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Christy2Girls Breast Augmentation Journey!

I am Christy. I am a 25 year old mother of a five year old and a three year old. I am 5’5” and 120 pounds. Pre BA I was a saggy 34B. I am not sure what size I am post but I am somewhere in the 34D range. I had Mentor, round, smooth, saline implants. 375cc’s overfilled to 410cc’s in both breasts. I went under the muscle with a crease incision. My surgery was done by Dr Manuel in Anchorage Alaska.

Why I Wanted Breast Augmentation
Well, my reasons are pretty much the same as every other mom who wants this, lol. I had always been small busted but at least they were perky. After kids, that all changed. I had wanted the surgery for years but my husband was strongly opposed to it. He didn’t feel I needed it, he loved me just the way I was, and it was a LOT of money. It took a while but I finally convinced him that I wanted this for ME and not for anyone else. I tried using the analogy of “what if everyone could see your penis size and in comparison to everyone else, yours was saggy and shriveled. Even if I still loved it that way, wouldn’t it bother you?” That sort of brought him around, lol. Finally he said that if that is what I really wanted to go ahead and do it. He still wasn’t crazy about the idea but he knew it would mean a lot to me. Around the same time he found out that he was being deployed (we are a military family) and even though that sucked, it would give me the money to get the surgery. So, I had his ok and I had the money to do it. Then I got serious.

My Consultations
It took FOREVER to get my consultation. We live in Alaska and there was only one doctor that I knew I wanted to do my surgery. We were new to the area so I didn’t know many people but the only name that came up time and time again in conversations was his. His credentials looked great and I even hired one of those online services to do a background check on him, lol. I just had a feeling from the beginning, even before meeting him, that I wanted him to do my surgery. I did call other offices in the area and his staff was the friendliest and the most helpful. The downside was it was going to take almost two months to get in for the consult. That actually put me at getting my surgery later then I had wanted so I booked that when I booked my consult. I wanted to be sure that I would have it done before my husband came back and I knew I would go with him anyway, lol.

In the process of my wait, I met another girl on YTF from my area. She was looking for a doctor to do her surgery and I told her that I was using him. She had also heard great things about him so she also called to get her consult. It ended up they had a cancellation so her appointment was before mine and she was nice enough to invite me along for hers. So the first time I met him was for her consult. But I still anxiously awaited mine.

My day finally came and I was so excited. We went over the procedure, the pros and cons, looked at implants, and then came the dreaded part of having to unveil myself. He asked what wanted to be and I told him that originally I wanted a small C large D but that I was shooting more for the D range. He did an exam and said “well, I think we can get you close but I am not sure you can go as big as you want and I don’t want you to be disappointed”. I of course wanted to hear NO parts of that. I was curious as to how he knew that because he didn’t actually do any measurements so I asked him about it. He laughed and said he has been doing this a LONG time and he can tell. I still didn’t want to hear that so I asked him to measure me anyway. Sure enough, my breast width was exactly what he said it was, lol. That will teach me to question experience, right? But he said to wait until my sizing appointment to see if I would be happy. He gave a range of sizes that I could try on that would fit my body frame and I set up another appointment to come back in with bras and shirts to try them on. I went for my sizing appointment and decided the 375’s were perfect, so I was set. I still had over a month to wait until my surgery though and the time seemed to DRAG on

Preparing For Surgery
July 24th, the day before surgery:
Well, it has FINALLY gotten to booby day!! I had my pre op appointment today. I went to the hospital for some blood work and pre registration. When I walked in the lab to have my blood drawn the lady said “my, you are brave” She told me that she had her surgery scheduled twice but cancelled and now was waiting until she could have it done again. I asked her what doctor she was using and she said “the same as you, I have been here a LONG time and I have never heard anything bad about him. He does great work”. So that put my mind at ease a LOT. It was great to know that the people at the hospital trusted him that much as well. I also had to talk to a post op nurse and fill out more medical history papers. I took note of the fact that she told me that as soon as I woke up from the anesthesia they would ask me to rate my pain on a scale of one to ten and as long as I said it was more then a five they would keep giving me pain meds as long as I was still breathing, lol. I figured that might come in handy after my surgery. I was given stuff to wash with before coming in and told the standard “no food after midnight” and sent on my way.

Surgery Day
I was starving all morning but I kept myself busy. I had to be at the hospital by 10:30 and my surgery was scheduled for noon. I flew my sister up to help take care of the kids and to get me on the mend. We dropped them off and were on our way. Now, I have got to tell you…my biggest fear this whole time was the idea of going “under.” I tried and tried to convince Dr M to let me do twilight anesthesia but he insisted that the doctor he used was the best. I was still skeptical, lol. So the whole time I waited I worried about dying under the anesthesia and what would happen to my kids if I did. All those other worries that we moms have.

We got to the hospital, they took me back and got me prepped. I was hooked up to an IV and given the lovely fashionable garb that all the pre ops get. I had those cute little compression socks on, my little hat, I was ready for the cover of a magazine. They brought my sister back to the room to keep me company. Shortly after Dr M arrived to “mark” me. He cracked jokes and kept me laughing which helped keep my mind off of WHY I was there, lol. Shortly after the anesthesiologist came in to do his run down. I gotta admit…even if I wasn’t sure I trusted him, he was a nice enough guy, lol. He said he would be back in ten minutes to take me to the o.r. Then panic set in. I looked at my sister like “WHAT am I doing!!!” He came back in with the nurse and I said “I changed my mind, I don’t want to do this”. They looked at me and laughed but I was being serious! I remember being wheeled by Dr M who tried to give me a reassuring smile but I was scared out of my mind. They told me to get into this unreasonable narrow bed while the anesthesiologist was sticking some sticker on my back and I laid down. They put that nice warm blowing blanket over me and it was so cozy. I felt a stinging in my IV and I asked if he put something in there. He laughed and said yes. I said “you should of WARNED me first”. To which he replied “oh, it won’t matter in a few seconds anyway” Sure enough, I looked up and the last thing I remember is saying “oh my, everything looks soooo pretty, can it stay like this forever?” I am such a dork, I know, lol. [ I laughed so hard when I read that! ~M]

I woke up in recovery and the first thing out of my mouth was “how many cc’s did I get”. The nurse told me 410 and told me to rate my pain on a scale from one to ten. I remember feeling pain in the right side of my right breast and on the lower part of my left breast but I don’t remember feeling that “elephant” feeling everyone talks about. I told her the pain was about an 8 but I really don’t remember it being that bad. It certainly wasn’t unbearable but I wanted to make sure I got lots and lots of drugs, lol. She told me she gave me some morphine and the pain went down some. She asked again and I said it was about a 6 or 7. This went on a few times but I don’t really remember how many. She gave me a few different drugs and said that sometimes you just need to find the right mix to ease the pain. But I do remember telling her that this was NOTHING compared to childbirth so I wasn’t TOO worried about anymore drugs, lol. I remember my sister coming in and asking how I felt and I told her I was fine. It was a breeze. The nurse said something about the fact that I had kids so this was nothing to me, lol. I was soon feeling well enough to get up, get dressed, and be on my way. I was thrilled that I didn’t get sick to my stomach since I normally don’t handle pain meds well. But the anesthesiologist puts a motion sickness patch behind your ear to help keep you from getting sick and I guess that made all the difference.

My neighbors were all out awaiting my arrival and I waved to them and told them I was FINE. I honestly felt like I could take on the world right then. They offered to help me walk to the house but I kept saying I was fine and could do it myself. They later told me that I said this while swaying and swerving and barely keeping myself up, lol. But I thought I was doing pretty darned good.

My first day home:
My mouth tasted like CRAP. I remember being so hungry for McDonalds but it tasted like cardboard. I had cotton mouth big time and was so upset that nothing tasted good at all. I actually thought I was pretty coherent that first day but in actuality, I remember very little of what happened that day. I had visitors and talked to people on the phone and I now have NO recollection of doing any of it. I took my pain meds through the day and spent the night on the couch. My sister woke me up for my next dose of meds but other then that I slept through the night rather comfortably.

July 26th, the day after:
I took half the dose of my pain meds this morning but really, I was feeling great. The worst part was the compression thing (ie, torture chamber) I had to wear. It felt so tight and was so itchy. If you have ever had a cast you know the itchy feeling. And if you have ever been engorged with breast milk, you know the tight feeling, lol. It was the two of those together. It wasn’t necessarily painful, just uncomfortable. I decided I didn’t want to take any pain meds anymore. I took that dose in the am but after that I didn’t even take Tylenol. I just really didn’t need them at all. I did take them before bed and woke up once during the night and took another dose but other then that, it was a great day. Getting clean is a pain in the butt though. I can sit in the bath as long as I don’t get the bandages wet, then I clean the top part of me with those shower to shower cloths, and my sister has to wash my hair. It is an all day event just to get clean, lol.
July 28th my first follow op appointment:

WoooHoooo my torture chamber came off today! When the nurse unwrapped it all, I looked down and then realized those babies are HEAVY! I had to hold them up, it felt so weird. She told me to take a look and I was in awe. I was expecting them to look horrendous b/c they usually do so soon after but they looked really good. They were high and all that other fun stuff, but they still looked GOOD. I was told I could shower, etc as normal b/c my stitches were covered in steri strips. I had enough range of motion that I could lift my arms to my head so I just looked forward to getting in the shower as soon as I got home. Aaaahhhh, that felt sooo good. I am feeling really good. I am not taking pain meds and even though I still can’t lift or drive, things feel great. My boobs feel rock hard in the morning when I wake up and they get hard if I am doing too much but other then that….I have no complaints.

July 30th The stitches come out:
I had my stitches taken out today. I was worried it would hurt but it didn’t hurt a bit. I was told that everything looks great and is healing nicely. I am already able to sleep on my side and my sister leaves today so I am going to have to get back in the swing of doing all the day to day mommy stuff.

One week post op:
I am one week post op today and I can tell they are already dropping. I am actually worried b/c I am afraid they are dropping too quickly. Actually, things are going so smoothly that I am waiting for the bomb to drop. It can’t be this easy, can it? I had prepared myself for the worst but it seems everything is going perfectly. I am happy but still worried, lol.

My husband won't see the new additions for a few more weeks when he gets home. I am very nervous about that. He was never crazy about this idea to begin with and right after my surgery he went into breakdown mode. He is worried, he doesn’t know if he will like them, he is afraid they are too big or they won’t be as good as my “natural” breast. The won’t feel the same, etc. I am nervous as to what he will think about them as well. I will continue to update my journal

~Christy