what will my breasts look like later?

[captain optimism]

I've been nursing for three and a half months, and I hope to make it to at least a year of nursing. I'm working full time and pumping at work so I'm nervous that I won't be able to go even that long, but if things go really well and the baby wants it, I'd be willing to nurse longer.

Today I was thinking, wow, my breast look pretty different than they used to. I wonder what they will look like after a year of nursing and pumping? Some folks have said that their breasts got smaller at the end. Wow, that would be great! Right now they are quite enormous and I'd be satisfied just to go back to my normal size! Will my nipples go back to their normal size? How about my areolae, will they stay slightly darker than before I was pregnant?

Also, will I still feel so casual about showing my boobs in public? It seems like so much less of a big deal than it was before.

What has your experience been? How long did you nurse?

[Lucky Charm]

Mama Optimism,
I nursed all three kids. My boobs have never been the same. Before mommyhood, i was an A cup. I am now a 34 C, quite saggy. my areola is a dark dark pink, whereas before they were a silvery pink. Interstingly, my nipples are always erect! they never go back "in". Of course, my husband likes this
another thing that kindas bothers me, is decreased sensation in my nipples. i swear, i could close them in a door and not feel it, yet when i nursed i had the sorest tenderest nipples, cracked and bleeding!

I have found the holy grail of bras to help with my saggyness, Body by Victoria at Victorias Secret. Holds em up nice, and they look good in a snug T-shirt.

[alsoSarah]

Thanks for starting this thread-- I've been thinking about this, too!

my experience so far... I've been nursing ds for 20 months....

I used to be all nonchalant about nudity (hippie-ish parents, kwim?), but now the prospect of anyone seeing my breasts outside of a NIP situation fills me with great dread, I swear! lol

I miss my cute 34Bs!!!

I hate the way they look now-- hoping it gets better from here!

peace,
alsoSarah

Thanks for the bra suggestion, sweetbaby3

[Lucky Charm]

You're welcome!

[Elphaba]

well, i've been nursing for 19 months, and i am praying my breasts will shrink when we wean! they are huge! i'm a 36 D for pete's sake! i'm a short woman, i'm not supposed to be this enormous. i was a C before and that was fine. this is a tad excessive.

[dentente]

I nursed my dd for 20 months. I was a 38C before and am now a 38B. You heard right. I went down a size. The nips are more standy uppy now, that's definitely true. The areolas are slightly darker but the most dramatic effect was the loss of much of the adipose fat that made my boobs more boobish looking. Definitely a deflated effect. I have been doing loads of work at the gym and the work on my pecs have perked things up a bit. I have only been at it for about a month now. I have been doing a lot of Pilates Allegro stuff for my chest. Works pretty well. I think any damage was well worth it. I have a happy healthy kid who nursed for almost 2 years. I think most of the real damage came with pregnancy and the inflation/stretch mark factor. A little self-tanner and you can't really tell too much. We women obcess about these things and men just don't care. A boob is a boob and it has magical powers over men regardless of mileage.

Denny

[Brookesmom]

I've been curious about this too- My mom keeps telling me my bbs are going to be "deflated" after I stop nursing (why she didn't nurse us. grr... )

Anyone stay about the same shape after they stopped nursing (or better? )

[Sustainer]

I read that pregnancy is what changes the shape of the breasts, not nursing.

[mamabeard]

that's probably true..

i think pre-pregnancy i was 36B (not sure tho).. then they got HUGE, D, double D, something like that, for the last bit of my pregnancy and the first few months of nursing.. i've been nursing over 3 years now, and until i got pregnant last november, they were gradually getting smaller and smaller (i was probably about a C cup).. and droopier too.

now that i am about 7 months pregnant, they are big again (D-ish) but i'm expecting that once both my children have weaned they will be back to B cup, and will likely be saggyier. i've heared some say they get a bit of perk back in time, when the skin tightens up a bit. i assume every one whose been pregnant gets a bit of a droop, since the skin has been stetched out so much.

[sadie_sabot]

waah I never ever wanted to be stauesque! i miss passing for a boy!

I went from a I-don't know 'cause I never wore a bra to some crazy kind of D cup. Ah well, at least my babe is well fed and thriving. I do hope they get small again when she weans.

[mamabeard]

that's funny.. i'm not terribly fond of my big boobs either. i really do think i look better with smallish ones. plus they're so darn heavy!

i remember how hard it was for me to adjust when i was first pregnant. i kept bumping into things with them! my only fear is that they'll be totally grannyesque when i'm all finished with this breastfeeding business..

[captain optimism]

Okay, now...

I must tell you that before pregnancy I was a 40DD. So please don't say "crazy kind of D cup"--I'm currently wearing a 40I nursing bra (specially cantilevered and engineered for the extra-heavy nursing breast. ) (And my rib cage is actually 39 inches, there is just a lot more boob there!)

This isn't all from being overweight, though I wasn't (and am not) thin. At my thinnest I still wear at least one if not two sizes bigger on top than on the bottom. I just have big breasts. Statuesque, yeah! I'm 5'7" and I can project my voice to boom when I want to, as well. If I stand up straight, I can be quite imposing, like a tank!

I'm just hoping I'm one of the ones who gets smaller after weaning. Right now a 40DD sounds pretty damn good!

[Beth-TX]

I nursed my dd 25 mo (just weaned about a month ago ) and my breasts are now slightly smaller than they were before I got pregnant the 1st time (I'm currently 17 wks pg). They're not quite as perky as before, but not terribly saggy. I was a 34 B, went up to a 36 C and now I'm back down to a 34 A/B.

I quite enjoyed the volumptuous look for a while but it's nice having cute little breasts again, at least for a while!

peace, Beth

[mom3]

I've always considered the larger breasts a perk of bfing. I was a 34B before I pg the first time, went down to a 32C from a 34D, and now am up to a 34/36DD (at least). We'll see where they end up when the twins finish with them. Is it possible for a B to sag all the way to your knees ?

[mamacate]

Oh, I wanna be a C cup! I want to shop at victoria's secret! I want to not have to go into the motherwear store and have them tell me that only this, this and this one comes in your size and that one is the only one that's not underwire! I want to run without feeling like I'm slinging two big bags of water over my shoulders! I want lacy demi-cups that look great in a t-shirt! ARGH!

I do appreciate my boobs. They have nourished my babies for over a year, and they have done a great job. I had a hart time getting pg, and my boobs helped me feel like my body was on my side again when I was able to exclusively nurse twins with little trouble (at least in terms of supply!). I love how much my babies love nursing. I'm not unappreciative. I just wish they weren't so HUGE.

I'm a 34G. Wondering if I should try an H to make sure that's not a better fit. Pre-pg, with the infertility weight, I was a 34D, but I remember being a C. Once you get past a C cup, the world of lingerie changes, and not for the better. VS has like 4 bras D cups can buy, but they don't even let those of us in the exotic letters into the store.

Bleagh. Thanks for letting me get it all out.

Cate (with the big bazongas)

[Piglet68]

Then there's me who has cleavage for the first time in my life and LOVIN' it. I am buying form-fitting T-shirts that are somewhat low cut b/c now I have it to show off, lol.

I STILL don't know what size bra I am. Before PG they were cute and perky and I was proud to be topless at our local nudey beach. Now they are definitely much bigger. I figure I'm a C cup now (I use those motherware sleep bras, no cup size). But yeah, they are sooo deflated, lol.