#livingmybreastlife

Today’s blog post is different than anything I have done in the past. I am sitting here with my coffee in hand and my heart racing because I am about to get real personal with you guys, and that is a scary thing. It’s something that is close to my heart, and when I say that I mean it literally. Today I am talking about my boobs!

GASP, I know. This is definitely not one of my usual outfit posts! I’ve talked a little bit on Instagram about having recently undergone surgery, and today I am sharing all those details. The surgery was a breast augmentation through Dr. John Diaz in Beverly Hills.

Even though hundreds of thousands of women get boob jobs a year (over 300,000 in 2017 I looked it up), it is still a subject that at least in my world isn’t really shared openly and publicly. I am a very private person, and I put a lot of thought into whether I wanted to share such a personal experience. I am a mom, and I like to keep things classy, and I would never want to embarrass my kids.

With that said, I want to be open with you guys. And I am sure some of you have considered breast augmentation at one time or another and have questions. And if you haven’t considered, it is still interesting to hear about it IMO.

Not only am I writing about my experience, but I am talking about it as well (and crap that was scary!). I am sure you guys noticed this blog post starts with video. One of my goals for 2018 is to do more video, and this was my very first! So don’t judge too much. I have a new respect for all you who do video out there. It’s not easy! Make sure you guys follow my YouTube channel for more videos to come. You can do that here!

So let’s start at the beginning which is WHY I wanted to get breast implants, and then maybe you can understand where I am coming from.

WHY did I want to get a breast augmentation?

If you follow my blog, you know that I LOVE to work out. And I love to work out hard. I will go through spurts where I am really into something whether it is hot yoga, personal training, whatever. And then I will go through a period where I don’t work out at all. I am usually an all or nothing person. Although I am proud to say I have been working out regularly at Orangetheory for a few years now.

The point is with working out aggressively and then not working out at all, my weight and body fat fluctuated. For me when I gain or lose weight my breast size fluctuates. It is my theory that from these cycles of working out and then not working out I felt like I wasn’t as perky. Okay if I am being honest I was a little saggy but that sounds worse!

While I was pregnant with Max, my boobs became MASSIVE. Each month would go by and I would think my god these can’t get any bigger. But oh boy, I was wrong. And then when Max was born I exclusively breast fed him, and he nursed for almost two years! Things were never really the same after that.

It was such a bonding time for Max and I, and I would never change anything but it took a toll on my breasts. The things that most bothered me were the asymmetry (one side was larger) and the lack of perkiness.

How did you find your doctor?

I think the scariest/ hardest part about having surgery is finding a doctor you can trust and who will deliver the results. The best way to find your doctor is through referral, and I am so thankful to have found Dr. Diaz in Beverly Hills. I wouldn’t write this blog post and recommend him if I wasn’t 110% satisfied (and I am very picky!).

I was actually in Dr. Diaz’s office getting a laser face treatment (my fave!). The nurse giving me the treatment and I started talking about breast augmentation, and she told me about the Vectra 3D Imaging System that the doctor uses. During your consultation, the doctor takes your before photo and then can show you what your result would look like with different sizes and profiles (more on that later) of implants.

I can’t even tell you how many horror stories I have heard from friends who got implants that were either bigger or smaller than they wanted. If you are making that investment (financially + emotionally) with your body, you want it to be right so this Vectra system is everything.

Why Dr. Diaz?

Getting implants is something I have considered off and on for like a decade! I had gone to a few consultations with various doctors over the years. I even considered doing the through the belly button method (because of the no scar) and thank the LORD I didn’t follow through with the surgery at that time. There are quite a few things that separated Dr. Diaz from the plastic surgeons I met with in the past.

The first being his bedside manner. He instantly makes you feel at ease and comfortable. I had so much anxiety going into my consultation that my husband and I had to make a pit stop at the Neiman Marcus around the corner so I could chug a glass of champagne. haha. Did I mention Neiman Marcus is literally right across the street from the doctor’s office? Bonus! The champagne didn’t even take the edge off, but 5 minutes into my consultation I could finally relax. See photo above. That is me freaking out on the inside!

The second thing is his excellent communication- he explained things in a way I could understand and often repeated himself to make sure that everything was clear. He really sets an expectation going into the surgery on what you can expect as far as the result. He really took his time with me, and I felt like a priority. He wasn’t going to let me leave the office without answering every single question and concern.

As soon as the doctor left the room, my husband turned to me and said “he is a perfectionist.” And that won me over right there. It is all nice and good to have a doctor that you feel comfortable with, but let’s be real we are going for the result. I could tell from meeting Dr. Diaz that he gets a rush from producing a good result. More on that later! 🙂

After my consultation, I was 99.9% certain I wanted to move forward with my doctor, but I jumped on the computer when I got home to do some background research. He is a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon, an author and expert on Breast Augmentation and Breast Revisions. And his website is legit, and you can see it here!

What type and size implant did you get?

That was the most fun part of the consultation- testing the different implants. Dr. Diaz demonstrated how indestructible the silicone implant is by literally throwing the implant HARD against the door. It definitely made me jump! I chose a silicone, moderate profile implant. I discussed with the doctor about my hope to come out with a small C cup size. The moderate profile has a natural shape with more fullness on the bottom but still with a little omfph on the top. But not as much as a full profile. I wanted my result to look classy and natural.

We also decided on doing a slight lift through the nipple called the donut lift. I don’t quite understand the mechanics of how it works because I am very squeamish and don’t really want to know. But what I took from it is that it’s a mini lift through the nipple without having to do the incision below the nipple with a traditional lift. That way once the nipple heals, there isn’t much of a visible scar.

Surgery day… how do you prepare, how did you feel, and what is the process?

I prepared for my surgery day like I was having a baby. LOL. In retrospect I should have chilled as it was completely unnecessary. Dr. Diaz told me to give myself a week after surgery to recover and relax, although he said I would be feeling much better by day 4 or 5. Prior to my surgery date, I worked out like a crazy person. Tried to do Whole30 and fell off the wagon on the third week. Went on a cleaning spree, emptied my fridge and stuffed it with healthy foods + foods I thought I would crave post surgery (i.e. Diet Pepsi, Nacho Cheese Doritos). I bought a breakfast tray from Target so Chad could serve me in bed. I was ready!

They tell you not to eat or drink anything after a certain time the night before. I scrubbed myself in the shower that morning because I knew I wouldn’t be able to shower again that day. I live in Orange County so we drove to L.A. early that morning. The morning of surgery I felt nervous and anxious. My main fear was going under anesthesia which scared me even more now that I am a mom. I worried a lot about Max.

Dr. Diaz and I met for our last consultation prior to the surgery. He drew some lines on me, and we talked again about size and expectation. He had ordered 3 sizes of implants based on my specific proportions and measurements and asked me in an ideal world what size I would like to need up with. I said the 275’s. A nurse was assigned to me for my surgery, and I didn’t have to share her with anyone which was nice. The surgery center is located in the office where I had my consultation so I felt more comfortable.

The next part trips me out. I had envisioned being wheeled into the surgery room hooked to an I.V. I didn’t expect to walk into the surgery room and lay down where I would have the surgery. The I.V. was literally a pinprick like having blood drawn. My nurse promised they would take care of my lash extensions haha and the last thing I remember is me telling her blogging is so hard (wahhhh hahaha) and I was OUT.

I woke up to a very excited, pumped up doctor. He said the surgery went beautifully and asked if I wanted to see a photo on his iPad. Which yes of course I did! We ended up going with the 275 cc implant so I was thrilled! I dozed on and off for about an hour before Chad and I got in the car to go back to O.C. We hit traffic on the way back, but I was feeling so good from the anesthesia it was no biggie. And I threw up a little in the car. Also no biggie. I was texting everyone I knew and their sister.

How was the recovery?

Recovery was the easy part. I was able to shower the day after surgery. I had small bandages covering the incisions, and I had to wear a surgery bra. I spent most of my time in bed watching Housewives and reading Harry Potter. Around the same time, Max ended up getting sick with a fever, so my husband waited on us while we snuggled in bed. #takemeback

It has been over a month since my surgery, and life is back to normal. Dr. Diaz said I no longer have any restrictions with regards to working out or lifting things but to ease back into it. I am a pretty cautious person so I am forcing myself to take it easy with my workouts and slowly build back up to where I was prior to surgery. I don’t do any push ups or chest exercises because that completely freaks me out, but I have started running on the treadmill and rowing, and it feels great.

Are you happy with the results?

I am ECSTATIC with my result! They look very natural… best way to describe is that they look like natural perfect breasts. Like you wouldn’t know I had implants because they look so natural. They are very soft and bouncy haha. It’s been fun trying on all my clothes and seeing how everything fits differently. They are symmetric and perkier (while still having a natural fall). I couldn’t be happier with how they look! Like I said it has been a little over a month since I had my augmentation, so they say at three months that will look more like the end result. I still have a tiny bit of swelling and healing to go.

I shot some swimwear at the Surf and Sand 3 weeks post-surgery, and you can get a closer look at my result here and here. These were taken the same day, and depending on the type of swimsuit it makes them appear bigger or smaller, just like with real boobs.

Final thoughts…

I am opening myself up to criticism and judgment so I hope you guys will be respectful of my choice. So far everyone has been really kind and supportive on Instagram. I love you guys! I am a big believer in to each their own, and whatever makes you feel good and happy and comfortable in your own skin. I still feel like me, and I am ME, but I feel  rejuvenated and have a bounce in my step. Literally. 😉 Having a baby really can take a toll on your body, and it’s nice to have a little piece of the old me back. Bring on summer! 🙂

That was a long post! Thank you for sticking with it to the end. I tried to cover everything I could think of, but if I missed something please leave your comments and questions below. I love to hear from you guys!

xo, Missy

This post is in collaboration with Dr. John Diaz. All thoughts and opinions remain my own.

{video by Candis Press. office photography by Tyler Chase. beach photography by Vincent Elejorde.}