Is not getting your period ok for your body while you are on that specific kind of BC? I heard that not getting your period can cause osteoporosis or even infertility, but that's the case when you are not getting your period because something is wrong, I have no idea whether it's different when you are on BC?
Were the first few months a lot worse than before in terms of the duration of the pain and everything or was it not longer and just stronger on one or two days? Do you have to get your IUD replaced regularly? I should look into that, not having periods while still being healthy if that's the case, sounds good! :-)
Sorry to hear about your sports bra (R.I.P.), at least now you know how it shouldn't be done. I was wondering if maybe a bra that is huge on you would work, just big enough to fit the dome inside. You could just wear that or wear your sports bra with the hole in it underneath (for your bigger breast) and then put on the xl bra to hold the dome in place.
Areolas should grow, but I've read about people being worried their areolas were gonna grow from pumping and most of them stated that they didn't after all. But since one of our areolas, the one on the bigger breast, is bigger, too, the same should happen once our smaller breast catches up, no? Sounds logical to me.
Pumping while you are awake definitely sounds like the safer option. I kept waking up when trying to sleep with the dome anyway as I was moving in my sleep.
The one I was using was actually pretty cheap. It was Eveline mezo push-up 4D, something like that. But you're right, I haven't heard from anyone who has grown from it alone, either.
I have no idea how I managed to sit there with the dome on for 7 or 8 hours straight. I was on my laptop and for some reason time just flew by that day. If I had to do that every day, I'd definitely start hating it in no time. I attached the pump from time to time either because I had lost suction or because I felt my breast could deal with it. By the time I was done, my breast was really swollen, but it wasn't significantly more swelling than I had achieved with 2 hour sessions before. It did feel heavy which I liked of course. The dome had left an obvious mark around my breast, but that was gone the next day. I wouldn't say that the swelling lasted that much longer than it does after a regular session, either.