A few new post op pics - Cincinnati, OH

Time is going sooooo slow. 44 more days to go and boobs are all I can think about. :p Thankfully my mom is going to be moving here from out of state in two weeks and will be renting our basement apartment from us for a while, so I'm hoping that having her here will help take my mind off all the waiting. It will also be great to have her here because she'll be able to help take care of me (and lift my toddler) during my recovery. She's a life saver!! She's very supportive about my BA (she jokes that it's her fault anyway because her genes are responsible for the problem - Ha!) but I'm so glad she's going to be here with me and is so positive about it all. That makes it so much easier. What are you ladies doing (or did you do) to get through all the waiting?

Last weekend my husband told my MIL that I was going to have a BA and I was super nervous about her reaction (because I really do care about her opinion) but she was very positive. My husband has a big family (he's one of five) and my in-laws have a pool and have all seen me in a bikini, so keeping it from them isn't really an option. And it's going to be super noticeable if I ever plan to go swimming again (particularly so since I have virtually no breast tissue to start with), so I'm very thankful my MIL was so happy for me. It's very awkward with his family though. Particularly thinking about my FIL and BIL's (my husband is one of five). I know they will notice and that is so embarrassing to think about. Did anyone else feel like that? I also haven't told my dad yet either and I know he will be less than thrilled. But I only see him a few times a year because he lives out of state so it's possible that I can dress to hide it when he's around. I figured I will wait until it's over and see how noticeable it is when I'm dressed (I normally wear heavily padded bras as it is) and then decide if I'm going to tell him or not. That's not really a conversation I want to have if I don't have to. haha

One week to go!! I can't believe it's getting so close. I'm so excited! I'm starting to get a little more nervous about the surgery and pain, but mostly I'm just excited to see the result. I've been keeping busy with helping my mom get settled in and also getting caught up on work before the big day. I'm a photographer and work from home most of the time, so I've been trying to get all my regular clients in before the big day and get all my editing done so I can relax and rest afterwards. Right now that part is my biggest stress - I hate having all this work hanging over my head and being under such a tight deadline. And trying to work a lot and concentrate with 2 small children at home can be really frustrating (for me and them). I've been trying not to use my mom's help with the kids too much now since I'll need her so much during recovery. So aside from being super excited about my new "additions", I'm also really looking forward to being able to relax and take a break from working like crazy.

I go for my pre-op appt on Wednesday. I'll keep you all posted. :)

Well tomorrow is the big day. I can't believe it's finally almost here. I went for my pre-op appointment this morning and we're all set for surgery. I am starting to get really nervous about everything - mostly about whether or not I chose the right size and how I'll feel about the results, but a little about the pain and recovery too. My surgeon seems to think I'm going with the perfect size for my frame so that put me at ease a bit, but I'm still freaking out a tad. I have to be at the hospital at 7 am tomorrow and the surgery starts at 9:05 am. We have to go to the hospital to have it done (instead of my Dr.'s office) because of something to do with a conflicting schedule for the anesthesiologist at the office. The hospital is a little further away for us than the dr's office (about a half an hour - but maybe a lot more if we hit morning rush hour) and we've never been to this particular hospital before, so I'm pretty nervous about finding it and getting where we need to be on time. I'm probably going to be up and pacing the floor at 4 am. The other big stressful thing has been getting everything with my kids situated. A good friend and neighbor is going to be taking my oldest to preschool and picking him up, while my mom stays home with our youngest. But because I am usually the only one doing these things, just getting everything squared away and instructions given to all the right people has made me a little crazy. Thank goodness for family and friends though. I don't know how we would manage all this without them. My husband has been helping me get my "recovery area" ready - complete with netflix, blu ray, kindle, laptop, cell phone and a multitude of outlets.... lol AND he's out grocery shopping right now to stock up on things to feed everyone while I'm not feeling up to cooking. He might just be the sweetest husband ever.

Today was the big day; I can't believe it's over! We weren't sure if we'd hit rush hour this morning so we left extra early and made it to the hospital much quicker than we anticipated. We were 40 minutes early (before my 7 am scheduled arrival time), so we walked over to the cafeteria so hubby could some breakfast. It was pretty torturous smelling his food and watching him eat since I couldn't have anything to eat or drink. I was more thirsty than anything else, but the food sure smelled good. haha Once we got over to the check-in area around 7 am, they took me back immediately. It seemed like a hundred people came in to ask me questions or take my vitals or something. I was pretty much ready to go by 7:30 am , so it seemed like I had to wait forever and time practically stood still while I laid there (surgery was scheduled for 9). The doctor came in and drew marks on my chest and eventually they gave me some of the initial "calm down" drugs. That made me really sleepy and I fell asleep. I woke up when they were coming to take me back to the OR. Once we got to the OR, my doctor was there and a bunch of other nurses and anesthesia people. I remember that it was freezing in there and I was talking to Dr. V about Christmas shopping and what tv shows I was going to watch on Netflix when I got home. haha I was feeling pretty calm about the whole thing most of the morning and I was actually looking forward to them putting me to sleep because I felt sooooo tired and drowsy from all the drugs and getting up so early. Once they put the mask on my face to put me to sleep, I remember it was just oxygen at first and then he told me the drugs were coming next and I'd get sleepy. I thought "I don't feel anything yet" and then the next thing I remember was waking up in the recovery area. haha The nurse said I woke up as they were wheeling me out of the OR and I talked to her then, but I don't remember any of that. The hospital was really busy by that time, so even after I spent a while in recovery, I had to stay there and wait probably an additional 45 minutes to get back to another room where my husband could come back to and they could work on discharging me. I wasn't in too much pain when I woke up, just mostly sore feeling and my throat was really sore and scratchy from the tube they put down it. Once I got out of recovery, they got me some water and had me eat a couple of gram crackers (which is TOUGH when your mouth is SUPER dry... lol I had to take a drink while I chewed each bite to be able to swallow it. haha it was really gross). Then I got some pain meds and they worked on all the discharge paperwork etc,

After the half an hour drive, we made it back home around 3 pm. I imagine the procedure would not take nearly as long if you were having it the doctor's office. The hospital is just really slow about everything because the staff had so many more people to take care of. Once I got home I actually sat and visited with my mom and kids for about a half an hour. Then I've been sleeping off and on this afternoon/evening. My good friend brought dinner over for us and that was REALLY helpful. I feel pretty good still. My percocet wore off while I was sleeping a little bit ago and so waking up and moving around was pretty painful, but I took another one right away, as well as my other meds and feel much better. I think I'm going to like the size a lot. They are a little swollen and funny shaped at the moment, but I know that will get better over the next couple weeks. Even in a sports bra, they look a bigger in my regular clothes than my super duper padded bras I wore before. I was worried about looking the same in clothes, but I don't believe that will be the case (although it's hard to tell since I have on a zip up hoodie and a sports bra. haha I'll post a few pics later tonight or tomorrow. I need hubby to help me take some. I tried a bit ago but with my meds worn off, it was too painful/uncomfortable to hold the camera at the right angle.

Anyway, so far so good. Dr. V was great and said everything went perfectly and he thinks I'm going to be extremely happy with the size and shape when they start to heal. I guess that's all for now. I'll keep you all posted! Thanks for all the encouragement, ladies!

I'm still feeling much better than I expected as far as my breasts go, but I woke up in the middle of the night last night with a KILLER headache. It has continued all day long today and nothing seems to help. I'm not sure if it's a side effect from the anesthesia or one of the drugs I'm taking, but I sure wish it would go away. The only thing that seems to take the edge off for a bit is caffeine, but I'm afraid to drink to much of it. Has anyone else had this problem? I also broke out in a mild rash today and called my doctor about that, and it looks like I'm just having a reaction to the skin treatment from the O.R. - the rash is only on the places that still had iodine on them when I woke up. So he wasn't very concerned about it, just told me to keep an eye on it and take some benedryl. I mentioned the headache to him and he didn't think the two were related. He said it could be a number of things but since I didn't have a fever, he wasn't too concerned. It's still freaking me out though, because I don't get a lot of headaches and I'm so worried something is wrong. Hopefully it's just a side effect and nothing to worry about. But other than that, I feel awesome. I stopped taking the percocet today and don't feel much different without it. I think that's a good sign. I'm still loving the size and think my Dr. did a fantastic job. I couldn't be happier with how they look and I know they will only get better looking in the next couple of weeks/months. That part is super exciting.

Well, my headache was holding steady and then I realized I was running a low grade fever. The fever had me freaking out a bit. I called my Dr. and he said he wasn't worried about the fever unless it was like 100 or 101 and it wasn't. He was more worried about the headache, which surprised me, but he said that's not a typical symptom from a breast augmentation or any of the medicines I'm taking. He told me to try taking some tylenol and then if that doesn't help the pain, I should go to the ER and get checked out. I hadn't tried taken any tylenol before that because I wasn't sure if it would conflict with any of the other meds I was on. The Dr. saying that I might need to go to the ER had me freaking out even more, but I took the tylenol and it helped a LOT! I feel so much better. So hopefully it's just a bad coincidence, and I'll wake up feeling better tomorrow. Thanks for your support ladies! It's so helpful to hear your words of encouragement!

I'm feeling much, much better than yesterday. I'm having random sharp pains and still very sore, but so much better than yesterday now that my awful headache is gone. I can deal with all the other pain, but I couldn't even function with that headache. I am still very, very happy with my size too. It's exactly what I wanted. I'm so thankful that my plastic surgeon listened to me and was able to guide me in the right direction. Had it been left up to me, I probably would have ended up over-doing it. My husband is thrilled with the results too. I keep catching him staring at my boobs throughout the day. I've never had that effect on anyone before so I'm enjoying that he's so distracted with it. :) My MIL came by and brought us lunch today. She was totally shocked with how natural they looked. She thought I looked pretty much the same in regular clothes and said she expected it to be a lot more obvious. She acted genuinely pleasantly surprised, which I took as a very nice compliment. I posted a few more photos. I've switched to a different type of sports bra because the zip up ones were just way too tight on my incisions. And sorry I'm not posting any completely topless shots, but hubby isn't completely comfortable with the idea so I promised to be respectful of that. :) I still haven't completely adjusted to the idea that these are MINE. I keep looking down and thinking "that isn't a padded bra, that's all BOOB! Holy cow!" :)

Holy cow are my incisions itchy! My steri strips are starting to come off and the itchiness is insane, particularly on the side where a portion of the incision is now exposed to air a bit. I know itching is a normal part of the healing process, but has anyone else experienced it like this? Is it the healing combined with the steri strips coming off? The skin doesn't look red or infected or anything like that, just itches. Would it help and be safe to take some benadryl?

Otherwise, I'm starting to become a lot more comfortable each day. I'm sleeping on my side fairly successfully now. They still don't look like they're dropping much, but I need to take some new photos and really compare to be sure. But on the bright side, I cleaned out my closet this weekend and it was SUPER fun trying on clothes. It's like a whole new wardrobe! :D I'll take some new pics today and post them soon!

I haven't posted in forever, because honestly, everything has been great and I've been busy enjoying my new boobs! haha Everything is still really great! I went for my 3 month post op on April 2nd and the doctor said I'm healing very well and everything looks good. They've settled and look AMAZING!

I finally went and got fitted at Victoria's Secret the other day (I felt like this was a rite of passage or something) and they said I was a 32DD. I know their bras can run a little small, so I might be a 32D in other brands, but with either of those sizes, I still have to shop at VS or online because I haven't really found other places that carry them - at least not with a 32 band size (and 34 doesn't work on my narrow frame at all). But that's ok, I'll take it! :)

I do still have some numbness on the bottom of my breasts and some hyper-sensitivity on my nipples, but my doctor said that is completely normal and it can take a year or more for it to all go back to normal. It's not hugely bothersome, so I'm ok with that.

The size was probably my biggest worry and I'm so happy that I trusted my doctor and husband's advice. I love that I can wear a push up bra and look "va va voom" or a regular bra and make them not so noticeable. Originally I told my doctor that I didn't want people staring at me at PTA meetings or church functions, but I also really worried about them being too small - and I feel like I got the perfect balance. I'll try to upload some new pics sometime today. :)

Adding a couple new pics. Sorry for the crappy quality - need to take a few more.