Breast Augmentation 26yrs old, 5'6", 125lbs, going from 32A to 355cc

I get my BA tomorrow!!!! I'm SO excited it almost doesn't even feel real! I've wanted to get this done for so long. After so long of wanting this, it's hard to believe it's actually happening.
I chose Dr. Salemy because he simply seemed to be he best PS for BA I could find in Seattle. I only wanted to work with the best. Same goes for any cosmetic procedure. Not that others didn't seem great too, he just seemed to be the best to me. His pictures on this app and the fact that he had such great reviews was a good start. But meeting him in person for the first time sealed it for me. I had maybe 30 questions written down for him during our virtual consult and he was so patient, knowledgeable, and professional. He didn't rush my questions or make me feel as though I was asking too many. His answers were honest and thorough. And on top of that, he was kind. I truly felt he had my best interest in mind and that he wanted to do good and thorough work. I could also tell that he was assessing to be sure that I was a good candidate for the procedure as well, which I appreciate because it made me feel as though he had integrity about his operations. And his patience with all my questions gave me the assurance that he would also take his time in the operating room to do a good job and not just rush through me to see the next patient. His staff was just as amazing. Kind, friendly, patient, and caring. They were all so genuine.
After I briefly spoke with Dr Salemy during our in person consult/pre op, I began to try on sizers for the first time. The woman who helped me was SO incredibly helpful. I really can't express how helpful she was. I need to figure out her name... She made me feel so comfortable and her feedback was invaluable. So I’m there trying the sizers on for the first time EVER, having never reallyyy seen the shape of breasts on my body before because I'm a 32A, so mentally it’s a lot...and it's like she just totally understood what I needed. She let me take my time, not feeling rushed at all. She helped talk me through what I was thinking and feeling and helped guide me in the right direction without making any direct suggestions. She was just so supportive and so amazing I really can't thank her enough. I felt so out of my element at first and she made it comfortable, easy, and exciting.
After I chose my size, I went home and continued to research. I had no frame of reference for sizes and cc's before so after seeing more images and reviews of the size I chose, I started to have second thoughts. I felt it just my not be what I was really looking for. So I called the office and asked if I could try them on again and they happily found a time for me to come back in. They were just as patient with me the second time. I almost felt bad at first for taking up their time but they made me feel like a priority and assured me I had every right and reason to take my time. Truly kind people there. After lots more trying on sizers, taking pictures, and talking with the same very helpful woman that had helped me before, I landed on 355cc. I liked the look of the 325cc sizers but because I am doing under the muscle, going up a size is necessary to create that level of volume. So I’m doing round cohesive gel silicone, under the muscle, 355cc with incision under the crease of my breast. I feel very good about all of this. But I know I will talk to Dr Salemy one last time about the size before I actually go under. If we make a change, I’ll be sure to mention it.
I'm a bit nervous with the surgery being right around the corner but I'm honestly SO ready & excited! I've never done anything this serious so that's where my nervousness comes from. But the thought of finally having breasts is beyond thrilling. I've thought so much and so long about this. And I’ve thought about it from every possible angle because I’m a natural overthinker. Growing up I always hoped my breasts would eventually develop and I was so sad to find that they just never did. It was a long hard journey accepting my chest the way it is. But still, even though I accept it, I am not satisfied with it, and I especially don't love it. I feel like such a feminine, confident and sexual woman and then I see my body naked and that all gets dimmed. I'm always wearing padded bras just to create the illusion of having even small breasts. When I take off my clothes in front of a new partner, I always feel like I'm spilling a secret and it's scary as hell. When I decided to do this I thought to myself that one day I might miss my small breasts...and I'm sure at some point, to some extent, I will. But not enough. Not nearly enough to not want this. When I was looking at the pictures and video I took of myself in the sizers, for the first time ever I actually thought to myself, that is a GOOD looking body! I look in the mirror now and though I see a body that is fit and worked hard for, I can't say that I see "good looking" body. It just looks and feels as though something is missing. And seeing myself in the sizers changed that for a bit. For the first time, I actually really liked at I saw! And yeah I have good days now when I look in the mirror and feel pretty, but my body is always sort of holding that feeling down a bit, especially if I'm not in a good enough bra. I always felt like my face was the best part of me so I'm excited to actually like looking at my body too for once.
I'm nervous about how long the recovery period is and not being able to work out for so long...but of course that won't last forever. So I just plan to eat healthy and double up my efforts in the gym when it's safe to start up again.
For the first 10 days I'll have my amazing bf helping me. I know I'm in great hands because he LOVES to take care of me. And I know I'll need him too. I also want to add that when I told Dr Salemy's office that my bf was about to go out of town for 2 months for work, they were luckily able to find me a time that worked with his schedule so that he could be around to help me during my first week of recovery. I'm so grateful to them for that. After he leaves for work for two months I'll have to lean on family and friends in the area for support but I think I'll be mostly self sufficient at the point.
I feel very prepared too. Dr Salemy and his staff do a wonderful job at making sure you have everything you need and know all you need to know before the day of surgery. The pre op packet has lots of information and they send you helpful videos to watch as well.
I'll try to give lots of updates and include many photos since others' reviews have helped me so much. I hope my reviews help someone else on their journey too!

Surgery went really well! Officially no longer a member of the itty bitty tittie committee. Gave back my badge & everything lol
Before/thoughts & emotions:
I had such a mix of emotions on the car ride over. I’m so glad I had my bf there driving to help me talk through it all. He’s my biggest support. I’d definitely recommend having someone that you trust who understands you well to talk through these things with. He was able to mostly just listen, validate my feelings, and offer loving support. A bit of what I was thinking what how excited I was, how it felt so surreal after wanting this for so long and now it’s actually happening, and the nervousness of going under for the first time. I also would have the thought that I’ll possibly miss my old body at some point in the future(not often & certainly not enough to not want this surgery) and I just want to anticipate nostalgia coming from up some day. Because I don’t hate my body, in fact I’ve come a long way to accept my body. But I don’t want to just be okay with my body, look in the mirror and think “oh it’s not so bad” some days. I want to actually love my body and be happy to look in the mirror, try on new clothes, and simply walk around in life proud of the body I’m in. It’s always so easy to look through to the past with rose tinted glasses. So someone actually had a great suggestion to me about journaling how I feel in my current body, including pictures. So I can look back at it when my final results of the surgery start showing, and have even more clarity. It was a very helpful exercise because I also included a video of myself in the sizers and wrote about how I felt in them. During the long car ride, and even waiting in the waiting area before the surgery, I’d look at those and read my notes and every time it reminded me why I wanted this so bad for so long. When I look at my before photos, it almost looks and feels like something is missing, and then I’d look at the video I had taken in the sizers and suddenly I look balanced, feminine, and even sexy. Things I rarely felt before unless I had a really nice padded bra on & had no bloat whatsoever. With my breasts so small, my other body parts would often look big to me in comparison creating an unbalanced appearance. The sizers changed that feeling. Nervousness aside, I was so ready. Because I knew with conviction that it was what I wanted, I felt really good about the size I chose, and I had seriously the most kind & caring professionals helping me. So as nervous as I had been about finally doing this, I was also SO excited! Excited to feel (& look!) the way I did in those sizers 24/7!
The surgery:
I showed up a few min late (traffic and a long drive) and they quickly and kindly greeted me and brought me in where I spoke with the nurse that would be helping me in the recovery room after surgery. She was very kind. Then Dr. Salemy came in and we discussed the size one last time & he drew up dotted lines on my chest. Decided to stick with 355cc. It was a brief interaction. Then after a few minutes of waiting, the Anesthesiologist came in next. He was also very kind and walked me through what was going to happen on his end. After he left I waited just about 5 more min and was taken by another sweet nurse into the OR. They laid me down on a warm bed and soon I was getting hooked up with IV anesthetics. The last thing I remember was talking about the traffic and then waking up in the recovery room with the first nice nurse. I felt tired and weak but no real pain, just discomfort. She helped me get dressed, go to the bathroom, and wheeled me down in a chair to meet my boyfriend at his car where he had a pink drink from Starbucks waiting for me(sweet man). She briefly went over some post op care (mainly about meds) and sent us off!
After surgery:
I still felt groggy but was almost all woken up by the time we made it home. Now I’ve just been relaxing. I can’t stress how helpful it is to have my bf here with me. I also highly recommend having someone stay with you if you live alone. Not having to reach, pick up, or adjust anything has made my life a lot easier. He also just found out from work that his travel got backed back so I’ll have a bit more time with him during recovery which I’m so happy about. He still has work during the day though and only got my surgery day and first recovery day off. So before he goes back, we’ll have to put things where I can easily get them around the home. But it’ll be nice knowing that he’ll be home later and also that I have friends and family in the area if I really need a hand or some company. Good support if huge during all of this, I can say that for sure. At least for me.
The pain is bearable but I’ve been staying on top of my meds really well with the help of my bf. I can tell when it’s almost time to take another paid med already because the tightness gets tighter and the soreness gets more sore. It hurts to take in a deep breath. I mostly take low & shallow breaths but every now and then I still have to breath in deep and I can reallyyy feel it. My back has also been hurting from the positions I’ve been sleeping/napping in already. Trying to work on that. But again, it’s bearable. I’ve just been using pillows behind my head/back & under my legs. We also have a second couch at home that reclines do I’ve been using that and it’s really good at keeping my elevated.
So far I’ve just had some light snacks (crackers, nuts, fruit, pedialyte, and water). Haven’t been too hungry. And just getting up to go the the bathroom tries me out.
After thoughts/feelings:
I’m already so glad I’ve done this even though I haven’t been able to see my chest without the bandages yet. I can tell that the size at least looks good so far. And I have so much confidence in Dr Salemy, I believe my results will look great also. I’m mentally prepared for them to look really weird at first though. At least until about 6 weeks. Sounds like such a long time to me now but I know it’ll be over before I know it. And then I truly believe that I’ll wish I had only done this much sooner.
It still feels a bit unreal to be looking in the mirror now and know that, for once, there are actual breasts under my garments. I almost feel like I’ve just got a bunch of padding on. I’m coming from having literally no boobs at all though, so any time I would ever see shape in my chest it’s been due to padding so far. Taking off this bra and gauze for the first time is going to be a trip. But a trip I’m so thrilled to take!

Saw Dr Salemy and his amazing staff today! The wonderful woman who helped me so much with sizers & stuff is Dina btw! Just had to figure out her name and share that bc her help meant so much to me.
Dr Salemy said everything was looking good and agreed that the size I chose was a good fit, which made me so happy to hear. I trust his expertise so much. I wasn’t there very long. Got to see my new breasts for the first time after Dina removed the bandage for me (and omg that just so good to get off, like having braces removed!). They don’t look too bad! They obviously have a lot of healing to do but I think I can see the direction things are headed, and I like it! Right now they are pretty swollen, hard, and high up, but I know all of this changes with time, so that being said, I think it’s going great and that I’m right on track!
In a couple days I’ll be able to shower, I just won’t let the water hit my breasts directly, I’ll need to keep my back to the water. Which doesn’t sound hard. But I may have my bf in there with me to help me wash my hair.
Pain wise I’m pretty good because I’ve been staying on top of my meds & taking them each time I’m supposed to. My bf has been helping with that a bunch which gives me one less thing to stress about. So grateful for him.
I already feel so great and so glad I did this. And i’m VERY excited to see my new boobies drop/fluff & settle in!!! After they do, it’s shopping time for new bras and cute tops!!! Can’t wait!
I’ll keep posting pics and updates as the journey continues!