Nizo Wear Solace Nursing Bra Review

Being a nursing mom means frequent feedings and constant tugging at your shirt or tank top to make your boob available to your baby. I love nursing tank tops, but being a bustier girl, they don't always offer the support I need throughout the day. The shelf bra just doesn't always do it for me if I am doing more than just hanging out around my house.

I don't own a lot of nursing bras because frankly I prefer my regular bras. However, at the beginning of my children's lives, I have found that nursing bras can make my life a lot easier. Recently I started wearing the Nizo Wear Solace nursing bra. It has a lot of very nice features including a drop cup, stretch for changing breast size and shape and built-in pocket that can hold cooling packs for engorged breasts.

Shortly after delivery of my second child, I used the nursing bra to hold cooling packs against my chest when my milk came in. It was a nice little feature that my other nursing bras didn't have.

What I like about the Nizo Wear Solace Nursing Bra

Support - This bra offered a lot of good support. The straps are padded in the larger sizes which makes it much more comfortable than some of the thin strapped nursing bras I currently own. The larger sizes also have three rows of clasps in the back for extra support.

Fabric - This nursing bra is super soft and comfortable against the skin

Secret Healing Pocket - Though you can easily just slide cooling or heating packs into your bra, the pocket in this bra allows for a layer of fabric to sit between your skin and the cooling or heating pack to make it a little more comfortable.

Stretch - All breastfeeding women know that your boobs change size before and after you breast feed. This bra has enough stretch in it, that it adjusts to your changing size. No lumpy or wrinkly boobs from a bunched up bra under your shirt.

Price - This nursing bra costs about $27, which is very reasonable compared to many of the other nursing bras I have encountered. A great deal!

What I don't like about the Nizo Wear Solace Nursing Bra

Design - While I don't hate the pattern on the bra, I don't tend to love any nude-colored bras. That's just my personal preference. However, on the positive side, the nude color allows for discrete wear under lighter clothing, and the pattern is really cute.

Sizing - I normally wear a 34D, but while I am pregnant or nursing I can easily fill a 34DD. I ordered a 34DD knowing I would need the extra space while I am nursing. The band was a little tight compared to the 34DD Victoria's Secret bras I typically wear. My advice, order up a size for the band. This really isn't a problem, just something to consider!

Overall, this is a great nursing bra, especially for new moms or breastfeeding moms who frequently feel engorged.

A Successful VBAC - My Beautiful Birth Story

I was 38 weeks pregnant and getting anxious to meet the person who had been living inside me for the last approximately 9 months. It was an ordinary day, but I woke up feeling like the baby was lower than normal, and somehow I had this gut feeling that I would go into labor that day. There was a snow storm in full force all day and I know that sometimes the pressure drop can cause labor in women who's bodies are ready. I went to work and had a very normal day. I did have some extra bowel movements which made me wonder even more if my time was coming soon.

I had been having labor-like contractions for weeks mixed in with Braxton Hicks contractions, so when I did have contractions I ignored them. At around one in the afternoon I started having some Braxton Hicks contractions about 10 minutes apart. They weren't completely regular and they didn't hurt at all so I ignored them. I left work a few hours later to pick up my daughter and by dinner the contractions had subsided.

After dinner, I had this intense urge to lay down and sleep. I layed down for awhile and then decided it was time to get myself ready for bed. At about eight the contractions started. I didn't notice a really good pattern from them so I decided to ignore them until they stopped me. My husband was secretly timing my contractions while we layed in bed. When they started to get a little more intense I decided I would try to sleep through them and see if they would turn into anything. With all of the false alarms I had, I didn't even realize I was in labor. Every time I had a contraction I had to pee, so it was almost impossible to sleep through them. My contractions were about 4 minutes apart so I was up constantly to use the bathroom. I still ignored them because they weren't stopping me.

By about 10:15 pm I had a contraction that caused me to stand and rock at the edge of the bed. My husband left to pack the car and I decided it was time to call my mom to come watch our daughter so we could go to the hospital. By about 10:30 my contractions were about two minutes apart and I was starting to get worried that we wouldn't get to the hospital on time. My mom finally arrived at about 10:45-11 pm and we left for the hospital.

We got admitted to a room where they checked me. I was only at 2.5 centimeters dilated. I couldn't believe that I was having contractions so close together and was barely dilated. The resident on the floor told me to expect about one centimeter an hour of progress. For a split second, I started to wonder whether I could get through this without any pain medication. I immediately dismissed the thought, knowing that I couldn't have a safety net of pain medication if I wanted to get through the experience drug-free. The nurses told me they would check me in an hour and continued to go through the admission process. I politely declined any pain medication and told them I didn't even want to be offered any when they started to talk about my pain management options. I listened to the nurses explain the hospital procedures for a VBAC and continued to focus on breathing through my contractions. They told me an anesthesiologist needed to be on the floor as soon as I hit 4 centimeters and entered active labor. Once I hit that point, I also needed to stay on the fetal monitors and would be restricted to the area around the hospital bed.

The nurse checked me and said I was 3-4 centimeters about an hour after they had first checked me. She told me if I wanted to walk or get in the whirlpool I would need to do it right then, because as soon as I hit s definite 4 centimeters I needed to be back at the bed. I said I wanted to walk. They checked my blood pressure and saw that it had spiked a bit, so I was told to lay on my side for 15 minutes. I asked the nurses to dim the lights for me so that the room would be a little more comfortable. After the 15 minutes, my blood pressure was back in normal range and I decided to sit in the whirlpool to try and get some relief from the contractions.

I got into the tub for about 30 minutes and was amazed at how the water could take the edge off. At the end of 30 minutes I felt like I needed to lay down to completely relax and deal with the growing intensity of the contractions, which seemed to be coming about a minute apart or less. I stepped out of the tub and my water broke. I called the nurse and let her know that my water had broken. She came to the room and checked me. She said I was about 5-6 centimeters and began hooking me back up to the monitors and putting more information into the computer. Within about 5 minutes I had an intense urge to push. I told the nurse and she checked me again. I was fully dilated and the baby was very low. She told me not to push as she rushed out of the room to get the resident and to call my doctor to get her to the hospital as soon as possible.

My body started to involuntarily push. It was the most painful part of labor to try and stop my body from pushing. My body continued to involuntarily push while I waited for the doctor to arrive. No matter what I did I couldn't get comfortable. The contractions seemed to be one right after the next while my body tried to push the baby out. The doctor finally arrived and explained it would probably take an hour or two for me to push the baby out since I hadn't done it before. She gave me the permission to go along with my body and actively push with my contractions so she could see what I could do. The pushing was a relief. During the pushing I was in a different place. It was almost like I crawled into a distant corner of my brain. The pain all seemed to magically go away. After the first couple seconds of pushing my doctor was rushing to get dressed in her scrubs and the room went into an organized flurry. Everything changed so fast and the room was ready for delivery. I pushed through four contractions. By the third contraction my baby's head was out. I broke my concentration to look down and see his head. I pushed one more time and he was out. In less than 10 minutes of pushing, my beautiful baby boy was born.

It was the most beautiful experience I could have asked for, and I am so grateful I got to experience what so many women take for granted.