I ordered my belly bandit a while ago and just started using it. Actually I started using it in the hospital. I asked the nurse if these type of things really helped shrink the uterus any faster and she said she didn't think it did but it really depends on who you ask. Some people swear by it.
But I noticed that has helped me feel a little better held together. Like I feel like if I eat something and I don't have my belly bandit on that my stomach has food in it but it is kind of just banging around in there. The bandit makes me feel better. I have only been wearing it a few days and I feel like my stomach has shrunk a lot faster than it usually does. I mean I still have a long ways to go but I look better than usual.
One thing I don't like though is that I keep getting pains that almost feel like my parts are getting held together in the wrong place. Could be all in my head. But another thing I really really really dislike is that I find it very hard to breast feed with this thing on. With a newborn I am feeding a lot and I am engorged so I am feeding even more frequently than normal and the velcro is in the front so I think it is uncomfortable for the baby and it is a pain to take it off and put it back on especially in the middle of the night when baby wants to eat.
I have really slacked off on wearing it today and I am kind of nervous that I am not going to slim down at all if I don't wear it like they say to wear it and like you said, these things are expensive lol.
But hopefully I will see really good results within like a few weeks.
Oh yeah, one more thing, I started to put it on the day after LO was born and I could barely close the thing, but I am on day 3 of wearing it and I am to the end of the velcro and I guess if I am going to keep wearing it I need go ahead and sew on some more velco or buy a smaller one. So I don't know if that means it is working fast or I just bought the wrong size. Who knows.
Me too, I was totally expecting to read a birth story! 
