5 months PO TT 6 weeks PO Breast Lift

Congrats on your scheduled procedures, Beautiful Me!!

I can relate to a good portion of your post! I'm 40, 5' 7" and 150 lbs. I'll be having a TT and breast lift, hopefully in early Jan. 2012. I, too, had my first child at 19, another 6 years later, and then 2 more in my mid thirties. I was large breasted through school and hated it, but I lost most of the "volume" from nursing. Now they are just droopy and sad. lol! Can't wait for them to be back up where they belong!

I can also relate to having a hubs that isn't sure about the operation. Maybe your husband is nervous/scared about the procedure? Or the cost? I know mine is very apprehensive about it all. He always tells me I don't "need" the operation but like you, I've been wanting it for so long. I have a horrible body image, haven't worn a true bikini in 20 years, and it's time I thought about me, darn it!

Also like you, I don't often do things just for me. I'm a wife and mother first and a woman last. This is our time, Beautiful Me!! Erase your guilt about it - you've cared for your family every day of the year for the last 17 years. All you are asking for is a few week period to get back to the YOU that you remember and will feel most comfortable with. I hope your husband will come around, I know it will ease your mind.

But you know what? If he doesn't, that is what you have all of us for! I have done the majority of my surgery research here on RealSelf and am thankful for the stories and experiences I've read.

I am looking forward to reading about your preparations - we can learn together! :-)

I hear what you say about the sad breast! They just stare back at me in the mirror. I am aiming for a 32 D because anything less I think my husband will be grieving. I understand that our husbands love us just the way we are but what if we have a hard time living in our own bodies and can do something about it.
I am gradually coming to terms with the guilt. For once I am doing something for myself and I am going ahead with it. My consult is on the 28th Nov.I really look forward to the journey with the Real Self team.
Right now I am working on losing 5-6 pounds before surgery. Will keep you posted!

Hello, and welcome to to the future itty bitty [RS bleep] committee, haha :p

We certainly are the same size aren't we?! Us itty bitty thin things with ginormous boobs are rare, and I deal with some of the same issues you do as a result. Always being a sex object changes how you feel about yourself...

For me, it wasn't so much putting other people first (I got over that one a few years ago) as it was feeling like my body wasn't mine. I'm not sure when this happened along the way, but at some point it became public property. I felt guilty for, say, eating a donut, because I'm responsible for keeping this great thing everyone likes to look at and valued so much!

Once I started to get serious back pain, with scary nerve paint hat jolts down my left arm, my primary care told me it was time to consider a reduction. I spent a year trying to ward it off with tons of strength training, weight loss (got all the way down to 115 and the girls didn't change much), fancy super expensive custom bras, etc. and all that happened was the back pain slowly progressed bringing with it lots of headaches, lol.

So, I decided on the reduction....Then I had a new issue: I felt like I was destroying public property I had no right to alter. This was the first time I *realized* how my breasts had affected me.

So, now I am working on that, with the mind that I need to do what is right for MY HEALTH, and that my body is my own, not a national treasure I will be defacing :p

I also could have a more supportive hubbs. Mine is doctor, so he knows the pain and risks of keeping the girls. This makes it impossible for him to outright disapprove like yours does, but he will sneak in a little comment here and there "maybe if you tried this new work out plan you would be able to keep the boobs"...."Yours aren't as big as the other people on the doctors web site" (that is because I am 2/3 their size over all).... etc.

And now I have written a blog post on your journal :p Apologies for that! I look forward to a lot more updates from you! Doctor shopping is exciting isn't it? I have my third consult on Monday :D I am pretty sure I will use Dr. #2 (hubbs told me his credentials were great and I should stop shopping after him) but this last guys work is so amazing I just have to meet him and see....Can't wait to hear about yours!

Yay for a surgery date! And that is great news that you could have ins cover the breast reduction!

Hey MaumeeMG Jan 9th is closer than you think! I am excited for you. Wish I could have had the reduction and the TT at the same time too. My husband is glad for that tho.

I understand your feelings about not wanting your husband around. My husband is very supportive, but I don't want him to see my stomach so I didn't have him go to the consultation or my pre-op appointment. He wanted to go to both but I wouldn't let him because I didn't want him to see my skin. He'll see my stomach for the first time in almost 4 years when the doctor actually marks my skin for surgery on the 12th.