Haven't heard this one before???

So my friend is 35wks with #1 baby. She tells me today she is going to the mother's direct shop (ABA shop, yay for knowing a bit about ABA!) to be fitted for mat bra.

I asked her wasn't she already in mat bras? And she said yes, but she'd read that you should get fitted at 36 weeks and buy a bigger size do prepare for when your boobs go "vooom!" ie when your milk comes in.

She actually held her fist on her breast and said that apparently you should do that when you're fitted to get the right bra size.

I have never heard that before. She said it's even on the ABA website... It doesn't exactly make sense to me - your milk comes in but after a couple of days it settles, doesn't it? Why would you buy a bra or two just for those days??

I think there tends to be a general increase in breast size after baby is born. the engorgement does settle, yeah, but there's a general increase as well.

I went up a cup size after DS1 was born and then went up again when he was about 3 months. I did the fist/hand thing and it it worked well.

Yep, makes sense to me after looking at pics of myself when DD2 was a few weeks old. I wasn't even breastfeeding 'properly' (expressing, no real feeds) and my boobs were gigantic. I feel like I'm now down to an A cup by comparison (I'm actually a D cup).

Huh, wow! Like I said, had never heard that! I think that I've just been lucky with engorgement - never really happened!

My boobs went up when I was about 8wks pregnant with DD and haven't really changed since! Including when my milk came in!

I went from a B cup with DD1 to a DD then from a C cup with DD2 to an E cup :o

Now well they sag... Barely a B cup now

I was exactly the same as you Olive. The sag is depressing!

Both times I went to buy maternity bras, the ladies in the store told me I should be able to fit my fist in there. It did sound a bit strange at the time, but made sense in the end :)

Mine have only just decreased to normal size 7 months after giving up breastfeeding, although I think mine were probably more then a fist bigger (arggh!)

Im still feeding my nearly 2yo, and my boobs have still gone up a size this pregnancy (Im an E cup now!)

Yep, mine went from DD to E when my milk came in after Mister was born, the engorgement has settled but the size remains - it's like the extra space is always there but it just gets filled up when I'm engorged which makes my boobs go hard.

When I was fitted for maternity bras I was told the same thing OP. She also said something about the amount of rows of hooks on the back corresponding to how many weeks pregnant you are. My memory is a tad foggy, that was 15 years ago :o Feeling old now

I've been told conflicting things in different stores. Some say do the fist in upper cup thing, others say buy a bra that fits correctly and it will stretch/be able to be adjusted, still others have said buy a bra that fits snugly and be prepared to buy new ones after milk is in since it's impossible to predict how much you'll change in size. I think it mainly depends how motivated the store is to sell you even more bras :-P

For what it's worth I bought bras at 15 weeks with a fist of room despite one sales girl telling me they were way too big. The extra space is already nearly gone for me at 26 weeks pregnant so I'll probably still need new ones after baby. But everyone seems to vary in the way they grow.

I was fitted at BNT and was told the same thing about the fist.

I was told by multiple places about the fist thing... Never the refitting at 36weeks tho.

sent via my vortex manipulator!

Yep. Fist story for me too. I'm on my second size of maternity bras for this pregnancy already and this time around I deliberately bought them with cups a bit bigger to hopefully cope with when I get even bigger when DD3 is born.

Maybe you're just a lucky one OP whose boobs don't take over your body shape ;-) When we're all in the shower together my DDs will touch their non-existent breasts and then look at mine and say "Wow Mummy. Will I ever be as huuuuuuuge as yours are, and why do they go down your tummy so far?" :o Oh well. They do their job well and DH has no complaints . . .

Yes that's what I was told too, as a rough guide!!