[Feather_rose]

Hello fellow travelers of the NBE journey!

I have been snooping on this site for almost 2 months now, and I can not tell you how much all the information and experiences of all the people here have help me and giving me the support I need to continue. NBE is not easy! And I hate my brava system so much now! But it seems to be working, so I hope to keep up at it.

First let me introduce myself. I am 35 years old, three kids that I breastfed forever (20 months each, that is 60 months of milk production, hard-working boobs!). I am latin, what is to say I am a mix of white, black and Native-American. I am 5'7 and 125 lb, slim, but with plenty of fat, unfortunately most of it on my butt. Before the kids I was a small A, got to big B/small C during breastfeeding. But after I stopped I guess my body decided that it did not need them anymore (I emphatically disagree!), and they shrunk to nothing. Seriously. Just skin and nipples. So out of desperation, and seeing how I did not want (or had the money for) fake boobs, I started researching NBE. Brava seemed a well researched option, albeit a bit pricey. So in an impulse I bought it new on ebay. It was an interesting thing to tell my husband how I manage to spend that much money in a day (guilt trip there, we have three kids to support...).

The thing is a nightmare. Spending that much time in that ridiculous Dolly Parton costume. The discomfort and the sleepless nights. The lack of social life. I can go on and on.. The hubby hates it too. We can not spoon, all the time spend taking off, cleaning, putting on the domes (while going through the crazy routine of sending off the kids to school before 7:30 am). And try to have sex with those things on! But he has been an angel (except for the frequent rolling of eyes ), taking more of the house load so I can dedicate time to grow boobs. The kids are the only ones that seem to enjoy them, as they love to play drum on the domes!

However...They seem to be working. Not nearly as fast as the sellers tell you, but I can see a difference. I had a good swelling from the start, a big C at least. I was shocked! They are so beautiful when swollen! At the beginning, all was gone at the end of the day. But after week seven, I keep one inch after 14 hours of no brava (only did it once, most of the time I try to no go more than 11 hours between sessions, my sessions usually go from 6:00 pm to 7:00 am). I am 1 1/2" bigger than the start after 11 hours. I noticed most of the increase during the second half of my menstrual cycle (no significant increase during the first 5 weeks, that coincided with the second half of one cycle and the first half of the next). Then ovulation came and bang! there was more and more retention in the evening. After my period started, the increase stopped, but I am keeping the retention. I am hoping that the next ovulation will bring another jump! A change I have noted is that the swelling stays way longer now. At the beginning, it was all gone with in 3 hours. It was depressing! Now I remain a small C all the way to noon, and a B most of the afternoon.

Besides Brava, I am trying herbals. I am eating about 3000mg of fennugreek in three doses everyday (my husband says I smell like maple syrup!). I also drink tea made of a mixture of red clover and licorice root three times a day for the first half of the cycle. Then I will switch to progesterone cream on my boobs (will keep eating the fennugreek, can never get clear info if it is a phytoestrogenic or a balancer, but people seem to use it all thoughout their cycles), until my period is suppose to come (last cycle did not come until I stopped the cream, so it was longer than usual). Not sure if the herbs are working at all, I have no tingles or growing pains. Does anybody know if it is possible to develop more breast tissue on herbs after pregnancy and breasfeeding? Brava works in a different way, tissue proliferation by stretching, not hormones-induced growth, so if it is pointless, I rather stop the herbs. I am also taking collagen, MSM, hyaluronic acid and a multivitamin.

Now my urgent problem. My domes are falling apart! somehow a crack appeared in the silicone gel rims, and it is getting bigger! Little pieces are starting to fall out, and it is difficult to get a good seal. Last night I kept loosing suction and had to re-position them 6 times. I don't want to buy them new, hubby can't take more news like that. I have been checking ebay, but they are only selling new systems at the moment. I don't know how much longer my domes have, I don't want to loose all my effort by interrupting the process now! Does anybody have wide/large domes for sale? Help please!

My advise for new users. Take Tylenol for the first week before putting them on. Although the manual says it it is not painful, it will hurt at he begining (think about the pain in your butt when you first start riding a bike ) After that it gets so much easier. I got red rash too, aloe vera gel after taking the domes off helped me a lot. Now my skin is tough, I have not used their skin prep wipes for 3 weeks and the domes stick better and no rash at all. To extend the life of my smartbox pump, I actually don't use it while I am awake. When I first put the domes on, I suck the air out with my mouth to a comfortable level of vacuum, and seal the tubing with a rubber band. I suck periodically through the evening to ensure I am keeping vacuum. It is not until I go to bed that I connect the filter and smart box. Careful with getting carried away when sucking, if you overdo it you'll end up with red rings that won't go away for several days. If you are not sure, you can connect the smart box after you have suck the air out, if it does not start it means you have reach the recommended vacuum level or more.

Patience and perseverance. It will be bad. It is one of the most unpleasant things I have done (and I have had 3 kids without painkillers!). It will take way longer than 10 weeks, that number is just a lie to avoid scaring people away from using the product. I am aiming for 20, but some ladies here have gone over 30, even 50 weeks. But it seems to work for real.

You will also need more than 10 hours (somebody in that company really liked the number 10). Over 13 gives the best and longer lasting swelling.

Take before pics, or choose a bra that fits you before brava to compare. The morning swelling is so beautiful that is easy to get discouraged and depressed when it goes down. But seeing how little by little that bra is getting tighter at nigh will keep your spirit up.

That is all I have. I hope my experience will help other NBErs as much as the post on this website has helped me. And please reply if you have info on my herb question and domes for sale.

Thank you and good luck!

[Malina]

Thank you for the post! I think we're roughly in the same time frame, I'm in my week 10, I had completed 9 (i believe). This has been the most annoying thing I've ever done. I hate the system with passion, and my boyfriend may hate it even more. Though, I have to say, I haven't tried to have sex while wearing the "boobinator" as my boyfriend calls it (he calls me "Princess Boobina"). You'd have to be pretty creative, to make it anything other than awkward. Also, this thing offsets my balance.

Anyways, it sounds like you're doing better than me, which is to be expected since I don't have kids and the biggest my boobs have ever been are where they are right now, which is maybe a half a cup larger than where I was before. I plan going 22 weeks, but if I detect significant improvements before than (like sudden growth spurt) I may go a little longer. I wear them for a little over 12 hours during the week and about 16-17 over the weekend.

You can order the domes from brava for $300, you probably already know that, but I'm not sure that it's a good idea to invest a significant amount of money into used domes, you saw how easily yours cracked. At least brava will guarantee what they sell you for 30 days and there may even be a warranty you can purchase.

[Malina]

Also, I'm totally on board with tylenol. So true. it does hurt a lot at first, to the point of where you think you're doing something wrong.

My obgyn is the doctor featured in Allure when the Brava system first came out. he said it doesn't work. But I think he was telling his patients to use as directed 10 hours - 10 weeks, and yeah I can definitely see how that wouldn't really work.

[lled34aa]

thank you for sharing your experiences!

does wearing brava for months on end changes the texture of your skin where the sticky part of the domes touches your skin? does it make your skin feel rougher?

can you do normal house chores like laundry and dishes with the domes on?

[Malina]

thank you for sharing your experiences!

does wearing brava for months on end changes the texture of your skin where the sticky part of the domes touches your skin? does it make your skin feel rougher?

can you do normal house chores like laundry and dishes with the domes on?

So, for me, my skin is a little drier, but mainly because I haven't been good about moisturizing. If I were to put moisturizer every morning I'm pretty sure it would be fine.

I can do pretty much everything, except sex or working out or going out in public, with this thing on.

[Feather_rose]

thank you for sharing your experiences!

does wearing brava for months on end changes the texture of your skin where the sticky part of the domes touches your skin? does it make your skin feel rougher?

can you do normal house chores like laundry and dishes with the domes on?

Iled34,

It does make me dry in the part the the domes touch the skin, but it goes away with moisturizer. However, the times I have overpumped and got the red rings, I guess that skin was just damaged to the point that dried out, got a bit rough and eventually flaked off. But the skin underneath was fine. Aloe vera gel helps a lot.

I do all the chores around the house with them on. The baby has even found a way to get comfortable perched on the side on my hip when I carry him. I don't go outside, I am afraid to death that somebody I know will see me and start wondering how I suddenly went from AAA to DD. And sometimes the seal breaks and the air rushes in with this big fart noise. Not something I want to happen in public!

Malina,
thank you for sharing. It is nice to have people that understand the experience we are going through. Can't talk to the husband, if I complain he just gives me the "you got yourself in that, so suck it up!" look. I can see his point, but I am sure that if they were his man-parts that had shrunk to nothing, we would be seeing some other shape of pump around the house!

Princess Boobina, too funny! at least you boyfriend is taking it with a sense of humor!

Anybody have wide-large domes for sale? Please!!!

[Feather_rose]

Well, today I reached my 10 weeks of brava! Not stopping now, but I figure I would post the results so far.

I had a couple of rocky weeks, as my domes were falling apart and it was not possible to keep the seal. I gave up wearing them to bed, as the alarm would go off every 20 min and, well, I need to sleep. So I tried to put them on as soon as I got home from work, and try to get as many hours as possible before I went to bed. It was probably an average of 6 hours per day, way less that the needed. Before that, I was averaging 12 to 13 hours per day. But thank goodness for this forum, I was able to purchase brand new domes from one of the members, and I am back on track now. Always grateful to her!

So I started 29" underbust, 33" bust and 32.5" overbust. That put me less than an 34A, an AA or even AAA maybe? Not sure how the measurements work if you are in negative numbers. In any case, pretty small. Today 12 hour after taking off the domes, I was measuring 29" underbust, 35" bust and 32.5" overbust. I actually fill up an A cup! It sounds great, and I am very excited that it seems to be working, but they still look so small! I think it is the brava effect, you get to see yourself as you would look with beautiful C or Ds every morning (I swell to 37-38" after 12 hours of brava), so the small As of the evening look rather pathetic in comparison.

Besides the difference in the tape, I can definitely see differences in their shape. There is fullness in the middle area, while before my sternum was noticeable right under the skin. They seem wider too, projecting more to the sides of my rib cage.

Would I have gone through all this process if I knew what I know now? Probably not. This system is such a big time commitment, and it has been hard in the family, specially at the beginning. Not to mention the sleepless nights, the pain and general cumbersomeness of it. And if I were to stop now I may keep one inch if anything at all! If I had only had the information from the brava company, I would have become discouraged long time ago. But the posts on this site gave me a more realistic view of what to expect with brava, so I am more prepared to persevere on it to achieve results. Thank you all you ladies that have posted your experiences!

So I will continue to plow along. And I do love that fact that I remain a B for most of the workday. It is amazing what having boobs can do for the way your clothes fit you, and to increase your confidence! Not talking Pamela Anderson boobs here, just boobs, feeling like you actually look like a woman. I plan to do at least 10 more weeks, after that, will see how masochist I feel. Grow boobies, grow!

Happy growing to you all!

[lled34aa]

thank you so much for the update! i'm so happy to hear that you're getting some positive results as it gives me hope. please keep the updates coming!

i have so many questions! do the red ring marks stay visible all day long? do you have to buy bigger bra sizes to wear in the morning? what type of bra do you wear right after brava? during the two weeks that you only wore 6hrs a day, did you find that your progress was going backwards, or did it stay the same?

my brava is coming next week. i can't wait to start! knowing what i know, i feel i have a pretty realistic expectation.... painful, no social life, sleepless nights, much longer than 10 weeks commitment etc. despite all that, i still want to give it a try. i just hope to get some sort of lasting results.

did you take before/during photos? i find it helps a lot. i've been noogling and trying different NBE methods for a year and a half. whenever i would get discourage, i look back that my starting photos and my current photos. it's not a major change, but my starting photos were so pathetic that in comparison, i'm glad to be where i am now.

[Malina]

Hi, lled34aa,

Can I ask you a question. Do you have kids? Or have you ever had a substantial weight gain where your boobs were significantly larger? Were they ever large and did you lose the tissue somehow?

I think Feather_rose is responding a lot quicker (and better) than I am, for example. But she was a 34D when she was breast feeding so that makes a lot of sense. The progress is indeed pretty amazing! I'm jealous I want to make sure you're not disappointed if you don't respond as quickly and as well.

I have no kids, and my one significant weight gain (15 lb) did not result in a boobage gain of more than half a cup. So, unfortunately after 12 weeks I can not report retaining 2" through the evening, even wearing this thing 12+ hours a day with no skipped nights. However, My boobs definitely got bigger. I think at this point I may be keeping something between a cup and 3/4 of cup through the evening (about an inch). I'm happy to report that right now my boobs are the biggest they had ever been. But I definitely can't say that they swell *that* much.

In week 11 and 12 they started swelling more, and the swelling stays longer, but I'm not a fast responder like Feather_rose, unfortunately. So don't get discouraged if you don't get the same results. It will work, but your pace may be a lot slower.

[Feather_rose]

thank you so much for the update! i'm so happy to hear that you're getting some positive results as it gives me hope. please keep the updates coming!

i have so many questions! do the red ring marks stay visible all day long? do you have to buy bigger bra sizes to wear in the morning? what type of bra do you wear right after brava? during the two weeks that you only wore 6hrs a day, did you find that your progress was going backwards, or did it stay the same?

my brava is coming next week. i can't wait to start! knowing what i know, i feel i have a pretty realistic expectation.... painful, no social life, sleepless nights, much longer than 10 weeks commitment etc. despite all that, i still want to give it a try. i just hope to get some sort of lasting results.

did you take before/during photos? i find it helps a lot. i've been noogling and trying different NBE methods for a year and a half. whenever i would get discourage, i look back that my starting photos and my current photos. it's not a major change, but my starting photos were so pathetic that in comparison, i'm glad to be where i am now.

Hi lled34aa,

Welcome to the brava team! I hope your journey will be a successful one!

About the rings, it depends how overenthusiastic I am when pumping. If I let the smart box do all the pumping, the marks are gone within an hour to take the domes off. However, I usually suck the air out by mouth, and try to get a bit more vacuum than the smart box would do by itself. I find it helps a lot with getting more swelling. But if I get carried away, I can end up with red hickey-like marks for days. Not the whole ring, just in places. I found that makeup for mature skin covers the marks pretty well.

Bras: Luckily I kept all my bras that I used during breastfeeding, so I did not have to buy new. I just keep adjusting the straps and cups, as they are designed to fit you at the different sizes you go through while breastfeeding.

I did not deflated during the 6 h period. It was not full 2 weeks of that, thought, as I tried to keep the regulars hours for as long as possible (till sleep deprivation set in), and during the weekends I put them on all day. So maybe 5 days of 6 h? But the 2" stayed, so it makes me hopefully that they are for keeps.

Photos: I did not. My camera broke right about the time (the baby put it in the water for the Christmas tree) and never got around to replace it. And the hubby made me promise I would not post my pics, even without a face. To what I replied " if somebody comes and tell you 'I saw your wife's boobs in the net' the least of your problems is that they are in the net". But still, will not post pics. But I have "measuring bra" to keep track how I fill it.

Best of luck!