36 Years Old, 150 Lbs, 5'8" - 34 AA (That's Generous) to 34 D (I Think) - Virginia Beach, VA

I went with silicon 350 cc Mentor HP, sub-muscular with infra-mammary incision. I never developed breasts but I have quite the bodacious rear end so I always felt disproportional. I wore the VS's padded bras that made it look like I had a chest, but I was seriously flat as a board. Let me say that I debated having surgery for over a year, even in the few days after surgery I was worried about my Frankenboobs, but now I'm loving them and I know I made the right decision.

I have been reading people's stories on here and I have found a lot of the anecdotes and advice to be helpful. So I wanted to share my best advice. My surgeon offered the use of Exparel, a local analgesic that is injected into the muscle/tissue during surgery. It was $400 extra but I have to say that it helped tremendously! My friend had the same surgeon and procedure two years prior (hers look great!), before Exparel was available, and she was in serious pain for two days. She said that she wishes Exparel was available for her, she would have paid the $400. Now, don't get me wrong, I was uncomfortable and had to take the pain meds but I was still able to get up and down without help (for the most part) and I was even able to make my mom breakfast on days two and three. However, I did need to be helped out of bed on two occasions - felt like a turtle stuck on its back.

Next bit of advice - if you take the narcotic pain meds - TAKE THE COLACE! And take it every day you're on the meds. I did not. I will not get graphic, but I will say that I felt violated and I do not want any of you to experience what I went through. Just trust me and take it.

You will agonize over the size, everyone does. My nurse gave me some great advice, look at before and after pictures of women that are similar to you in size and build. That is the best way to know. When I tried on sizers, I liked the look of 325cc so the nurse recommended I go with 375cc. They say that the muscle and tissue flatten out the implant some so you should go 50cc's higher than the look you like. After pouring over before and after pics online, I was comfortable with 350cc's. So far so good!

More advice - I don't know if it helped, but in the weeks leading up to surgery, I applied Palmer's cocoa butter to my breasts every day, twice a day. After surgery, I've done the same. I don't think that anyone recommended this, I just love the stuff and have heard it helps with stretch marks. I use this lotion a lot on my entire body and I have no stretch marks.

I was scared of the anesthesia and going under. I was also scared that I would be nauseous afterward. I informed my PS that anesthesia has made me sick in the past (wisdom teeth surgery) so they gave me the patch to put behind my ear the night before and melt in your mouth anti-nausea pills for after. Also, I think they put something in my IV. I had zero nausea after surgery (but the trash can was in the car just in case).

I was nervous before surgery, but the nurses were fantastic. Also, my anesthesiologist was great, before I knew it, surgery was over. First thing I did was reach up and touch my new boobs! The nurse laughed and said "they're in there".

I see that other ladies on here have been given strict rules by their PS. I feel like mine has a pretty great approach, if it hurts don't do it. He provided me with information about massages and scar treatments, but he also advised that those things are not absolutely necessary to get great results. I do the massages almost daily and I use a cocoa butter stick for the scar. I was cleared for low impact exercise at day 10 and I started doing lower body weights at day 14. I did some upper body weights (mostly back and LIGHT weights) at 4 weeks. So far so good and I am loving the results.