I have a little over a month before my surgery and although I'm so excited to buy regular clothes and bras, I'm nervous about all the unknowns. I'm a 34 DDD. I weigh 165 right now and I'm trying to get down to 155 before my surgery. I'm not sure this is possible anymore. I'm worried that if my belly sticks out further than my boobs I'll get depressed. Christmas is the worst time to lose weight, I'm actually gaining weight. I have good intentions of losing weight in January! I have 3 kids, 5, 3, and 1. I have my mom coming for a week to help and I'm hoping I'll be able to take care of my kids after that. It's going to be hard not being able to pick up my 1 year old. I'm hoping I can figure some genius way out of that situation. I have my pre op appointment in a few weeks, my doctor is very reassuring and is an expert. I'm not worried about the procedure or outcome, I'll be happy as long as things go fairly normal. I'm just worried about taking care of three munchkins and not knowing how much pain I'll be in, or them possible causing more pain. But I know that will be for a short time and it will be worth it after I get past the first few weeks. If anyone out there has survived this with little kids, I would love to read your story! Updated on 10 Jan 2014: I had my pre op today and it made me really excited. I asked all my questions, my husband asked all his questions and it made me feel so comfortable with the doctor. I am excited to get the done in less than 2 weeks. Right now I am concentrating on diet and exercise as much as I can. I'm also getting the house and kids and responsibilities ready for me being out for awhile. During the day I don't think about it much, but at night when I'm trying to fall asleep, I go through all the scenarios in my head that I might have forgotten. I need someone to pick this kid up then, grocery shopping, etc. That's when I feel overwhelmed, but I'm sure I'm going to be fine. My family will survive somehow! The one thing that has been SUPER stressful is obamacare messing up my insurance coverage. For months, literally, I've been on the phone trying to get the correct insurance set up and I was upset to find it is still the wrong coverage when I went in today. This makes me so angry, dealing with this is going to drive me insane. Good thing my new coverage covers mental health because it just ruined mine. On a positive note, I'm happy this is really happening. I have always wanted this done and I never really thought I would be able to. Updated on 22 Jan 2014: I can't believe I am having surgery tomorrow. I am so nervous. As I was sleeping last night I was enjoying my last days of sleeping comfortably. I put my big minimizer bra on for the last time this morning. That makes me happy. I hopefully am experiencing my last achy back caused by living with big boobs today. I made a bunch of freezer meals and bought all my kids favorite foods. The house is sort of cleaned. I'm not sure what else to do but it makes me less nervous to be busy. My check in time is at 6:15 am. I'm glad I'll be getting it over with instead of waiting around. I just pray there are no complications and I heal quickly. Updated on 23 Jan 2014: I can't believe I had surgery and I have small boobs. It hasn't sunk in yet. Maybe cause the drugs are drugging me still. It was a smooth process. I checked in at 6:15 and was in the OR right on time at 7:30. And checked out by 1:15!?!? That was too soon, but I'm happy to rest comfortably at home. And I like knowing my kids are ok and happy, in a different room ;). I am bleeding out the bottom of left breast. Not a lot though. Is this normal? I feel like it is, I don't have drains. I'll post more when my brain returns. Updated on 23 Jan 2014: I thought when I woke up from surgery I would be numb with no pain. Wrong! In my slurred stupor I asked for 6 painkillers. She gave me 1. I've been taking them exactly at the right time to keep the pain to a minimum. It's not too bad. Not unbearable. The bleeding stopped but I'm afraid to move in case it comes back. I literally locked my bedroom door and face timed my kids at bedtime. I'm scared my baby will try to climb on top of me to cuddle. He misses me, so sad! Husband has been awesome! He is taking care of everybody and the house. I haven't seen the unwrapped version, but they look so little! Yay! And I sat up straight without realizing it! Best part! Updated on 24 Jan 2014: I'm still in pain and a little bleeding today. Not much though. Under my arms have lots of swelling and the left looks bigger than the right. But I think it's more swollen. I have been sleeping a lot which makes me happy. I'm looking forward to not being in constant pain. The days seem long but I know it will pass quickly. Updated on 26 Jan 2014: The swelling has gone down a lot today. I feel a lot better but I'm trying not to do much. I hope to recover as much as I can before my mom leaves so I'm taking it very easy. I have been sleeping really well propped up in my pillow fort at night. I haven't taken pain killers in more than 12 hours and don't feel uncomfortable at all. There is a lot of dried blood in my tape which looks scary and I have to keep it on for 2 weeks before they change it. I don't understand how they bandaged up my nipples, I guess it does the job? I'm so happy to be less swollen under my arms. Taking a shower is also amazing. It makes me feel so much better. I tried on an undershirt that I wear all the time and it was almost loose. My husband can't get over how different I look. To me I feel like this is how I should have been all along. I feel like a normal person now. I love not having boobs resting on my tummy. I don't like standing up straight still though because I feel like I am pulling at my stitches. I'm so excited to feel good and go shopping for clothes. I have to be serious about losing weight because for the first time my belly sticks out more than my boobs. This doesn't depress me because I expected it and I'm looking forward to getting into great shape!! Updated on 26 Jan 2014: The doctor called a couple days after surgery to see how I was doing and if I had questions. He told me they took about 1.2 lbs off each side. I weighed myself this morning and I'm 3 lbs lighter! Awesome!! Updated on 27 Jan 2014: I have noticed a trend where everyone is initially so excited to have their boobs gone and then they go through a rough patch. I was going to avoid that by knowing it was coming and keep reminding myself that everyday I feel a little better. And that's true. Although I have felt less pain today and less swelling, I have been so uncomfortable today. My back and neck hurt from being hunched over, I'm afraid to stand up straight and pull on the stitches. My stitches itch or something. The bra is right on top of them and it's painful. Not enough to take painkillers, just enough to be annoying. I know I'm going to heal and feel good soon but it's hard to feel that way now. I feel like I need to be up and taking care of everything. I know my husband is drained. It's a hard day and I just pray that tomorrow will be better. Which I'm sure it will. So my point is not, poor me. My point is everyone goes through this hard time and it's just hard. And then it passes. Updated on 30 Jan 2014: Things may not be pretty over here, but I am more than happy with the size shape and symmetry. It is exactly what I wanted. I have lots of dried blood and I'm not sure what surprises are lurking under the tape, I'll find out in a week, but I feel great and I'm not in pain. Also I have random yellow gauze stuck to my boob? They put those over my nipples but they weren't taped down so they are falling off. Doctors are all over the place with their after care. I'm hoping for the best. I need to sit down and rest a lot it I'm feeling a lot better than I anticipated after a week. So I'm happy, happy, happy. I only take these photos to compare to the after because at some point in my life I'm going to look less like Frankenstein. Updated on 30 Jan 2014: It's so hard to wrap your mind around being a new size. My back was killing me from the 44 L surgical bra they gave me. I still need some support! So I went to get one of those comfy looking bras that I see everyone on here with. Amazing! I am a medium! I think ill end up being 36 c, a small c. It's a little smaller than I thought but I'll comfort myself with knowing that padded bras exist if I should want to look bigger. I decided since I was wearing a new bra, I should try on a button down shirt. I picked up a medium just for fun, I knew it would never fit because I am an xl. But wait! It did fit. I could not believe it. I guess my new size is medium!!!! I still don't believe it. Updated on 4 Feb 2014: I was very concerned about how it would work out having 3 little kids and recovery. Also how to tell my girls about surgery without them being self conscious later. My girls are 5 and 3 and I have a 1 year old boy. My girls did not ask why I had surgery until I came home from the surgery. I told them my back hurt and the surgery fixed it. About a week later they heard me talking about stitches. They wanted to see them so I showed them the nice non scary part in the middle. They asked if it hurt a lot and why I did it again and that was it. I probably won't tell them the whole story unless they are in a similar situation and they are unhappy. The first 2 days of recovery I had my mother in law and husband home. I had made a very detailed schedule of the kids lives and made lots of freezer meals beforehand. So when I got home, I went to my room and locked the door. Only my husband came in to bring me things for the first few days. I went downstairs once for about an hour because I missed them. My mom came on the 3rd day and stayed until the 10th day. At the beginning she did everything and I stayed in bed. I slowly was able to do more. Brush their hair, get them dressed, make lunches. By the 10th day I was totally able to do all the daily activities with lots of rest. The doctor said on day 10 when I saw him that it was ok if I picked up my 25 lb baby to put him in bed or the car seat. As long as it felt ok to do that. He was a very clingy baby before surgery but quickly realized that I can't carry him around and it's been ok. Nobody used the freezer meals so far and I'm very happy to have some easy healthy meals ready to go. The house is messier and the kids run wild in the house but everyday I have more energy and we are all surviving. And I'm so happy with my tiny boobs. It was worth it! Updated on 5 Feb 2014: I woke up this morning and I was sleeping on my side. I was surprised that it was not painful. Since surgery, when I wake up every morning it's painful when I stand up. Like a swelling pain, I think. It goes away after a few min. Today when I got out of bed there was no pain. So that's nice. I still have my original tape so although I feel like I'm healing well, I still can't see the incision. I get the tape off and stitches removed Monday. I'm nervous about that because I actually will have stitches pulled out. Also I feel protected by the tape. Also I am nervous about seeing holes. I'm sure I'll have an opening or complication somewhere. I feel like the incisions are so big, chances are that there is a problem area. I have my favorite bra, it's a Bali 3488. The band is below my incision and the soft cups are molded to give me a nice shape. And is super comfy. I actually like sleeping in it. Updated on 9 Feb 2014: I haven't been able to button up this dress. I would have to wear something under it and then leave it unbuttoned. But then it looked strange and hoochie. I found it when I was getting ready for church and I knew it would fit. I'm so glad I bought this 5 years ago! Healing has been going well. Some days are more sore and swollen than others. Somedays it's all pain and Somedays I feel great. So I think that's pretty normal around here. I'm so glad I have everyone's stories to ease my mind. Updated on 11 Feb 2014: I got my tape and stitches out yesterday and I was happy that everything seems to be healing well except at the t section on the right. She said there was a small opening but she wasn't worried about it. She put a bandage over it so I never really saw it. But hello nipples!?!??! One is very droopy and not as pretty as the other one. I am actually not concerned about it because only my husband will see it and I'm hoping it's less noticeable once it's healed. The important thing is they are pointing in the same direction and in the same spot. Also lefty is bigger than righty but I can only tell that by looking at pictures, so again I'm not bothered. I'm so happy with how they look in bras and under clothes I can deal with these imperfections. And I certainly didn't love much about them before this. Updated on 11 Feb 2014: Seeing my before makes me so sad for those old boobies. I didn't like them, I'm so happy with the new little perky ones. I like to look at my tan lines from before and see how now they are going through my nipples. They sure did move up. Happy me. Updated on 14 Feb 2014: I'm feeling sad about my noobs today and I'm not really sure why. Maybe it's just natural to be sad when things aren't perfect. I'm happy with the size, but am I too small. Is the shape right? Will they end up the same size? I need to constantly remind myself that 99% of the time I am happy with how they look and 1% I look at all the problems and I get sad. So it's time to count my blessings. I look skinnier. I can wear cute clothes. I can't wait to slim down and buy a cute swimsuit. But more than that, for 5 years I have been mortified when my kids try to cuddle with me and my big boobs make it hard. My ill fitting underwire poked in their faces. They would tell me I hurt them. I felt so bad that my stupid boobs made it like this. Now all that has changed. Greatest blessing and something I have wanted for a long time Updated on 15 Feb 2014: After thinking and reading everybody's reviews it seems like everybody else's boobs are perfect and mine are hideous. Then I realized after reading everybody's reviews that we are so hard on our own bodies. There are no perfect boobs and if you dwell on your own imperfections it's going to bring you down. And you guys are great at lifting people up! It's so nice to have a group of people who understand the emotions that go along with altering a key part of your body. We still want to be attractive. I honestly haven't seen another person on this sight that had terrible outcome in my opinion. Although some of those ladies don't feel the same about their reductions. It's not so bad. Most (all?) of us have had our lives improved. Updated on 20 Feb 2014: That went by fast! I am back to all my normal activities now, except exercising. I don't feel worn out or even think about my boobs all that often. I feel like my scars are healing well, in some places it's hard. I'm going to ask my doctor about my lopsided nipple. That's the only thing I'm concerned about. But if insurance doesn't cover it, it's not a big deal. I'm trying to feel like it's not a big deal at least. I tried on an old swimsuit that I used to pop out of it and it just covered a little part of my boob. Now it's so loose I couldn't even tighten it all the way. Then I threw it in the trash. Overall I am super happy and my husband can't wait to play with them. Updated on 11 Mar 2014: I have taken a break from real self because I was becoming obsessive about everything to do with my body. Since then I have pretty much healed. There is a tiny place which still has a little scab, but it's so tiny. I think my shape is becoming more natural. Drop and fluff is code for becoming softer and bigger. I have been wearing 36 DD, but I don't fill that out all the way. Like a lot of people on here my boobs are too wide for smaller sizes. Went to kohls and took a bunch of bras in all different sizes. Every brand is so different. One brand a C was baggy in the cups. Some Ds fit really well, but since I'm still swollen, I decided to go for a loser fit for comfort. I am pretty sure most 36 Ds will fit me. I can't be happier with my results. My nipples are still a little off, but the other one is taking the same shape, it's not done changing yet. I hardly ever think about my boobs. That's the best part. I don't have to constantly fix my bra to keep them from bulging out. I don't hate my reflection because my boobs make me look so huge. Putting on clothes is awesome because the smaller sizes that I would never dream of wearing fit perfectly. Everything fits perfectly. I have had soooooooo many problems with my insurance though. But that's more because of one persons mistake months ago. Overall I am 100% happy. I have the boobs I always wanted. I started working out this week so I'm looking forward for the rest of my body to look good also. Updated on 11 Mar 2014: Before my nipples were at my elbow crease and inches away from my belly button. They were very full, not so long as other people but very wide. Now they are still full but my nipple is in the right place, my belly button is no where in sight. My old tan lines are going through my nipple. My new tan lines are above my cleavage. Which shows how much more of my body my shirts are covering. Updated on 15 Mar 2014: Wearing an ill fitting swimsuit was the worst part of my old boobs. I could hide my boobs in clothes, but not in a swimsuit. And my kids and I go swimming everyday in the summer with other moms. I was curious if I could fit into a regular swimsuit found in a store and was so happy. Even though I'm still 10 lbs overweight, I tried one on and was giddy. I can't stop comparing my before and after. I feel so sad for my old self. Updated on 19 May 2014: I am so happy everyday to fit into clothes. I don't ever think about my boobs or obsess about them popping out. I never think about if something will make me look busty or slutty. I am 34 Dd or 36 d and I am happy with that size. It's not about the number for me. I'm so excited to put on a bra, have the underwire lay flat, not have boobs squished out of every part, or not worried what my shirts are revealing. People say I look skinny, even though I gained 5 lbs after surgery. When I do lose the weight, I will look even more amazing and that excites me. My boobs are not 100% perfect, but I'm 100% happy. The only time I see flaws is when I take pics for this site and then start to analyze them. That's why I can't do it very often. Not everyone can tell I had a reduction, but when I show them my before and after swimsuit pics they can't believe it. My husband loves them. My scars are fading, I don't see them when I'm looking in the mirror quickly. I feel like I have the body that fits me. It's not perfect, but that's life. That's natural. So if you are readin this and you are discouraged by your reduction, or not happy with something, try looking at the bigger picture. Try to take a break from criticizing yourself and appreciate how your life is improved. If you need a revision or want one, great. But also be grateful and you will feel happier. Your attitude affects how others see you. I'm so happy I have had this site to help me through hard times and help me know what to expect. And really encourage me to actually do it. This site is a blessing. And sometimes a curse ;) Updated on 19 May 2014: On the last post I should have said almost 4 months
