Breast Augmentation: Stories

I'm 29, a mom to two children (youngest being 8 months old), and I have a scheduled breast augmentation/lift surgery scheduled in January. I couldn't be more ecstatic as these kids have "sucked" the life right out of the girls ;P. However, I'm super concerned about the recovery period. My son, being so young, obviously isn't walking yet and needs to picked up and carried. Is it realistic to think that a weeks worth of help will get me through the painful days and I'll be okay on my own shortly after the procedure? Are there any tricks to lifting these little guys during recovery or is this terrible timing?!

I'm just going to go for it! After reading many, many posts I've taken some notes on how to prepare for the procedure so I'm praying that I will figure out a way to make it work with the baby. Now for the hard part- WHICH IMPLANT?! During my consult silicone is what my PS recommended. (SN: I have very little breast tissue left after nursing my children.) In the office I liked what I saw when I was trying on a 350cc silicone implant and was told it would look even BETTER once it's actually under the muscle. (Before kids I was a 34C, after second baby I MIGHT be an "A"). But now the more I read and the thought of having to deal with MRIs, silicone maintainance seems daunting. Am I over analyzing things?! My concern with saline, however, is the possibility of rippling and the obvious, deflating! Are these concerns actually THAT common? I'm very active- love to strength train, run, constantly doing things around the house and yard, and can't forget to mention the two small kiddos! Would silicone be more durable?! Ahhhhh! My pre-op is on the 17th and I already have a couple of invoices I need to pay, but I still don't know what I'm going to get! HELP!

Post-op is TOMORROW and I still haven't made a decision about which implant! This is so unlike me. It seems the more I read about sil/sal the more confusing it gets! I'm 5'2, 125lbs and liked what I saw when I tried on a silicone 350cc. The doc recommended the silicone implant under the muscle but I had never considered it- always assumed I would go with saline...has anyone else recently been torn with this decision but ended up thrilled?! Please share!

I had the pre-op today! Only AFTER canceling yesterday and calling the entire surgery off...it's now officially back on, and implants decided upon! (I made the mistake of doing too much research and stumbling across a website full of horrific stories about implants. I totally freaked out.) Do yourself a favor and don't over analyze every detail you read, it's just not worth it! Anywho, the appt was great. I was torn b/w silicone and saline and decided to go with what the doc recommended-SILICONE! I really think it's the best option considering I have little breast tissue left after pregnancies and nursing two babies. I chose high profile so I could get the upper pole fullness I've only dreamed about- didn't even have that BEFORE kids! She gave me all the paperwork, perscriptions, etc. I also had to pay today; that was great fun :( At least that part is over! Well, I have six days left until the twins arrive- CAN'T WAIT!!

Holy cannoli, surgery is TOMORROW! I have to be at the sx center at 6:15 and hoping to be discharged by 11:30; PS said lift and aug will take about 3.5 hrs. I'm hoping I've got what I need by now!!

If anyone has tips on what to tell their 3yr old about the surgery LMK! She is very inquisitive and doesn't miss a beat. I don't want to lie to her, but I don't want her sharing my business with her entire school either, haha!!

Prayers needed for tomorrow- so anxious I could puke! Ahhhhhh!

Day 3 post-op: I feel amazing! I'm still taking Percocet every 5-6 hrs and using my ice packs when I think about it.

Let me rewind back to surgery day. I arrived at the surgery center @ 6:15 am and was in the pre-op area for about an hour or so. They started the IV and got me all snuggled up in warm blankets while we waited for my PS to come mark me. Once she arrived, I showed her a picture of my dream boobies that she hung up in the OR. The nurses walked me to the OR where I got on the table and pretty much blacked out!

The surgery was 3hrs long but only felt like 3 minutes! I was in recovery for about an hour and a half. It doesn't normally take that long but I had a hard time waking up. I never once felt nauseous, which was a huge concern of mine! Once I got home I slept all afternoon. I had a little bit of dinner and then back to bed.

I had my first post-op appt the next morning @ 8:30. My PS took off the ace bandage and removed the gauze pads so I could get a sneak peak; LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT!! Any hesitation I had before surgery flew out the window. I'm not sure what I expected to see, but it sure wasn't anything that looked THAT good this early :)

I might have over-done it yesterday as I'm experiencing a warm, burning sensation under my left breast. I spoke with the doc about it this morning and she seems to believe it's some nerves starting to wake up. I, of course, imagined the worst and just KNEW my incision was opening :P Glad that's not the case!!

As far as sleeping arrangements go, I've stayed in our bed with three pillows behind me and one on either side to rest my arms on. It hasn't been awful. I set my alarm to take the pain meds during the night so I don't feel too terrible when I wake in the morning.

Next post-op is on the 31st and I should be getting the tape off by then. Anxious to see the incisions considering an anchor lift can be pretty intense!

Overall, loving the twins and so glad I went through with it :D

Post-op Day 4- Feeling good and have a much greater range of mobility. I've been doing my exercises religiously but haven't been massaging. I guess that is something I should start doing! My main discomfort is from the pain killers- I can't go to the bathroom :(. Any home remedies you may know of? I've tried everything!

Today was great! My PS changed out the tape over my incisions (the anchor lift) and told me that I was healing wonderfully! She astonishingly enough, gave me the go ahead to pick up my infant son, hit the gym AND go bra shopping!!!! I've tried on several pre-baby bras that I've held on to and I think I'm going to end up a full, perky C. It's what I used to have (minus the perky part ;) I go back in a week to get the tape off for good. I can't believe how good I feel though. I thought for sure that I'd be out of commission for at least 3-4 weeks. But I've got a full range of motion with my arms/shoulders, my breasts already are starting to drop and feel soft, and I now I can get to exercising again. This surgery has been a life changer- recommending to ANYONE considering!! **My surgery entailed an Anchor lift with 300/325 HP silicone memory gel emplants**

It's been a little over 2 weeks since I had my BA/BL and I'm really liking what is looking back at me in the mirror these days! I had started a review under "Breast Lift" to get some feedback on ladies that had had the same procedure but I guess RealSelf didn't like that I had two going and deleted it :(

Anywho, I had been dreading the day where I had to remove all the tape from the incisions b/c I had no idea how I was going to react seeing the scars. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised! From what I could tell, everything looked to be healed. My main concern was how the vertical incision would look from the Anchor Lift. It's much lighter than expected with no scabbing or rough areas (course, I'm the palest I've ever been so I'm sure that helps with the coloring!)
FUN FACTS:
As far as the size and shape of the areolas- I couldn't be happier! They are small and cute and symmetrical :) The right nipple has feeling, the left, not so much. I have hope that it'll come back though. If it doesn't, it wouldn't ruin my life.

I'm a little on the fence about the current breast shape. My right breast has dropped more than the left, which I'm completely obsessing over. I've emailed my PS to see if there are any special massages/exercises/strap wearing that I can do to get the left one to drop too. I'm hoping in the next week or so they'll match again!

I've been told I can wear any sort of compression bra during the day, and to sleep with a tight sports bra and strap at night. I actually went to VS the get measured last week too. I knew to take what they said with a grain of salt, but I expected to hear what I heard, so I'm not surprised. She said 34C or 34 small D. I was hesitant to purchase anything just in case I'm left with less than expected once the girls are in their final "resting place" :)

After week one, I was sleeping flat on my back again without using all the extra pillows to prop with. After week two, I was sleeping on my side for a bit (yay)!

I was cleared to start back exercising after my one week p/o, which was shocking but oh so good to hear- I was having withdrawals. I'm doing mostly lower body and jogging short distances, biceps and triceps. I plan on waiting a little longer to do any chest or back. (Although, I only have 8 weeks until our ADULT ONLY vacay so I'm not sure how much longer I'll want to wait before working ALL the body again)!

I haven't started putting any scar reducing products on my incisions yet, but if you know of anything fabulous- PLEASE SHARE!

All in all, recovery thus far has been much easier than expected.

Like myself, I'm sure most of you ladies are still having to wear a compression bra. Well I was tired of trying to find tops to hide my sports bra and my tube top bras were to small to cover my entire boob...so my PS told me a little secret and IT'S WONDERFUL! She said to take a pair of control top panty hose and cut the legs off. Then just wear the " control top" part over your breasts like a tube top. I've worn this today since 7 am and LOVE it!! Why haven't I done this before even without boobies?! I posted a pic to show what I'm talking about- give it a whirl!

Wow! I'm four weeks p/o and things have really started settling nicely! They have both dropped, and the vertical incision from the anchor lift has finally healed. I've started bra shopping and although I can wear a 34D, they look HOT in a 34C! The cup is completely full and the upper pole fullness is very prominent. I'm really pleased with the results, however they've recently started itching like crazy!! I keep telling myself its just because they're healing but man, it's awful! Has anyone else gone through that this late in the game? And what did you do to soothe them?

Not too much to update other than the fact that I only have ONE more week to wear a compression bra day and night!! Yay! I'm so ready to get in to something cute! I'll still have to wear something tight at night, as well as my strap to get my left to lower a little more, but that's certainly tolerable.

I'm going to start putting Mederma on the scars just as soon as I can pick some up tomorrow. I'll do before and after pics to see if its really making a difference a few weeks down the line.

I've posted some 5 week pictures (I swear they're looking bigger as the weeks go on!) Maybe it's just wishful thinking though. The 300/325 HP has certainly been perfect for my active lifestyle: running, weights, babies, etc, but when I get dressed in "big girl" clothes I would LOVE to have more to show off ;).