11-03-2011, 11:05
5 week progress
March 24 2009 at 4:19 AM J.J. (no login)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The first 5 week have gone really fast. At the end of the day before I put the domes back on I am a half inch to 3 quarters of an inch bigger than when I started. As I posted before, when I started I had zero boobs. Now I have AA to small A boobs, which is such an improvement. This is what my breast size was before breastfeeding.
I initially thought it would be worth the $400 (I bought used on ebay), and the trouble if I could just get back to where I started before breastfeeding. Now I am a little bit more ambitious...a small B cup seems possible within some reasonable time frame. The domes are holding up well. They are still very tacky, and stay put just fine. It is a bit uncomfortable, and I do have trouble sleeping. But I have trouble sleeping anyway, and take 1/4 to 1/3 of a unisom most nights. That pretty well solves all sleeping problems, snoring husband, domes or no domes.
Author Reply
roakie
(Login roakie)
SENIOR MEMBER Re: 5 week progress March 24 2009, 3:30 PM
That's great progress! I wish I could say the same even at twenty-one weeks!
How long do you wear the domes and what is the period of time you wait until you put them on the next night?
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J.J.
(no login) Re: 5 week progress March 24 2009, 4:42 PM
Hi Roakie,
I don't chart my hours, but my estimate is 12 hours per day. Since beginning, I have never had them on less than 11 hours. Usually on weekdays I get between 11 and 12 hours. On weekends I try to do at least one really long day, 15-16 hours. When I do this I get a lot more rash, so I am not inclined to do it more often. The first week or so I used the smartbox, but since then I have been airlocking. The smartbox was waking me up with its buzzing. When I measured last night I had had the domes off for about 12 and half hours.
I have read some of your previous posts and have to say that you are one of the people here who inspired me to try this. I really hope you keep something at the end--I know how how it feels to not even have enough boobs to keep a bra from sliding up, and how nearly impossible it is to find bathing suits that don't look all wrinkled and crumpled and gaping on the boob area. Even really small boobs are so much better than none.
I tend to gain weight on my lower half more than my upper half. My legs and rear aren't really heavy (I wear the same size top and bottom in most brands), but definitely if I lose weight it comes off my top faster than my bottom. Very frustrating. By the way, I am going to try velashape on my legs, starting next week. I will let you know how that goes. The hope is to transfer a little bit from my lower half to my boobs. Not sure if it will work, but it only costs $500, so I think it is worth a try. All in all I will have spent about $1000 on the reshaping program, and even with all the hours spent wearing the domes I will be ok with minimal improvements. I am not trying to look like a Victoria's Secret model, I am just trying to look a bit more in proportion.
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elusia
(Login elusia)
SENIOR MEMBER congrats on your progress! March 24 2009, 6:06 PM
JJ,
that is great progress for just 5 weeks! How much do you swell? What's your BMI? Age? I read from your other post that you have children - sounds like you're one of the lucky ones "fast responders" !!! (I wish I was too!!) Keep it up and you will be able to join the long list of successful brava users ; )
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J.J.
(no login) Re: 5 week progress March 25 2009, 6:40 PM
Hi Elusia,
I am 36, and have one child who breastfed for 11 months. My BMI according to one of those online calculator things is 18.8. I have plenty of fat, it just isn't on my chest, at present. I measured my swelling this morning (had not done so before), and not counting the nipples it is one and a half inches more than what I had the night before when I put the domes on. I am a small to medium B in the morning. Initially, I had very little swelling that went away almost immediately, but this has gradually been increasing, and the time it takes for the swelling to go away has also been increasing. My husband was so funny. This past weekend he saw me immediately after taking the domes off and said "They're huge!" The poor guy. He has been living with me for so long he has no idea that 36B is not exactly what you call huge.....I sure do love him.
Thanks for posting the summary of results. Very helpful.
J.J.
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dandelion
(Login dandelion1) Re: 5 week progress March 26 2009, 5:06 AM
i thought velashape was to get rid of celulite - how would that help with boob growth? im curious.....
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Rox3
(no login) Re: 5 week progress March 26 2009, 4:00 PM
You sound like a rapid responder to me!!! Good for you. Love to hear these stories - it keeps me motivated to know that this technology does/can really work and it's not a scam. I breast fed 3 kids and only swell up 1" from 11 hours with the domes and am a 34A cup bra after having lost weight after pregnancy. So I've got more to work with and I'm not swelling up like you are and I didn't retain anything at the 5 week mark, so that's very encouraging for you. Keep posting to let us know what's going on.
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roakie
(Login roakie)
SENIOR MEMBER Re: 5 week progress March 26 2009, 7:12 PM
Don't worry, Rox. You have more to work with starting out than me. I am now in week 21 and I never swell any larger than I did the first week. A lot of women talk about how they outgrew their domes. I have so much room in there, I will never get to the end. I can't imagine that Brava is going to make a beginning AA cup into a D cup, or even into a full C cup. That would require some massive growth. I actually think I would freak out if my breasts swelled to fill the wide/medium domes. That just wouldn't be me. But, I am hoping this technology works by gradually creating actual breast tissue to create a "real" breast out of what is initially just swelling. One drop at a time, they say!
Edit Message Delete Message
J.J.
(no login) Re: 5 week progress March 26 2009, 9:36 PM
Hi Dandylion,
According to the woman at the medical spa who did laser hair removal for me, the velashape can reduce circumference of some body part because it actually forces the body to burn fat in targeted areas, in addition to breaking down the structural tissues that cause cellulite dimpling. I did some research on the internet because forcing the body to burn fat in targeted areas seems too good to be true. It seems entirely possible to me that it might just force fat to be released from certain areas. In which case unless you use it up in some way it will either go right back where it came from, or will get deposited somewhere else. I was never able to actually figure this out, based on internet searches, but it seems safe in that the worst that can happen is nothing.
So maybe it forces the body to burn fat, and it is just gone. Or maybe it releases the fat, in which case there is some chance of encouraging it to relocate to my chest by using Brava during the course of the velashape treatments. Maybe it just breaks down the connective tissue that causes cellulite (which I don't really have much of, just a very little on my upper thighs), or maybe it does nothing, in which case I will have wasted some time and $500. I will keep you posted as to any results with this. My starting assumptions about these less invasive techniques (brava, velashape, other external enhancements) is that there is minimal downside risk in that the worst that might happen is wasted money and no change at all. There is some upside potential; the product might actually do what it promises to do. All in all it is a low risk low cost alternative. You can't expect brava to get the same results as 300cc breast implants, or the velashape to do what liposuction would do. But, you don't have the risks of scarring, infection, etc that more invasive procedures have. The upside potential isn't as high, but as long as the cost is low enough, and there is close to zero downside risk I am ok with it.
Regarding the fast responder thing....I am really surprised. I do seem to be having results; my initial expectations were pretty low given my starting point. One thing that may be different for me is that my hormones are definitely going strong. I had a weird situation given that coming off of breastfeeding my endocrine system was completely out of whack, cycles kept getting longer and longer. That was related to the hyperthyroid problem. Now my hormone levels seem to be back to like when I was a teenager. Maybe that helps with breast development. I do have one more question regarding dome replacement. How do you know when you are outgrowing your domes? I thought I saw somewhere that you need a larger size when your nipples are one inch or so from the tip. I am almost there in the morning, and I currently have medium wide domes. But maybe the swelling won't keep increasing at the same speed, it is hard to say. Given my zero boob starting point, I initially though I could get through 20 weeks with the medium wides no problem, but now am not so sure. Can you keep wearing the same domes longer if you tape your nipples down? Any advice on when to replace would be appreciated.
Edit Message Delete Message
Rox3
(no login) Re: 5 week progress March 26 2009, 10:47 PM
JJ,
What do you think of laser hair removal - on an unrelated note? Does it work to completely remove hair (like you'd NEVER have to ever shave your legs again as long as you lived)? How much does it cost and is it expensive? Is it safe? I know it's FDA approved. Just curious. Does it take long?
Edit Message Delete Message
J.J.
(no login) Re: 5 week progress March 27 2009, 7:58 PM
I am not really sure that it is worth the money. I have light skin and dark hair (my father is half chinese), and I was shaving every day and had stubble by the end of the day that felt really rough, and was really noticeable because of the contrast with my skin color. I paid about $1800 for three treatments on the lower legs, under-arms, and bikini area. The end result for the three areas is very different. On my legs the hair is now much softer and I can go several days without the stubble bothering me. The bikini area seems to have gotten much less results, it might be marginally better but it is hardly noticeable. On the underarm area some of the hair is just gone, what is left is also not noticeable as long as I shave every few days. All in all, I am not sure that I want to spend another 1500-1800 completely eradicating all body hair. Some people might find it worth doing, but I am content with what I currently have and would rather spend money on the boob thing right now. I think that in general if you want to completely get rid of all body hair you need to spend $3000 or more, the total number of treatments you will need depends upon how coarse the hair is to start with. And, it hurts, quite a lot actually. I think it is considerably worse than waxing.
March 24 2009 at 4:19 AM J.J. (no login)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The first 5 week have gone really fast. At the end of the day before I put the domes back on I am a half inch to 3 quarters of an inch bigger than when I started. As I posted before, when I started I had zero boobs. Now I have AA to small A boobs, which is such an improvement. This is what my breast size was before breastfeeding.
I initially thought it would be worth the $400 (I bought used on ebay), and the trouble if I could just get back to where I started before breastfeeding. Now I am a little bit more ambitious...a small B cup seems possible within some reasonable time frame. The domes are holding up well. They are still very tacky, and stay put just fine. It is a bit uncomfortable, and I do have trouble sleeping. But I have trouble sleeping anyway, and take 1/4 to 1/3 of a unisom most nights. That pretty well solves all sleeping problems, snoring husband, domes or no domes.
Author Reply
roakie
(Login roakie)
SENIOR MEMBER Re: 5 week progress March 24 2009, 3:30 PM
That's great progress! I wish I could say the same even at twenty-one weeks!
How long do you wear the domes and what is the period of time you wait until you put them on the next night?
Edit Message Delete Message
J.J.
(no login) Re: 5 week progress March 24 2009, 4:42 PM
Hi Roakie,
I don't chart my hours, but my estimate is 12 hours per day. Since beginning, I have never had them on less than 11 hours. Usually on weekdays I get between 11 and 12 hours. On weekends I try to do at least one really long day, 15-16 hours. When I do this I get a lot more rash, so I am not inclined to do it more often. The first week or so I used the smartbox, but since then I have been airlocking. The smartbox was waking me up with its buzzing. When I measured last night I had had the domes off for about 12 and half hours.
I have read some of your previous posts and have to say that you are one of the people here who inspired me to try this. I really hope you keep something at the end--I know how how it feels to not even have enough boobs to keep a bra from sliding up, and how nearly impossible it is to find bathing suits that don't look all wrinkled and crumpled and gaping on the boob area. Even really small boobs are so much better than none.
I tend to gain weight on my lower half more than my upper half. My legs and rear aren't really heavy (I wear the same size top and bottom in most brands), but definitely if I lose weight it comes off my top faster than my bottom. Very frustrating. By the way, I am going to try velashape on my legs, starting next week. I will let you know how that goes. The hope is to transfer a little bit from my lower half to my boobs. Not sure if it will work, but it only costs $500, so I think it is worth a try. All in all I will have spent about $1000 on the reshaping program, and even with all the hours spent wearing the domes I will be ok with minimal improvements. I am not trying to look like a Victoria's Secret model, I am just trying to look a bit more in proportion.
Edit Message Delete Message
elusia
(Login elusia)
SENIOR MEMBER congrats on your progress! March 24 2009, 6:06 PM
JJ,
that is great progress for just 5 weeks! How much do you swell? What's your BMI? Age? I read from your other post that you have children - sounds like you're one of the lucky ones "fast responders" !!! (I wish I was too!!) Keep it up and you will be able to join the long list of successful brava users ; )
Edit Message Delete Message
J.J.
(no login) Re: 5 week progress March 25 2009, 6:40 PM
Hi Elusia,
I am 36, and have one child who breastfed for 11 months. My BMI according to one of those online calculator things is 18.8. I have plenty of fat, it just isn't on my chest, at present. I measured my swelling this morning (had not done so before), and not counting the nipples it is one and a half inches more than what I had the night before when I put the domes on. I am a small to medium B in the morning. Initially, I had very little swelling that went away almost immediately, but this has gradually been increasing, and the time it takes for the swelling to go away has also been increasing. My husband was so funny. This past weekend he saw me immediately after taking the domes off and said "They're huge!" The poor guy. He has been living with me for so long he has no idea that 36B is not exactly what you call huge.....I sure do love him.
Thanks for posting the summary of results. Very helpful.
J.J.
Edit Message Delete Message
dandelion
(Login dandelion1) Re: 5 week progress March 26 2009, 5:06 AM
i thought velashape was to get rid of celulite - how would that help with boob growth? im curious.....
Edit Message Delete Message
Rox3
(no login) Re: 5 week progress March 26 2009, 4:00 PM
You sound like a rapid responder to me!!! Good for you. Love to hear these stories - it keeps me motivated to know that this technology does/can really work and it's not a scam. I breast fed 3 kids and only swell up 1" from 11 hours with the domes and am a 34A cup bra after having lost weight after pregnancy. So I've got more to work with and I'm not swelling up like you are and I didn't retain anything at the 5 week mark, so that's very encouraging for you. Keep posting to let us know what's going on.
Edit Message Delete Message
roakie
(Login roakie)
SENIOR MEMBER Re: 5 week progress March 26 2009, 7:12 PM
Don't worry, Rox. You have more to work with starting out than me. I am now in week 21 and I never swell any larger than I did the first week. A lot of women talk about how they outgrew their domes. I have so much room in there, I will never get to the end. I can't imagine that Brava is going to make a beginning AA cup into a D cup, or even into a full C cup. That would require some massive growth. I actually think I would freak out if my breasts swelled to fill the wide/medium domes. That just wouldn't be me. But, I am hoping this technology works by gradually creating actual breast tissue to create a "real" breast out of what is initially just swelling. One drop at a time, they say!
Edit Message Delete Message
J.J.
(no login) Re: 5 week progress March 26 2009, 9:36 PM
Hi Dandylion,
According to the woman at the medical spa who did laser hair removal for me, the velashape can reduce circumference of some body part because it actually forces the body to burn fat in targeted areas, in addition to breaking down the structural tissues that cause cellulite dimpling. I did some research on the internet because forcing the body to burn fat in targeted areas seems too good to be true. It seems entirely possible to me that it might just force fat to be released from certain areas. In which case unless you use it up in some way it will either go right back where it came from, or will get deposited somewhere else. I was never able to actually figure this out, based on internet searches, but it seems safe in that the worst that can happen is nothing.
So maybe it forces the body to burn fat, and it is just gone. Or maybe it releases the fat, in which case there is some chance of encouraging it to relocate to my chest by using Brava during the course of the velashape treatments. Maybe it just breaks down the connective tissue that causes cellulite (which I don't really have much of, just a very little on my upper thighs), or maybe it does nothing, in which case I will have wasted some time and $500. I will keep you posted as to any results with this. My starting assumptions about these less invasive techniques (brava, velashape, other external enhancements) is that there is minimal downside risk in that the worst that might happen is wasted money and no change at all. There is some upside potential; the product might actually do what it promises to do. All in all it is a low risk low cost alternative. You can't expect brava to get the same results as 300cc breast implants, or the velashape to do what liposuction would do. But, you don't have the risks of scarring, infection, etc that more invasive procedures have. The upside potential isn't as high, but as long as the cost is low enough, and there is close to zero downside risk I am ok with it.
Regarding the fast responder thing....I am really surprised. I do seem to be having results; my initial expectations were pretty low given my starting point. One thing that may be different for me is that my hormones are definitely going strong. I had a weird situation given that coming off of breastfeeding my endocrine system was completely out of whack, cycles kept getting longer and longer. That was related to the hyperthyroid problem. Now my hormone levels seem to be back to like when I was a teenager. Maybe that helps with breast development. I do have one more question regarding dome replacement. How do you know when you are outgrowing your domes? I thought I saw somewhere that you need a larger size when your nipples are one inch or so from the tip. I am almost there in the morning, and I currently have medium wide domes. But maybe the swelling won't keep increasing at the same speed, it is hard to say. Given my zero boob starting point, I initially though I could get through 20 weeks with the medium wides no problem, but now am not so sure. Can you keep wearing the same domes longer if you tape your nipples down? Any advice on when to replace would be appreciated.
Edit Message Delete Message
Rox3
(no login) Re: 5 week progress March 26 2009, 10:47 PM
JJ,
What do you think of laser hair removal - on an unrelated note? Does it work to completely remove hair (like you'd NEVER have to ever shave your legs again as long as you lived)? How much does it cost and is it expensive? Is it safe? I know it's FDA approved. Just curious. Does it take long?
Edit Message Delete Message
J.J.
(no login) Re: 5 week progress March 27 2009, 7:58 PM
I am not really sure that it is worth the money. I have light skin and dark hair (my father is half chinese), and I was shaving every day and had stubble by the end of the day that felt really rough, and was really noticeable because of the contrast with my skin color. I paid about $1800 for three treatments on the lower legs, under-arms, and bikini area. The end result for the three areas is very different. On my legs the hair is now much softer and I can go several days without the stubble bothering me. The bikini area seems to have gotten much less results, it might be marginally better but it is hardly noticeable. On the underarm area some of the hair is just gone, what is left is also not noticeable as long as I shave every few days. All in all, I am not sure that I want to spend another 1500-1800 completely eradicating all body hair. Some people might find it worth doing, but I am content with what I currently have and would rather spend money on the boob thing right now. I think that in general if you want to completely get rid of all body hair you need to spend $3000 or more, the total number of treatments you will need depends upon how coarse the hair is to start with. And, it hurts, quite a lot actually. I think it is considerably worse than waxing.