I love my boobs, and I am sad they aren’t what they were. I know Ihave given life and how much my body has contributed to that experience and yet I am now expected to return to my prepregnancy appearance as if it never happened. Obviously I am making some generalizations here…. but let’s face it, you don’t read too many articles about women’s bodies being celebrated if they don’t get back to their prepregnant selves (I don’t believe any woman can say their body is the same). Yes, I am a victim too.

I decided to have a look at the options women have to make physical changes to their breasts. I am sad to say they are not great (because I also know that if there weren’t any dangers or scars involved I would probably get myself a lift). Having said that, I am sure there are a lot of women out there who have fixed their breasts and feel very happy with the changes. So here is an objective picture and I would welcome all feedback from women who have undergone surgery or have any opinion on the matter.

Breast Lift (Mastopexy)

A breastlift is a surgical procedure to raise and reshape sagging breasts — at least, for a time. According to the American College of Plastic Surgeons, no surgery can permanently delay the effects of gravity and the best candidates are healthy, emotionally-stable women who are realistic about what surgery can accomplish.

Surgery - The American College of Plastic Surgeons writes: The incision outlines the area from which breast skin will be removed and defines the new location for the nipple. When the excess skin has been removed, the nipple and areola are moved to the higher position. The skin surrounding the areola is then brought down and together to reshape the breast. Stitches are usually located around the areola, in a vertical line extending downwards from the nipple area, and along the lower crease of the breast.

Some patients, especially those with relatively small breasts and minimal sagging, may be candidates for modified procedures requiring less extensive incisions. One such procedure is the “doughnut (or concentric) mastopexy,” in which circular incisions are made around the areola, and a doughnut-shaped area of skin is removed. If you’re having an implant inserted along with your breast lift, it will be placed in a pocket directly under the breast tissue, or deeper, under the muscle of the chest wall.

After Surgery - You can expect some loss of feeling in your nipples and breast skin, caused by the swelling after surgery. This numbness usually fades as the swelling subsides over the next six weeks or so. In some patients, however, it may last a year or more, and occasionally it may be permanent. To read more about this, go here…..

Cosmetic Breast Augmentation AKA Implants

This a surgical procedure performed in order to increase the size and/or alter the shape of a woman’s breasts through the use of breast implants. The surgeon makes an incision (this can vary based on your preference) and silicone rubber shells filled with either silicone gel or saline solution are implanted either under breast tissue or under the chest muscle for breast augmentation or reconstruction.

Saline-filled breast implants are silicone shells that are either prefilled or filled with saline during surgery, and some of these allow for adjustments of the filler volume after surgery. Silicone gel-filled breast implants are silicone shells prefilled with silicone gel. Breast implants vary in profile, size, and shell surface (smooth or textured).

I read on Implantforum.com “I choose textured implants to help deter capsular contracture, however, I wish I had gotten smooth so they would move more like natural breasts. Mine are stuck in place. When I lie down they stand straight up. My husband loves this. The downside to smooth is you’ll have to massage them daily. Also, others have told me smooth sometimes fall into your armpits when lying down. I guess the grass is always greener on the other side.”

The major risks with implants include:

- Reoperations (additional surgeries), with or without removal of the device
- Capsular contracture (hardening of the area around the implant) breast pain
- Changes in nipple and breast sensation
- Rupture with deflation for saline-filled implants
- Rupture with or without symptoms for silicone gel-filled implants
- Migration of silicone gel for silicone gel-filled breast implants.

To read more about all of this, have a look at this FAQ, I also thought you ladies might be interested in some before and after shots.

Back to my own saggy happy breasts, I read things get a little better about 6 months after you have weaned (but don’t hope for miracles ladies) when fatty deposits start to return to your breasts. I also read breastfeeding is not the main cause of the problem. It seems pregnancy and genetics have the biggest impact on the change of our breast shape. And while we are on that subject, now feels like a really good moment to get some great fitting bras.

Finally I thought I would read you a comment in this month’s Cookie magazine made by a man on the subject of breast augmentation…”On the off chance that my wife was considering implants to make herself more attractive to me, I guess I’d feel compelled to tell her that there is actually nothing less sexy, to me, that a packed-too-tight, high-riding, overly round, dense-looking scar-bearing, clearly artificial set of midlife-crisis boobs, I get along just fine with the old (less perfect but all-natural) ones.” Why do I feel most men don’t think like this…..??

It’s amazing to me that with all this positive energy, I still find the hardest challenge is just pushing myself out the front door. There always seems to be an excuse or something to do, so I am inviting all you ladies who are procrastinators like me, to get off the couch or leave whatever you are doing and just go.

Ideally you should be walking at a brisk pace for an hour but if you are not in shape and have not been walking at all, then you might want to start with 30 minutes and build up. According to Debra Waterhouse who wrote, “Outsmarting The Female Fat Cell - After Pregnancy,” anything less that 45 minutes is not going to wake up your fat cells but the important first step is to get yourself into the swing of things.

Melissa Perlman and Erica Gragg founders of the acclaimed Amansala Spa in Mexico (they also set up a wonderful postpartum program) write in their book, Bikini Bootcamp, “In terms of burning calories, running for three miles burns more calories per minutes. But walking for three miles - though it may take longer - burns the same amount of calories…… Furthermore, studies also show that walkers tend to keep off more of the weight they lose than runners.”

Here are some tips to push you out onto the pavement…..

- Since we all get swamped with stuff to do during the day, try to do exercise either first thing in the morning or in the evening before or after dinner.

- If you cannot even speak while you are walking you are over exerting yourself. A comfortable pace should enable you to talk (either on cell phone or with buddy) while you walk.

- Find a friend who will walk with you. Always the most powerful incentive.

- Get yourself a comfy pair of sneakers and you might also want to get a sports bra for support. Especially if you are breastfeeding.

- Walk with your back straight, breathe deeply (ideally walk in a place where there are lots of trees), take long strides to really work your legs, bend your elbows at a 90-degree angle and move in time with your feet, pull your tummy in and look straight ahead.

Come on mama…. just do it.

For the record, a pregnant/postpartum woman (with or without twins) needs about 1200 milligrams of calcium per day. So for example if you ate 3oz of swiss cheese, 3oz of salmon and/or 3oz of almonds you would probably be getting sufficient calcium in a day. Take a look at the list below written by Dr. Dean Raffelock, author of “A Natural Guide to Pregnancy and Postpartum Health.” There are some surprising numbers…. who would have thought whole milk and cottage cheese would be so low on the totem pole and that kelp would be number 1? All of the numbers to the right side are amounts in miligrams (remember you need approximately 1200mg a day) and these are all based on 3oz servings.

Kelp 1093

Swiss Cheese 925

Chedder Cheese 750

Dulse 296

Collard Greens 250

Turnip Greens 246

Barbados Molasses 245

Almonds 234

Brewers Yeast 210

Corn Tortilla 200

Water Cress 151

Cooked Soybeans 150

Cooked Salmon 140

Goat Milk 129

Dried Figs 126

Buttermilk 121

Sunflower Seeds 120

Whole Milk 118

Cottage Cheese 94

Spinach 93

Cooked Lentils 25

So why bother with supplements? Well for one, your body metabolizes food differently, and sometimes the calcium you consume in food may be cancelled out by other nutrients you are consuming such as iron. That is why it is recommended to consume both food and supplements, ideally taking your calcium supplements before you go to bed. It’s also worth adding some acid in the form of a tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar to cooked beans or leafy greens since this increases the availability of calcium.

Some other things to keep in mind…. your body needs to stay in a slightly neutral/alkali state with a pH of approximately 7.2-7.4. Too much soda (can take you down to a pH of 2), sugar or excessive meat eating causes your body to become overly acidic and leach calcium and magnesium from your bones in an attempt to return you to a balanced pH. It is absolutely advisable you eat lots of greens and fruits to keep your body in an alkali state and supplement your diet with a good calcium/magnesium supplement at night to make sure you are replenishing your body.

Finally I thought I would just focus on Kelp for another minute. Kelp (it’s seaweed) is one of the richest plant sources of calcium. The calcium content of seaweed is typically about 4-7%. At 7% calcium, one gram of dried seaweed provides 70 mg of calcium, compared to a daily dietary requirement of about 1,200 mg i.e. you would have to consume a lot of seaweed! Still, this is higher than a serving of most non-milk based foods and if you can’t eat dairy and you are breastfeeding it is worth swallowing a couple of Kelp capsules every day.