How will pregnancy and breastfeeding affect the size of my breasts?
There are many ways that pregnancy and breastfeeding will affect your breast size. This applies to women with natural breasts and also those with breast implants since milk ducts are still active with or without prosthetics in the breast. Having been pregnant recently and breastfeeding my daughter until she was 15 months, I am all too familiar with the continuous, daily changes to my breast size. Although each woman is different and not all women’s breasts will grow or shrink at the same rate, each and every woman that is pregnant and/or breastfeeding will experience most, if not all, of the following changes.
A pregnant woman’s breasts begin to change the minute we become pregnant. They not only change in size and shape but in color as well! When I first became pregnant, I immediately noticed that my breasts became slightly more swollen, similar to the swelling experienced when I was menstruating. In addition to the swelling, I also noticed the veins were much more prominent and nipples were slightly darker. During my pregnancy, I really didn’t notice much more of a change in size but that may have been due to the fact that I only gained between 16-18 lbs during my entire pregnancy. I exercised regularly and ate very clean, raw foods throughout the entire nine months and had a great experience being pregnant. I also drank a lot of water. Water retention is very common in pregnant women. Not only do a woman’s breasts get swollen but, in general, their whole body retains fluids, concentrating in the legs and feet. Drinking plenty of water daily helps alleviate the complications that accompany water retention.
Although I didn’t experience drastic changes in my breasts while pregnant, friends of mine had a very different experience. One of my friend’s breasts grew from a size B to a size D while pregnant. They immediately increased in size when she was about 2 months pregnant and, by the eighth month, she was a size D. After delivering, she became engorged with breast milk and they grew to a DD and possibly even bigger than that. She had always wanted larger breasts but not the pain that came along with them when she became engorged. The only way for her to decrease the size of her breasts and the pain was to breast feed or pump. Almost immediately after pumping or breastfeeding, her breasts were down to a large C or small D. Within 2 hours, they were back to the DD size. This is usually the case for all women who breast feed since the amount of milk in the breast is what dictates breast size. Just as when pregnant, the amount of liquids you take in is what affects breast size. On days that I drank a lot of water, I produced much more breast milk and my breasts grew much larger. If I didn’t drink much water that day, my breasts were noticeably smaller and I did not produce as much milk.
After a woman decides to stop breast feeding her baby is when the drastic size difference sets in. Prior to being pregnant, I was a large B or small C. While pregnant, I maintained the same size, if not a slightly larger C cup. Immediately after having my baby, my breasts grew to approximately a large C or small D cup. In between feedings my breasts would shrink down to large B cups or small C cups and then back up to D when they were full again. It was like a breast size roller coaster! Now that I have recently stopped breastfeeding, I think my breasts have almost disappeared. I have a small B cup, if that, and they are certainly nowhere near as firm as they used to be. They are saggy, for lack of better words, and look almost like a deflated water balloon. Having experienced this, I now completely understand why women opt for breast enhancements after having a baby. After speaking with several women that have undergone the procedure after having a baby, many have expressed that it makes them feel like a woman again.
Now, having read the above, you are probably completely discouraged about breast size and the pregnancy/breastfeeding process. Having experienced it myself, I can honestly say that, regardless of how attractive my breast feel and/or how painful they were at times…. It was all completely worth it. I have an incredible little girl who is very healthy thanks to the nutrition she received from my breast milk for almost a year and a half.
