45 Yrs Old, 4 Breastfed Kids, Very Empty 34A Going for 425cc Mentor Saline HP Under Muscle - Sycamore, IL

Wow, I can't believe I am finally doing this. Hello everyone. I have been reading all of your reviews and I can't thank you enough for helping me be more prepared with this decision. I want to give you a little back story. Growing up, I was teased for being a "carpenters dream". I kept waiting for the boob fairy to show up and grant my wish since my mother had a D cup. It never happened and I found out when I was 18 that she had BA done after my brother was born. I felt disappointed, but accepted my small breasts. At least they were perky. That is until I had my first child. When I was pregnant, I finally got to experience larger breasts and I was thrilled. And then I deflated after giving birth and breastfeeding her. Fast forward almost 6 years, and I have given birth to my last child. My breasts looked like partially filled water balloons. I had been ashamed to let my husband see them (although I was still sexy to him) and I hated seeing myself topless. About 5 yrs later I started researching doctors for BA and found one I really liked. As it sometimes does, life took a bad turn and I had to postpone doing anything.
I left BA on the back burner and focused on raising fantastic kids. Yeah, I am a little biased. :) One of my daughters got BA done before her wedding and it seemed so simple. She went in , came home, and that was that. I knew about it beforehand, but her fiance did most of the "heavy lifting" for her. Then one day a year later, my oldest came home obviously having had surgery. My husband and I didn't even know she was doing this. I thought again about having BA, but thought I was too old. My husband convinced me that we have MANY more years ahead of us. We stay in shape and look good for our ages. One day, he came home and said that I should go get a consult. Because I had been looking at reviews on RealSelf and doing online research, I knew who I wanted to meet. He just so happened to be the doctor I wanted to do it 15 yrs ago. Bonus, he now has an office 5 minutes away from me.

When I went for my consult, almost 2 months before surgery, I was very nervous. I wanted to have breast augmentation done, but I didn't want a lift. The extra cost, recovery, and the scars were a no-go for me. His nurse, Bobbie, made me feel very comfortable right away. She showed me into a room and we talked. Then she gave me sizers to try on. When the doctor entered, I immediately felt relaxed and knew I had made the right choice. Now, the only thing I dreaded was him telling me I HAD to have a lift. He said that although they were deflated, they hadn't gone too far to be helped by high profile implants. I swear I almost cried.
When I went home, my hubby and I talked about when would be the best time to have the surgery. We own our own commercial building services business and although we have a few employees, we also work the job. It is not terribly physically demanding, most of the time, but it is labor intensive. It is a lot of upper body activity for a good part of the time. We also had some really demanding work coming up for most of August. We decided that mid September would be the best. Work would have calmed down a little and we could plan for people to cover my work.
I put down the down payment and scheduled the surgery. I had to have pre-op blood work done and I went through the wringer to get it. I have Thalassemia minor, an inherited trait that, in me, causes mild anemia. I had to get a special "bleeding time" test to make sure I wouldn't have bleeding problems during surgery. It seemed NO ONE does this test anymore and for over a week Bobbie and I tried everywhere to get it done. The doctor consulted with a hematologist who said that my other results indicated I should be fine. The doctor gave the go ahead. That was the best phone call I had from Bobbie. She really went above and beyond to help me out.
Lately, I have spent a lot of time reading your reviews. I have learned so much. I feel much more prepared both for the surgery and for the recovery period. I have read the doubts and questions you had and realized I had the same ones. Your answers and guidance have helped me tremendously.
I was wide awake at 4am today and all I could think about was finally going on here to tell my story and maybe lose some nervousness I have by writing this. I would recommend creating an account and writing your story. I already feel better getting my thoughts out there. I am still a little nervous that my breasts will be weird looking. I worry that it will hurt more than I anticipate. I feel guilty that my husband will have to take care of me. I feel bad for the employees who will have to work for me. All of those feelings are eased knowing that I am not alone in this and that you have gone through it and are happy. Thank you and let the countdown begin!!!

Here are a couple of pics from 4 months post surgery.