Boob-date: Week 1 (Breast Reduction Journey)

Thursday/The Day Of:

We woke up really early and drove to the surgical center. We got there at 6:30 am. I was so nervous and couldn't hold still. I peed before we left, but I peed again when we got to the waiting room because I HATE waiting. Then literally like 2 minutes after I came out of the bathroom the nurse came to get me and made me do a urine sample lol. I was freaking out that I wouldn't be able to pee because I had JUST went like minutes before, but strangely I was able to get a few drops lol. Then I brought the cup out with me like an idiot and she was like, "Oh you can leave it in there."

Then I went into the prep room where they hooked me up to an IV, gave me little cloths to wash myself down, had me change into their clothes, and brought me a warm blanket. I was OBSESSED with that warm blanket. It was so comforting haha.

When I am nervous I get real chatty. Like, REAL chatty. I am chatty anyway because I am uncomfortable with silence, but in nerve-wracking situations I just chat up anyone who is there. So naturally I met like 5 different people while in prep and I chatted all of them up lol. One lady was like, "I love when people ask questions!" But I'm not so sure she meant it lol.

Finally my surgeon showed up at 7:30am. They started marking where they would make their incisions and I started chatting. I found out they were going to take me to a B, because they wanted to make sure the insurance would cover the procedure. (Sometimes, if not enough tissue is removed insurance will come back and say they won't cover it anymore.) But I told them I wanted to be at a C or a D. I said I would rather have them come back and say they wouldn't cover it, but have the boobs I want than vice versa. 

Then I kissed Jake goodbye and went into the operating room. I started blabbing about how cold it was in there which somehow lead to me telling them I was from Utah? No idea how it got there, but it turned out there was a nurse from Utah who worked there and they said they would have her come meet me later. They had me lay down on this table that had arms lol. They covered me with a really heavy, warm blanket and strapped my legs into the table. It was SO comforting. Like being hugged by the world kind of. Then the anesthesiologist came in and asked if I was ready. He was holding a syringe and I asked if it was the medicine and that was the last thing I remember! 

I woke up in a little recovery tent. There were two nurses fussing about and I started asking them questions. "Is it over?" "How did it go?" "Where is Jake?" "Did he text my mom and tell her it went ok?" They said everything went fine and that they would get Jake when I was a little more awake. I blacked out and then woke up again later. I was told that the total "out" time was like 20 minutes. While I was waking up, the plastic surgeon went to visit Jake and told him that everything went great. They said they thought I would love my new boobs lol.

They brought Jake in and I immediately had him text my mom to tell her everything went ok. (My mom was real nervous about this surgery lol.) The nurses brought me ginger ale and some saltines. I tried to wake myself up more and more and eventually they moved me to a chair to see how that felt. The nurse said I was recovering really well! I asked like, in comparison to most surgeries how mine went and how I was doing. The nurse said that I was doing excellent! I was a "model patient" lol. I was mainly asking so I could have some ammo to say, "I told you so!" to my mom but it was nice for my own knowledge too. 

I finished off my crackers and chatted with the nurse from Utah. Utah Nurse was really nice and ended up giving me her phone number because her and her husband host these monthly activities for young couples. Her and the other nurse walked me out to the car. The other nurse gave me a hug lol. She was so nice! I got in the car and buckled myself in and we were off to home!

On the way home I got really emotional and I have no idea why haha. I started crying and was just having like, overwhelming feelings of happiness lol. I was just so excited and I just wanted to get home and start healing. I'll post the video later!

We got home around 11:00am. I was nervous about the pain so I started taking the Percocets they gave me. I took them on 3 different occasions, but ultimately stopped because I hated the way they made me feel. I took my last at 2:00 am on Day 2, aka my first night after the surgery. 

I honestly can't remember what we did for the rest of this day? I was too nervous to look at my boobs or anything, so we just laid in bed and watched T.V. Oh!!! We watched the 10th Kingdom, that's what it was. Jake fell asleep and I think I did too at some point.

MAIN DAY 1 THINGS: I took Percocet. I didn't feel too much pain. I had trouble sitting up or moving my arms. My incisions were draining. I didn't look.

Day 1 (Friday): 

Jake had to go back to work. I had been texting his mom the night before about how I was kind of nervous to be left alone. So, being the nice person that she is, booked a redeye flight ASAP and got in on Friday!!! Can you believe it? She is seriously such a gem. #blessed

So, she arrived at 11:00 am and helped me while Jake was at work. We mainly watched a lot of T.V. and chatted :).

I felt a little bit better this day. I could get up on my own, although it was still very sore/uncomfortable feeling. My incisions were sore. My nipples were very sensitive, and actually have been the whole time.

When Jake got home, I took my first shower! It was NOT a good experience. The whole time I had been avoiding looking at my boobs because I just knew it would make me woozy. My surgical bra was so tight and comforting, but taking it off just made me feel like my incisions were going to split open and I was going to get an infection. UGH.

So, I got in there thinking it would be bad but not knowing how bad it would be. I FREAKED out at the feeling of having my boobs exposed. They used this tape from hell to get my surgical padding to stay and it was THE WORST PART OF THE WHOLE SURGERY EXPERIENCE. The tape hurt soooo bad to peel off my skin. Also, the thought of my skin stretching with my stitches because of the tape was just TOO MUCH. I freaked out and got out of the shower.

I had him and his mom take a look and tell me if I wanted to look. They didn't really say yes or no, but I decided it would be ok. I took a look and was pleasantly surprised! I had 0 bruising. My nipples were their regular color too. Mainly there were just like incisions that were red, but that was it. It really wasn't too bad! Although I was scared of getting an infection so I immediately had them cover them up again. 

Day 2 (Saturday):

I took my first real shower! The main point of this shower was for Jake to wash my hair so it sucked because I had to like, stay in there until he was done! I didn't even wash my boobs or touch them with water or anything. I literally got in, started freaking out, Jake washed my hair really fast, and then I got out and put my padding and surgical bra back on.

I was getting really bored of being inside, so we went on a little drive around Milford and found some beautiful, big houses along the beach! (You can see how all my color was gone in the beginning.) I am excited to go back and see them during Christmas time. We went to a movie as well! We saw Arrivals and I thought it was really good. I got a little bit tired standing and waiting for Jake's mozzarella sticks, but other than that I was fine walking and going out, etc. 

During the movie I got really sweaty because I was wearing one of Jake's hoodies, but the sweat on my underboob kept feeling like blood and freaking me out lol. 

Saturday night I slept really well! All through the night without waking up once.

Day 3 (Sunday): 

I took a better shower this day. I used a washcloth and soap to kind of clean my chest, but I never put it in the water directly. I forgot to wash my armpits and I smelled BAD haha.

I also wanted to get out of the house this day so we went and got acai bowls! They were good, but still nothing compared to Ivie Juice Bar! I was feeling really sick before we went, but I think it was just a lack of food because I felt better after.

We went on a little drive and showed Jake's mom where he works.

By this day I was just a little sore. I could get up on my own. I could take peeks at my boobs without feeling like I was going to throw up. Also! If your nipple is going to die, it usually is within like 24-48 hours after the surgery. So I decided on this day that I was officially past the risky part of my nipple dying. Yay for non-dead nipples!

I had a little bit of yellow bruising appear around my left nipple, but that was it.

Day 4 (Monday):

In the morning, I went with Jake's mom to get some surgical padding for my bra. I didn't like the feeling of the fabric along my incisions. I then took a shower by myself and finally washed those dang armpits lol. I had to have Jake's mom come in and help me put the padding in and the bra on.

I went back to my online job. Typing and having a computer on my lap was 100% fine. The nurse said I wouldn't be able to but yeah, I was totally fine. 

My nice mother-in-law cleaned my whole apartment!! <3 She even cleaned my tub which made me want to take a bath SO BAD but I can't soak until 2 weeks after :(

When Jake got home from work we went to the mall. Bath and Body Works had a $6 sale on those Aromatherapy products which I LOVE. So Jake got me some stuff for Christmas. We stopped in at Lush and got a bath bomb, DUH.

By now, I was feeling pretty ok. I still was a little bit sore, but really not bad at all. Mainly the only things bothering me at this point was just the feeling of not having padding in my surgical bra and my side incisions. Other than that, golden!

Day 5 (Tuesday):

My mother-in-law left! I still can't get over how nice it was for her to come out on such short notice and will be forever grateful! Now you guys can see where Jake gets his niceness from!

She prepped all my food before she left so I was set for the day. I mainly just worked and chilled.

When Jake got home he made me chicken and waffles (BAE) and chatted with me while I showered like a true bb. He helped me put my padding in my surgical bra and then we started back in on Harry Potter. We started them while his mom was here, but have been continuing since she left. Jake is like obsessed with them right now.

Day 6 (Wednesday):

I had a good night's sleep because I finally found a way to be on my side! Yay! I usually sleep on my stomach so this was progress.

I took a shower and put my surgical padding in by myself. 

I worked and did all those little things I had been meaning to do for a while. Like organizing my Photos library, yay!

Jake made me veggie pot stickers and we finished the 5th Harry Potter. (Which, by the way, is my least favorite of all the Harry Potters.) We started the 6th and I fell asleep on the couch. I woke up to the sound of Jake building a computer lol and it motivated me to move rooms. 

Day 7 (Thursday/today!):

I slept really good last night! Still doing my weird side sleeping but what can ya do.

I can open and close the blinds by myself. I am not supposed to lift more than 5 pounds, but I poured my own milk in my cereal this morning and it was probably 3 pounds. It was totally fine.

My boobs are looking really great! The yellow bruising on my left boob is still there, but it's not bad. I feel like the scabbing/incisions are clearing up really great. They are looking less and less icky and more just like a small scratch. (Note: They do not look like a small scratch, they are just looking more like one than they were before.)

The pain in my side incisions is gone. I can lay in the fetal position if I do it just right. I still have sensation in my nipples, which I'm hoping is a good sign for breast feeding in the future. My lower boob and around my nipples is numb. Some parts of my boobs are hard. 

I have just been working and eating! A sweet woman from my LDS church ward brought me dinner like a true champion.

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All in all, it really hasn't been that bad of a surgery! I think mainly having someone around the first 2 days is good, but also you could hack it and make it work on your own, although it would be a little difficult. The risk of nipple necrosis is real and scary, but if you can make it 2 days I think you're good! (Fact check that, though.) The fear of infection is also very real, but I think I am out of the clear for that as well!

If I had to rate this surgery on a scale of 1-10 on hardness/pain it would be like a 3 lol. I think having the flu is worse! Well, maybe not, but you get the idea! It really isn't a bad surgery AT ALL. 

XOXO

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E

P.S. Should I post photos of my boobs with the nipple part blacked out? Is it too graphic, or just interesting? I have 0 qualms with people seeing these photos of my boobs because they are 100% not sexual and also they will change a lot. Anyway, tell me what to do!