It is been 2 weeks since my breast augmentation surgery.  I thought this would be the perfect time to share my experience and thoughts on the whole process.  This is a surgery so many women think about having, or have had done.  I have had soooo many questions about mine.  I thought I would open up and share what you all want to know.

Why did I have the surgery?

When I was young, before I had babies, I had very nice (small) perky breasts.  I never really thought about wanting them bigger.  I think breasts at all sizes are beautiful.  When I got pregnant with my oldest, Sofia, my boobs went from a size B to a DDD.  I was blessed with a lot of breastmilk to feed my babies.  After I stopped nursing my boobs deflated a lot!  The ‘meat’ of my breast went back to a size B, but with a lot of stretched out skin.  I would describe my boobs as tube socks with some applesauce at the bottom.  They drooped down and laid against my chest.  I felt so unsexy!  I rarely would even let John see my topless.  Every swimsuit, bra, lingerie I ever wore had an underwire and tons of padding.

How long did I nurse my kids?

I nursed exclusively (no formula) for 6 months with Sofia and 10 months with Caleb.  Caleb was much more into nursing than Sofia was.  Typical man… always into the breast! lol

How I knew it was the right time?

I knew immediately when I was done nursing Sofia that I would get a breast augmentation surgery.  I planned on waiting until I was completely done having children.  No sense in fixing something then having it get all messed up again.  I also wanted to wait until my kids were a little older so I wouldn’t have to feel bad not picking them up for a couple weeks.  Being the planner I am, I planned to do it when both kids were in school full time.  Get the surgery done in a slow month of the school year.  Hoping the kids will be so busy they won’t really notice.  And I can take the time I need to recover properly.

A couple days before surgery:

I have been waiting for this surgery for yeeeeears!  When I scheduled it I was so excited I screamed!  I counted down the days like a child waiting for Christmas Day.  Then 4 days before my surgery, I realized I’m having surgery and got really nervous.  I had only been focusing on having perfect breasts that I forgot to think about the process and the fact that I was going under the knife.  I started to freak out about the results;  What if they are to big? to small? not perky enough?  I got nervous about the anesthesia, the pain, the recovery.  I became very weird and emotional and moody.

Day before my surgery / pre-op:

The morning before my surgery I woke up excited and hopeful, with a stomach full of butterflies and nerves.  I had a doctor appointment that day, to go over all the details of the surgery day.  Meeting with my doctor calmed sooooo many of my nerves.  Talking with my doctor, hearing all the details and seeing how calm he was put me at ease.  Plus he has the best personality and made me feel so much calmer.  He made me feel so confident my surgery was going to go smooth.  After the appointment I watched a movie and relaxed the rest of the day.  I felt mostly calm and relaxed.

About 10:00pm that night I started getting really anxious again.  I kept counting down the hours.  The anticipation was killing me!!  I hate needles and hospitals and anything medical.  I was more nervous about getting my IV put in than the surgery and recovery.  I couldn’t eat or drink anything after midnight.  So my plan was to eat a huge meal around 10:30 or 11:00.  But my nerves were so intense I could barely eat.  My doctor gave me some valium for the recovery and told me it was ok to take one the night before for nerves.  So I did, even with that I barely slept.

Surgery Day:

I woke up calm and focused.  For me, the worst part was the leading up to the surgery and the anticipation; not the surgery itself.  At this point I only had a couple hours till I was under anesthesia and I was put out of my misery.  When I was taken back to prep for surgery I got very hyper and tried to make a lot of jokes, my way of dealing with my anxiousness :) John and Jaclyn sat with me until they wheeled me back into the surgery room.  They were both so amazing, sweet and comforting to me!

Being wheeled back to surgery was so strange.  I had so many nerves I was talking non-stop about random stuff to everyone.  Next thing I knew I was waking up in recovery.  I remember saying how tight my chest felt.  It was a tightness I can’t describe, soooo tight!  I have to be honest, the rest of the day is very blurry.  Coming off of anesthesia and being on pain meds made my brain very foggy, unable to think straight and remember much of anything.

John and Jaclyn helped me get my clothes on, put me in a wheel chair, drive me back to the hotel and get me in my hotel room.  I remember eating chicken noodle soup with some saltine crackers and ginger ale.  I didn’t want to get nauseous from the pain meds so I knew I needed some kind of food in my stomach.  After some food I got up, walked around my room, showed everyone my new boobs :) I started watching a movie, then took a huge nap.

Random side note: my doctor told me to wear something comfortable to the surgery because that is what I will wear home and most likely wear the rest of the day and sleep in.  And to wear something that buttons up the front because it will be too uncomfortable to put something over my head. And he was right!  I wore these pj’s (got a size small) and lived in them for at least 24 hours!  So soft and comfortable!!  Then the next day I switched into these pj’s (got a size medium).  I lived in both of these for the first week.  I also slept with this blanket every night, and still do!  It is the softest thing I have ever felt.  It made sleeping much easier to have a comfy blanket to cuddle with or wrap around me to make my sleeping position more comfortable.  And of course I got the bathrobe as well!  When I find something this soft and I’m stuck at home recovering I’m going to get the bathrobe!  I have literally lived in these items the past 2 weeks!!!

First night after surgery:

This was very challenging for me!  I like to sleep on my side or stomach.  After this surgery you have to sleep elevated on your back.  I had to put 2-3 pillows under me and sleep elevated.  This position is so uncomfortable at any time for me, especially when I am in a lot of pain.  I woke up a ton of times, very uncomfortable and in a lot of pain.  I kept up with all my medications that my doctor gave me. I took them every 4 hours to stay ahead of the pain.  But even with that, I was still in a lot of pain.

Day after surgery:

I felt so much tightness & swelling in my breasts it felt like my skin was going to rip in half.  I was in a lot of pain and very exhausted. Everything I did took so much effort.  Just showering was so exhausting.  I felt very out of it, dizzy and lightheaded.  Like my brain didn’t have the ability to think straight.  I felt like a helpless child that needed help with everything. I had John follow me around everywhere because I was so afraid I was going to fall over and hurt myself. He had to help me get dressed, get in and out of bed.  I don’t know what I would have done without him there.

My head was so loopy and out of it from all the medications I was on.  I knew I needed the meds for all the pain, but I hated how loopy they made my head feel.  John forced me to get out of the hotel room and walk around a little bit (I swear I walked slower than a snail). I sat by the pool for a few hours.  It was the best thing I could have done.  It really helped me to get up and move a little bit.

First Week:

The first week was all about the same.  A lot of pain, a lot of tightness, a lot of discomfort, difficulty sleeping, I could barely move my arms.  I wasn’t sleeping well at night.  I woke up so many times from pain and being uncomfortable.  Getting in and out of bed is very difficult.  Think about it, try getting into bed and getting comfortable without using your arms at all… challenging!

Every single task was a huge effort.  Just to walk up the stairs I would get so winded and out of breath.  Just the thought of washing my hair made me exhausted.  I went off the prescription drugs for pain on day 4 because I hated how loopy my head was feeling.  The next 2 days the pain was so bad I wanted to cry.  I don’t know which is worse, a loopy head or the pain?  I had to rest a lot, I didn’t have an appetite so I forced myself to eat so I didn’t get nauseous.  The first week was a blur.

Second Week:

Right at day 8 my head started to feel much more clear.  Physically I was still exhausted, but mentally I was mostly back to normal.  The pain was getting better, more of a discomfort now rather than painful.  I started to take slow paced walks for 15 minutes a day.  I wanted to keep my body moving.  At day 10 I noticed my quality of sleep getting much better.  I was waking up much less from pain or discomfort.

By day 12 I was able to sleep on my side, with positioning a blanket around me for support.  This changed my world!  Finally being able to sleep on my side!  I also noticed around the same time barely having any pain or discomfort at all.  The only discomfort I had was my stitches.  At times they just felt uncomfortable, not painful, just didn’t like them being there.

By the end of the second week I felt a huge sense of relief.  At this point I wasn’t as scared to move my arms around and do things.  I’m still moving my arms slower and being careful not to lift anything heavy.  But I’m starting to feel more and more like myself each day.  On day 14 I was able to stretch my arms above my head without any pain, it felt amazing!!

Overall recovery:

My doctor told me I can move as much as I wanted, as long as I move slowly.  The slow moving muscles and fast twitching muscles are different.  It’s the fast movements that can cause pain, long term damage to the healing process.  If I wanted to do something I just made sure to do it very slowly.  If it hurts, I didn’t do it.  Make sure to walk around, don’t just sit in bed and do nothing.  You can move your arms, just slowly.  Don’t lift anything heavy.  If it feels heavy, don’t lift it.  I didn’t like doing any pulling motions.  I didn’t like reaching and pulling anything towards me.  It felt painful, so I didn’t do it.

The biggest surprise for me in recovering is how exhausted I was from everything. I  thought because I work out all the time and I’m in good shape I would recover really quickly.  This surgery drained me of all my energy and knocked me on my ass.  A full 8 days after my surgery I briskly walked up the stairs at my house and was winded for several minutes.  Being in good shape, I did get irritated with my body for responding like that to such a small physical task.  I had to learn how to be patient with my healing process and move at a slower pace than I’m used to.

When can I exercise?

This is something that I asked so many questions about with my doctor.  Being so active and working out 4-5 days a week I was very nervous about taking time off from working out.  Although, I can say now after 2 weeks I haven’t yet had a desire to work out because I’ve been to tired and still recovering.  But I have been counting down the days till I feel better and I can work out again.

I was told after 4 weeks I can start doing lower body work outs and cardio.  After 2 months I can do mild upper body work outs, meaning biceps curls, etc.  I have to wait 4 months to do any work out that use my chest.  The longer you can wait the better. Doing to much can cause internal scaring during the healing process, and this will cause you to have a hard breast.

Would I do it again?

Yes!  I am so happy with my results.  Yes, the healing process did take a little longer than I thought.  But it was only 1 week that I was completely miserable.  And for me, that is totally worth having perfect breasts!

How I choose my Doctor?

About a year and half ago I knew I would be scheduling my surgery for this time.  I started talking to everyone about it.  Every woman I met that has had a breast augmentation I would ask who their doctor is, ask about their experience, what size they are.  And of course, ask to see, feel and squeeze their breasts. I need to test drive the car before I buy it :). I was getting so bold I was asking to feel breasts in the women’s bathroom of a restaurant…. very Samantha Jones!

Then one day, I met a woman who had the most perfect breasts ever!  They looked and felt more perfect than any natural breasts I have ever seen or touched.  A couple months later I was at her Doctor for a consultation. I fell in love with the Doctor.  He has the best personality, explained everything, made me feel so comfortable!  He had done the breasts of several of the women in the office.  So naturally, I saw and squeezed all of theirs.  And all of them felt and looked the same.   It was exactly what I was looking for!

The one issue, I live in Tampa and the Doctor is in West Palm Beach.  I questioned whether I really needed to be that dramatic to drive 4 hours away for this surgery. I would have to get a hotel room, be away from home and my kids for several days.  Then I realized, this is my body.  And I will live with the results of the surgery for a minimum of 10 years.  The extra effort is worth it!

Specifics of my surgery:

There was a question for a moment whether I needed and lift with an augmentation, or just an augmentation. It was decided by my doctor (whom I trust!) that just an augmentation is what I needed.  I was told that during surgery they create a pocket is which they fill up with saline.  Then sit me up, yes while I’m under anesthesia, and see how they look. Then they put in the proper size implant to fit my body. They had 2 different sizes on hand to use depending on which one they needed.  They had to use the bigger one.  whoops, sorry not sorry :). I had a gel silicone implant put in.  So far I love the way they look and feel!

HUGE Thank You!!!

A huge thank you to my husband, John!  He was by my side non-stop for the first 10 days.  He helped me with everything. He drove me back and forth to West Palm Beach (twice in 1 week), brought me water, made me food, helped me out of bed, helped me get dressed, remembered when I need to take what medications, literally everything!

Thank you to my sister, Jaclyn! She has been such a huge supporter since day 1!  She went with me to West Palm Beach to my consultation.  She came with me to my surgery… sat with me right before I was wheeled back and was there in the recovery room when I woke up from anesthesia.  She stayed in the hotel the entire time I was there, helping me with anything I needed.  As a boss, she gave me my needed time off to rest and recover.  Never asked me to do anything to soon that I couldn’t handle.

Thank you to my Mom! She stayed at my house with my kids while we were in West Palm Beach.  Then she stayed at my house for 2 more nights after we got home to help me.  She did anything we needed help with around the house, for me or for the kids.  She cooked dinner, did laundry, took the kids to school.

Thank you to my coworker and friend, Austin.  He basically did my job for a week while I was recovering (while still doing his).  And he also helped take care of me.  He prepped my hotel room while I was in surgery with ginger ale, sprite, gatorade, jello-o, saltines… anything a girl would need to recover properly. If I needed anything he was always just a text away.

Having such an amazing support system made this process so easy and so much more enjoyable.  I never had to wonder if my kids were taken care of.  I never had to think about my house, or schedules, or appointments, or work.  Without these people and all their help and support I know I would not have recovered so well and so quickly as I have.  Thank you to all of them!  Love you guys :)