Houston, we have dropped AND fluffed! YAY!

So it's been a while since my last post but I thought I'd update because I have recently had some changes. The Twins have finally completely dropped, which they pretty much had already done the last time I posted I think. But, it wasn't until the other day that they finally fluffed. For those who don't know, fluffing usually takes longer than dropping and it's when the muscle completely softens up. Whereas in dropping is when the muscle loosens it's grasp around the implant to allow it to drop down and into place...fluffing is that last bit where the muscle relaxes and actually gets soft. Mine finally did it! YAY! Now I can actually wear a normal wired bra instead of a wireless one. Before, the wired bras wouldn't fit me right because the Twins weren't relaxed and soft enough to sit properly on top of the wired part of the bra...and forget any bras that had a little pushup type padding, my boobs were not soft enough to be able to be pushed together just by a bra. I could with my hands, but the bra didn't have as much force behind it to push them together if that makes any sense?! LOL But now, all is good and i fit into all bras perfectly and they look amazing! Actually, when I wear a bra that makes them push up and together, it makes them look more like a 'G' cup than what they really are (a 34 DD)! Haha! Here's a picture from today while trying on bras! :)

So it's been 7 weeks...

...and everything it going REALLY smoothly! The 'Twins' have dropped pretty much completely, but they still need to "fluff" (aka soften up) just a tad bit more. They're super squishy and getting pretty darn real feeling finally, but they still have a little bit left. The main reason I know this is because of underwired bras. I went shopping for bras (34DD as of now btw yay!) the other day and the underwire ones just wont sit right. Everyone I have talked to in person and online with implants as well say it's because they need to soften/fluff a little bit more before they mold to/sit correctly in a wired bra, which makes sense to me. It's like the wire wants to be pushed down an inch or so under and away from my breast crease, making it really annoying and uncomfortable. My wireless bra fits me good in that sense, but is too small in the sense that I bulge out of the top and sides because it's only a 34D (a size too small). Oh well, they're perky enough, though, that I don't need to wear a bra for now if I don't want to...but I do most of the time b/c things tend to poke out more if I'm just the slightest bit cold (if ya know what I mean Lol). I am supposed to go to my 2 month post-op appointment next Monday, but I have to call tomorrow morning to ask for the following week since I wont be able to this week. Other than that, everything is going great with recovery. I'm anxious to see how they look in another month or two when everyone keeps telling me I wont believe how much better they still will get! Hmmmm...
Below is a new picture too! (from about two weeks ago)  :)

FINALLY! ((forgot my username/pw so I haven't posted lately))

Well, it's been a long but fun past week or so since my last post. My computer for some odd reason didn't have my username saved like it usually does and I couldn't remember it for the life of me and had a lot of problems recovering it through Google. BUT, I got it and am back on here finally! I had my second post-op appointment back on Monday, February 13th and my surgeon gave me the dreaded strap to wear. It's basically this elastic band that goes across my back and around the front and I have to keep it positioned really high on the twins, and then low on my back to create downward pressure on the twins to help them drop faster. He told me that I'd be wearing it, just about 24/7 other than in the shower, for 2-3 weeks. Ugh! It's annoying and uncomfortable. It digs into my armpit and causes this upper, middle back pain that hurts! The first couple days after he gave it to me, I didn't wear it as often as I should, but I have been now, day and night, for the last week. So I am hoping that come my next appointment with him on Friday, March 2nd, he will give me the okay to throw this thing away! He did mention at my appointment, however, that they were surprised at how quickly and great the twins were already coming along and dropping, so that's good! While I was at the appointment, he also gave me a paper that gives these different massages/displacement exercises to do 3 times a day. It's basically pushing really hard upwards, then downwards, then inwards, and then down-and-inwards on each twin and holding it for a minute on each side. So in all, it takes about 10 minutes to do each exercise, then I have to do it 3 times a day. So 30 minutes a day isn't that bad. He did tell me that it will probably hurt because I have to push down really hard in order to make the pocket inside loosen and open up more, but it isn't all that bad. I think the first day or two was the most uncomfortable but wasn't really painful though. I even had my hubster help me and push on them, and even with his strength, it wasn't any more than uncomfortable. But I have noticed a BIG difference since doing the exercises. The twins have become SO much softer and squishier! I will keep doing them 3 times a day for the first month after surgery, then I'll do them twice a day for the second month after surgery, then I will only do them once every other day for, well, the rest of my life. The point of it is to keep the pocket inside the breast (where the implants are situated) open and not constricted. By doing so, it helps keep scar tissue from forming around the implant. If that were to happen, then something called capsular contracture could occur. It's basically where scar tissue form along the lining of the pocket the implants sit in, hardens, and ultimately begins to shrink and constrict around the implant(s), which causes really hard/rock-like areas, pain, and can even squeeze on the implants so bad that it could rupture them. Thankfully, since I got under the muscle implants, I have a MUCH lower risk of that already, plus with my exercises I do (religiously lol), it would be very unlikely for this to happen to me, thank goodness! But the appointment went great and it looks that everything is right where it should be (actually better than expected) and I am happy to say that I am mostly pain free now. I have the occasional aches here and there (which ironically usually happen if I DON'T wear my stupid strap), but it's nothing even bad enough to take anything for, not even a Tylenol. Oh and I also, got to start sleeping on my side again! YAY! No more sleeping on my back and sitting upright! It was a little awkward and slightly uncomfortable the first night or two, but now it's soooo much better and I feel like I can actually sleep normally again! That's about it...gotta go get back to studying now!

Ashley

Thought I'd post some pictures for ya'll!

Before ~ 34 A/AA

Day of Surgery

Day of Surgery

Day of Surgery  (Purple markings is from my surgeon)

2 Days After Surgery (gotta love bloated tummy from post surgery water retention! LOL)

2 Days After Surgery

4 Days After Surgery

4 Days Post-Op

It's been a long 4 days since my surgery. It seems that it's true with what I have been hearing about how it gets better each day. It really does. Of course, I've had my little set backs here and there when I will feel great one part of the day and think of how great I am recovering...then Bam! That evening hits and I am in such pain that I can barely stand it and so exhausted that I fall asleep at any and every given opportunity (something as simple as yawning and where you close your eyes while you yawn, mine will just stay closed and I'll fall asleep mid-yawn). There's even been times, from what my husband, Scott, has told me, that we'll be in the van and I'll be talking to him while he's driving and I'll just fall asleep mid-sentence! LOL! I kinda wish I had video of me doing that because it sounds kind of funny! Anyway, the worst pain usually is when I first wake up and later on at night around bedtime. Waking up is not fun because you get the dreaded, "Frankenboob", or as I like to call it, "morning boob". If you haven't heard me talk about "morning boob" before, let me tell you what it is. It's really pretty simple to explain. Everyone knows what "morning wood" is for guys, right? Well, imagine that...just morning BOOB instead. Yup, you wake up and your boobs are rock hard and swollen, and it's not until you're up and moving around for a bit that they loosen up and feel better. But it's uncomfortable, it hurts, and it feels like the skin on my chest is so tight around my boobs that they're going to pop and explode at any given moment! Then, at night, the pain starts to come back and gets a little worse because where I have been up and moving around all day, by then end of the day, my body is tired and sore and my boobs are the first to let me know! So one tip of advice for anyone out there thinking of getting them or who are getting them soon, even if you feel better like you are able to get up and move around, go shopping, etc., just wait. Just because your pain meds take the pain away, doesn't mean your body is done healing. It still needs more time to continue to heal for little while longer. I know if I take 2 of my Percocets, within an hour I feel like I can go shopping for 8 hours at the mall trying on all kinds of new and cute shirts. But if I do that, then I will pay for it the next day when I wake up in a ton of pain! So take it easy, get lots of rest, fluids, and take your pain meds regularly! Okay, moving on....
I've had a couple weird, but considered normal and common, things happen to me while healing from breast augmentation. First, would be one boobs dropping a little quicker than the other. By no means, does that mean my boobs are dropping in place already, but they do little by little each day. They wont be completely "dropped and fluffed" until about 2 months after surgery. But I have noticed my left boob is sitting a little higher than my right and seems a tad more swollen as well, especially near the armpit area. (yes, they're so high up on my chest that they're sitting up against my armpits...it's normal). I knew this would probably happen, as it does with just about every woman who gets implants. There's usually always one boob that heals a little quicker, making them seem uneven. It's usually because of being left or right hand dominated and using that arm/that side of chest muscles more during the day. They will even out in a few weeks though. Unless they were uneven and lopsided before surgery and your surgeon didn't do anything to correct it during surgery, then it's nothing to worry about and will correct itself in time. Luckily, I was pretty darn symmetrical before surgery, so I didn't have to worry about that. But for ladies who are asymmetrical with their breast sizes, usually the surgeons will just fill the smaller breast with more implant to compensate and make them even.
Another thing I had found odd that happens to me, but again, is normal is my boobs gurgle. When I am pushing on the tops of my boobs, I feel (and sometimes hear) this gurgling/swooshing. It's pretty neat. It's not a lot, and it's nothing to be worried about. Tiny amounts of air and fluid become trapped inside the pockets inside your breasts during surgery. Within a couple weeks, your body will reabsorb it, but until then, you be left with feeling and/or hearing the swooshing and gurgling stuff in there. I've even heard of some ladies having it so bad that it's really loud and sounds like a fart noise. Imagine having that happen to you while sitting in a quiet room filled with other people. Can you imagine trying to tell them, "Sorry I didn't actually fart. My boobs farted." Hahahaha!
Other than those two things, everything is healing textbook perfect for me! *knock on wood!* I don't have ANY bruising at all, my pain is easily controlled, and while I still get tired VERY easily, I'm starting to get some of my energy back more and more each day.As far as pain goes, the first 2 days were worst...especially in the late evening and early night time on those first 2 days. I was taking my percocets as much as I could! But yesterday was day 3 post-op and I managed to only take Tylenol the whole day for pain and it wasn't all that bad. I did, however, end up taking a Percocet later that night but only because I had clinical/lab all day long for school, so I had been up and moving on my feet for about 14 hours and by the time I got home and sat down, I needed something more than just Tylenol!
Other than that, I think I have covered about everything I wanted to. I go on Monday to my second post-op appointment with my surgeon. At that appointment, he'll remove tha 2 small pieces of tape that are going across my incisions. He wont have to remove any stitches, because as far as I know, he used the dissolvable ones on me. Thank goodness! Then he'll also give me the dreaded strap I have heard about to wear. It goes around your back and then around to go across the top of your breasts. You wear it pretty tightly, so that it literally pushes your breasts downwards to help them drop into place quicker. I hears it bulky-like and uncomfortable to wear. Lovely. lol But if a few weeks of that is what it takes to help these twins settle faster, then so be it!

Ashley

36 Hours Post-op!

Well, it's been about 36 hours since I had my surgery. I have had many ups and down...luckily, more ups than downs and the downs were mostly due to my medications making me all loopy and emotional. Nobody warned me how much of an emotional roller coaster this whole process would be! But take it from me ladies, it most definitely is! You constantly question yourself...."Am I being selfish spending all this money on something so vain?", "How big do I want them...what if I end up going too small or too big and not liking them?", "What if a complication after surgery arises? I wont have the money to have this redone and corrected, so will I be stuck with messed up boobs?", "What if something happens to me while in surgery?", "Do I want a more natural look, a fake look, or a naturally fake look?"...etc, etc, etc! The list goes on and on of the things that ran through my head leading up to surgery and even now after I have had it, I still find myself questioning my decisions. My best advice, talk to as many women as possible to find out what the whole process is like so you know what's "normal" and what's not so normal. I found the best place EVER was this online message board. There are hundreds, wait no, thousands of ladies that either already have or are about to get implants done, and they are wonderful at giving tips, advice, and all that good stuff. The website is http://www.justbreastimplants.com/forum/ 

Seriously, I LIVED off this website for the last few months, especially the last few weeks and it has helped me tremendously in everything. It's what actually helped me decide what size I truly wanted. I read over and over again about all these ladies who knew what they're ideal and perfect implant size was, would get them done, then after a few months, would hate them and wish they went bigger. Like seriously, about 90% of women end up feeling that way. They call is "booby greed." So that's what helped me decide, 'okay, I want a 'D' cup when all is said and done, so I'm going to tell my surgeon to make me a 'DD' so I don't end up coming back wishing I had gone bigger.' Because afterall, if you were paying $6,000 wouldn't you rather be a cup size bigger than you originally wanted or a cup size too small? Yea, I thought so! LOL! Anyway, getting back on track, I definitely recommend anyone who is seriously considering a BA (breast augmentation) to check out those message boards.

Moving on, today was a very, very busy day for me and all was going really good until in the late evening. I got up this morning and brushed my hair (yes, I was able to brush my own hair! woohoo!) and brushed my teeth and my mom and I left to go to my first out of three post-op appointments with my surgeon. It was a 2.5 hours drive to get there. He took off my bandages, except for the tape part that goes directly over top my incision line (which he'll remove at my next appointment on Monday). Then he looked at my boobs to make sure everything looked and felt like that should, which he said they look great and perfect for being one day post-op. I told him how happy I was that he was able to get the biggest size implant in there and he laughed and said he was happy he was able to, but that it took a lot of work to get a bigger implant inside my small boobies. Then he went on to tell me how he did something that I didn't expect him to do, but I am VERY happy he did. First let me back up and tell you about a particular question I had asked him at my very first meeting/consultation with him. I had told him that I wanted a submuscular placement of the implants, to which he agreed to do and thought that that was what would be best for me anyway since I had very little breast tissue of my own to begin with (thanks to having and breastfeeding all 3 of my kids lol). See, when getting implants, you typically have two choices as far as placement goes. Either subglandular (over top of the pec muscles), or submuscular (under the pec muscles). Subglandular is less painful and means easier and quicker recovery, but submuscular mean longer and more painful recovery but much more nicer look and feel to the implants after ward. Well, one of the potential complications for getting a BA, is called bottoming out. It's where the implant slides below the breast crease and it creates this 'double bubble' looking thing on women and it leave their breast look very strange and where the implant slips out and under where it should sit on the chest, the nipples look like they're point upward and all kinds of crazy stuff. Google "bottoming out implants" and click on the images and you'll see what I mean. Anyway, since I had very little of my own breast tissue, it meant I would have less support for the implants, which put me at a greater risk for developing this ugly complication....which is why I wanted submuscular implant placement. By placing it under the muscle, it would use the muscle to help hold the implants up and in place. Well, there are two types of submuscular placement...partial and full. Partial is what is done most of the time. It's where the top 2/3 of the implant is supported and held in place by the pectoral muscles. This is good in helping to hold the implants in place and to help prevent bottoming out, but since the bottom 1/3 isn't under the muscle, you still have a slight risk of bottoming out, especially the bigger and heavier implants that you get. Full submuscular is just that...it's totally and completely under the muscle 100%. By doing this, is eliminates the risk of bottoming out b/c the implants are 100% supported by the muscles surrounding them. Well, when I first asked my surgeon when we first met if he does partial or full submuscular, he told me it would be partial since it can be pretty difficult to do a full one. Then today at my post-op appointment, he surprisingly informed me that he did, indeed, go ahead and did the full submuscular placement! I was SO excited and happy! He told that now I wont have to worry about bottoming out and that I definitely wont have that happen to me. YAY! The rest of the appointment went pretty quickly since my surgery was just yesterday, there wasn't a whole lot to go over. This appointment was mostly just a quick check-in for him to make sure everything looks good the day after the surgery...which it did. I did ask him, though, that when all the settling and dropping happens within the next month or 2, how much bigger does he expect me to get and what he thinks my final cup size result will be. He said they'll be big...at least a 'DD' cup! WOOHOO! I haven't stopped grinning after hearing that! :-) I also told him about how my nipples are completely numb and he said that it's normal and it could take a few weeks for me to get any feeling back to them. He also gave me the go ahead to shower tomorrow morning! Lord knows I need one too! He said the little strip of tape he has going over my incisions will be fine in the shower and they're super sticky so they wont wash off, but at my next post-op appointment on Monday, he will remove the tape. Luckily, I have dissolvable stitches so I don't have to get them removed! He also said that I don't have to wear my sports bra if I don't want to and I can just go without a bra if I want. I don't think I want to do that though. I tried it and it feels soooo weird to have these huge boobs and not wear a bra, even if they are so perky and hold themselves up on their own. I did ask when I can wear a normal underwire type of bra and he said not until I'm about 6-8 weeks post-op :( I guess because where the incision is, it gets pretty numb and if I am wearing an underwire type bra, the wire can dig and mess up the incision area without my knowing or feeling it, so he wants my incision to be completely 100% healed before I start wearing underwired bras. After the appointment was over, my mom and I left and made the long 2.5 hours drive back to her house, which when we got there, I had to turn around and leave right away again with my stepdad to meet my husband, Scott, halfway so I could go home. And it's a 3 hour drive from their house to mine. So total today, I was in a vehicle for 8 hours! Needless to say, my poor body could tell! Once I got home and settled, my chest and arms were hurting SO BADLY! To the point where I eventually started crying. I tried relaxing and drinking lots of water, and then finally took 2 of my 10mg Percocets. Within about 45 minutes, I was passed out in bed, but feeling a LOT better. Now it's the middle of the night and I am wide awake from my little nap, but feeling good again. But I gotta get off here and try and get some sleep. I have to be up in a few hours to take my first post-op shower (of which, I'm going to have my hubster help me with lol) and then he's got to take me to class b/c I have one of my nursing class exams today! Goodnight!

Ashley

Happy Birthday Boobies!!!

Today was the day! My husband and I left yesterday evening to make the nearly 5 hours trip to our hotel near the surgery center (that way when we woke up, we wouldn't have to travel that far early this morning). I fell asleep at the hotel last night around 12:30 in the morning and woke up at 8:30 this morning. I woke up to a HUGE headache, but there was nothing I could take for it since I can't eat, drink, or take meds the day of surgery. So I hopped in the shower while the Scott (my hubby) went downstairs to eat some breakfast. The shower helped some with the headache but not completely. But I was so excited about my surgery today that I hardly cared about any stupid headache! LOL! So after the shower, I brushed my teeth and hair, put on my yoga pants and zip-up hoody (I have to wear button/zip up shirts for the first week or so because I can't lift my hands above my chest or head...ouch!). After that was all done, it was 9:23am and time to make the 10 minute trip to the surgery center. We got there, I signed a bazillion consent forms, then sat in the wait room waiting for them to take me back. After waiting in the front waiting room for 45 minutes, they called me back to take a pregnancy test, get changed into my gown, get my IV started, then sit in the pre-op area in my bed. They let Scott come in for about 10 minutes while I was back there and they were going over some last minute things before taking me back to surgery. I was really happy they let him come see me that one last time before surgery. Then the anesthesiologist came in and asked me questions, then my surgeon finally came in and started marking with his purple marker on my chest and boobs and went over some last minute things with me...like what sizes he had available to try on me while in surgery, what happens during the procedure, etc. He told me he had high profile and ultra high profile implants and 3 sizes for  each. He brought 425cc, 450cc, & 475cc in the high profile, and also 460cc, 478cc, and 500cc in the ultra high profile. He said he'd put the "test sizers" in me during surgery to find what size fits and looks the best and closest to what I am wanting to achieve, then he'd out the actual silicone implant in of that size as my permanent implants. After talking to all those people, it was time for me to be taken back. I was not nervous at all the entire time...until now. Scott had to go back out to the waiting room and they started wheeling me back into the OR. I got in there and they had me scoot over to the operating table/bed and put my arms in these semi-strap-like things and they verified AGAIN my name, birthday, and had me tell them what surgery I was getting to make sure they had the right patient (don't worry, it's protocol and that have to do this for every procedure with patients). Then the anesthesiologist told I was going to start feeling a little tired and he injected something really cold into my IV. I couldn't tell a difference at all when he did it. Then the nurse put a mask over my face and said she was giving me some oxygen. Then she started asking me questions about my kids, which I answered without any problems. Then out of nowhere, the air in the mask started to taste funny and I knew it was some sort of inhalant to help me relax and go to sleep because I started feeling a little sleepy, but was still coherent. Then the anesthesiologist told me he was going to give me the last bit of anesthesia through my IV and to just take big deep breathes through my mask and relax. Again, I felt the coldness of the medication through my IV and I remember taking another couple big deep breathes and then next thing I know, I'm awake in the PACU and my boobies felt tight, squeezed, and sore, and all I wanted to do was SLEEP! I kept waking up asking the nurse what size boobs I ended up with and her telling me I already asked her that like 8 times LMAO! But she said she didn't know b/c she's the PACU nurse, so she wasn't in the OR with me during the surgery and that the other nurses were. Then as soon as I asked her and she'd tell me she didn't know, I'd pass back out! LOL! Apparently it took me a LOOONG time to recover from the anesthesia because after the surgery, it took 2 hours before I was awake for good and could go home. I do remember though, my surgeon came in at one point and talked to me about how things went. He told me he went with the biggest implant he had. I got the ultra high profile silicone with 500cc's. He then looked under my special sports/compression bra to look at everything real quick and I got to see them. I remeber saying, "HOLY SHIT! They're biiiiig and I LIKE it!" LMAO! Then I remember him and Scott laughing and then I think I fell asleep again. Then woke up again later hearing the nurse explaining the discharge stuff of what I can and can't do when I go home to Scott. Then we left and drove about 2.5 hours to my mom and stepdads house. a couple hours into the ride though I felt nausea and thought I was going to throw up, but all I had to do was  burp 3 big, huge burps and I was fine. Then I got really hungry and we stopped and got Panera Bread. When we got to my mom and stepdad's house, Scott set up all my stuff on or next to the couch for me and then he had to leave to go get the kids 3 hours away up at our house. They're at our house with my MIL, but she has to work tomorrow morning, so Scott had to go up there to them. Tomorrow is my first of three post-op appointments I'll have total in the afternoon and my mom is taking me there, then we'll meet up with Scott and trade me off to go home. Lol. Well, it's about time for me to take another Percocet so I will be too loopy to type. I'll update tomorrow after my first post-op appointment!

Ashley

Bags are packed!!!

This is going to be a very short post but.....Only 34.5 more hours! I packed my bag tonight. Tomorrow evening the hubster and I will be leaving the kids with my MIL and will be heading down to a hotel near where my surgeon is located at (about 4.5 hours from us). We'll stay the night at a hotel, then wake up early Tuesday morning and I'll have my surgery. I have clinical tomorrow all day long or else we would have left earlier tomorrow, but I'll be tied up until about 5pm. I still am extremely excited about it all though. I had my first tiny bit of nervousness this evening when I started thinking about how it's really almost time. But it was quickly gone just as fast as it came and I started getting excited again. I have been put under before for a couple other previous surgeries I have had years ago and I was never really nervous, so this isn't much different. Only this time I think I will be in more pain post-op than my other surgeries! Haha! Well, it's off to bed for me. Gotta get some good sleep tonight. Got a long day tomorrow in clinical, then a looong car ride to the hotel.

Ashley

Only 3 days left!!!

Oh wow time is going by FAST! I am getting really excited and still can't believe this is really happening! Gah! It's about 12:30am so technically, it's only 3 days away from surgery day!!! LOL! Today I went with my mom to the mall to get some button down/zip up shirts to wear for after surgery. Since I wont be able to lift my arms up for a week or so after surgery, I need shirts I can put on without having to do so. I also got a really nice bra to wear post-op. My surgeon told me to get 2 different sports bras that close in the front and don't have wire underneath. I got one today at JcPenny. Tomorrow I am going to Walmart to get another because, from what I hear, they have one that a lot of girls who have gotten breast implants swear by and say is awesome. So I have to try it out. The only thing that I am having a problem with is trying to figure out what size I need to get. Which is probably why my surgeon said to buy 2 different sports bras. So if one doesn't quite fit, I'll have another just in case. I also got a phone call from the nurse saying she talked to the surgeon again about my size preference and he is going to try not only a high profile implant, but he's also bringing an ultra high profile set of implants to try on me in surgery and see which on looks best and gives me more of the look he knows I am aiming for. I am super excited! Alright, I gotta get some sleep. I'm about to fall asleep just while typing this! lol

Ashley

Less than a week away!

I can't believe I'm less than a week away...only 6 more days! Come tomorrow, I will be able to count down the days on one hand. I know it sounds ridiculous and stupid, but that is how crazy excited I am about this! So I called my surgeon today to ask if he would bring in an extra size bigger than what I had planned for surgery day and he said he would, but he can't guarantee he'll be able to get them in me since I am so small. I laughed and told him my boobs have done so much stretching from having kids and breastfeeding that he'll be amazed at how much he fit in there! LOL! So he's going to bring 3 different cc amounts/sizes the day of surgery and he'll put in the biggest he can out of those 3 sizes. I'm excited...like beyond excited right now. I also had to pick up my prescriptions as well. He called in Percocets (the max does for super pain relief, yay! lol), Keflex (antibiotic), and Phenergan (anti-nausea med). I also had to get my full physical done today at my regular doctors office. She cleared everything and said I am good to go for surgery, and faxed the info to the surgery center. I called to make sure they got it and everything looked okay for them, and they said they did and we're all set for Tuesday! Gah! This is getting so REAL! I'm really getting this! Wow...Just think, if I am this excited and in crazy excited mode 6 days away from surgery, can you imagine how insanely ecstatic I will be acting the day before?! I don't think I'll be able to sleep the night before! Okay, I need to get off here. I have tons of studying and homework to get done and some laundry too.

Ashley

In case you're wondering...

...about the title and meaning behind "Valentine Twins". The "twins" are the ladies, the goods, the tata's...you get the idea. Valentine is because my surgery is exactly one week before Valentines Day. So that is why I made it Valentine Twins. I went back and forth between that and "Sweater Puppies" and "Bonnie and Clyde". But in the end, I wanted something more original and my own to name my 'girls' LOL

Ashley

Pre-op Appointment! Getting close!

So I had my pre-op appointment on Monday. It went REALLY well! It went a little longer than I thought it would, but I'm not complaining! :) We got there at 9:30am and they called us (me and the hubster) back after about 5-10 minutes. We talked to my surgeon and went over everything one last time and I told him what I wanted as far as size goes for next weeks surgery. I tried on more sizers and I had my heart set on this one size. The nurse said that to keep in mind it would look just a tad bit smaller once they're in and under my muscle. Which reminds me if I didn't post on my last blog. I am getting Silicone high profile implants under the muscle. My surgeon and I both think that is best for me. He doesn't like saline overall because it's a lot firmer than silicone and less squishy and real feeling, plus saline tends to have a 'rippling' effect for a lot of women, especially women like me who don't have much breast tissue to begin with. And we're going under the muscle instead of over because again, I am very small chested with very little breast tissue, so it will look and feel much better having unders rather than overs. Plus, since I have such little amount of breast tissue, having the implants under the muscle will allow the muscle to help support the implants in place, rather than relying solely on tissue, make sense? Anyway, where was I? Oh, so when the nurse told me to remember that they'll be a tiny bit smaller once they're in me compared to how they look right then with the sizers on, that I should probably go up a size (cc size, not bra size). So I went up 2 sizes. Haha! Even with liking what I saw and then going up not 25 but 50 cc's, I still have this lingering thought in the back of my head, "should I call and see if I can go up just 25 more cc's?". I know most of you are reading this thinking, 'my Lord, they'll look fine...you don't want them TOO big do you?!' But in all honesty, I'm paying thousands and thousands of dollars for this and I'd much rather then be a little bigger than I wanted than a little smaller than I wanted...wouldn't you? And in case you're wondering what size I am getting, I'm not saying for now. I have told my mom and husband, and that is it. I don't want to hear people tell me what they think would look more natural on me or what size I should get. Besides, maybe I'm not looking to get them so they look completely natural. I definitely don't want porn star boobs, but I don't want to pay all this money to have 'average' boobs. As I put it to DH the other day, I'd like them to look naturally fake. I don't care if people have to wonder if they're real or not...but I don't want them to be THAT obvious that they aren't real. But when it really comes down to it, I really just care about how I feel about them. Either way, no matter what, I am more excited than ever and can not wait to get this done! Going to the final pre-op appointment made things so much more real for me. To hear all the last minute info from the surgeon and nurse about what to do and what not to do just made it all really sink in. I still keep having those moments when it's like I temporarily 'forget' I am getting this done and then realize that I am and start yelling to DH, "I'm getting my boobs!" LOL He probably thinks I am nuts, but oh well! Haha! Well, I need to get to bed. Class is in the morning and I need to get through this week of school before surgery first thing next Tuesday!

Ashley

I'm FINALLY getting them!!!

Is this real? Like, is this REALLY happening?! I've wanting it for so long now and it seems every time I think I can get them, SOMETHING comes up and I can't. But not this time. Now everything is signed, set, scheduled, and paid for and I am beyond ready for this! A little background for those who don't know my story. When I was 16 I was a small-avg C cup. Then I got pregnant with my daughter and breastfed her for over a year. That left my pretty C up a medium B cup. Didn't complaint since I knew it could happen, and hey, at least I still had SOME boobage! LOL Fast forward a couple years and I had my first son and breastfed him as well. Afterward, it took my size from a decent B to a very smaaalll B/largish A cup (depending on the bra manufacturer). That's when the real thoughts about implants began. But being 20 years old and a single mom of 2, I didn't do anything about it because for one, I had more important things to do (school and work),and two, I didn't have the money whatsoever. So it was left a distant dream that I knew I would eventually get, just not anytime soon. Fast forward another few years and I had met my now husband and we had a baby. I breastfed that baby for over a year and can you guess what happened to the boobs afterward? You got it. They went even smaller than they were to begin with! I am not a 34/AA cup. Luckily, pregnancy and breastfeeding didn't make them sag, it just ate, literally ate, away any and basically all of my breast tissue inside my boobs. Not sure how that's even possible, but it is! And after my third, that's when this distant dream became a small obsession of mine. I was determined to get them done. I was tired of not having what I know I should have what I have had before, and tired of not fitting into shirts and bras correctly. I have one bra. That's right; one bra. It's the only one I have found to fit my cup size decently. And trust me, I have looked many places for new bras, but without fail, every time I try new ones on, I am leaving the store in tears because I can't find one that fits me properly. Not even the holy Victoria Secret bras fit these tata's! For over 7 years I have put my kids first in everything. And while I don't regret it, nor would I change it for the world, I do believe I deserve something for myself. I'm doing this for me. Not for anyone else, not even my husband. For me. So about 2 1/2 years ago when my youngest stopped breastfeeding, I started to look into breast augmentation and see what they prices were like and my goodness was I SHOCKED! It's a lot. Like the average family's gross income for 2 months kind of a lot! So as time went on, and I looked into it more and more, my husband and I started talking about it more seriously and came up with a plan for me to get them and pay cash. I knew from the beginning I do not want to take out a loan for them and be stuck paying a huge loan off that has 20% interest or whatnot. Every time we were expecting a big lump of money (tax return, bonus at work, etc), something last minute would come up that we'd have to put off on the boobs and use on other more important things. It was disappointing at first but as a mom and wife, you gotta do what you gotta do. But after 3 times of being let down by unexpected things popping up, I was starting to get discouraged and thought that maybe I should give up and let it rest for a few years. Then this last month of January came and it brought with it some great news! I have my surgeon chosen and he is wonderful and I know he will make me what I want. He is very experienced, board certified, very compassionate, and knows what I want for my outcome. Before meeting with him for the consultation, I looked up reviews about him online and looked at where he went to school at, any awards he has received, any board certifications he has, and his before and after photos on his website. I knew after seeing all of that and reading what other women had to say about him, that I needed to make a consultation with him and see if he's as awesome as he sounds. And he is! I don't have any nervousness about picking him as my surgeon. So to anyone who is considering any cosmetic surgery, please, please, please do your homework and don't just settle for just anyone. You don't want to settle with a surgeon and come out not liking what you see and have to pay another surgeon to go in and fix what the first did wrong. Okay, I had a super long day and I need to get off here or else I could type forever! LOL

Ashley <3