36 Yr Old, 3 Kids (2 BF). 5'11"; 148lb - Nothing but Nipples 397CC. - Lakeland, FL

My grandmother was a designer at a bra factory and made custom bras for every woman in my family. This worked out perfectly, because all of them (her sisters, her nieces, her cousins, her youngest daughter) were WELL endowed and all my life I heard about all the creative ways they lassoed those giant boobs. All of them...except my own mother, who even after 3 pregnancies did not fit into a B cup. I was certain she was the exception to the rule and I would be blessed with these genetic miracles and so I waited with excitement. By 6th grade, I was an inch under 6 foot tall so I knew they were coming...I was certain they would sprout over the summer and I would finally be able to fit into a bikini top. But that summer came and went...as did the next...and the next...and the 22 summers that followed and the damn things never showed up! Yes during my 2 pregnancies, I managed to fit modestly into a C cup but even after my milk came in, it wasn't anything to thank the boob Gods for, by any means...I didn't even get stretch marks, if that says anything.

So here I am...plenty of hips, plenty of butt...and nothing but nipples and ribs above my waist. I wear a size 6 or 8 in pants but my blazers and button ups are size 0 and 2. That's some serious disproportion, from where I'm standing. I NEVER would have done this without prompting; I would have continued to wear my $90 bombshell bras (which in Florida feel like an underground bomb shelter for your boobs) and looked longingly at cute halter dresses and strapless gowns (like the one I had to wear in my brother's wedding and every photo shows me holding it up so it didn't slip right off of me) but my wife (yes, you read that correctly) decided that this she was sick of being 100 pounds and hauling around D cups so she was getting a reduction. And then she said, "We are doing this together...you are getting bigger boobs and I am getting rid of mine." I chuckled and told gave her a list of important things (our master bathroom remodel, landscaping, our 11 year olds upcoming braces) that I could spend six grand on but her mind was set. We were doing it.

So 4 consults later, her boobs have been reduced and I am 1 week away from my pre op appointment and less than 3 weeks away from my surgery date. I have had 2 c sections, a cyst removal, and oral surgery so I'm not nervous about the actual surgery but more about the pain and the recovery. We have 3 boys ages 11, 4, and 1 so I don't know how well they (or I) will do in the days after surgery when I'm doped up and my chest that they normally lounge on (with the aid of pillows because God knows that's not a comfy spot as is) will be off limits. During my initial consult, Dr. Stark showed me 490cc silicone implants which were MUCH larger than I expected but he did explain given my height and dimensions, if he put much smaller ones in they would look like baseballs instead of boobs. That's doesn't sound too cute. He highly recommended silicone behind the muscle because I have no breast tissue and have a very bony chest and said that saline would have a much higher chance of rippling and that I would most likely be able to see the outline of the implant. I figure I'm already spending this much, I may as well go with the good stuff.

I am very much a planner so any tips on stuff to have ready or have completed BEFORE my surgery would be much appreciated. I bought an Under Armour zip up sports bra, but I'm not sure if a compression bra would be a good idea too and which one is best. (I only know about Miracle Bras, Water Bras, and Wonder Bras so I'm out of my element). I've read that I need ice packs, but I don't if frozen veggies work or if I need something special. One reviewer said she put together a "day of surgery" kit which I thought was an awesome idea...but she didn't give any indication as to was in the dang thing so I don't know what is useful and what is pointless.

My pre-op is next Thursday so I am hoping to be able to play with sizes and make sure I'm not going to come out of surgery looking like the ghost of Anna Nicole's chest. I've included some before pictures so the world can grimace at the oddity of my chest with me. I haven't really looked at "wish boobs" pictures because when asked that question, the only answer I have is "not the ones I have" but maybe I should wrestle some up while I'm trying to devise a day of surgery kit.

I had my pre-op appointment last Thursday, but the week prior I decided that I should make some rice sizers so I would be prepared to pick a final size at my appointment. My initial appointment was back in December so maybe I had garland and mistletoe in my ear, but I thought for SURE my PS had suggested 497cc implants to I made sizers that equated to approximately 500cc and wore them all day. Thank God silicone is lighter than whole grains or this entire thing would be a no go for me...those suckers were HEAVY, but when I put my clothes on over them I have to admit I liked the way they curved and popped.

Fast forward to pre-op day. We went through all the boring stuff and signed all the disclaimers and then my PS looked at my initial documents and said "So based on your measurements my proposal is a 397cc Natrelle Mid Range (style 15) implant." And so I told him that I had been looking at reviews on RS of women who were also 5' 11" and around 150 pounds and thought maybe I wanted to up that to 450cc or 500cc based on the rice sizer experiment because I certainly didn't want to do this and wish I went larger. He gave me this "eh" look and got out his measuring tape and basically told me he was sorry but he would not be comfortable taking me that big. He said that because I have literally no breast tissue and my upper body frame is equivalent to that of a woman between 5'2" and 5'6" (which I suppose is true because my blazer size is a 0 or a 2 while my pants size is a 6) he is pushing it by going to 397. He showed me the sizing chart for the implants and my BWD is just at 12. The 397 is recommended for a 13 BWD so he said he would not feel comfortable with the possible results if we went larger.

Now I had tried on the 400cc implant the first time around and was over the moon about it, but those rice sizers gave me size envy so I was pretty bummed about not being able to go bigger. I wore the 400cc sizers in his office for over half an hour under my clothes and the nurses had me do things like squats, bend down to pick something up, text on my phone...just everyday things to see how they felt. They looked tons better than my current breasts, with our without a foam padded bra and I have to remind myself that I am doing this to make my body look more proportioned and natural and that I'm not a flashy, showy kind of gal so this makes sense for me. (Repeat 3 times daily).

Unfortunately, I also learned that my iron should be a minimum of 13 and mine is 8.5 so I've been iron loading all week (seriously, how much spinach can one person consume) and am crossing my fingers that it has done some good, otherwise I have to postpone my surgery until I can get it to a normal level. UGH! I got my blood drawn yesterday (after 4 attempts...stupid jumpy veins) and I haven't heard from my PS office yet so that's a good sign since the nurse said she would call first thing in the morning if I had to reschedule.

At this point, I have 6 different post surgical bras (I've never needed a sports bra and wouldn't wear one anyhow since I look like a boy in them so I went a little crazy), I've rented a recliner for sleeping post surgery, ordered ice packs, have my surgery outfit ready and bought quite a few button up shirts and pajamas (I didn't have many of those either because they've never fit my shape). Now we just need to make some energy bites and high nutrient soups to freeze and thaw for the post surgery week and I think I'll be all set. Feel free to remind me of anything I may have overlooked :)

I went for my pre-op on Thursday of last week and got a call Friday that my hemoglobin was under 9 and I needed to take iron and come back this week for another blood test. After consuming 2 iron supplements daily and ingesting more iron rich foods than will ever be humanly possible, I tested again on Wednesday...and failed. My PS is on vacation so I have to wait for him to respond to my results via text to determine if my surgery is cancelled on Tuesday. He is very cautious so I'm sure he is not going to move forward and from a scheduling standpoint I won't be able to do this until 2016. Ugh!!! Did I mention he's turning over his office to another surgeon and retiring shortly so if I do get cancelled and decide to reschedule I have to start my surgeon research all over again. Not feeling like Friday today :(.