Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Whose boobs are these?

Here follows a brief history of my boobs, which I'm sure you never wanted, but nevertheless, you are getting.   I have never been particularly well-endowed.  Sometime in high school, my mother took me to a Victoria's Secret to buy me some proper bras (I had been living in sports bras up till that point) and I fit into a 34B.  I wore a 34B from about the age of 15 until my early 30s.  Even when I gained weight, I didn't seem to gain in my boobs.  

When I moved to the City, I gained a little more weight (miraculous when I consider how much more walking I do in the City, but then again, I eat A LOT more thanks to Jeeves).   And basically none of it went to my boobs.  Well, that's not entirely true.  Not long before our wedding, I did notice that my 34Bs didn't seem to fit so well anymore, so I tried on some 34Cs, and voilà - the new size fit better.  So since my early 30s, I've been a 34C.  

In early pregnancy, I didn't really notice any change to my boobs, other than that they freaking hurt a lot. [I will note that an old friend, upon seeing my bump picture that I took around week 12 exclaimed "Holy boobs!"  So apparently other people did notice them, even if I didn't.]  But maybe about three weeks ago, I started noticing that my bras were really, really uncomfortable and my cups runneth over.   The underwire was digging in, and just, no.  I hated them.  And I usually like my bras quite a bit (Calvin Klein t-shirt bras, you can get them on sale at Century 21, sometimes at TJ Maxx, and they are super comfortable).  I had read that there's such a thing as a maternity bra, but then there are also nursing bras.  But wasn't it too early for a nursing bra?  So I asked Kate what she did, but she said all she did was go buy her normal bra in a larger size.  Then I asked Penney, who has lent me all of her maternity clothes and that blessed, blessed pillow that keeps my hips from hurting.  Penney is my pregnancy maven.

I should add that in the midst of all this, my back was hurting between my shoulders, but I couldn't figure out why.  Because I'm dumb.

Anyway, Penney told me that she went to a proper bra shop and got fitted, and bought a bra to wear during her pregnancy (it's a normal bra, just a bigger size than she regularly wears), and that once she had her babies, she switched to the nursing bras.  She suggested Linda's Bra Salon, which is in the Murray Hill neighborhood of Manhattan.  I made an appointment and headed up there.  The saleslady was very nice and did not shriek in horror when she saw my bra/boobs, which I appreciated.  She measured me and brought back a bra for me to try.  True story - the bra I bought from her (by far the most expensive bra I have ever bought, but worth every penny in my opinion) is a 32F.  An F.  An F!!!!  I went from a C to an F?  Yes, yes I did.  Technically, I fit just fine in an E, but the saleslady thought that since the F also fit, I should go with that and it would give me a little more room to grow in.  Since, you know, I'm only halfway through this pregnancy and my boobs will get bigger.  Jesus.

So I want to say, to my well-endowed sisters, I never got it before, but I get it now.  All those years I spent as a lowly B, I was so jealous of your cleavage.  I did not realize the back pain, the stretched-out shirts, the fucking impossibility of finding a well-fitted, reasonably priced off-the-rack bra!  Because yeah, F cups don't come cheap.

Thankfully my back is hurting less now that I have a supportive bra.  I shudder to think about the size of my boobs by the time this pregnancy is over.  Yikes.

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And now I'm going to talk a little bit more about random pregnancy symptom stuff, so please skip if you are in a tough spot and this will be upsetting.

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Today I am 20 weeks.  It is completely surreal to me that this pregnancy is half way over.  I have a belly now.  Not enough of one that it's obvious I'm pregnant - I'm pretty sure people who don't know me would just assume I ate a really big lunch, but it is there.  The belly makes certain things hard, like sleeping, putting on socks, and squatting down to put things away in the kitchen.  I can feel Manuji moving every day, all the time.  Sometimes he squirms, sometimes he kicks.  It is really cool, and it means I no longer worry (at least not for more than a short period of time) about whether he is still alive in there.  

After 14 weeks, I got my energy back and food became fun again.  Food is still mostly fun, and I don't have any aversions (gosh, I really miss sushi.  And Italian subs.).  But I have to eat a lot more often.  I have to eat a much bigger breakfast in the morning than I typically care to, or I'll feel ill.  And I have to snack a lot.  I'm trying really hard to keep it healthy, but I'm also allowing myself some indulgences (like creamy dressings on my salad, which I never let myself have when I'm not pregnant and nightly hot chocolate). 

I have to pee all the time.  Usually it's because Manuji is sitting on my bladder.  Sometimes I think he uses it as a trampoline.

Because of my size, it's really easy to be lazy and sedentary.  I want to sit and eat and watch TV or read.  I do not want to go outside into the polar vortex.  I do not want to do laundry.  But it's a vicious cycle, the more I sit and do nothing, the more sleepy I get, and the more I want to do nothing.  I've discovered that I feel best when I force myself to go out and run errands and walk and do chores.  Then, I somehow have more energy.  I bought a couple of prenatal exercise videos - I really need to start doing those.  I also accidentally switched to a prenatal vitamin with no iron.  I think this was a mistake and was adding to my fatigue.  I've gone back to the kind with iron in and I've been feeling much better.

I so do not have a pregnancy glow.  My skin is dry and flaky, and my hair is flat.  But I'm choosing to blame this on the fact that I apparently live at the North Pole and smoosh my hair beneath a hat everyday.  Did I mention that it's 19 degrees in NYC right now?  According to the NY Times, by the month's end there will have been only 4 days in January with average temperatures, and 15 days with temps in the teens or lower.  In other words, I'm really done with winter.

Jeeves has a bad cold and I am hoping against hope that I don't get it.  Wish me luck.

11 comments:

  1. I'm not much of a believer in supplements, but I swear by zinc. I haven't had a cold this winter (knock wood!) but last year I took it with every one and I think it helped.

    An F!!!! Holy. I've always been decently proportionate but since my weight fluctuates so much I just buy Demi bras and sometimes I run over a little, but it's never too awful. No quadraboob ;) Anyway, yay movement! So glad you have that near-constant reminder. Fingers crossed you don't get sick!

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    1. Hey, as long as you don't have quadraboob or a wire stabbing you, that's all that matters! I'm not sure if I'm allowed to take extra zinc (there's some in my prenatal), but Jeeves swears by ColdEez drops, which are zinc. I should look into it.

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    2. Jeeves and I are soulmates ;)

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  2. Ohh my an F!! Holy crow your poor back!! So glad you found something that fits and is easing the back pain! Yay for being able to enjoy good again!

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    1. I missed food! It's so great to like it all again!

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  3. Happy 20 weeks! I feel you pain on the boobs, but mine aren't from pregnancy. I'm a 34F and I understand how expensive bras are for sizes like ours! No one makes the small band size-large cup size combos!

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    1. Melissa, it stinks! They have you between a rock and a hard place - you can't just walk into any store and buy a bra, so you have to go with specialty and they'll charge whatever they can get since you have no choice! Very frustrating.

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  4. Anonymous11:50 PM

    Hey Megs, I nominated you for a Liebster award! Check out my post for details! http://nobuninthisoven.wordpress.com/2014/01/29/liebster/

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    1. Thanks, that's so sweet! I'll check it out!

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  5. BOOBS! Reminds me of the boob shirt I saw in Portland a while back. I too love the Calvin Klein tshirt bra that I got at TJMaxx. Yay for food being fun again! Boo for living on the North Pole and dry skin!

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    1. Yes, I miss my Calvin Klein bras! I hope I fit back into them someday, but I have a feeling this is going to permanently change them no matter what happens.

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