Just a day in the life of an ordinary breastfeeding mom. Ever find yourself walking around the house, forgetting to clasp your bra hooks back? I hate it when I go out in public like this. Surely I’m not the only one!
Yep, that's me wearing another one of my up-cycled nursing bras.
I look for cheap nursing bras at thrift stores and snatch those up, (pay no mind to the quality or the size of them- it’s the hardware that you want from them). I cut out the clips and straps from them and sew them into my bras that already fit me well.
Please keep in mind, I wear wire bras. I know that the trick with a wire bra is to have a proper fit. The wire should not dig into any of your breast tissue – meaning the wire should lay on your rib cage, just outside of your breast. When you’ve got full breasts wearing a wireless bra is not always an option – they just don’t support the girls the same way a wire does. Please remember, if you do start wearing a wire nursing bra to do it *after* your engorgement stage.
Not sure on your fit to begin with – especially while nursing? Then check out my post on finding the right fit for you: You Might Be Wearing The Wrong Size Bra.
Here’s some photo examples of one of my (finished) converted bras:
My homemade nursing bra. Click on the image to view it larger.
You can see how I hand stitched the claps in. Click on the image to view it larger.
Directly after our Lamaze training, Michelle and I headed off to attend two days worth of Breastfeeding Education provided by the Texas Department of State and Health Services. The courses were free and took place at Baylor Medical Center in Garland, Texas. The first eight hour class, titled, Breastfeeding Management, taught by Hellen Sullivan, RN, IBCLC, was INCREDIBLE. I learned so much and I can’t wait to use it for not only myself but for moms that I will be working with and educating in the future.
Honestly, I can’t get over how much I learned. I will slowly digest it all and share it with you on this blog but my few favorite tricks are this:
Seven years ago, I lost five dress sizes in about a years time. I achieved this success through dramatic changes in my lifestyle which centered around diet, exercise and a lot of commitment and discipline. (I was single, had the time, money and energy.) After my weight loss, I was at a loss (pun intended) for what my correct bra size was. So, I dug in and researched until I found some answers. What I learned is that most often women are wearing a band size that is much too big and a cup size that is much too small. The average 36 C bra, if you’re wearing that, I would bet money that you’re in the wrong size, even if you swear you are okay because you were fitted by a Victoria’s Secret shop girl. Nope. Continue reading
I am Joy, a happily married mother of two waterbirthed babies. I am a doula and a Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator, who worked as a midwife's assistant at a freestanding birth center in TX. As of 2015, I'm a full-time nursing student who teaches childbirth classes at Park Ridge Health, The Baby Place, in Hendersonville, NC. I love serving laboring moms and I enjoy teaching birth education. I use this blog to write about it all - my life, my children, and my passion of all things childbirth.
The Joy of This 