240cc Gummy Bear Implants Removed After 18 Months - Mesa, AZ

I am 8 days post op and, like so many others, I feel so free and happy that I decided to explant. I was on cloud nine for the first week. When I took a walk and for the first time since I had the implants, I realized that I had nothing to be embarrassed about and nothing to hide under my clothes. I feel like I have a second chance at life in a way. I have my real body back. I am comfortable in my own skin again!

I am definitely small-breasted. However, my boobs are not hard and they actually move for the first time in a year and a half. So I think that feels so much better. I'm not going to lie, I will definitely be wearing pads in my sports bras and padded bras to give me some shape. I bought these pads on Amazon called Double Scoops (in picture), and I can put them in my bras and bathing suits to fill them back up. But I am happy to do that knowing that I have my natural boobs back.

I still have the steri strips and I have to wear this compression bra for another week or two. It's called the Macom Minimizer bra for implant removal. http://www.macom-medical.com/products/minimizer-bra/112?c=4

I would say that I am a little smaller than before I got the implants (and definitely smaller than before I breastfed my kids), but it has also only been a week. I am not sure if they will get any bigger, but I'm ok with it.

Every once in a while I look at a woman with implants and I get jealous, but then I remember the reality of how uncomfortable I was with them, but physically and mentally, and I am happy to not even think about it anymore. My advice would be that if you're on the fence about doing it, and you're ok with having small breasts again, go for it.

I've been reading everyone's stories, and I honestly don't think I would have had my implants removed today if it weren't for other people sharing their experiences. So thank you, and I have decided to share my own. After breastfeeding two kids, I went into panic mode about my deflated size A breasts. Before kids, I was a 32B/C and I never even thought about the size of my boobs. I absolutely never imagined that I would get implants someday because it never crossed my mind! But after breastfeeding, I made an appt just to check out my options. At the appt, I convinced myself that the gummy bear tear drop shaped implants would look natural. They would fill my boobs back up, and no one would even notice! So I made the appt to have the surgery. I am 105 lbs, 5'2" and got 240cc implants. I thought of it as "reconstructive surgery".

Today, 18 months later, I got them removed.

I believe that implants are for some people, and they are not for others. Both are totally fine. I realized, however, that they just were not for me. I couldn't embrace them. I was hiding them all the time by wearing sports bras and shirts that did not show the top of the implants. I didn't want anyone to know, so I only told a few friends. I imagine that if I would have owned the fact that I got them, I would not have had them removed, but I just couldn't. I felt fake and unnatural. The gummy bear implants are a firm, and they are also textured, so they attach to the tissue and they don't move. They actually looked good and as natural as an implant can be, and they didn't cause me any problems or health issues at all. My PS did an amazing job - it had nothing to do with him. The only time I felt comfortable with them though, was at the gym in a sports bra. I was thrilled to actually fill out a sports bra! Now, I will have to go back to my padded bras and padded sports bras, but that's ok. I'm happy to not have anything to hide when I'm around my friends and family anymore.

I had the surgery at 7:00 this morning, and now I am sitting upright in bed with drains. I will have the drains until Friday. He said I can't reach my arms overhead or twist my body until the drains are out.

It was a very hard decision to get them explanted, but I figured that I would want them removed someday since I wasn't comfortable with them, so I might as well do it while I'm young, and hopefully my skin will bounce back. I'm not sure yet! I feared the worst (I'm definitely not in the clear yet as far as healing), and I am especially nervous about how they will look. I did feel bad for my husband because he loved them. But he is so supportive - he met with with small boobs, so he is happy with me either way.

When I had doubts about getting them removed after I made the appt, I told myself the following things to remind myself that it is the right decision for me:

1) My body is strong and healthy. It is perfect just the way it is, even with small boobs.
2) It will feel so good to be ME again. The REAL ME without anything fake inside of me. I will have my very own body with no foreign objects inside of me.
3) I will be able to read to my kids at night without feeling the implants between us, pressing on my chest. I will also be able to hug people without doing the lean forward and leave space hug.
4) I will be able to wear all my old cute shirts and dresses that I used to wear before implants, without feeling self-consious about my fake boobs
5) When any of my siblings have a baby, I will be able to hold the baby and actually feel it against my chest, instead of feeling the implants.
5) My boobs will be soft.
6) I very frequently recited the verse to myself, "Your beauty should not come from outward appearance...instead it should it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight."

That verse helped me a lot. We are beautiful in all shapes and sizes, but it especially shines when we are beautiful within. I love the way woman look with small breasts as well as big, so I it is ok for me to have small breasts too. I spent $12,000, but I discovered in the process how to embrace my body, even through all the changes of kids and experiences that life brings.

I am terrible at taking pictures - but I did it. I will try to post some in a couple weeks about the results!