I’ve always bared my soul on the blog. I flirt with the crazy line pretty frequently when it comes to sharing because Krista and I have built our business on honesty and vulnerability.
I’ve been meaning to write this post for months. I can take pictures of my back fat in a bikini 5 days postpartum without hesitation, but this one’s hard. I kept asking myself why is this so difficult to write about? If another woman were in my shoes, I’d be championing her along, so what am I so afraid of?
Judgment. It’s inescapable really. Every post I put up comes with judgment. Who would judge a woman that’s had 3 kids for getting breast augmentation? Well, let’s start with my own mother.
“Hey Mom, I’m getting my boobs done. Can you babysit my kids the weekend of the procedure?”
“WHAT?!?! You’re my perfect little baby. Why in the world would you ever do that? It’s so dangerous. You could DIE. And why do you want big boobs? I’ve always had big boobs and I hate them.”
After I convinced my mother that there was a pretty solid chance I’d escape death, I had her come with me to try on bras for my breast augmentation consultation.
“See what I’m dealing with here?”
“Oh yes. Yes, you will feel much more confident after this procedure. Wow. You really have nothing left but skin. Okay. I will babysit.”
In addition to the fear of judgment from others, I have my own hamster wheel of judgment and insecurities that I’ve created all on my own.
What does God think of breast augmentation?
I make a living encouraging others to embrace their imperfections. Is this hypocritical?
What if I won’t be able to do a muscle up ever again?
Does breast augmentation make me less relatable?
What do I tell my kids?
What do I tell the girls in my bible study?
After months of asking myself these questions I came to realize that my insecurities were less about the procedure and more about the thoughts and reactions from others.
What do I really think? How do I really feel about breast augmentation?
I. Can’t. Wait.
The hubs and I attended Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University a year ago. We haven’t ever had credit card debt, but Chris is a pharmacist, which came with massive student loan debt. $105,000.00 to be exact. When we attended the class we had what we thought was a lofty goal of paying off the loan in 3-5 years. What I love about Dave Ramsey’s FPU is that it is GOAL driven. Dave always asks his listeners what they plan to do when they pay off their debt. Chris and I decided after we paid off his loan, I would get breast augmentation. It was a goal we were both equally motivated by.
We paid off our 105K loan in 10 months. I still can’t believe we did it. When I think about the magnitude of what we accomplished, I think less about the money and more about what we’re capable of when we come together and work towards a common goal.
I have a countdown on my phone until my procedure and it is 26 days away. I can’t wait to wear a T-shirt and have it fit the way I want it to. I look forward to the day that I can no longer feel insecure about my 14-year-old boy chest. But more than all of that, these new boobs of mine are the representation of 10 grueling months of hard work and sacrifice. They’re a representation of what Chris and I are capable of when I’m not aimlessly swiping my credit card. They represent the success of my own personal transformation journey as well as the success of Stay Fit Mom, which started as a tiny blog that Krista and I dreamed up 3 years ago.
Chris and I didn’t call into Dave Ramsey to do our debt-free scream, but if we did it might go something like this…
“We’re debt-free… and we’re getting 400cc’s!!!!!”
So there you have it. All of my vulnerability and honesty out there for the world to see and maybe even judge. Lucky for me, our clients, readers and followers have always returned vulnerability with love and support and it’s always given Krista and me the courage to keep it personal.
Nate Grant of TNG Photography took all of the pictures in this post. To say that Nate’s talent is incredible would be an understatement. I love that I can call Nate with any CRAZY idea (from “take pictures of our back fat” to “I’m getting breast augmentation”) and he always get it spot on. I’ve got THE BEST news for our readers! It’s family photoshoot season. All Stay Fit Mom readers get 5 FREE Christmas card images! Contact Nate today!
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18 Comments
I love love love this! I am getting my boobs done after baby 3 comes and I can’t freaking wait!! I want to nurse for 6 months to a year and have a serious goal to get my body back but my reward for all of that are new boobs! So awesome for you!
Thanks girl! Congrats on baby #3!!
Tracy, Thank you for sharing! I appreciated hearing your thoughts and worries about what other people would think, what does God think, what would the women in your bible study think. It is easy to say “do it for you and forget other people!” But, the truth is, even if it IS a good decision for you, there are still those thoughts to wrestle with. It is nice to hear and so very relatable. Hope it all goes smoothly for you!!!
Thank you for your sweet words, Abigail!
OH my goodness!!! Thank you for doing this. I’m literally in the same boat as you. I just had my 3 rd child, all boys too, and have always been very active and fit, always blue to get my my body back after baby. i too have been afraid of judgment from others, or more accurately, dissappointment from others ( i am a pastor’s daughter and always under the s
magnifying glass it seems). but this post is so helpful. i do not in ANY way think you are doing something wrong or selfish or vain and like you said, if i can champion ypu in this decision then i should have no guilt about making the same one. thank you for sharing this!!
You are awesome, Mary! Thank you for encouraging me today with your sweet response. Wishing you the best!
Amen to every word! I love your honesty and frankly I love you! I’ve been we’re you are at and the struggle was tough. So many views and opinions, but you know your intentions. You are always true to yourself and your family always comes first. Congrats! It’ll feel like Christmas morning ?
Thanks, Jenny! Your encouragement means a lot!
Jenny,
Congratulations on making the decision to get “boobs” I, like you look like a 14 year old boy. I have done extensive research and spoken to friends both with and without and as you can imagine have heard a lot, both for and against them. What resonated with me the most and something I never heard about or would’ve known had I not made myself transparent is all of the different illnesses that come along with implants. The facts are eye opening, and scared me to death. Please know I am not trying to deter you in any way, I just wanted to share with you what was shared with me. Check out Breast Implant Illness and Healing by Nicole on FB. It’s a page with almost 25k people who have gone through the process and are explanting or who want to because they are sick. I just wanted you to be aware. Ultimately, you have and will make the best decision for you, but thought I would share what I learned. I was convinced I would always get them and still plan on it, only now, I’ll be taking fat from another place on my body as opposed to an implant per se. Best of luck to you!!!
Thank you for sharing!
Jenny, Tracy is a pilar of health. If the body is unhealthy anything you do to it will have a negative outcome even breast implants. If the diet is full of foods that harm the body than they can expect dangerous repercussions but if the woman is healthy she has just raised the odds against breast implant illness tremendously.
I LOVE this post!! I had mine done on August 11, 2017. And just like you my mother was my first nay sayer, but she also went with me to the doctor’s office and helped me post surgery. She has been supportive ever since and sees what a difference it has made for not only my self esteem, but also my appearance. I went sub muscular and due to the amount of muscle I had… it hurt!! However, I have never had kids so my breast plate area was extremely tight. I’m still not doing any upper body workouts, but I know it will eventually come since I have friends who have them and do pull-ups, etc… Congrats to you!!
Tracy, I know you’ve had your surgery by now and I hope you LOVE your new boobs, give them a year and they’ll be even better! I’ve had my implants for 10 years and nurses two babies and they still look fantastic! ?
What I really want to hear about is how you paid down that debt with 3 kids in 10 months! Point a sista in the right direction! Haha!
Congrats to you and your hubby on your new twins! ??
Thank you, Lauren! We were gazelle intense that’s for sure. It really is amazing what you can do when you and your spouse are working towards a common goal. And yes, I am already loving the twins! ?
Oh my God, I love the conversation with your mom. My mom is the same she is so judging … all the time. It was a disaster when I made my first tattoo, and the second, and the last one, too 😀 But it was really a hurricane when I told her that I am going to have a boob job in Singapore. She was like “Whaaaaat?!?!??! Singapore?!??!?! I will never see you again if you go there?!?!?! You will travel to a foreign country and they will not take care of you. You will die” For those of you who don`t know Singapore has a great medical care even for people who don`t live there so my mom was WRONG. I didn`t die and today I have a gorgeous pair of boobs. Wish you luck with your mom next time
Hi! First time to your blog and a search for staying healthy with implants is what brought me here. I have an augmentation scheduled in a couple of weeks. I’d never heard of breast implant illness until I was doing research in healing from the antibiotics you have to take. I’m a little worried, but I lead a very healthy lifestyle and hope that by creating a diet and supplement base that detoxes the body and supports the immune system and a healthy gut I can stay out of the very low percentage of women impacted by this. As someone who is healthy, fit, and done the research I would love to hear your thoughts on the benefits out weighing the risks and what you plan to do to stay healthy with implants. Thank you!!
Hi Sarah! Thanks for reading and following along. I don’t have any statistical data to share, but I can tell you that neither of us had any issues with Breast Implant Illness personally. Neither of us had any negative health effects outside of a normal recovery. Wishing you the best!
You are giving a valuable story. Thanks!