Petra R. Schneider-Redden, M.D.

Finally starting this journey to get my body back. Like most other mommas on here, I nursed both of my kiddos and lost a lot of breast volume. My babies are older now and we are done having children so I'm focusing on my body and feeling good about the way I look. Before pregnancy I was a full 36C, small D cup and now I'm a 38B :/ Would love to get that fullness back. I have been studying up on realself and I am just so thankful for this website and everyone sharing their experience, it makes me feel a lot more confident in this journey. I have two consultations in the next couple of weeks so I am anxious to hear what they have to say.

I have an idea of what I would like and have been bookmarking my "wish boobies". I'm definitely more drawn to a more natural look, still having slight gravity if that makes sense. I'm not really into them sitting high and proud on my chest I guess. I don't really want to to look super pronounced that I had any work done, but maybe just make people curious as to what has changed about me.

Updated on 3 Jan 2015:
I ended up canceling my consultations with the plastic surgeons in town. I had a really grat answer to one of my questions and he suggested that I look for surgeons who are not only board certified, but also members of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Sooo I learned that non of the PS's in my area are members of ASPS :/. Scheduled a consult for a surgeon in Hattiesburg, can't wait!!!

Updated on 7 Jan 2015:
Had my first consult today! I'm happy with my decision in canceling my previous appts. with the other PS as Dr. Schneider has the experience and confidence that I wanted. I do want to go with saline implants and I was surprised to hear that the majority of her patients request saline (I thought most everyone gets silicone anymore). She said that she prefers a periareolar incision, that makes me a little nervous, I wasn't really considering it before. My nipples hurt just thinking about it lol. I went in with a pretty open mind as far as size goes but I was not expecting the 490 she recommended! That just seems huge to me eek but maybe I've been looking at the wrong before and after photos. I was thinking more along the lines of like 375-400 but she said that since I am tall and have a wide chest (BWD is 14) that the 490 would complement me very nice. I tried on the 490 sizes but I think I will go back next week to try on some slightly smaller just to see. I'm thinking about scheduling the procedure within the next month, super excited!!!

Updated on 15 Jan 2015:
Hey all! I have my surgery scheduled for Jan. 22nd. I ended up going to another consult in New Orleans, that PS was extremely nice but in the end I decided to stick with my first PS. I got good vibes from both PS's but I had the commute to consider (45 minutes vs. 1.5 hours one way) and price. I know price shouldn't really be a consideration for quality, but we are a one income family and $1200 is a lot of money to us. I'm confident in Dr. Schneider-Redden, she has the experience I want and I like her calm professionalism. It also impressed me that the nurse was so confident in her work, and she also had the implants and TT to brag about! I think there is a big price difference because I am going with a Doctor that is part of a group practice which is part of a large medical facility vs. a single Doctor in a private practice.

We decided on 480cc saline under the muscle, periareolar. I forgot which profile we are going with. I was still leaning towards 450 to be safe, but the nurse really thought that the 480 would be perfect for my build. She said not to look at photos and get intimidated because each body is different and 30cc's really isn't that much of a difference. Better to go up than down since the number one complaint is that they should have gone bigger. I am choosing saline because I think it will bring me some peace of mind as far as rupture goes. Of course nobody wants a rupture and it's extremely rare, but still I want to know about it if it does. I also chose saline because I do want to go under the muscle and I have enough tissue so that it will camouflage it pretty well. I truly believe that any implant can look natural but it depends on how big you go and the skill of the surgeon.

Anywho, I was able to pick up my prescriptions tonight, a little over $100 for 4 medications. Also picked up hibiclens as instructed. Plan on getting the house deep cleaned this weekend and doing a big grocery trip on Monday, cooking Tuesday and Wed.

Now I just need to try and keep calm! Getting super excited but nervous as well. Last night I had some major trouble sleeping, feeling some guilt spending that much money on myself. My husband isn't saying a whole lot, he kind of went from being more positive in the beginning to being somewhat quiet now that it's actually happening. He attributes it to being nervous about his wife going under the knife.

Super anxious and I know the next week is going to draagggg!

Updated on 4 Feb 2015:
Finally on the other side! I had to postpone my surgery by a week so now I'm 5 days post op. Surgery went really good. I arrived at 6:30 am to the surgery center. The center was really nice. My husband had just had surgery 3 weeks prior and I was way more impressed with mine than his. I had my own little room with the nicest nurse. She took all my vitals and confirmed I was not pregnant. Then my PS came in and marked me up. The surgery nurse came in and talked with me about the surgery and then the nurse anesthesiologist came in and talked to me about his role in the room. It's all a bit foggy but I think I actually went back for surgery around 7:45ish. The last thing I remember is the anesthesiologist putting the meds in my IV, I asked if he was giving me the sleepy stuff and he said no, he was giving me the feel good stuff lol. They started to roll me out of the room and the last thing I remember is talking about the age of my children. Next thing I know, another nurse is calling my name and asking me about my pain in the recovery room and me pawing at my bandages to make sure my new boobs were there lol. After some water they deemed I was okay to go back to my private room where my husband and daughter were waiting. I think I was in there about 30 minutes then I got dressed and we got ready to leave. They had given me Norco in the recovery room so the pain wasn't bad (that I remember) but I was incredibly nauseous so I got some vomit bags for the car ride, but never had to use them.

Surgery day (Friday) and Saturday was a blur, I mainly stayed in bed and slept and thankfully my husband took care of everything. I started to feel better on Sunday. I was able to stop taking the pain meds Sunday afternoon and the pain has only been very slight, manageable. I was able to drive my son to school and drive myself to my post op appt. Post op went good, my PS said she was very satisfied with the size we chose, it fit my body perfectly. I was fitted with the surgical bra which I can start wearing this Friday (one week post op). I start massages today and am just wearing the strap now to help push the girls south.

Updated on 4 Feb 2015:
Forgot to add that in the end, we went with 500/510cc moderate profile saline :)

Updated on 9 Feb 2015: