I had my consult March 10th 2021 with Dr. Hill at froedtert south plastic surgery. Going into the consult I already knew a lot about the procedure and had had a consult in the past once about two years prior. I am very glad I could not afford it at that time looking back now as the doctor basically just told me what would be best without really getting to know my lifestyle she only gave me two size options and told me I had to go under the muscle and what incision to get she was also not very personable, go with your gut guys!!! Although not competitively, I love the sport of bodybuilding and am in the gym 6 days a week. I have a pretty muscular frame with wider shoulders so I wanted a larger implant to match my physique. The thought of having to disrupt my muscle tissue and having restrictions in the gym was a big no for me and I was almost 100 percent set on going over the muscle going into my consult. Dr. Hill agreed with me and said that since I am a 34 B now that I will have enough of my own tissue to be able to cover the implant. Typically if you have very little tissue and go over the muscle there is a chance you’ll be able to see the implant and it won’t look as natural. This is also why I chose the ultra high profile so that when the implant is sitting upright like it will in your body there will be very little rippling since the implant is fuller. Since I am going over the muscle the rippling may be more noticeable in a lower profile, I also lack volume on my upper pole my tissue is mostly at the bottom of my breast so I wanted the ultra high for that as well. I chose silicone for my implant, the cohesive gummy bear kind so it will not leak if ruptured, I was shocked at how squishy and natural it felt I thought it was saline at first until he told me I was holding the silicone. He also said the silicone is actually lighter than saline at the same volume which is another reason I chose it. My chest measurement was 12cm I believe if that helps anyone so I was able to choose a pretty big implant size my goal is to be a D-DD as I have a bigger butt and want it to match. I chose an under boob incision as it disrupts the least amount of tissue and the scar heals very light and will most likely be covered in the crease since I am going with such a large implant. I liked that I was able to try on the actual implants rather than the 3D imaging, I found it hard to be able to tell what I’d actually look like on myself so wear a stretchy sports bra to your appointment to be able to put the implants in. My surgery is scheduled for may 13th of 2021 and I am very excited!! Here is a before pic I am 5’4” 140 pounds and a 34B now. I found this site so helpful and felt there wasn’t many reviews with implants over 500 CCs so I’m hoping this will help someone! Updated on 20 Apr 2021: I decided I’m going to go back into the office for a quick preop appointment next week which will be two weeks out from surgery! I had been second guessing myself on sizing (between 500 and 535 at consult) and when I went for my initial consult I really only spent about 5 minutes trying on the implants. At first I thought oh it’ll be fine but considering I plan to have these for 15-20 years I reconsidered that maybe I should go in and try on the sizes one more time and take different bras that I had bought for after and take a few shirts with me to really make sure of the size! Don’t be afraid to go back in and be sure of your decision ladies it’s a huge one! If your doctor seems annoyed maybe find a different one, mine even said at my initial appointment to feel free to stop in again to try on sizes if I am not sure. :) Updated on 27 Apr 2021: Went in to retry on sizes today as I was going back and forth between 500 and 535 in my head. It’s not a huge difference but I think I was just very excited at my consult and thought why not just do 535 go big or go home lol I had a few weeks to think about it so I highly recomend booking your surgery out a little ways I’m glad I did. I had bought quite a few 36DD bras from different places so I brought all of those with me and a cute lacy bra that is an XL from SHEIN so I will include pictures of those! Just feel like the 500 is a much better fit for me! Now just to not get COVID in the next two weeks before they test me anyone else having super high anxiety about that?! Fingers crossed I’m going to be extra careful and self quarantine! Updated on 13 May 2021: Surgery went great I arrived at the hospital two hours prior to surgery. They took all my vitals and got me changed into the hospital gown. My doctor came in and measured and marked off my chest for the procedure and went over all my post op care. He said my anesthesiologist could also do a nerve block on each side of my chest that lasts 24-48 hours and he injected for that after I was already asleep so I said why not! Anesthesia is honestly the easiest part, my nurse gave me some meds to help with anxiety so by the time I got onto the operation table I was pretty relaxed and was actually out within 5 minutes of being in the room. I woke up in recovery with pain at about 4-5 out of 10 mainly near my incision sites but it was not too bad, I’m assuming it would have been much worse if I went under the muscle though. My nurse gave me three doses of pain meds there each one about 5-10 minutes apart and after the third my pain finally went down to about a 2 out of 10. Then I went to an out patient room to let the anesthesia wear off a little more. I got up to pee which was required before they would let me leave and was fine until I went to sit back down in the bed I got a wave of nausea pretty bad so they gave me a drug through my IV for that. They continued to check my vitals for maybe another 25 minutes and then told me I could go home. I went to get up and got into a wheel chair but still felt very nauseous and had cold sweats so I said I wanted to lay back down and told my boyfriend to run across the street to get my things from the pharmacy. I’m so glad I did this and they gave me some oxygen while I laid down again. When he got back I felt much better not sure if the nausea meds finally kicked in but I have been feeling great since then. It has been about 3.5 hours since they gave me a pain med at the hospital and my pain is only back up to maybe a 3 out of 10 and the nausea goes away as soon as I lay down at an angle. I have also had ice packs under and on top of my boobs and it seems to help. I will include a pic in my surgical bra but at this point I can’t see very much yet! Just ate half a pop tart and am going to start my anti biotic and just try half a pain pill this time. I also took a stool softener and a serving of my greens powder that has a digestive enzyme blend and probiotic and I am really not very bloated yet to where it’s painful like most people had said. Updated on 14 May 2021: One tip I wanted to share because I hadn’t really read this anywhere thankfully we already had an antibiotic ointment like bacitracin but add that to you list to buy!! My nipples were getting so sore from being stretched but I did not want to but my regular bio oil on them in case they did crack and bleed I didn’t want that getting into them so I put antibiotic ointment all over them and they feel soo much better! I used my bio oil on the tops and a little of the sides of my breasts to help as the skin stretches I had also started using that two weeks prior to surgery I’m not sure if that made a difference but it can’t hurt! Also my hospital sent me home with refillable ice pack but just in case but some ahead of time they feel amazing and help with swelling for sure! I don’t have any pics at this time I only unzipped my surgical bra half way to apply this creams I am home alone this morning for a little bit and did not want to risk not being able to get the bra back on myself! Will update soon! Updated on 14 May 2021: 1 day post-op photos! Feeling great just been laying on the couch most of the day reclined with ice packs but have only been taking half a pain med! My right side has more bleeding and bruising I’m not sure if that’s because I had less breast tissue on that side to start so it was pulled on more but overall I am very happy I went with the slightly larger 535ccs, I also love big boobs though so I could have even gone larger and not been upset but I think these will be perfect for my frame and still look slightly “natural” compared to going any bigger which is exactly what I wanted! Updated on 16 May 2021: Day three after surgery! Day two was honestly rough. Our house was chilly so I slept with a heated blanket, don’t make my mistake and just use a light blanket or sheet! A low grade fever a few days after surgery is normal but I think I made mine worse from all the blankets and my temperature was up to 101 so I just laid under a sheet the rest of the day and put ice packs on my forehead and back of my neck along with taking acetaminophen which is a fever reducer and thankfully my fever was gone by this morning! I also wanted to touch in the mental side since not many people do, while I had my fever my mind went a little crazy and I started thinking omg did I make a mistake should I not have gotten this done what if I get an infection I’m going to have these forever did I go too big?! Just take a few breaths and relax give it a few days, if you haven’t gotten your surgery yet take the time to really think about what size you want, go back in with different bras and retry on sizes after a few weeks to make sure it’s what you want you’re going to have these for a LONG time! Just a few things to think about and I am glad I made sure of what size I wanted so that I don’t have any regrets! Updated on 17 May 2021: Definitely feeling much better today I was able to shower and wash my hair on my own finally! Had my first check up appt and since I had a slight fever and a cough he prescribed an extra week of antibiotics just in case it was a bug. I am feeling super tired almost like I have a cold but getting better everyday. Tomorrow if day 5 and we are leaving for a week long relaxing vacation. Not too excited for it i thought 5 days would be a decent recovery but vacay is going to be rough atleast we aren’t doing too much. He said my bruising is normal and the incisions look good and to keep the tape on for vacation since it is still in tact. My back definitely hurt today I went clothes shopping to find more front button up shirts for vacation and my mid back was KILLING me walking around the store probably from having poor posture and those muscle working extra. He also told me to keep taking deep breaths and walk around every hour that I could be getting a little less oxygen than normal since I’m not moving or breathing as much. I think they kind of look huge but will not be too big for my body once they settle and he said there’s still swelling at this point. Updated on 18 May 2021: I left for a week long vacation today. I definitely would have waited longer I think if I had had the choice.. the plane ride killed me having to wear a mask the whole time and I felt so nauseated the whole day today unfortunately I think just from all the stress from travel in my body and all the meds. I’m resting the rest of the day and hoping I start feeling better tomorrow! Still have no pain besides a little in my back just from sitting on the plane and being in weird positions and the bruising around my incisions is going down finally. I cannot even imagine if I had gone under the muscle and today was honestly the first day I might have been okay going back to an office job. I highly reccomend taking atleast a week off of work even with an office job unless you want to be miserable. I waited two since I have a physical job and I’m hoping it will be enough at this point I think so as I still have over a week off. Updated on 27 May 2021: Feeling great I went back to work today and although I was much more physical than normal I still tried to take it easy and not over due it. My doctor said to try and not lift much more than 15 pounds especially if I feel any pain or pulling. I definitely have tenderness on the bottom of them especially towards the middle on each side and he said the underneath will continue to stretch as the implants settle over the next few weeks. I have been putting extra bio oil on the tender spots to try to reduce any extra stretching. My incisions are also healing so well my doctor did such an amazing job closing and when they’re settled you definitely won’t be able to see them! Updated on 3 Jun 2021: Really starting to notice them softening up this week. I still have some tenderness on the under boob area as the skin continues to stretch but no other issues so far love the way they are starting to look!! Hoping to be able to start doing some things in the gym again next week! Updated on 10 Jun 2021: Feeling great! Finally went to the gym a few days ago and did a lower body workout. Even though I went over the muscle I still want to wait the full six weeks to do upper body as the capsule is still forming and dr agreed yesterday. I started using a 100 percent silicone scar cream on the scars so we will see how that does. He also cleared me to go swimming and wear normal bras, it still feels weird to lay on my side and he said to just wait another two weeks to do so then. He also told me to start doing massages which isn’t an actual massage it’s just pushing the implants together and up and down. I tried on all the bras I had bought before hand, I honestly had bought a bra and brought it to my consult and put the implants in it before hand so I knew that size would fit pretty well. I bought 8 bras before my surgery because I got so excited BUT I did not pay over $8 for any of them between bc penny and target clearance racks, Ross, goodwill. Do not spend $80 on a bra when you’re not sure if it’s going to fit! The two bras in the pics are VS 36 DD because I found them at a resale shop for $7 each so even if they didn’t fit what the heck. I probably fit better in a 34 DDD from VS because I am on the tightest hooks in the back. Normal brands I am a 36, VS always runs big so you think you’re smaller and have bigger boobs so you’ll buy their bras LOL. I will update again in two weeks! Updated on 24 Jun 2021: Feeling great! I did my first upper body workout today and only one exercise really caused me discomfort so I just skipped it. I only used 5 pounds for everything and felt a little ridiculous but I have to start somewhere! Last appointment two weeks ago he said I could run if I wanted but I can’t imagine doing that yet still and don’t like running anyways lol. Scars seem to be getting better I have been using a 100% silicone gel which is what the doc recommended I just got one from Walmart. The left is still dropping faster but he said that’s normal and they will even out. I have another appointment again in a few weeks but everything is looking good! The line along my breast above the right incision was from my sports bra seam not anything surgical. Updated on 23 Nov 2022: 1.5 yrs post op. Still SO incredibly happy with my decision! I do weigh about 10-12 pounds more now than my surgery weight I am 157lbs 5’4 and 535CC over the muscle. Started at about a 34B and am now a 34DDD in VS. my measurements are 38-30-41