5'2", 138 small frame 365 cc under muscle

Seven weeks out, and everything is going great! I went for my first run last week, with a VS Knockout sports bra, and while my stamina is obviously not what it was before, I was pleasantly surprised at how little my boobs bothered me or felt out of place. They're feeling very soft these days, and are settling in nicely. The left is still lagging behind in healing just a tad, being slightly more firm to the touch than the right, but still doing great. My scars are healing great as well!

Dr G isn't super thrilled that my nipples aren't 100% even, which I expected since one was already a bit lower and I didn't get a lift, but the results are as I expected since he at no point promised they would be. He did mention a procedure that simply tightens the skin with almost no downtime and no scar, and told me if at six months they hadn't settled into the same place to give him a call and we'd discuss tightening the skin on that side.

At that appointment, I hadn't run yet and mentioned that I was concerned maybe they'd be a little big for my lifestyle, and he seemed so sad that I felt that way--almost made me feel bad! I don't at all think they're too big, even though I'm measuring at a 36D, because they look quite proportional, I'm just wondering how I'll feel about them at the end of 13 or 26 miles! It will be an adjustment for sure, but I'm 100% happy with the results and think he did a fantastic job.

All of my follow ups with him have been extremely short; by far, the most time I've spent with him was at my initial consult, and my appointments since have been very short. As I'm not having issue and they're healing well, I'm not sure what else they would really entail to keep him in the room longer aside from idle chit chat, so I don't really mind, just an FYI to those who might expect the doc to spend a lot of time with you post-op even if you aren't having issues with bleeding, stitches, extreme prolonged pain, CC, etc.

My first two weeks or so post-op weren't fabulous, as you can all read, but it was sort of like a switch flipped and I went from slogging through healing to being mostly fine! I'm still taking it easy as far as lifting anything, putting a lot of pressure on things to twist open jars, etc, but that's more self-imposed than anything--internal stitches take a while to fully heal, and I'm not trying to pop one or anything! I managed to pick up bronchitis in the middle of the summer (not from his OR or anything, it was extremely clean and well-cared for, and it appeared well after what the incubation time would have been to have picked it up there), and the cough was so bad that I had to get a pretty heavy duty cough syrup because I could feel it pulling on my stitches. Made it through that with no trouble, and I've been helping paint our new house and such since.

I was always concerned about the size, and seeming too busty or unprofessional, but I've been able to dress appropriately and feel comfortable no matter where I've been, so distance running aside, my concerns were all for naught. As I pick up more mileage I'll continue to evaluate, but they don't feel heavy or cumbersome in daily life, and didn't during my inaugural run, so I'm comfortable with the size he chose for me. I'd told him I liked the 325s immediately before surgery, as he marked me up, and he said he thought 365s would be the way to go to get that look. I was a little nervous about that heading in, but when I looked up at the board in the OR and saw my befores and the goal photos I'd picked out in his office, and knowing I'd spoken with him, the nurse, and the OR assistant about my running, I felt better leaving it to his judgment to balance my run goals and my aesthetic preferences, and that was the right call.

Any questions, just ask!

I've been feeling much better the past few days, although there's been a lot of pain in my left breast that was really starting to concern me. It was awful whenever I turned even a little, tried to get out of bed, etc. I don't really know how to describe it aside from it felt like the implant maybe was sliding around but pulling my tissues and nerves, but that's really not quite accurate either. There were also a few areas that were very tight feeling, and several areas that are excessively sore. My doctor was out today but they scheduled me to see him tomorrow morning. I was starting to get concerned about CC, so also grabbed some vitamin E today.

I sat for a while worrying, and was sort of absentmindedly rubbing, until my husband and my best friend yelled at me to stop. I was specifically told not to massage so I did...but this evening, while the very tender spots are still painful, the worst of the pain has passed. I'll keep the appointment tomorrow, because a few hours' improvement doesn't take away the weekend of worry and pain, and I'll feel better having him check everything out.

At first I felt like they were a bit too big for me, given that I run so much, but as the swelling has gone down and I've gotten more used to them, they don't seem too big now. I think this is a size I can be happy with, although the true test will be returning to running, hopefully in a few weeks!

I always get extremely bloated after anesthesia, and on steroids, so I'm struggling to fit into any of my pants right now after the combination! It's gotten better the past few days, but I'm still much fluffier than usual. Hopefully it will continue to subside, and if I continue to feel the way I have this afternoon/evening, I'll start walking around the neighborhood soon.

Anyway, there's all the worry and such--overall they're feeling much softer, and beginning to feel a little more like they're mine. As the swelling has gone down they've begun to look a little more like round implants, which I know will go away as they drop and fluff, so I'm not concerned. I decided to forgo a lift after a friend had an issue with necrosis after hers; I know it's rare but watching all the complications just put me off it, since my droop wasn't bad enough that it made me really self conscious. Ive been pleasantly surprised though to see that it actually looks better since the swelling has gone down. I'm not even close to a final result, so it may or may not continue to improve, and that's a risk I chose to take, but it would be awesome if it helped the droop even a little!

Updated photos; any questions, just ask!

After my last update, I took a full dose of my pain killers and a muscle relaxer and got some sleep. I woke up feeling much better, and my back has hurt a lot less since then as well.

I'm not able to wear a regular bra, and going braless for a few hours left me in so much pain I was actually nauseated, so I settled on some sports bras that are a size up from what I need so that they don't push my breasts up and together. I'm thrilled with the distance between them now and the natural cleavage it gives me, but also don't want semmastia, so hopefully they hold steady around here! I can't really decide if I think they've begun to drop; they feel less high up but a lot of what I've read indicates 8 days is extremely early to drop. They are feeling much softer, especially on the bottom, and a lot of the feeling is coming back in both.

I came across a post last night that I think really nailed how I've been feeling--in general, people only leave online reviews for companies and such when they're mad or have had a bad experience; breast augmentations seem to have mostly the opposite going. You get the occasional nightmare scenario, but generally most reviews are people who are very happy and seem to have quick recoveries. Even my best friend was driving and getting back to her normal life within 4 or 5 days, but here I am driving for the first time on day 8 and needing to lie down and take some Advil after running a few simple errands for maybe two hours. I think it's easy to get depressed and paranoid, thinking that because it's taking you longer to recover that something must be wrong. Realistically though, these surgeries aren't as minor as it seems just because they're fairly common. And while some people bounce back fairly quickly, that doesn't mean it's the standard and those of us who don't are freaks-it just means that we heal at different paces.

I have issues with anesthesia and require larger doses and for longer periods than most other people, because if they start tapering me off towards the end of the surgery I wake up mid-stitch--not good! So of course I feel funky for days afterwards, it's going to take longer for a larger quantity of drugs to cycle through my fairly small body. Derp. As for the pain and general yuck that was still lingering, my body is just healing at its own pace and there's nothing to be gained by a) rushing it or b) letting it get inside my head like something must be wrong with me. I'm not bleeding, I'm not dying, I'm not in excruciating pain 24/7, I'm just still tired and sore and bloated and feeling gross, and that's okay.

But I think that would have been easier to accept if I'd seen a few reviews ahead of time that also had a slower recovery. Not that I think people should lie, I just found a bunch when I dug a little deeper and that was such a relief.

Today's photos are a bit blurry, sorry about that! I think my incisions are looking a bit better, and my boobs look less like torpedoes, so tired and sore though I may be, things are moving along as they should!