Breast Augmentation Post Op Appt/Back to Work

Day 6
Yesterday was my first post-op appointment.  My friend drove me despite me driving here and there the weekend.  I was able to see my PS and he examined my breasts to make sure everything looked good so far (knocking on wood).  He said that I was healing really good.  I expressed being concerned that my boobs haven't dropped that much.  He explained that they have three months to drop and are dropping daily.  He said that you would rather them be too high up at first than sitting too low right off the bat.  What goes up must come down!  Gravity at its best!  I asked him about taking a multi-vitamin again and he said it is fine to do so now.  I think I may wait another week just to be on the safe side!  He also discussed the importance of me taking it easy for the next three weeks.  He said that the complications that have come in his office have been due to the women not taking it easy and trying to do too much too soon.  I am such a busybody and is constantly doing it all, but is really relieved for a break!  He also discussed not exercising for three weeks. He said I can start out slow and work my way up to what I have been doing. I asked about massaging and was told that it's up to me if I want to start massaging or not.  I do it gently because sometimes it relieves the pressure.  I forgot to ask how long do I have to keep gauze on the incision, but can call back and ask that. I got my implant card with the size and serial number on it.  It seems quite funny that there is something or somethings in my body with serial numbers!  I have my next appointment in three weeks.

Besides my appointment yesterday, I expected to live up my last day off from work and just sit on my couch and veg out all day.  Deployment always have another plan for me.  I think it is determined to go out with a bang!  Thank God my husband is in flight as I write, and is on his way home at some point (maybe next week he will actually get here).  My son got sick in the middle of the night and stayed home with me yesterday.  It was nice to spend quality time with him, and I was glad that I didn't have to take off work to be with him.  He is better now, and we both were able to go back to work and daycare.

I tapered off my percoset yesterday in only taking it in the morning and right before bed.  I didn't need any pain meds throughout the day.  I was pretty much fine most of the day until it got later in the evening.  I had to get back to my normal routine of doing things by myself.  After we got home later from my daughter's girl scouts, I felt too tired to do any of my nightly chores, so I took my meds and went to bed shortly after the kids.  That's my way of "taking it easy". LOL!  I also forgot to mention that I was able to handle, feed, and take my Great Dane out on Saturday.  I do not walk him, but take him out to potty.  He did fine without pulling me.

Boob cupcakes my co-worker made to welcome me back

1 Week Post-Op-Back To Work
Back to reality for real!  I must say I am fortunate to pretty much be at my desk all day, but I really did miss my naps today.  I almost fell asleep in our morning meeting.  I'm not sure if I was that tired or the meeting was that boring!  I got up earlier this morning to feed and let SGM Blue (my 12 month old Great Dane) out, and to shower.  I am super slow because I make sure to take slow controlled movements to not move too quickly to hurt myself or mess anything up.  My biggest fear is pulling the stitches and them bleeding!  Arrrgggg!  I got dressed, helped the kids, and we were all off to school, work, and daycare.

All my co-workers knew what I was getting done, and all wanted to see how I looked.  They were shocked that I didn't topple over or look like Dolly Parton.  They said that if they didn't know they really wouldn't notice.  They said they looked very natural with my body.  I also got compliments on my outfit!

Denim Shirt: Old Navy
Skirt: Target
Boots: Famous Footwear

All in all work was fine.  My co-worker made me boob cupcakes (pictured above) and bought me gag Goodwill super huge bras.  I told her I could use them for hats!  My boobs did seem to ache more today.  If you have ever breastfed, it feels like you are engorged.  It's not really painful, but it is slightly uncomfortable.  It is tolerable.  At lunchtime I took some tylenol and took a nap.  My nipples seemed to throb on and off today.  I read that is a sign of the nerves reconnecting.  Besides that, my incisions were itchy.  By the time I got home, I felt like my "girls" had a long day at work and needed a break.  After feeding my kids and doing hw with them, I sat on the couch for awhile and iced the girls.

I did notice that you take for granted being able to do the simplest movements.  I keep wondering if I will ever be able to lift things normally again.  Opening doors, driving, opening a water bottle, etc all take a lot of controlled careful effort!  I almost cried when I couldn't get my motrin bottle open.  My friend made sure to open all my pill bottles before she left.  I accidently closed the motrin one back.  I was able to get it open by placing it on my bench at the foot of my bed and pressing down gently.  I had my eight year old daughter helping with a lot of mundane tasks!  I decided to have my friend come back tomorrow evening to help with evening chores so that I don't overexert myself.

Another helpful tip I have found that helps to relieve the tightness of the implants is to keep my bra open at the end of the day for 30 minutes to an hour.  It just feels good to let them hang and breathe a little.  Anyway, although all of this is slightly uncomfortable I wouldn't change a thing.  I love how I look in clothes now and just can't wait for them to continue to drop and all the symptoms to be a thing of the past!

Picture from Pinterest...I want one!!!!!

Breast Augmentation Post-Op Days 4 and 5

The jist of the past two days have been continued nausea and feeling extremely bloated.  I have figured out that it's possibly the antibiotics that make me nauseous.  I take them twice a day and it seems that when I take them, that's when I get very nauseous afterwards whether I eat or not.  The good thing is that I will only be on the antibiotics a few more days.  What has really helped with the nausea is ginger ale and believe it or not, kettle cooked Lays salt and vinegar chips.  A few of those seem to settle my stomach faster than the saltines.  I also have to lay down and possibly take a nap when the nausea hits.

I was very puzzled when I was watching you tube videos of the skinny big boobed girls talking about how bloated they felt.  I would look at them and think to myself "girl get yo life with your skinny self".  I was like how do they think they look bloated when they still look quite thin to me.  Well now I feel their pain.  I feel that my stomach looks six months preggers again.  It is definitely due to the constipation.  I was warned about it, and it is real!  I put miralax in my smoothie yesterday morning, but it did nothing.  I even tried a stool softner (sorry for the TMI) this evening, but again nothing.  I am going to resort to a laxative tea to take in the morning.  I may invest in some fiber gummies to continue to take to get things back regulated.

I have been sleeping just fine from day one!  The ambien really works good. I usually take it between 8 and 9pm and fall asleep within the hour.  I have faithfully awaken around 4 am every morning.  I text my deployed husband and take naps until it's time for me to get on up.  I am still sleeping sitting up.  Last night I moved to my bed instead of the recliner.  I have a pillow that is easy to sit up on, my body pillow, and I surrounded myself with a lot of other pillows.  I slept more comfortable than I thought.  Maybe it was just the ambien.

The past two days I have tried to do more for myself since my babysitter/friend was going back home today.  I will be going back to work on Tuesday anyway, so I needed to start doing more on my own.  I was able to do light housework (very light) and more for the kids.  I even drove a short distance yesterday.  We ended up going to the dollar movie not far from our home and to Wal-mart afterwards so that I could get another front closure bra.  I took the 34 bra back and got a 36 and it fits better.  Driving wasn't a problem due to me not driving far and being very careful about making quick movements and turns.  I also drove today on post to the commissary.  Tomorrow is my post-op appointment and I can find out when I can actually drive, and how I am healing.

As far as the implants, I am still not in any pain.  I did wake up at 4 am in a little pain due to my boobs swelling.  That is normal and they will continue to do that.  I put ice packs on them and it relieved the pain immediately.  I also took a dose of motrin.  I was able to take a shower and get dressed without help today and that went fine.  I changed the dressing myself and looked at the incision.  Still no bleeding, which I constantly check for.  Everything seems to be doing good and I hope that continues.

The question of the day is still "What size are you?".  Now I get, "Do you like them?" a lot as well.  I will not know what size they are for awhile.  Maybe a few weeks or months.  I am wearing large sports bras mostly due to the swelling and they seem to be more comfortable.  I have also noticed that my zip up bra is more comfortable to sleep in at night.  I am still wearing a small in shirts and tank tops.  Yesterday I actually put on a shirt that is a medium and my friend came over to get my daughter and told me it looked too big on me! It's true that most of your clothes size don't change, you just look better in them!   As far as if I like them or not, well they just look really funny and weird right now!  They do look nice in my sports bras and in fitted shirts.  I do not like them naked at this point.  They really do look like torpedoes.  They haven't dropped much so they still sit very high up.  I heard girls talk about having the post-op Depression, and is wondering if it will hit me.  I did have a thought today, "What in the world did I do?" I'm still in awe that I actually went through with this, but is happy every time I get dressed, even if its just to put on pjs around the house.  I also did feel so bloated that I was thinking I can't wait until I can workout again.

All in all I am doing great and just continue to pray for great healing!

Haha...I'm still thinking of a name for them!

Breast Augmentation Post-Op Day 3

Most women say day 3 is the worst.  I have found that I felt really good today.  I did not feel pain all day, and didn't have to ice the girls.  I was able to get up and shower on my own.  I did need help changing the dressing on my incisions and getting dressed.  I was afraid to change the dressing because I did not want to see the incision.  Surprisingly it looked fine.  It looked as if it is healing well.  My worst fear is for it to be leaking blood like one you tuber I saw.  I showered with antibacterial soap and let the soap and water fall on the incision.  I did not wipe the area to not irritate it.  After showering I wiped the incision area with paper towels and my friend helped me to apply a thin layer of neosporin, and apply new gauze and tape.  We did notice the bruises only under one boob on one side (not near the incision).  It seemed to be better than last night.  I was able to change into the Large bra to not be so tight around my rib cage.

Today was the first day that I took the girls out of the house!  One of my friends (that had her girls done a year ago), came to take us to Target so I could get some more bras.  I can't survive on just two sports bras.  I was excited to get out the house, but got very nauseous on the car ride.  I was okay once we were in the store and I hailed to the red dot!  Seriously, Target is the devil.  I ALWAYS pay more than I intended to.  They were having a great clearance on clothes and for some reason I loved everything that I tried on!  What a curse these girls are already!  I ended up getting four bras, and a few more cute clothes.

Yes I know I went a bit overboard, but this is an accumulation of my shopping from all week.  These items are from H&M, Ross, and Target.  I am going on a trip to Vegas with the Hubby in a few weeks so I picked up some items for that as well.  I keep telling myself that I deserve it! Hey this has been one helluva 9 months of deployment!  As if my boobs weren't a present enough to myself LOL!

For those of you wondering, I got 375cc, silicone, smooth round, mentor implants.  At least that's what I think.  I haven't gotten my implant card yet.  Pre-op I measured at a 34A.  Today I tried on sports bras, and got larges in the ones in the picture.  I did get one regular bra that is similar to the sports bras in a Large as well.  It did not come in cup sizes.  There was another bra similar to it that I tried on in a 34C, and it was too small.  Right now I am still swelling, so it's really difficult to determine my true size.  I am just trying to get bras right now with good support and comfort.  The bras pictured ranged from $6-$16.99.

I was able to lift my arms all the way over my head today with no problems.  I was still careful when trying on bras and shirts to make sure that I do not pull anything, or over do it.  I felt really good all day besides the nausea.  I even tapered on my pain meds just taking all my meds twice a day instead of the pain meds every four hours. Later in the evening I swear I started to feel the implant moving around or dropping. I really can't explain what the proper term for this would be.  Perhaps it's air or bubbles moving around in there.  I did hear other girls report that theirs would make a gurgling sound and it's completely normal.  Because of this movement I kept checking my incision area to make sure everything is still in tact.  I took it easy the rest of the day.

Me multitasking in my little area

My other furry friend SGM Blue

Breast Augmentation Post-Op Day 2

Can we say please pass the ginger ale and saltines please?  So today has been a day full of nausea.  I have always known from previous experiences that anesthesia makes me nauseous.  Too bad today I ran out of the Zofran.  I pretty much layed down a lot and drank ginger ale and ate saltines.

I was able to sleep good last since I took the Ambien.  My friend said she woke me up to take my midnight meds and I was knocked out! She said she gave me my meds and I dropped them, so she gave me more and tried to make sure that I swallowed them.  I did wake up feeling refreshed for once in many months.  I didn't feel any pain or heaviness.  I was able to wash up and make myself semi presentable.  My arms didn't feel sore anymore so I could put on a tank top with help.

I wasn't in as much pain today.  I stayed on top of taking all of my meds on time.  My boobs looked like they dropped slightly.  They weren't as high up in my collar bone.  I can still feel them in my armpits.  The incisions looked fine when I peeped through the gauze.  I am still afraid to change it, but will do so tomorrow when I take a shower.  My incisions did itch a lot today, which again is a good sign of healing.  I did have bruising around the base of my boobs where my bra band sits.  I think it's due to my boobs swelling and the bra starting to get tighter.  I would periodically during the day unzip my bra to relieve some of the pressure.

Besides being itchy and nauseous all day, I felt pretty good.  I was able to walk around good and do a few things for myself.  I was also blessed with my friends coming by to visit.  One of my friends came by to bring me gauze, tape, and antibacterial soap for my shower tomorrow.  I was told that I could use a maxi pad or pantyliner to cover the incision, but I would prefer to have the same thing that is already on.  I also felt that the antibacterial soap that I have is too fragrant, and would not be clean enough for my incision. My friend also brought her little Maltese/Yorkie puppy to visit.  I was happy to have a lightweight snuggle buddy.

Isn't Gizmo just too cute for words? Best snuggle buddy ever!  She even had the nerve to lay on me and growl at the 110 lbs Great Dane across the room!

My neighbor came over to check on me and brought me food.  I had another friend come over and bring saltines and ginger ale due to her being concerned about my continued nausea.  Other visitors included another friend that brought over lunch from a Mediterranean restaurant.  I was able to eat a little but it was my first real meal post op.

All in all it was a better day.

Breast Augmentation Post-Op Day 1

Picture from Pinterest

I woke up this morning feeling nauseated again.  I had to remember to take the zofran with every med dose. I was able to stay laying down so that I would not throw up.  My appetite has still not returned.  I have been eating on fruit and a little soup to take my meds.  I spent the day taking naps, taking meds, and talking to my family and friends.  I even watched a few shows on my DVR.  I got a call from the PS office and the surgical center.  We discussed me showering and changing my dressings when I'm ready.  I'm chicken and want to wait another day or two.  I was able to wash myself up this morning and get dressed.  I am still wearing button up shirts and need help to put them on.  I make sure to do my arm exercises and is able to lift them more and more.

My symptoms today went back and forth with nausea all day.  I just made sure to take the zofran and continue to lay down.  My boobs still feel heavy, but also they feel very full and tight, much like engorgement with breastfeeding.  I also started to notice that the sides of rib cage hurts.  The nurse explained that the PS injects a numbing solution there so it is sore afterwards.  Besides all that, my incisions started to itch which is a good sign to show that they are healing.

I decided to be brave and look at my boobs without the bra.  My babysitter helped me to take my bra off and take a peek.  Yes they really do look like footballs.  We could tell that they are swollen, but look pretty good so far!  We checked the sides of my ribcage for bruising (there was none) due to that area irritating me. We tried on the other two bras that I have so that I know what size to get when I get more sports bras.  The 34 one from Walmart was too small, but the large one like the medium one I am currently wearing fits fine.

I am getting nauseous as I write this, so I will have to end with a little boob humor...

Picture from Pinterest