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Girl sitting near pool in striped bikini

My Plastic Surgery Experience

Hey guys! I’m excited to talk about today’s topic! Let’s talk about breast implants, ya?

So I initially thought of sharing about this topic with you guys because I got a message from one of you over Instagram asking for some guidance in the area. Stephen and I had mentioned briefly on one of the podcasts that I had my boobs done so I think one of you messaged me after hearing that. But it got me thinking that if one of you has questions or is just curious about the experience that there are probably others of you that are too. I haven’t openly shared about it before because, well, I don’t even really think about it. It’s not like it’s this secret I’ve been hiding but it just hasn’t come up in conversation either. Know what I’m saying? But I’m always here to keep it real with you guys so why not talk about it?!

I’ll first tell you guys a little bit about why I decided to get them and my experience and then I’ll answer any questions you guys sent me that I didn’t address in the process. Sound good? Oh, also, I’ll link this swimsuit and some other cute high waisted options at the end of the post! I just got it the other day and I am obsessed! I’m hoping to wear it next week when Stephen and I go to Florida to visit his grandma (she’s not your regular grandma…she’s the kind that makes you bloody Mary’s for breakfast and makes you have honey bourbon with ice cream after dinner for a nightcap–I’m basically obsessed with her! lol)

Girl in blue striped bikini with sunglasses near pool

Girl in blue striped bikini with sunglasses sitting on pool chair

Girl in blue striped bikini holding one leg sitting by the pool

I’m 29 years old now, and I got my boobs done summer 2011, 2012? I can’t even remember to be honest! I think I was 23? Haha anyways! I was always really small chested. I mean, growing up I was always very gangly haha–like no body fat, including my chest. I never felt insecure with having small boobs, but for probably around 2 years I had the idea pop into my head, “maybe I would want implants at some point?” I think I just hated not being able to fit into an A cup. I mean, it was honestly frustrating going to stores and not even being able to buy a bra. It was really annoying. Honestly, if I had a B cup I wouldn’t have gotten them. I never wanted “big boobs” I just wanted to feel like I could go buy a damn bra! Anyway, I finally decided that if I was still thinking about it that I should look into getting them. I figured that the first step was to just make an appointment for a consultation to find out more information.

A lot of you guys asked how I decided on a doctor when doing this–I mean, there are a lot of options to choose from and you want to make sure that you are going to someone that’s a good fit! It’s honestly kind of hard for me to remember all the details because I don’t think I did that much research. I was living in Wilmington, NC at the time and it’s not like there were a ton of plastic surgeons to choose from. I think I also figured, well it’s just a consultation to get some basic information, I’m not going to get them for probably another year–I went into it very casually. I do remember though that one of the surgeons I found was kind of known for all of his patients to end up with these like huge boobs haha. And I was like, okay I’m not going there! The surgeon I ended up going to had really good reviews online and I was impressed with his schooling and overall qualifications. His resume was filled with notable schools and not like, “huh, where the fuck is that school?” Not that you have to be familiar where your surgeon went to school but you also want them to be reputable and have good reviews (obviously board certified but I think that’s a given haha). I ended up seeing Dr. Mark Morgan at Wilmington Plastic Surgery & Dermatology, and he ended up doing my surgery.

Girl in blue striped bikini and sunglasses sitting by pool

So I went there for my consultation and what it came down to is I just felt really comfortable with him and his team. They made me feel at ease and I felt assured that they understood my “vision” of what I wanted. I didn’t want to have these giant boobs, I just wanted something that looks proportionate to my body and that gave me a little more to work with haha. From what I remember, I think they asked me to bring in photos of sizes that I liked. Like, if I saw a girl in a swimsuit and liked the size/look of them to show them that photo. The thing with implants is you can’t say, “Just make me a 34C!” The implant doesn’t really translate that way. For example, I wear a 34DD in bras from Victorias Secret which is RIDICULOUS. And they even told me before my surgery, don’t be surprised or freaked out if you go buy a bra and you’re buying one 2-3 sizes bigger than you feel like you look. But yeah, I have girlfriends who are natural DD’s and I look much smaller than they do. Part of myself wondered if that was just in my head but when I told Stephen I was a 34DD he was like you’re definitely not. LOL. I’ll get into the sizing and specifics more in the Q&A portion below but just know that the sizing doesn’t translate like you think it normally would.

When I left the consultation that day, I ended up having an appointment set for 2 months later which was crazy! Like I said, I was just expecting to go in for a consultation but I was there with my mom and she encouraged me to just get it done! It was summer and my nursing classes were going to start that fall so she was like it makes sense to get them done now while you have downtime–which was true! The timing just worked out and I figured if I’m going to do it then let’s just do it. (Thanks mom for the encouragement 😉 )

I don’t really remember anything the morning I went in for surgery (thank you anesthesia #praise) but what I do remember is afterwards. Omg haha. My parents, both my sisters and my best friend Nora came to pick me up (it was quite the party!! haha) and they told me that in the car ride back I was yelling at my dad to go slow over the speed bumps (LOL) and that I was like, “Someone give me my lip gloss!” Which is also hysterical because I don’t even wear lip gloss. Anyway, they told me that most women take it easy for 3-5 days post surgery but after that they are back to their normal activities more or less (you have a weight lifting restriction right after but that’s about it). I’ve had a few friends who have gotten implants as well and they seemed to recover within this period but I was definitely not back to normal in that time! I was in a good amount of pain to be honest. I think it took me almost 2 weeks to feel somewhat normal again. I think there was a couple things that attributed to this though. I ended up getting like 420 cc (I think that’s what they told me?) which is a pretty good amount–I think it’s usually around 350-400cc? (They suspected that I’d be more in the mid 300’s but my doctor said when they sat me up on table during surgery that they felt like my frame could handle a bigger implant. Prior to my surgery I told them that I ultimately trusted them and if during surgery they felt like we needed to go bigger or smaller than I wanted them to do what they felt best. They also said in their experience that if anyone ever wants anything changed after surgery its 9/10 times that they wish they had gone bigger instead of “oh I wish I had gone smaller”). So anyway, I  had a little bit of a bigger implant and I think since I was so small before that the skin had to stretch a lot to accommodate the implant hence more pain. Also, I do not do well with pain medication. Pain medication makes me super nauseous so I didn’t take any after my surgery. Basically my chest was super tight, sore and swollen and I could feel all of it–it just made for an uncomfortable two weeks but you get over it! It wasn’t unbearable just really uncomfortable. I will say that during this initial period I was incredibly swollen…like my boobs were TERRIFYING hahaha. Not a pretty site. But once the swelling went down and they looked normal I was very happy with the result.

So, am I happy I got them? I think you can probably guess that my answer is yes! I definitely am happy that I moved forward with that decision. Since I got them I’ve been super happy with the size and how they look. When I tell people I have implants they are surprised (or maybe they are just pretending to be haha)! But I’ve had girls message me on IG being like how do your boobs stay that size when you workout so much?! I’m like, oh well because they are fake haha–and they are like wait really? Lol. So yeah I think my surgeon did a great job with the size and making them look natural.

More recently though, I have been wishing that they were a little smaller if I’m being honest. I love how they look in sports bras and with a loose t-shirt or tank but I’m starting to dislike how they look in some pieces of clothing. For example, if I’m wearing a really tight t-shirt or tank top I think they look a little too big. I don’t like looking in the mirror and feeling like I have these two giant mounds on my chest LOL (Stephen doesn’t see the problem with this #rollingmyeyes #men). Also, I have several lower cut shirts and to be honest I just don’t like showing a lot of cleavage so I won’t wear them. I know, I know. People are like, but you got boobs why not show them off? I don’t know! I just don’t feel comfortable showing a ton of cleavage–I don’t know why?! Also, swimsuit tops can be a little hard for me to find–I always have to buy a large and some of the more boutique brands (not Victorias Secret for example) even a large doesn’t fit. Or, it fits, but I just don’t feel comfortable shoving my boobs in people’s faces at the pool or beach haha. So basically, I find myself thinking if my boobs were 1-2 sizes smaller I feel like I’d be more comfortable wearing lower cut stuff and not looking like a porn star hahaha. Okay, that may be a bit dramatic but it doesn’t feel as “appropriate” if you’re wearing something low cut and having a lot of cleavage vs. wearing something low cut and not having as much cleavage showing. I don’t know if that makes sense? At this point I probably won’t get them resized until after I have kids because I have no idea what they will look like after that. And it’s just with certain shirts that I feel this way–I don’t think it’s worth going through the entire surgery to just go down a size. Overall though, I definitely don’t regret it. I was thinking about getting them for years and I would much rather have the boobs I have now and occasionally wish to be a size smaller (also,  this feeling has literally just surfaced in the past month or so–it’s not like I’ve been feeling this way since the surgery) then to have my “old” boobs lol.

Okay, so questions you guys asked that I haven’t answered yet!

Q: Anything you wish someone had told you/wish you knew before getting your breasts done?
A: Your boobs will look terrifying and disgusting after surgery LOL. Don’t panic! There is a lot of swelling that has to go down. I think they tell you that after 4-6 weeks your boobs will finally start to look more normal and that you should wait a couple months to buy bras because you want to give your implants time to totally settle out.

Q: How did you decide which procedure and what type of implant was right for you?
A: A lot of this was based off the advice of my surgeon and his team. They take into account the size you want, your body type, and the shape and size of your natural breast. I ended up getting a traditional silicone implant (instead of saline). I think I remember they also said that the silicone can tend to look and feel more natural. I also got my implant placed sub-muscular (so below the muscle). You can also get it placed sub glandular (above the muscle). With my placement, I have about a 1/2 inch incision below my breast. It’s very faded and only somewhat visible if I lift my boob up and look in the mirror haha. I also never used any scar ointment on it because I basically didn’t care if you could see the scar when you lifted up my boob.

Q:Is it safe to do before having children or do doctors only do the procedure after?
A: Yes, it’s safe! Plenty of women get it done before having kids. If you’re planning on having kids in the next year I would say wait because your breasts will probably change size and shape and you should just get them done after. But otherwise there is no reason to wait. My mom made sure to ask that question to the doctor before getting mine done. And yes, you can breast feed with implants (I think they recommend just getting the incision either under the crease of the breast (that’s what I did) as opposed to through the nipple. I think if you get it done through the nipple that there can be a “higher” risk of interfering with things like breast feeding (not entirely sure on this specific though!)
Q: Does it at all change the look of your nipples or do they look the same before and after?
A: My nipples didn’t change at all–I mean they looked proportionate to my “new boobs.” It helps to go onto plastic surgeons websites and look at before and after photos–I did this with my surgeon and everyone’s nipples look normal post surgery! I will say though that some women lose some sensation in them after surgery. I feel like I did a little bit, but it’s not like they are numb LOL. Also, if you do lose sensation some, your nipples still get hard–you don’t lose that part! (that’s the easiest way for me to put it haha).
Q:From what I understand, there are different “material” implants (for lack of a better word), what feels the most natural? Does ANY implant truly feel natural?
A: From what I remember I was told that silicone tends to feel more natural and if it’s placed under your muscle (like I had done). But yeah, I don’t think ANY implant really feels 100% natural. I mean, how would I know? I haven’t touched any women’s boobs LOL. I will say that Stephen said he could definitely tell I had them after feeling them hahah, so if that helps? And not in a bad way, but he just said that they feel different than natural lol.
Q:Is there a general price range to aim for when finding a doctor/surgeon? Does less expensive mean worse quality and vice versa? 
A: I think that the general range is around 4K and up. I’m sure that if you live in a more expensive area that the implants are going to be more expensive because the surgeons may have higher costs. Mine was right at 6K from what I remember. I think that as long as you do your research on who is doing yours that you’ll be okay. I guess I would say to focus more on the surgeon, their reviews, and reputation as opposed to the cost.
Q: I am currently (almost) 24, would there be any reason (besides the already mentioned children aspect) that you would recommend to wait until someone is older/a certain age? 
A: Thats around the age that I got mine done and I think it was a good age. I wasn’t 18 and impulsive but I had enough time to think about them and still “enjoy” them. Not that you can’t get them done when you’re 30, 40, 50, whenever! But if you’ve been thinking about it fore a while I don’t think there is a reason to wait.
Q: Did you get teardrop or the round shape?
A: Ahhh, I honestly do not remember! I want to say round?! Again, I really trusted my surgeon so I went with what he and his team advised based on what I described as what I desired.
Q: Do you have to get the implants replaced after a certain amount of time?

A: I believe the recommended time is that every 10-20 years you should to get them replaced.

Alright guys–hope all of this helps! Or was just entertaining to read 😉 I think what it comes down to is that you should just do what feels right for you! Small boobs, medium boobs, large boobs….whatever! They are all beautiful and it just comes down to personal preference 🙂 Any other questions leave them below in the comments and I’m happy to answer.

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  1. Angela says:

    I also have implants and have had them about 10 years. Mine are also silicone (gummy bear) and under the muscle. I live in a small area and also researched and met with a few doctors. Overall, I’m really pleased with my results. I agree there are times (tight, low cut shirts, and some swimsuits) I just can’t wear. But I, like you, listened to my dr and went a bit larger than I expected because they told me the same thing. Thanks for sharing.

    • Claire Guentz says:

      yes definitely! and yeah i figure you can’t have your cake and eat it too so there’s a few downsides with certain tops and swimsuits but everything is a trade off! lol. Thanks for reading and your comment babe 🙂

  2. Katie says:

    Thank you for being so vulnerable! Also, i’m trying to shop for these swimsuits using your blog, but for some reason the links aren’t working. It’s possible it’s just on my end though!

    • Claire Guentz says:

      thanks so much girl! xx and are all yours linking to Pinterest? Mine are doing that right now. let me try to see if I can fix it! sorry about that

  3. TrishyW says:

    I really like your advice on doctor research! Every doctor went to med school, but what do you call a doctor from a bad school who graduated last in his class?…. doctor! Do your research! Quality has to be a part of all procedureal research…not just cost!
    Thanks for a great post!

  4. allison says:

    Hi! I am naturally chesty with a 30 G or F and I buy my swim tops from Figleaves – they are a European Brand and have cute styles in bra sizes as well as S,M,L etc. That is all I wear now and have been for 7 years. Great post!

  5. Jen says:

    Thank you so much for sharing. I absolutely love how real you are. I just recently got mine done on Tuesday (5.22) and I’m so happy I went forward with it. Obviously there is still a lot of swelling since they had to “stretch” my skin for a natural look for my frame( 425cc for the left and 450cc for the right). When did you find the timing was right to start buying yourself new tops (if you had to)? Did you find certain styles looking better on you than others with your new bust size?

    • Claire Guentz says:

      hey! thanks so much–glad you liked the post! and congrats! 🙂 and yes it definitely takes a while for the swelling to go down..I think they said to wait like 6 weeks before buying new bras? I didn’t have to get any new tops though (I still wear a size small). I did have to go up a size in button down shirts but that was about it! And I think in general no styles necessarily looked better unless it was something that was meant to show some cleavage.

    • Claire Guentz says:

      So sorry for just seeing this!! And I didn’t need to buy new shirts actually—except for button ups! Some of those were tricky lol. And I like how I look more in gym clothes/tops, and almost looser tees!

  6. Burt Silver says:

    I really like how you talk about your experience with plastic surgery. This is something that my wife has been very curious about getting done for herself. Maybe we should look more into the different surgeries that she can get.

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