Post pregnancy breasts

[Branster]

Are you happy with you breasts after having your children? Do they look the same as before, worse or better? Anyone had plastic surgery or any other cosmetic treatment to get a nice cleavage as a result of pregnancy and/or breastfeeding? Did you get good results?
I thought it's a good topic to have a moan about. Personally, I'm very unhappy with what's left of my breasts. I tried everything I could during pregnancy to prevent/ reduce the damage, always wore a good bra during breastfeeding, but still the damage is irreversible now. I really miss my old breasts... Anyone else feels the same?

1 1/2 years ago, aloha. i agree pregnancy affects breasts, probably more than braestfeeding in terms of sagginess (the skin streches too much and when/if they go back to their original size, ther's not enough left to fill in all this skin which doesn't shrink back, but am convinced misshapen nippels are due to breastfeeding (the darker colour i know is due to being pregnant alone)

what actually happens is that during pregnancy, your body gets ready to breastfeed and fat goes from your breasts and is replaced by the tissue that makes breastmilk. That happens regardless of breastfeeding and is why breasts sometimes seem 'empty' after having a baby and stopping breastfeeding. However, in many cases the fat does come back eventualy. The skin does not always recover from being stretched though (in pregnancy) and is droopier so the breast seems droopier as the skin no longer holds everything up.

My nips are fine though! So if it does affect women, it certainly doesn't affect all women.
But if you are seriously bothered by your shape surgery might be an option for you if you can afford it. I have spoken to a lot of people who are very happy with the results of their surgery. And it is a relatively straightforward op - though of course all ops carry some risks, mainly from the anaesthetic. Breast ops are considered pretty safe though.

thanks aloha. the money is not the problem with the op, but i'm really scared about having any kind of surgery, especially if not for medical reasons and i am actually primarily concerde about the anesthetic (when my mom had some surgery a few years ago, there was a big scare on this aspect with her, also have a number of doctors friends and have heard them disscussing this problem with anesthetics). maybe i'll get braver with age

When does the fat come back? dd is 2 this week, and I stopped bf'ing just over a year ago. Boobs had gone back to what I guess was pre-preg size (A), slightly saggier, bigger nipples etc. But last week they started aching (never do normally). Neg pg test on Thurs am, AF turned up Thurs pm (always the way!). But they still ache, and they're definitely bigger. Do you think my body would just think "hey, that pregnancy stuff is all over, lets bring the boobs back online"? I sort of expected any restoration of fat to happen slowly, not over the space of a week!

Soo... I was a 30H and am now a 32HH. WHEN WILL THEY GO BACK!!!

I was under the impression that after DS my boobs would shrink not get bigger... in fact I only put up with them for all these years cos I thought this. And I wanted to BF which I only managed for 3 weeks. Believe it or not, they were actually quite pert before (considering their immense weight) and I now look like I belong to an african tribe!!!

I used to get pains in my shoulders before, but they're a lot worse now. So the Dr suggested having a breast reduction. Big choice as she said they will only consider it on the NHS if I don't intend to have anymore children.....

So, saggy gigantic boobs and another baby, or the op?

BR

I am really lucky, being quite large boobed I've b/f two kids for 16 mths each and have no droop and they reduce back to a slightly smaller size (still waiting for it 2nd time around dammit) and retain the shape and stuff, still quite firm witha good lie as DH says...
I would definitely get mine reduced or touched up if they went badly wrong, dh has agreed after babies I can get this done , in reality not sure if I can go under the knife just for vanity though... I'd not consider any other cosmetic jobs though

bunnyrabbit, before getting pregnant, when there was some documentary on TV about tribes and stuff like that, i used to think about those women with saggy breasts: well, see what happens if you don't wear a bra and don't use suncream??!! little did i know then!

I haven't read every single message but apparently it's pregnancy not breastfeeding that affects boobs... a friend of mine bottle fed and her boobs went saggy anyway. Mine are flatter than I would like... nipples are the same though even though I pumped...

For the whole of the last three years I have either been pregnant or breastfeeding; b/f ds1 for 8 months, stopped and fell pregnant two weeks later. Finished b/f ds2 a month ago after 9 months. Breasts have taken a total onslaught but are not too bad really. I used to be a C cup and am now DD, but I am all over much smaller than when I started. I have lost so much weight with breastfeeding alone (not that I was particularly overweight before). I feel great now. I ate loads when b/f but just kept losing - both ds1&2 fed loads.
Celebrated end of b/f on Saturday with a few too many drinks and woke up with my first hangover in three years. Thought "... mmm don't fancy this much.... better get pregnant again!"

I have to say, pumping only changes the shape of my nipples for about 5 minutes, and then they're right back to being their flattish old selves. The floppy thing is annoying, though.