babies that I have been wanting for such a long time! Today I got my scrips filled, bought the requisite frozen peas (lol), changed the bedsheets, and picked up some DVDs that I have been wanting to see for a while. I cleaned my house yesterday and the day before. I got a massage today and then got a chiropractic adjustment so I can be as comfortable as possible. I did my last workout yesterday; I did lower body. I haven't done an upper body workout since Saturday because I didn't want to be tight through the pectorals or back and make recuperating more painful.

I am looking forward to watching some shows that I haven't had time to watch. I am continuing on with season 6 of Sex and the City, which is such a great, funny, well-written show. It really meets a need in my feminine psyche. Then I also got the Big Bang Theory season 1, which people say is clever and funny, but I've never had the opportunity to watch. I also got the movie Knocked Up, which is supposed to be funny, and I hope it is. I went for funny shows, in case I am having trouble with the emotional adjustment.

My husband has been sweet and great lately about taking time off work and going through this with me. I am really lucky. My daughter is on a cruise, which is just as well that she is not around for the first few days to hear/see about it. I know my son will stay clear for the most part, and his girlfriend is studying to be a nurse, so she is interested in the medical aspect of all this, which I am happy to share.

OMG, this time tomorrow I will be through it! I will post pics, of course. Any pointers on anything I have forgotten would be appreciated. Thanks for everyone's helpful posts and encouaging words. It makes a big difference to know I'm not alone!

I can't believe I am saying this, but I hope I went big enough! With the swelling that I am sure is there, I am hoping they are not too small. Regardless, I am not going to fix them anytime soon -- if ever! I am thinking once they drop, I will like their size better. I am no longer nauseous and not really in much pain, although they can be uncomfortable. I haven't taken any pain medication today but probably will to get a good night's sleep. A word of advice: Read your own post-op instructions. My husband said just to take off the gauze coverings, shower, and put on a sports bra, but that was incomplete information. So there I am, after taking my shower, reading the instructions I learn that I was supposed to wash the area with the Hibiclens and re-cover the incisions with gauze, none of which he mentioned. So I had to pull off my bra, wash with the Hibiclens and hope for no infection in the time that the incisions were exposed. I mean, that's a biggie, not getting an infection here. If an implant gets infected, it has to be replaced right away! Anyway, there's no point in worrying about it. But I learned my lesson not to trust anyone but myself with getting me the right information. It's good to have an appetite again. I am trying to eat super healthy and clean to facilitate healing. For me, that means veggie smoothies, raw protein drinks, eggs, fruit, sprouted grain bread, etc. That's about all I can think of for now.

I am really getting used to these! I rather like my profile! I really want to see my doctor, which isn't until Wednesday, but I was wondering if it is ok to kind of massage them and move them around a bit or if I should just leave them alone until I see the doc. I lay on my stomach for a moment in bed this morning just to see if I could until I thought maybe I should check in with the doc before doing that. I have always been a back sleeper anyway, but I just wanted to see how it felt to smush them. One of my (many) guilty pleasures is a full body massage, and I wonder how long before I will be able to lie on my stomach long enough to get one. I guess that's another one for the doc. I lost my job about 3 months ago and originally was going to wait until over Thanksgiving to get the BA, but if I was still employed, I think I could return to work tomorrow (Monday) if I had to. This is so nice! In the words of the great Martin Luther King Jr., "free at last!"

I needed 2 helpings of frozen peas as soon as I opened my eyes this morning. My hubby brought them to me. They felt tight and swollen (that morning boob thing). The anesthesiologist later called and asked me how I was. When I relayed how pukey I had been (which they knew about since they spoke to my husband when they called day 1 post-op), she said that surgeries on any "girl parts" (her words) tended to make one sicker than on other parts, since I had experienced none of this on my other 2 surgeries on extremities. So that explains it, ostensibly. The more I think about my experience at the surgery center, the less satisfied I am with how I was treated. It's not something I am upset about; it's just that it was a lot different at the other 2 places I have had surgery in 2010 and 2012. If anyone wants specifics, they can send me a private message. The hot shower feels so soothing every morning. Hot showers really are one of the great luxuries of modern civilization. Think about it. How I'd miss them if they were gone. Speaking of, I hope everyone on the east coast is prepared and bracing themselves. Batten down the hatches! We're hoping for the best. Hurricane relief donations are in order. Does everyone else have to wear a bra 24/7? I know it reduces swelling but these puppies just need to be unleashed, ya know? I think the instructions call for a sports bra for 2 weeks. That's another reason the shower feels so good, a few moments of freedom, lol. Big Bang Theory did not disappoint, especially if you have some nerd in you. Knocked Up, not so much. I have this unusual stretching DVD -- I mean that in the best way possible, there's just not much like it - and I was thinking of doing that to get some range of motion comfort going. It's very gentle but helpful. Does anyone think that would be a bad idea?

Here are new post-op pictures. I am certainly not very big, which is what I said I wanted, and now that I have it, I wished I had gone bigger. LOL. Well, I like the way they look, high and tight and kinda fake looking, so I'm not necessarily wanting them to drop as fast as I otherwise might. But I am hoping that I will like to the more natural fluff, too, when that occurs. I am definitely gaining weight, as I have not been working out, and I have been eating a lot lately. That's one of the problems with me when I am not working, is that I tend to get into cooking and eating more than when I have to work. Today, for instance, my husband and I are making burnt ends and brisket. It cooks all night. It's fun to try new foods, and one of my goals is to become good at smoking meats, which is usually a guy's domain, but I want to know how to do it well. So OMG I need some serious cardio and weight-lifting ASAP, yet I know I am going to have to go back slowly, because it is a recuperation from surgery. I am doing a stretch tape a day, but I really need to do 2 a day. It definitely helps with my range of motion and to get rid of the soreness in my rib cage from the surgery. But I love my new rack, and it's fun to go clothes shopping in new ways!

Here are pics at 22 days post-op. It doesn't look like they have dropped or fluffed much yet! I started working out again yesterday. I did an upper body workout and used little baby 3-lb. weights. I can't bring myself to do a push-up. I just feel too fragile through my breast area still. I tried to do a pec fly this morning and felt the same way -- just too unstable across the chest. I am going to wait to work up to chest exercises. I do feel safe and steady when I do a plank, and bench press with the 3-lbs feels ok. Anyone else have the experience of feeling shaky when doing their chest exercises again? At my 1-week post-op visit, the PS almost made massage sound optional, so I haven't been really going full tilt with that. Maybe I should be more dedicated to it I do massage a couple times a day but only for about a minute or so. Still loving my new look. I wear only sports bras so far, nothing cute, lol. But they are comfortable! This week Target has the Champion seamless sports bra for only $12. It's pretty comfortable for me; I bought the Medium.

Now that I am 4 months post-op, it seems like my BA surgery was a long time ago! I still love them. I am still glad I went with the size I did, although initially I wish I'd have gone bigger. But now I'm happy that they are modest and more covert, shall we say! My biggest -- and maybe my only complaint -- is that my doctor suggested I no longer weight lift heavy weights for the pectorals. I have to agree with him: When I flex my pectorals, I don't as much like the shape of my breasts, with unnatural fullness at the upper poles, and I also don't like the hard feel. Overall, I would say that that is the one thing maybe I wish about implants: that they had a more squishy, soft, natural feel and a bit more sag like real breasts. As my doctor said, they will be "forever perky." I can think of worse life sentences, so I am not complaining. But that is one thing I would change if I could. The thing I love most about them is: Dressing them up with some cute, see-through lace bras, something I didn't do pre-BA. That is great fun and looks great! I love wearing little nothing bras with no padding, and I don't know that I will ever wear a padded bra again! Sex-wise, they haven't enhanced as much as I thought they might, but that might be different for other women who get to be with someone who didn't see them pre-BA. Just a thought. I do also feel more confident just overall, which is a great feeling, and something you just can't put a price on. So overall, LOVE them! I would love to hear some feedback from anyone who has any thoughts about the weight-lifting or anything I have mentioned. I still lift and do chest presses, flies, etc., but with much lighter weights, about one-third the weight I used pre-op.