As many of you know, I’ve talked a LOT on social media about my breast augmentation. It’s something that most people tend to shy away from talking about, but I feel the complete opposite. I believe there’s nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed about, and making a change in my body to improve my internal happiness/confidence is something I’m so so so happy I did for myself.
Now, let’s get down to business. I’ve had soooo many people send me messages to ask about my breast implant journey. I absolutely love answering everyone’s questions. After all, it’s what I’m here for! I’m always happy to help out in any way I can, and I love being a resource for people.
QUESTIONS SPECIFIC TO ME:
What size did you get?
This was hands down the most common question I got. The truth is, I didn’t go into my consultation wanting a specific size. All I knew was that I wanted to look natural, while just a bit more full-figured. My surgeon, Dr. Capizzi, is the one who made suggestions regarding size. I tried on multiple sizes of different implants in a bra, and made the decision based upon what I thought felt most natural to me. We ended up going with 300CC.
What type of implant did you get?
Gummy bear. However, there are multiple different types of implants. There are: saline, silicone, and gummy bear.
What was the surgery like?
The day of the surgery was scary for me because I am a very anxious person. I also hate needles, ha! So once I got there, it all happened very quickly. I was taken into a room where there was a needle inserted into the veins in my left hand. From there, the anesthesiologist and the nurse went over a few things with me, and then I was taken into the surgery room about 20 minutes later. I laid down on the surgery table, and everyone in the room tried their best to make me feel as comfortable as possible. They all knew how nervous I was! It was at that point that the anesthesia kicked in, and I woke up about 30 minutes later in the same room I started out in. The surgery only took about a half hour — crazy!
What is the post-op pain like?
When people say you’re going to feel “uncomfortable”, I didn’t really understand what that meant. However, they were exactly right. I was SO uncomfortable. It wasn’t really painful for the first couple of days because I made sure to keep up with my pain medication. However, once I ran out of the medicine, Advil was not cutting it for me. I would sometimes feel sharp pain if I moved the wrong way. But the worst part of all? MY BACK. Having to sleep flat on my back was hands down the most painful part. I’ve never experienced back pain like that before in my life. I rarely got any sleep for the first few weeks because I was so uncomfortable and my back was killing me. It wasn’t until about four weeks in, when I could turn to sleep on my side, that I started to feel a little better. Pretty ironic that the most painful part of the surgery wasn’t even the part of my body that was operated on.
What do you wear post-op?
Before surgery, I was given a sports-bra type bralette to wear if I desired, however, I was told I did not have to wear anything if I didn’t want to. For the most part, I didn’t wear anything at all (bra-wise). I was on bed rest for the first couple of days anyway, so I just wore button down pajama shirts and no bra. I would wear the bralette when leaving the house, just because I felt more comfortable being more covered up and not walking around town bra-less (I had it in my head that everyone would be able to tell that I didn’t have a bra on). To this day, especially working from home, I still really only wear sports bras. Occasionally, when I go out, I’ll wear a sticky bra or nothing at all and you can’t even tell. That’s it!
How much PTO did you need to take?
I took two days, since I am currently working remotely. If I were back in the office (aka non-COVID times), things would be very different. I only needed to take two days (Tuesday was surgery day, and I also took that next day off), and I was able to work Thursday and Friday from my bed.
OTHER THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:
Find out what kind of incision your surgeon wants to use.
Mine was under the breast. Other options are: through the armpit, areola, or (apparently) your stomach, although I’ve never known anyone who has done that.
Make sure you have someone else there to help you/take care of you.
You will need someone to drive you home from the surgery, help prepare meals for you, help get you a glass of water (I couldn’t even open my microwave door or pick up the Brita by myself to pour a glass of water). I was so thankful to have my mom there with me to heat up meals for me and bring them to me in my bed.
What you see for the next few months is not what the final result will look like.
I can’t stress this enough! When I woke up from surgery, there was a part of me that was terrified. My boobs were SO high up on my chest and I had a minor freakout. However, I knew that Dr Capizzi had told me numerous times that my breasts would be very swollen after surgery, and that they would slowly heal over the next few months. I knew it would be at least three months before I saw the final results. Now that almost six months have passed, I can say with confidence that my breasts look nothing like they did when I woke up from surgery that first day! They are so natural looking, and the perfect size for my frame.
Prepare to take it easy on the workouts for about 6 weeks.
If you’re a big workout junkie, this may be an issue for you. However, due to the fact that I truly despise going to the gym, this was a non-issue for me. In fact, I loved the fact that I had an excuse not to go. LOL.
Make sure you’re doing this for YOU.
I can’t stress this enough. My final and most important piece of advice is to make sure you’re undergoing surgery because YOU want to. Don’t let pressure from anyone/anything else impact your decision. Surgery is a very big deal. There are major health risks involved (worst case scenario), as well as serious financial commitments. As long as you’re moving forward with the surgery because YOU want to, that’s all I can ask for.
So, if you’re thinking about undergoing breast augmentation surgery, I hope this was helpful! I would love to know if anyone has any additional questions that weren’t answered in this post. Please be sure to leave your comments below on this post, or feel free to DM me on Instagram!
xo,
Ashlen