Round 2!

To first read part 1 of my BBL journey, please click here.I have to be honest: This surgery has changed my life.Prior to my initial BBL surgery on May 7, 2012, the best way to describe my appearance was "cute." I just wasn't the girl that people stare at when I'm crossing the street. I never thought anyone would consider me attractive based on my body. My tummy has always been big, even when my legs were like twigs growing up and I had a huge pot belly. As I grew older, the rest of my body didn't grow into my big tummy, my tummy just kept getting larger.As a small girl 5'3, a big tummy stands out--and not in a good way. By the time my teenage years hit, I just kept getting larger and larger, until I was 170 pounds at my largest. I have no idea how I became so big! I'd never worked out in my life, and between working full time and going to college full time, I never made time to work out. At my largest, my now ex-husband would make fun of my size and would occasionally tease me for looking pregnant. He thought it would encourage me to workout, and it did encourage me to work out, but it also encouraged me to find a way to live without his pessimism.At the beginning of last year, I divorced him and started to think about who I really wanted to be. I lost about 65 pounds, and at my lightest, I was a terrifying 104-105 pounds! I couldn't even recognize myself, and while I liked being tiny, my true shape came out--I was pretty boxy, but I wanted to be more feminine.I started to Google inspirational images of very feminine women and I noticed one thing they all had in common was an hour glass shape. Somehow during that research, I came across Realself and saw the image that I considered to be ideal. After a few clicks, I noticed there was a procedure called the "Brazilian Butt Lift" -- I don't know about y'all, but I about crapped my pants knowing that surgery could achieve the look that I wanted!I decided to shop around and I visited a few doctors in Manhattan. I considered traveling, but while price was a concern for me, I wasn't convinced that saving money would justify the risks I may be taking with a doctor outside of my home state. Picking Dr. Schulman was so easy after my initial consultation. When I say no pressure, this man truly puts no pressure on his patients. His consultations are free, he is attentive to your concerns and he knows exactly what he's doing.I was able to schedule my BBL for 2 months after my initial consultation and that's when my whirlwind adventure began! I became obsessed with the images I saw on Realself! I must have had 20 wish pics!!The same reason that led me to my initial BBL is leading me to my revision: I want to have the ultimate feminine body. I believe during my initial BBL, Dr. Schulman had to spend a lot of time sculpting shape that wasn't there already, but now that I have a better foundational shape from the initial surgery, my shape will only get better. I think Dr. Schulman had to do a lot of work to get me where I am now. My body seems small, but he took out 11 pounds of fat! O_OWhile I'm still shapely, I want perfection--or at least something close. For those of you who followed my previous review, you recall that my butt wouldn't take much more fat that 250ccs because my skin is very taught. Now that I've had an initial BBL, my butt will be able to take more fat and I can't wait!I'm also concerned that during recovery, I didn't get back to working out quickly enough. Now that I have workout equipment in my apartment that I use daily, I'm not worried about putting on fat in the same places. I also didn't have the right garment sizes during my healing because I was negligent in ordering the right sizes when my initial sizes became loose, but I have made all the necessary waist shaper/faja purchases, and I know I'll be able to maintain my new shape--trust me the right faja is very important.In short, I'm going for an even better me. I'm a little nervous that maybe my body is just not meant to be a stunner, but I refuse to give up before I try. Maybe I'm fighting my body type, but so what? I'm fighting my way to hotness, and nobody can stop me! ;)

Wow... Where do I begin? It's been about one year since my last review (I'm sorry, y'all) and I'll explain why it has taken me so long to update!

First, I had planned to have Round 2 earlier this year. I was so excited about it y'all. About two months before surgery, I started to have this ridiculous heartburn and uncontrollable coughing fits during the night and couldn't sleep! After a few weeks of not being able to sleep and being delirious because of my insomnia, I finally let my friends convince me to see an ENT (Ear Nose Throat specialist).

My ENT did a quick endoscopy - He stuck that skinny tube so fast in my nose to look at my throat that I didn't even have time to prepare for the nasty feeling! He told me that I had something called LPR (Laryngopharyngeal Reflux Disease). That it is usually common in kids, but I had a severe case and my voice box may be permanently damaged from the stomach acid that was not properly receding. He asked me if I wore tight clothes (and I knew this dude was messing with me because post-surgery, I've been wearing body con dresses pretty much all the time and a waist trainer...). I looked at him like "Why are you messing with me?" He said I needed to stop wearing tight clothes if I wanted the LPR to go away. He said the waist trainers and tight clothes were compressing my stomach so much that the stomach acid didn't know where to go, so it started chewing away at my throat and even my voice box. He said I could permanently lose my voice and damage my throat if I didn't stop and heal.

I was shell shocked~~!

What the hell? Clearly I knew nothing about the dangers that I had exposed myself to with my waist training and tight clothing...

So I backed off waist training and stopped wearing any fajas to sleep.

Truth be told, it took 3 months for the acid to recede. I was on Prilosec/Zantac 3 times a day (one before each meal, and one after each meal). The acid was bad, y'all. When I say I couldn't sleep but a few minutes each night, I mean it.

I called Dr. S and told him what was going on. He agreed with my ENT doc's recommendations and we decided to postpone my surgery until I was healed completely of LPR.

Fast forward to late summer, I started feeling better~! My acid wasn't keeping me up at night anymore, and as you may have guessed it, not wearing a garment took it's toll on my tiny waist.

My waist size went up from a 24 to a 27 in like weeks, and then settled at a 28-29 (damn, y'all). What's interesting is my butt never changed. That behemoth is still a 42!

Another bad thing happened, my back fat grew with a vengeance. I started to look like a very heavy up-top hour glass, ew!

So, *ring* I called Dr. Schulman and scheduled a consultation.

The moment I saw him walk into the exam room, I confessed: "Dr. Schulman, I went and got fat." Those of you who know Dr. Schulman, already know his response: "Well, why did you go and do that for?" We get to talking and he examines my weight gain.

Truly I gained most of my weight in my back. From the front, I still look stunning, but my back doesn't look great anymore. There's just too much weight in my upper back for you to see my shape anymore. Also my inner upper thigh has a fat pooch.

Dr. Schulman says "So are you going to workout, or you want to make me do all the work?" My lazy ass says, "You are going to have to do all the work, Dr. S!"

I've decided that I like my ass just the way it is. I would just like to make everything else smaller. My surgery date is set!

Those of us who have gone through this surgery know exactly what this journey means and hopefully this list will resonate with you. For those who are yet to go through this surgery, hopefully this will help you prepare and you'll realize everything you're going through is normal!

Stay Butt-iful
xoxo

1. Excitement
You have come to the realization that you can change your body to the hour glass goddess shape you've always wanted. You stumble on RS and start to discover "wish pics". You start collecting wish pics and have hundreds! You settle on the shape you actually want. Maybe you download an app that modifies your pre-surgery body so you can see what you may look like after surgery.

You find a surgeon or several and ask for quotes.

2. Fear
The BBL surgeons give you quotes and the prices leave you shell-shocked. You realize BBL is a huge commitment and will change your life--that is very scary. Also, BBL can be expensive. How are you going to justify spending this money on yourself? You start to wonder if this was even a good idea. You decide you're going to go through with it anyway because you never do anything for yourself!

3. Shopping Addiction
You buy every ointment, gauze, pillow, garment you can find or that someone recommends, you buy. You buy new clothes in anticipation of your new body. You take some before pictures with the clothes on and fantasize about what your new body will look like in those clothes.

4. Anxiety and Doubt
Several times during the process, you are struck with a sense that this may not work out well. What if it's a scam? You check on reviews for your chosen BBL surgeon again and again. At this point, you've paid for surgery so there's no backing out, but you just want to be sure you're in good hands. You look at RS reviews by other women who have had this surgery by your chosen surgeon.

5. SURGERY DAY
You try to calm your nerves and just go through it. Your surgeon sets your mind at ease and you feel no pain during surgery day~

6. Exhaustion and Pain
Surgery is done and all your anxiety about it has made you tired. Plus this is major surgery and it hurts. You feel every movement and sleeping on your face is no joke when you can't roll over on your back simply. You are stiff when you stay in one position for too long.

7. Sadness/Depression/Disappointment
This usually comes in its most dramatic form on Day 3-5 post-op but you may have it at different points during recovery. You start to think that because you can't see the results dramatically that maybe the surgery was a waste of money and it didn't work. You cry -- a lot. You go on your RS profile and you vent to others. You post pictures wondering if you're overreacting--in most cases you are overreacting. You realize the only people who can truly understand what you're going through are those who went through the surgery.

8. Exhilaration
The pain passes slightly and you start to notice your new butt. Maybe you've walked outside and others notice you more than usual. You start to feel a bit more confident.

9. Fear
If you didn't tell anyone you were having surgery, maybe you're afraid about what people will think since you clearly can't hide your donk! You start to think: "What if people I know ask me about what I've done?" Then you realize they won't...and they don't. If they do notice, you tell them you've been squatting a lot lately and eating well.

10. BBL-itis
After some fluffing, your butt really looks glorious. You may start to have some butt envy or BBL-itis as I like to call it and you are convinced that you can get a better bigger rounder butt. You start to plan for round 2 and go back to #1 on this list!