I am a 30 year old mother of three, ages 9, 6, and...
I am a 30 year old mother of three, ages 9, 6, and 2. I am 5'8 and 135 pounds. I wear a 34C but I do not fill it up at all, a 34B causes the excess skin to overflow though. My breasts have always had a sag to them. When I was 20 I went for a consult for breast augmentation hoping to fix the problem (I had been trying to get pregnant for 2 years at that time, assumed it was not going to happen and decided to move on with my life). Surprise, surprise, I found out I was pregnant right after that consult. Three pregnancies where I breastfed for 13, 13, and 15 months, where my breasts swelled to an incredible 36F every time, left my breast hanging low and looking down :) Added to that, a month before my youngest was born my husband of 10 years walked out on us. The emotional strain also dropped my weight by an extra 30 pounds. Talk about depleting breast tissue!
So this year I finally met my savings goal and went for my consults. I found a doctor, and had initially set to have a mommy makeover with a full tummy tuck as well. The weekend before my pre-op (last weekend) I broke down and decided I could not bring myself to spend that amount of money on a surgery right now. So, I weighed the options and decided that the breast lift/augmentation would the be the surgery I went forward with.
Tuesday I went to my pre-op to finalize my size choice and go over all pre-surgery instruction. I had tried both the 300cc and 400cc sizers during the consult, I knew for sure 400cc was too big for me. At home I played with rice sizers in a 350cc and decided I liked that. After trying on the 300cc and 350cc at the pre-op, and talking with the doctor, I decided on the 350cc implant.
So on June 13th I will be going under for a full lift, my doctor is hoping to get away with a lollipop lift but prepared me for a small anchor incision if need-be, with a 350cc implant. I cannot wait to see my result!!!
Two Weeks to Go...
Two weeks from now I will be waking up in recovery with new boobs! I am so excited to get this done and be on the mend and enjoying my more youthful (and appropriate to my age!) boobs. While I am still bummed about not getting to go forward with the tummy tuck as well, I feel like the recovery will be much smoother with just the lift/augmentation and that is a good thing. I am trying to get things all in order now so that I can have the least amount of stress possible afterward. Right now I am working on cleaning/organizing/purging. I work for the school district so my job gives me a summer break, normally I use this time to catch up on all this stuff around the house so I am trying to get some done now since that will not be possible this summer. The list is long though and I know I will not be able to get to it all in two weeks. Outside of that I am doing meal planning, snack gathering, and supply gathering. I like to feel prepared, it calms my nerves. I have also made a better attempt at exercising daily to boost my system in preparation for the downtime I will be experiencing soon.
I plan on taking new before pictures, my previous ones included the tummy area and that will not be changing anymore. This week I am on my period, so the boobs are as full as they ever are at the moment and I want to wait until that goes away so I get a true before/after comparison. Perhaps next week I will get those up. I have had a hard time finding good comparison pictures for someone my age with the severity of the drooping I experienced so I want to make sure I get up a good amount for anyone else experiencing the same.
Before Pictures, 1 week to go!
A couple of before pictures. As you can see, I have a lot of sag and not much tissue left. I am pretty much flat until you get below the breast crease, and that is where all my tissue currently resides. I cannot wait to fix this! I also cannot wait for my areola to be a normal size. I swear, just reducing that should be enough of a lift! One week until surgery and I am extremely excited. I have had sagging breasts pretty much since they developed and I cannot wait to know what it feels like to have them perky :)
A couple clothed before pics...3 more days!
I wanted to have a couple clothed pictures for comparison. The first two are a cute pajama top that lends a little under-bust support. The second two are my current bathing suit top, hoping I fill this out a little better soon!
Day 2
Yesterday was my surgery, everything went really well. I was in little pain and the nurse and anesticiologist said the result was beautiful. I woke up pretty swollen today and in a bit more pain but nothing horrible. I slept okay, and in my own bed. I go back to see the dr today to have my dressings removed and see my scars for the first time. Excited!!
Day 2 Picture
First shot without the bra.
Day 3
So I know I have not done a great job of updating so far. My recovery has been ideal. I have very little pain, I am taking my pain pills every 4 hours but honestly think I can start weaning off them. This morning I took a shower, I had someone with me to help with my hair but could manage most of the rest myself. It was a bit difficult to reach around these new mounds on my chest :) Everything is still high and tight with some swelling. Tuesday I go back to the doctor for my second follow up and she will have me start breast massages then. Everything is going much better than I anticipated, I am so happy! A couple concerns I do have are with my nipples. My areola was cut down and I feel like it is REALLY small. I am hoping once the tapes come off they spread a little more. My second is the placement, I feel like they sit a little high on the breast. Another thing I am hoping the dropping of the implant will help even out. She was able to do a modified anchor incision so my scar goes off to one side instead of having the t-incision with full anchor. I am happy about that, I know the t can be a problem for some people in healing. I cannot wait until they soften and drop! I want to feel them, everyone I know has saline and I was the first to go with silicon.
Day 4, new pics!
Still doing really well with my recovery. Started to wean from the pain pills yesterday, went from every 4 hours to every 8. Today I took them as needed so one first thing this morning and one before my shower this afternoon. I am starting to itch like crazy and my prior stretch marks have filled and blushed which is quite ugly but that will go away with time. I go back to the doctor tomorrow for my second post-op. I have to say, I get tired easily but I feel fantastic!
1 Week Post-Op
So today marks one week for me. Things are coming along nicely. My bruising has faded to a yellow color and the parts of the insicion line around the areola that are not covered by tape I can see are healing nicely. I have started walking again and I have to say it is a little strange, this is one of the times I can feel the implant in my chest. Most of the time it goes unnoticed, but for some reason when I am walking I can really feel it in there. I have started being able to sleep somewhat on my side with some perfectly placed pillows. I am a stomach sleeper normally so this has been heaven! I am not taking any pain meds during the day. I take one before bed to help me fall asleep because I feel pretty uncomfortable at that time. I look forward to my breast exercises because it means a few moments of freedom from the compression bra! The implants are soft, I love the feel of them. Not exactly real, but not obvious fake either. My nipples both still have sensation, one more so than the other...a little overly sensitive on that side. I am feeling more and more back to normal with every day that passes. It has been a smooth recovery for me :) I took new pics just after my shower this morning so the lines from my bra would be gone, my stretch marks are starting to settle down a little but are still plumped and obvious.
9 Days Post - Comparison Pics
Pictures of the bathing suit and red top I showed before the implants to compare. I love the way the bathing suit top fits now!! The red top is just pajamas but I thought it would give a good comparison.
Also, I woke up this morning sore and swollen. I think I over did my first day back driving. I feel okay, just my body reminding me I am still in recovery.
13 Days Post - Tapes Removed
Yesterday I had my tapes removed and everything is looking great! I had one spot on my left breast that was moist, dr thinks it will go away after a couple days now that the tapes are off. If not, I go back in to make sure it is not infection. I started scar therapy, rubbing in ointment twice a day and massaging the incision lines.
I have a few update pictures. One in a bathing suit top, another in a bandeau top. I have never been able to go braless so I am in love with this new option! Next week I switch from compression bra 24/7 to wireless support bras. I bought some sports bras with thinner straps for now. Overall I am a happy girl!
20 Days Post
I am now almost 3 weeks post and things continue to go well with my healing. I am more sore lately because I am doing too much, but as a single mom that just becomes a necessity some times. My left breast swells more than my right, I tend to use that arm more often. I have bruising along my incisions still, and on my left breast that bruising is getting darker. I feel pretty good though.
I am starting to get slightly concerned that the implants are dropping too quickly. I love the look right now, I don't want them to fall any further! I am sticking with my compression bra for now in hopes that I slow the decent enough. I did cheat and wear the sports bra one day over the weekend and I was extremely sore, not quite ready for that lax support yet.
Messing Around with Bras
I have quite a few bras I have held on to over the years as my bra size went up and down so I try them on here and there to see how size is. I know I am not quite done healing, but it is just for fun right now. I love using a bra to accent rather than to hide my breasts!
One Month Out!
I am now 29 days post op! Saw the ps yesterday and she said things look good. I have been getting pain in my left breast toward the end of the day if I did not wear the compression bra, so she suggested a couple more weeks in it because I have some thin tissue on the inside if that breast (where my really bad stretch marks are). I asked about dropping and she said they should not move down any more than they have to this point. I noticed if I wear something not super supportive, like a bathing suit, they sit a little lower at the end of the day.
I still feel like my nipples sit too high, but I believe that is a result of not doing an anchor incision to get rid of the skin at the bottom. I may try to have that corrected eventually if it bothers me, but for now I am just going to enjoy them! I had a couple places on my incision that got minor surface infections but they are clearing up fine on their own.
Oh, one thing I have to mention that I don't think I have come across yet. As a result of the lift/implant my armpit hair line was changed. It tip slightly toward my breasts at the bottom now. Definitely not a big deal, and I am sure nobody else would notice. Just something I found funny.
These pictures were taken after swimming, then a shower, long time of no support so this is the lowest they sit.
Trying out bras
I wanted to try out lace bras with no liner, the nude is a 34D and the purple a 34DD. I liked the fit of the D better, but honestly could have gotten away with the DD easily.
7 weeks post
Things have been healing nicely. Had my 6 week follow up lady week and dr said everything is good. I can go without a bra now if I choose, though I am having some pain in my left breast still so I usually keep a bra on. At 3 months I can wear underwire again and I look forward to that for the support it provides. I am overall happy with my breasts, and looking at the before/after from the dr I should be. My only wish is that she had gone for the full anchor lift. I feel like the implants dropped more than I wanted as a result of the amount of skin left at the bottom and it makes me feel like my nipples sit high. I know I am nit-picking, but for those on the fence for the lift who want their implant to sit high go for the full anchor! I left it up to my dr in the OR to decide what was necessary and I just don't think she accounted for how lax my skin gets when stretching.
I don't want this to seem like I am not happy, they are 100 times better than where I started! I am so happy to have boobs again!! I would do this procedure again in a heartbeat. The results were fantastic and the recovery was much easier than I anticipated.
Pics are from right after my shower so the incision line will look more red than normal.
Almost 11 weeks out now
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20 Aug 2013
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2 months post
I still wish they were slightly higher, I will probably discuss my options for correcting that at my next appt. you can really see it in the side profile. I still plan to get my tummy tuck so I am hoping that doing it at that time will minimize cost. And I cannot tell if my left dropped more or it is just different enough in size to appear that way. Outside of that, still a happy girl!
Scar Revision Scheduled 9/20
I spoke with my ps about my concerns and what I wanted versus what I felt happened. She immediately agreed with what I was describing (the sagging appearance, nipple position appearing too high, etc) and said I need to finish off the full anchor lift to push the implant back up and remove the excess skin that makes me feel my nipple position is too high (as it is not relative to my collar bone, just appears that way because of the implant position). Luckily this can be done in office, so the cost is only $250. So 9/20 I will go in, she will remove about an inch strip of skin along the bottom fold of my breast making my lift a full anchor instead of a modified lollipop. Recovery should not be bad, she said 2-3 weeks back in the support bra while I heal but no lifting/movement restriction (a big worry for me since I am back in work/school/kids duty full swing). And hopefully this will correct everything I am not happy about right now. Wish me luck! I am slightly peeved that I am having to do this since I made it clear before surgery that I wanted specific results and did not care about scars, but she did what she thought would work with the least scarring and now I have to have a revision.
Revision Done!
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21 Sep 2013
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3 months post
I had my revision yesterday afternoon to remove a strip of skin along the bottom crease of the breast, giving my a completed anchor incision lift. This was done to correct the 'sagging' I was experiencing and improve the look of the nipple position. Here is a sneak peek, no shower yet so I will wait for more in-depth pictures. I am happy with the changes though!
Day 2 after revision
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22 Sep 2013
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3 months post
More pictures, minus the gauze and blood :) They look a little box-ish right now but that will relax as I heal.
6 Days Post Revision
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26 Sep 2013
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3 months post
Healing is moving along. Pain is subsiding. Two spots were a little more 'wet' than the dr liked at my check-up yesterday, but nothing to worry about just to keep an eye on. I am definitely a lot happier with my results now!
2 weeks post revision
I have developed a rash on my incision lines, but outside if that things are healing well.
4 weeks post revision, 4 months post op
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17 Oct 2013
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4 months post
The rash has gone. I had the start of a small infection on my left breast incision but the was easily knocked out by a small round of antibiotics. Still healing, still happier now :)
Nearly 2-years Post-op and 1-year after second scar revision
Hi all. I just wanted to give an update because I know how nice it is to see long-term progression when you are considering surgery. I am now almost 2-years post-op and had my last scar revision (my second) a year ago.
Things I love:my breasts are soft and move more naturally (thank you silicon!). I love the size, I did not want to be too big and obvious, something a little more true to what I was was prior to breastfeeding. I love that I have something in place of those empty sacks of skin that used to hang from my chest! This was a huge confidence booster for me. Also, my incisions healed and faded nicely (with the exception of the last scar revision where I had a massive allergic reaction and it widened my scar). I am light skinned and from what I researched that gave me the best chance for a good fade as I healed.
Things I want to change: I still feel my implants sit low and give the impression of sagging with no upper-pole fullness. After two scar revisions to remove skin along the bottom this has improved, but it is no where near what I had envisioned when I paid over $10k to fix my breasts. This is something I think will only be fixed by placing the implant under the muscle, and that will have to wait until I can afford another surgery. I have pain in the interior of my left breast that the doctor cannot explain, it feels like tissue being ripped when I move in a certain way. It is painful and I feel like there needs to be an explanation and fix for this. Also, my nipples are not even. Though it is not hugely noticeable, it bothers me and I would like to correct that.
Overall I am extremely happy I did this surgery! I would do it again in a heartbeat.
