I'm recovering from a BA and wanted to talk to other people who've done it too

[mistyjensen]

Hi,

I had ba surgery and FFS performed by Dr. Jess Ting on 9/7. I love the new look of my breasts. I got the Natrelle 410s (anatomicals) over the muscle with 375cc of silicone, full height, and full projection.

[Skittlez]

I'm having mine done on October 16th by Dr. Revis, in Ft Lauderdale. After reading all of this I kind of want to cancel lol because now I'm terrified lol,  I'm 5'3' 103 pounds, pretty narrow chest for the most part though I'm a really tiny girl with a super small frame. I'm currently a 32 AA but he wants to give me 550-650cc's and to me, for me that sounds really large, I dont want to go to big and get symmastia   I'm second guessing it all now that I've seen everyones cc's size lol, I wonder if mine will be too big now.  I do know I want teardrop, silicone gel and under the muscle, no clue what kind of implant though.

super glad I found this thread when I did its giving me alot to think about

[Anna Banana]

I'm having mine done on October 16th by Dr. Revis, in Ft Lauderdale. After reading all of this I kind of want to cancel lol because now I'm terrified lol,  I'm 5'3' 103 pounds, pretty narrow chest for the most part though I'm a really tiny girl with a super small frame. I'm currently a 32 AA but he wants to give me 550-650cc's and to me, for me that sounds really large, I dont want to go to big and get symmastia   I'm second guessing it all now that I've seen everyones cc's size lol, I wonder if mine will be too big now.  I do know I want teardrop, silicone gel and under the muscle, no clue what kind of implant though.

super glad I found this thread when I did its giving me alot to think about

Don't be scared.  There were two things that bothered me about getting my breast augmentation.

1) My nerves woke up 6 days after surgery and started screaming in pain when I was lying down to sleep, and I didn't know what to do about it.  But it turns out that the solution was to rub lidocaine on my nipples to make the pain manageable at bedtime, and then it went away entirely on day 14.  It's no longer even an issue anymore.  The only reason I was freaked out was because I didn't know about the lidocaine trick.

2) My boobs are too far apart.  There's a 4 finger-wide space between them.  So (.  )   (  .) instead of ( . ) ( . )
This is more a matter of how your body works pre-BA, so it'll happen if there's a wide enough space in your chest.  But even with my boobs being too far apart, I still love the hell out of my breasts right now.  Sure they're not perfect breasts, and everybody wants to have super amazing perfect breasts, but they're still really big, and they look amazing in a bra, I have all the cleavage I could ever want, and other women, cis and trans, tell me all the time that they're jealous of them.  There's not a day when I wake up and feel like "Drat, if only I hadn't spent $7,000 to get these boobs".  Every day I feel great about having gotten them, and I usually take selfies of me wearing various bras and dresses at all different angles and such to see how they look.  I look down every day when I wake up and think "yep, that's cleavage alright! Good morning boobs!".  They're basically the only part of my body that I like, and I'm amazingly glad to have them.

The only thing I would suggest you do is ask your surgeon if he thinks that post-BA, you will have a larger-than-normal gap between your breasts, and if so, if there's anything you can do to prevent that.  If a surgeon told me that they could do a revision and bring them closer together, I'd be interested in doing that.

I was worried that mine would be too big too, but they seem to be a pretty good size, and they aren't giving me back issues.  Women who get a BA usually don't wish they had gone with smaller implants.  Just tell your surgeon that you don't want to get symmastia.

[rmaddy]

I'm post op day 10.  The nerves to my nipples have definitely woken up and have been screaming at me for a couple of days.  I tried diclofenac cream last night and it helped a lot.  It took very little of the cream.  Unfortunately, it is by prescription only, and my use of it is definitely off label.  I already had it for some arthritic pain.  I don't know how easy it would be to talk a doctor into prescribing it for this purpose.

I'm hoping that my pattern follows that of Anna Banana, and that it settles down soon.  I've been told I can wear any wireless bra at this point, but I"m not going to leave the sports bra behind until they settle into their pockets.  No sense buying bras now not knowing how they will fit later.

[HappyMoni]

Can I ask a question about sizing? How is it you come to decide on a good size. Did your surgeon have any way to show you what size had what look or is it a guess or is it up to you to research? I saw a youtube of a surgeon with sizers to show what it might look like. My experience is surgeons don't want to do long consults. I really feel lost in this process  more than the GCS process. It was suggested that I do 450 cc  under the muscle, but I have no idea how big this is. I am 5'7" and 165lbs. I guess size is relative to the body it goes in to some extent. I have tried the breast forms I have and it seems like a decent ballpark look but I don't know how big they are. Hope this isn't a detour  on the thread but I see a lot of ladies with knowledge here. Is it critical to go to someone used to working with trans women?
Moni

[Anna Banana]

I'm post op day 10.  The nerves to my nipples have definitely woken up and have been screaming at me for a couple of days.  I tried diclofenac cream last night and it helped a lot.  It took very little of the cream.  Unfortunately, it is by prescription only, and my use of it is definitely off label.  I already had it for some arthritic pain.  I don't know how easy it would be to talk a doctor into prescribing it for this purpose.

I'm hoping that my pattern follows that of Anna Banana, and that it settles down soon.  I've been told I can wear any wireless bra at this point, but I"m not going to leave the sports bra behind until they settle into their pockets.  No sense buying bras now not knowing how they will fit later.

This is what I used, Aspercreme, it's just 4% lidocaine cream.  It's a topical anesthetic.  They sell it at the store over the counter.

[Anna Banana]

Can I ask a question about sizing? How is it you come to decide on a good size. Did your surgeon have any way to show you what size had what look or is it a guess or is it up to you to research? I saw a youtube of a surgeon with sizers to show what it might look like. My experience is surgeons don't want to do long consults. I really feel lost in this process  more than the GCS process. It was suggested that I do 450 cc  under the muscle, but I have no idea how big this is. I am 5'7" and 165lbs. I guess size is relative to the body it goes in to some extent. I have tried the breast forms I have and it seems like a decent ballpark look but I don't know how big they are. Hope this isn't a detour  on the thread but I see a lot of ladies with knowledge here. Is it critical to go to someone used to working with trans women?
Moni

They have sizer bras and they just put high quality breast forms in them.  They have the breast forms in 250/350/450/550cc sizes (at least they did with my surgeon).  Surgeons will measure your chest wall to determine the largest sized implant you can take.  I told my surgeon that I wanted my implants to be as large as I could accommodate given the limits of my chest wall, and that my reasoning was that I didn't want my torso to look masculine AT ALL, I wanted to overpower any torso masculinity with boobs.  I showed my surgeon the boobs of a trans friend of mine who had a BA, and said this is basically what I'm going for.  The surgeon understood.  Now I have 550cc on one side and 600cc on the other side.  A deciding factor was that my surgeon told me he'd been doing boob jobs for 30 years, at least one a day, and had done them on more than 100 trans women.  I found him on realself, looking for the surgeon in my local area with the most reviews on breast augmentation.

I was worried before I had the operation that I might be going too large, but that seems like a ridiculous worry to me now, they seem just fine and I love them.

[rmaddy]

Can I ask a question about sizing? How is it you come to decide on a good size. Did your surgeon have any way to show you what size had what look or is it a guess or is it up to you to research? I saw a youtube of a surgeon with sizers to show what it might look like. My experience is surgeons don't want to do long consults. I really feel lost in this process  more than the GCS process. It was suggested that I do 450 cc  under the muscle, but I have no idea how big this is. I am 5'7" and 165lbs. I guess size is relative to the body it goes in to some extent. I have tried the breast forms I have and it seems like a decent ballpark look but I don't know how big they are. Hope this isn't a detour  on the thread but I see a lot of ladies with knowledge here. Is it critical to go to someone used to working with trans women?
Moni

I think it helps.  There are subtle differences in the width of the sternum and often fairly significant differences in the circumference of the rib cage, shoulder girth and height--all of which affect the perception of feminine proportion.  I don't think there is any better way to come to a decision on size other than to have a sizing session in the doctor's office.  During some of my consults, the physician stayed for this.  In others, the doctor left and I had the session with one of the nurses. 

With the doctor I chose, they did a low to high progression and they were essentially waiting for me to say, "Whoa, too big," or something similar.  Make sure you try both high profile and wider/lower profile style implants.  One of them will probably appeal to you much more than the other.  With your measurements, you can probably rely on the a sports bra from the office;  I needed to bring in a larger one on my own.  Also, because I am wider through the chest, I really focused in on the outside contour (aka "side boob") more so than projection.  Curviness to the side is easier to see than curviness toward and away from you, and the wider/lower implants filled out my width very nicely.  I went with 520cc, but I'm 6'3"/190.  My guess is that size wouldn't even fit under your muscle.

Don't worry about aiming for a cup size.  How that plays out post-operatively can be hard to predict, depending on how they settle in the pocket.  The eyeball impression matters most, and for me was fairly unmistakable.  I worried that I wouldn't be a commercially available size at all.  I think that worry was unfounded.  Implants bring me closer to the rest of the female population, therefore options improve more or less automatically.  I'm 42D now.  Whether or not it settles to 42C when the swelling is down and the implants settle into the pocket remains to be seen, but either way, I'll find bras that work.  Not so much when I was a 40AA--that's not even a thing.

Good luck, Moni. 

[HappyMoni]

Thanks Anna,
   The reason for the 2 different sizes is your growth from hormones? Also, what would you say is your cup size? I worry I guess that making the top too big will make the bottom look smaller. Wow, now that I started asking questions, I am getting pumped up to get it done. I have a spring break of a week but not sure if that is enough recovery time. Thanks for responding. Let me know if I can answer your GCS questions one day. lol
Moni

[HappyMoni]

I think it helps.  There are subtle differences in the width of the sternum and often fairly significant differences in the circumference of the rib cage, shoulder girth and height--all of which affect the perception of feminine proportion.  I don't think there is any better way to come to a decision on size other than to have a sizing session in the doctor's office.  During some of my consults, the physician stayed for this.  In others, the doctor left and I had the session with one of the nurses. 

With the doctor I chose, they did a low to high progression and they were essentially waiting for me to say, "Whoa, too big," or something similar.  Make sure you try both high profile and wider/lower profile style implants.  One of them will probably appeal to you much more than the other.  With your measurements, you can probably rely on the a sports bra from the office;  I needed to bring in a larger one on my own.  Also, because I am wider through the chest, I really focused in on the outside contour (aka "side boob") more so than projection.  Curviness to the side is easier to see than curviness toward and away from you, and the wider/lower implants filled out my width very nicely.  I went with 520cc, but I'm 6'3"/190.  My guess is that size wouldn't even fit under your muscle.

Don't worry about aiming for a cup size.  How that plays out post-operatively can be hard to predict, depending on how they settle in the pocket.  The eyeball impression matters most, and for me was fairly unmistakable.  I worried that I wouldn't be a commercially available size at all.  I think that worry was unfounded.  Implants bring me closer to the rest of the female population, therefore options improve more or less automatically.  I'm 42D now.  Whether or not it settles to 42C when the swelling is down and the implants settle into the pocket remains to be seen, but either way, I'll find bras that work.  Not so much when I was a 40AA--that's not even a thing.

Good luck, Moni.

I didn't see your post til I posted,  Rmaddy, thank you. I think I will try to find a local surgeon to at least get sized. What you say helps, but at the same time, makes it clear that it isn't simple. I do think a visual will help. I am a 38A and had a hard tie finding a bra. Know what you mean!
Moni

[rmaddy]

I didn't see your post til I posted,  Rmaddy, thank you. I think I will try to find a local surgeon to at least get sized. What you say helps, but at the same time, makes it clear that it isn't simple. I do think a visual will help. I am a 38A and had a hard tie finding a bra. Know what you mean!
Moni

I don't know if you prefer wired or wireless, but I found https://www.lulalu.com/products/dahlia-microfiber-wireless-bra to be useful for everyday wear.  I hate wires--they are usually set too narrow for me anyway.  Stupidly expensive for what it is, but as you said, not many options at this size.  My go to for years was a 38A with a 2" expander inserted.  Voila!  40A/AA.

By the way a agree on you regarding the potential to overdo breasts, making the lack of hips look worse.  I think you'll know it when you see it though.  Whether or not the surgeon does is a different question.  Definitely make sure you have female eyes on the problem.  I had the office nurse and my spouse.  They both helped immensely, from a "user's standpoint."

[Anna Banana]

Thanks Anna,
   The reason for the 2 different sizes is your growth from hormones? Also, what would you say is your cup size? I worry I guess that making the top too big will make the bottom look smaller. Wow, now that I started asking questions, I am getting pumped up to get it done. I have a spring break of a week but not sure if that is enough recovery time. Thanks for responding. Let me know if I can answer your GCS questions one day. lol
Moni

Yep, one boob was slightly bigger than the other boob, so there was a very minor 50cc difference between implants.  Right now my bra size is 36DDD or 34G (sister sizes).  I'm not too concerned about the bottom looking too small because I'm planning to get fat transfer to hips and butt like...5 surgeries from now, lol.  I'll PM you some questions about GCS.

[rmaddy]

5 surgeries from now, lol.

Wow.  Good luck to you. 

[Anna Banana]

Wow.  Good luck to you.

FFS phase 1 (forehead, nose, chin, hair transplants)
Electrolysis
FFS phase 2 (lower face and neck lift)
SRS
Tummy Tuck
Fat transfer to hips and butt

Maybe 5 years or so to get it all done

[Skittlez]

Don't be scared.  There were two things that bothered me about getting my breast augmentation.

1) My nerves woke up 6 days after surgery and started screaming in pain when I was lying down to sleep, and I didn't know what to do about it.  But it turns out that the solution was to rub lidocaine on my nipples to make the pain manageable at bedtime, and then it went away entirely on day 14.  It's no longer even an issue anymore.  The only reason I was freaked out was because I didn't know about the lidocaine trick.

2) My boobs are too far apart.  There's a 4 finger-wide space between them.  So (.  )   (  .) instead of ( . ) ( . )
This is more a matter of how your body works pre-BA, so it'll happen if there's a wide enough space in your chest.  But even with my boobs being too far apart, I still love the hell out of my breasts right now.  Sure they're not perfect breasts, and everybody wants to have super amazing perfect breasts, but they're still really big, and they look amazing in a bra, I have all the cleavage I could ever want, and other women, cis and trans, tell me all the time that they're jealous of them.  There's not a day when I wake up and feel like "Drat, if only I hadn't spent $7,000 to get these boobs".  Every day I feel great about having gotten them, and I usually take selfies of me wearing various bras and dresses at all different angles and such to see how they look.  I look down every day when I wake up and think "yep, that's cleavage alright! Good morning boobs!".  They're basically the only part of my body that I like, and I'm amazingly glad to have them.

The only thing I would suggest you do is ask your surgeon if he thinks that post-BA, you will have a larger-than-normal gap between your breasts, and if so, if there's anything you can do to prevent that.  If a surgeon told me that they could do a revision and bring them closer together, I'd be interested in doing that.

I was worried that mine would be too big too, but they seem to be a pretty good size, and they aren't giving me back issues.  Women who get a BA usually don't wish they had gone with smaller implants.  Just tell your surgeon that you don't want to get symmastia.

Never heard of the lidocaine thing,  is that something I can get over the counter or with a prescription? I think I'll go buy some of that just in case because that sounds  like a hell of 6 days.  The boobs being far apart is probably my first or second biggest issue that I'm worried about, but I've also been  kinda worried bout the  bolted on look but never really thought about there being a space, I always thought that after a few years your breasts would start to really drop and the nipples would lower and come around the front and get rid of the space , maybe that's Naive thinking on my part though lol but I've seen alot of before and afters where the breasts after so many years dropped and the space disappeared and they didn't look like they were poking out or too far apart after a few years

Gosh the way you talk about them though makes me suuuuuper excited! So happy you love yours I guess I'll see you on the other side in 2 weeks hehe   I added those questions to my list of pre op questions to bombard him with haha  Thank you

[Anna Banana]

Never heard of the lidocaine thing,  is that something I can get over the counter or with a prescription? I think I'll go buy some of that just in case because that sounds  like a hell of 6 days.  The boobs being far apart is probably my first or second biggest issue that I'm worried about, but I've also been  kinda worried bout the  bolted on look but never really thought about there being a space, I always thought that after a few years your breasts would start to really drop and the nipples would lower and come around the front and get rid of the space , maybe that's Naive thinking on my part though lol but I've seen alot of before and afters where the breasts after so many years dropped and the space disappeared and they didn't look like they were poking out or too far apart after a few years

Gosh the way you talk about them though makes me suuuuuper excited! So happy you love yours I guess I'll see you on the other side in 2 weeks hehe   I added those questions to my list of pre op questions to bombard him with haha  Thank you

Lidocaine is over the counter, scroll up and look for Aspercreme.  It would be wonderful if my breasts came together after a few years, but I don't know if it's likely to happen or not.  Good luck girl!