[PoisonIvy]

Today I had something more motivating in my inbox, I posted a picture of my breasts on realself a while ago to find out if my breasts were TB type 1, 2 or 3. A plastic surgeon replied with this today: 

Yes, the photos show a tubular deformity, left breast slightly more than the right, but both are not so dramatic and seem relatively easy to repair.

Now I don't want them repaired by a plastic surgeon, but that sounds good! If they are not so dramatic, then maybe all this pumping will be worth it in the end!

Congrats on getting back on track on a Sunday!! :-)

I really hope the aquarium valve is going to do its job and you can get rid of that elephant trunk (the pump haha).

I also have no idea how to measure my bra size. Measuring both breasts, I am an A cup, so I think I might also be an AA and a B cup, but I might as well be an A and a C or an AA and a C? My bigger breast looks bigger than a B cup because it is top heavy and has no underboob. And my small breast always looked lost in A cup bras. I once had an A cup bra and it almost looked like it had been made for tubular breasts, it fit, but my big breast looked like it was trying to escape from every side possible lol.

I have no idea how long swelling actually lasts. It has been different for me. I remember seeing some swelling for a couple of days in a row (pumping twice on most days) and then I pumped right before going to bed one night and woke up completely deflated the next morning.

What are you doing while pumping? Assuming you can't move for 7 hours, do you watch tv?

I once read that you need to pump for at least 45 mins in one sitting, otherwise it's useless. Then I read that you need to pump for at least 2-3 hours a day. I have no idea which is true, but I go by the 45-min-rule. I try to pump for as long as possible, but I need to pump for at least 45 minutes. I have a roommate, he is my ex (we've been separated for 4 3/4 years, but it's easier financially with him around as I took a loan 6 years ago to buy the apartment we are living in). He lives in the living room and I live in the bedroom and he knows that I pump, I've known him for 15 years. But still, I don't want him to see me like that so I try to pump my way around his schedule. Both rooms have access to the balcony and I feel so exposed sitting here with the dome on when he is out on the balcony smoking lol. Not that he'd care what I am doing.

Is it obvious that one of your shoulders is higher than the other? Maybe one of your breasts sitting lower than the other doesn't look weird at all if that's the case. Maybe you can measure below both of your breasts, so the tape would go around your back and meet at the other end again. Just measure where your bra would sit?

I found a video online where the guy claims that there are exercises to improve scoliosis. I'm sure you have looked into all the options yourself, but I thought I'd share.

https://www.pinterest.de/pin/186055028343922743/

Oo that sounds promising!! It's funny because I use to think my breast was slightly tubular even though it's not just because we get bombarded with the idea of round and symmetrical breasts being the attractive norm that  when our breasts don't look like that we feel like there's something wrong with us or something. It's not tubular btw. Although my small one is def underdeveloped. There's so many different shapes that are possible though. I actually decided to look it up the other day. https://www.healthline.com/health/breast-shapes#shapes I think mine are sideset (+ obviously asymmetrical) although maybe if I'm lucky if I get them bigger and symmetrical they might become the archetype. They are pretty spaced apart but considering one of them is an AA I'm pretty sure they are too small to be anything but spaced apart lol. It's pretty hard to figure out when one is underdeveloped and an AA though, so maybe I can cause it to develop and become symmetrical B's and then I'll have a better idea. That's so awesome though that they said it doesn't look that bad and it would be easy to repair. 

I'm pretty much on my computer all the time lately so I'm usually laying down with my computer on my lap w/ the pump on. There's quite a bit you can do on your computer and still feel productive lol. I only get up to use the bathroom or get a drink of water or something and sometimes it will lose all the suction when I do, but there's not really anything I can do about that atm which is why I'm hoping the valve does the trick. I'm not really going to change how I act that much w/ it with the exception that maybe I'll go for a longer duration , but it would be nice to not have to worry about it falling off or dragging the pump around. I'm a side sleeper so I wouldn't ever snoogle.

Today I woke up and tried to get measurements and weigh in. I gained weight. Now I have to lose 17 pounds instead of 15 ugh. My measurements weren't great either for waist and hips. I woke up pretty deflated today too. Both breasts felt deflated though, so maybe it's hormonal shifts or something. My bust measurement is 35 when it use to be 34, but I use to be 32 under bust and I keep getting 33 so maybe I'm just getting fat, so I'm not really paying much attention to the breast measurements considering I'm really struggling to get a consistent underbust measurement lately. I'd be in my glory if I was still consistently the same 32 underbust but it's not right now. Perhaps I should wait until I'm closer to the weight I normally am (which is 9 pounds less than I am now) to pay too much attention to that considering I know I'm a 32 underbust and a 34 overbust at that weight, so it will be more interesting to see what the tape measure gives me then. So a two inch difference is pretty much the norm for me and I care more about the difference than the actual bust measurement at the moment. That whole thing where a 1 inch difference is an A, 2 inches B, 3 inches C doesn't really apply to me at all and never has lol. I wonder if it's because mine are wider or something or because I have a wider upper back? What I really need to do though is take pictures which I say on here everyday but haven't done. I have a feeling I'll get the most accurate idea if I do that. Esp since I'm constantly staring at my breast for minimal improvement and trying to imagine what it looked like before exactly. A lot of people said that they didn't see the changes looking at them, but they noticed it in pictures, so I feel like that is what I need to do. I do feel like there might be something permanent there because my areola hasn't gone down at all in a few days and I would like to imagine that if that got a little bigger than that means I got a little bit of real growth as well. I don't see why my areola would feel the need to grow a little if my breast isn't growing. I have an appointment on Friday though that will be from early morning into the afternoon so I will not be able to do my morning session so that will probably be a good day to take photos. On Friday that means it will be about 24 hours since the last time I pumped vs the normal 12, so I'll probably get the most accurate picture then. I feel like I'm constantly reading conflicting things on it too. At this point I just feel like everyone is different and it's all trial and error. I actually stopped massaging and a lot of people act like it's something you have to do but I don't get anything out of it and never have so why waste my time when I'm already spending so much time pumping? Heat and pump/release is my warmup. I also can't get to the gauge people talk about, but I stopped paying attention to it because I am getting swelling and maybe it's more individual if my breast loses circulation/turns purple well before I get to those gauge numbers. At the end of the day I feel like it's all trial and error for each person. 

You're right about the shoulder thing. I think it's only because it's my body that I notice it, but that doesn't mean that other people will notice it. Thanks for the link! I have always wanted to fix it but it hasn't happened. I went to a chiropractor for a time but that didn't work. I thought about a corset that is made for scoliosis but it looks like that is only to help with pain and not to correct it. Apparently even braces are only so it doesn't get worse during puberty and not to correct it. Although it would be nice to get a smaller waist at the same time. My scoliosis def isn't dramatic. It's the exact same as when I was a kid and never got worse or caused me pain. It just causes one side of my body to be a bit larger and higher than the other which I'm sure is something that only I notice unless I'd point it out to someone. The shoulder is honestly the most dramatic part. So it's entirely cosmetic.  It def must have played a part in my asymmetrical breasts though considering that the small breast is on the smaller & lower side.