Breastfeeding issues - part #2

So, breastfeeding is going just fine with Thomas (despite my choice of title for this post) - he eats like a champ and has since Day 1.

My issue is with nursing bras. (well, and breast pads, if you read the last post)

I have used the same 2 nursing bras through 3 children.  I bought them right before I had Maria.  I went into Motherhood, picked out 2 white bras - one with underwire and one without, tried them on to make sure they fit, and left.  The whole thing took about 15 minutes.  They fit great, were amazingly comfortable (two of the most comfortable bras that I have EVER owned, nursing or not), and lasted through 3 nursing babies.

Well, it's been 9 years since they were purchased, and yeah, they are rotting now.  Literally, rotting.  As in, there are holes in one of them.  So it was time to get some new ones.  No big deal, right?  Wrong.  Apparently, I got lucky the first time around.  Not so, this time.

I went back to Motherhood (since that's where I got lucky last time) and there were no white bras at all.  Just ugly beige ones and navy blue and black.  I don't like dark bras because they limit what you can where them with (unless you like the whole - "I'm a skank and I like my dark bra to show through my light shirt" look.  Personally, I'm not a fan).  And I don't like beige bras, either.  They look like old lady bras to me, and with garments underneath them, they show through light shirts like nobody's business.  I tried some on anyway, in case I couldn't find any anywhere else and they were...okay.  Not really that comfortable. And I feel like a bra (especially a nursing bra) should be really comfortable since you wear them all the time.  

The other weird thing about all the nursing bras at Motherhood now (and at every other store I tried)?  They ALL have padding.  Unless you are buying a sleeping bra or a sports bra, they all have padding.  Weird.  And not very comfortable to wear when you are nursing (too stiff for engorged boobs) and not easy to manipulate to make room for your baby when he/she is feeding (again, the stiffness of the pad is a problem). I mean yeah, they make your boobs look great, but they are really not very functional.  The stiff pad keeps folding back up in Thomas's face while he tries to eat - annoying.  Maybe this wouldn't be a problem if I had big huge knockers to hold the pad down (but of course if my boobs were bigger, then the pads would be bigger, too...), but we've already gone over this - my girls are small.

So, I decided to look elsewhere.  And do you know what I found?  If you do not have huge boobs, your options for nursing bras is severely limited.

I went to JCPenney -nothing in my size, and all the bras there were sleeping bras anyways (which look TERRIBLE, by the way).

I went to Target - nothing in my size.

I went to the outlet mall and checked out 4 different stores - nothing in my size, or sleeping bras only, or they didn't even sell nursing bras.  You've got to be kidding me.

I ordered some at Kohls.com - They ARE white, which is nice.  But I've tried them on and they don't fit so great with my new nursing pads (see the previous post for that story), and they are really not comfortable, just like the ones I tried on at Motherhood.  They are really tight around the ribcage (and if I go up a number size the cup is WAY too big) and just all over uncomfortable.  Oh, and they are padded (we've already discussed the problem with padding here - it just gets in the WAY!).

So I guess at this point my choices are either keep wearing the rotting ones that are super comfortable (but, um, kind of gross since they have holes in them) or wear really uncomfortable ones that don't fit OR function quite right.

Again - why do companies have to fix what's not broken?  Motherhood had great bras for nursing at one point.  And yeah, I'm sure that the ones I bought 9 years ago did not appeal to everyone, but why not make new ones in addition to the current version?  Did they really need to wipe them out completely and offer such limited options in their place?  Oh well - what ya gonna do?

The verdict?  Between the new bras and the new pads, I guess my boobs get to be uncomfortable and unattractive until I wean (yeah, and then they get to look even WORSE - because we all know what happens to our "ladies" we wean - so sad...)

Boo.