It had been a busy day, I was helping out at a church with their worship running around tweaking sound settings for the band, making suggestions on the song arrangements and coaching the vocalists and all with an 11 month old riding happily on my back in our trusty Beco.  I sat to nurse her when she decided she was hungry then slung her around to my back again where she dozed.  Following the activity we had lunch together, visiting with the church for another 2 hours.  Holding Smunchie and entrenched in a deep conversation I felt something wet on my arm and whipped it away thinking she drooled on me.  I felt it again and looked at her but noticed she was dry.  Looked at my arm and saw white-ish drips splattered on my arm.  Confused for a moment that Smunchie must have spit-up it finally dawned on me to look at my shirt.  Sure enough, right over my left breast was a large wet circle and I could see another drip forming.

I’m not The Leaky Boob for nothing.

Deep theological discussion with the church leaders I just worked with and a 3 inch wet spot centered on my breast as warm white drips splashed on my arm, nothing awkward about that, is there?  Mentally cursing that I had forgotten breast pads I messed with my scarf a bit to position it stratigically over the oh-so-obvious soaked and growing circle and told myself nobody noticed.  Too bad I wore a skinny scarf.

No joke, the very next day the package from Bamboobies arrived containing breast pads for me to review.

I love bamboo velour, that stuff is like crack for a texture person like me.  The first time I got a bamboo velour cloth diaper I rubbed my face on it.  Yes I knew it was a diaper but oh. my. gawd. I was totally jealous of my babies butt getting to be wrapped in this fabric from heaven.  People, if you haven’t felt it go get yourself some!  I bet you’d rub your cheek on a diaper too.

I was asked to review Bamboobies pads both the regular and overnights, the love for bambo velour is just a bonus I threw in.  I have used the breast pads for a little over a month and have washed them repeatedly.  As much as I love bamboo velour I know that it can get a little crunchy over time and with certain washing rituals.  I wanted to see how the Bamboobies held up.  These aren’t my first bamboo nursing pads, I have a few pair from a WAHM on Hyena Cart.

I was most excited about the regular pads as I already have some really thick bamboo pads.  Not only are the Bamboobies ridiculously soft, the regular ones are also ridiculously trim.  I tried them with all my different bras and even with my super thin bra there were no awkward lines showing through my shirt.  To be sure I tried a variety of shirts and even with my vintage tiny tees looked smooth.  Like, kind of sexy smooth.  Added bonus, they don’t bunch up oddly when you pull the top of your bra down to nurse and they are easy to reposition as a result.  With these pads it doesn’t look like I’m fondling myself under my shirt trying to get everything back in place.  Very nice.

Trim is all well and good but the real point is how absorbent they are.  To give you an idea the day I leaked at the church I was wearing a padded bra, a tank top and a light weight knit sweater.  I soaked through.  This isn’t unusual for me (again, not The Leaky Boob for nothing) and I wore that same outfit plus Bamboobies out to the opera without Smunchie for 5 hours, let down at least twice that I noticed and no leaks.  No lines, no leaks.  No lines, no leaks and bamboo that feels like a cloud wrapped in silk in my bra. Nice.  This was really good because as awkward as it was to me chatting theology with a pastor as my boob leaked a bullseye through my top right over my left boob I’m pretty sure hanging with opera snobs while dripping would be even more awkward.  Awkwardness avoided.  I heart Bamboobies.

The overnights were lovely as well though a bit overkill for where I am in my leakage and lacking the cool heart shaped design (did I just say that?).  A year ago I probably would have used the overnights all day, I leak so much in the early days.  Still, I tried it and I realized that I’ve just gotten used to waking up wet, stuffing the overnights in my nursing tank let me stay warm and dry.  I shall stop being lazy with the breast pad stuffing and enjoy dry sheets again.

Now, the shape of the pads isn’t my favorite, I’m not a hearts kind of girl really.  I’ll be honest, I made fun of them when I first opened them.  Like really, really made fun of them.  Had everyone in the house laughing.  I made lots of terrible puns like “I *heart* Bamboobies!” and “Boobies are close to my heart.”  I was a smart-ass.  Then I tried them, joking at least nobody would see I had stuffed hearts in my bra.  And you know what?  I freakin’ LIKE the heart shape.  It turns out the heart shape is more than cutesy girlishness.  There’s a brilliant design reason behind the Valentine hearkening shape allowing for better shaping and fit, giving the wearer options as to which way to wear it and preventing the “I’ve-got-a-circle-of-fabric-stuffed-in-my-bra” look.  I might be more of a heart kind of girl that I thought.

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly because I swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

What I liked

The fabric is my favorite fabric in the world so it’s not a surprise that I love that.  Puppy ears aren’t as soft as these things and they don’t have the annoying fuzz angora or cashmere has meaning your boobies will love these.  The perfect way to pamper yourself and be practical.  Smooth and trim, the fit is the best I’ve ever had in breast pads and I have tried a lot of breast pads.  Backed with a soft waterproof fabric, Bamboobies aren’t only soft and trim, they’re up for the task of absorbing leaking milk and keeping it contained.

What I didn’t like

The heart shape really wasn’t my thing but then I saw how it helped with the fit and I was in love.  The pads did get a bit crunchy after lots of washes and they get crusty from dried milk too but that never happened while they were against my skin so no worries.  To deal with the crunchyness I washed them with a squirt of Dawn dish soap and used a touch of 7th Generation’s fabric softener and they were super soft again without a hint of crunch.

Overall:

I’m still not a heart person, I’m not kidding.  I don’t own anything heart shaped and you won’t find hearts on any of my clothes or underwear.  But these pads are staying.  They stayed soft even if they lost some of their original silkyness, the fit is like they were custom made for me and trim yet absorbent qualities of these pads make them the best I’ve ever used.  I’ve come a long way from the Gerber disposable pads I used 12 years ago (that cost a fortune and led to my first case of thrush) or the fabric pads from who-knows-where (that I leaked through every single time) and the Bamboobies made me feel pampered.  Additionally there are a lot of other aspects of Bamboobies I can get behind; sustainable, organic (as organic as Bamboob velour can be- there’s controversy over this) and fair trade.  Yep, I <3 Bamboobies.