I am 9 months pregnant with my second child, and yet I still find myself alarmed by the changes that our bodies go through during pregnancy. You can read about what is going to happen in all of the medical books and online articles, but that still won’t adequately prepare you for changes that will consist of more than just thy cup runneth over. So I feel compelled to personally share with you ladies in the early stages of pregnancy, or who simply hope to get pregnant someday, some of the things that I have experienced.
1. Tender Breasts. For the first 1/3 of my pregnancy, it felt like my boobs were often on fire. If somebody hugged me too tight I’d wince and wriggle away. If my 3 year-old son tried to bury his face between my bosom for comfort, I’d be the one shedding tears. If my husband tried to give my growing grapefruits a grope, I’d often slap him away ferociously. And I like being groped!
Because of the tenderness, sleeping without a bra (particularly if you already had large breasts to begin with) actually becomes particularly uncomfortable because they are too free to move, and moving them hurts! I sleep in a wireless cotton sports bra and try to wear only super-supportive, non-lacy bras during the day for comfort. Oh - and I try to keep my preschooler and my husband at arms length at all times.
Why do the breasts become so tender? Mainly because of the increased hormones in a pregnant woman’s body, much like how many women experience sensitive breasts as part of their monthly cycles. Also, extra tissue and blood are being transported to your boobs in preparation for their transformation from fun bags into milk jugs.
2. New Nipples. Or at least they seem like they are now new nipples, not mine! They always seem to be standing at full attention! Which isn’t exactly fun (nor discrete), because they are bigger, fuller, tingly, tender and extra, extra sensitive.
Now, how that extra sensitivity affects one’s love life would vary from woman to woman and from time to time. But for me, the first trimester my nipples were on Do Not Disturb. Second trimester, nipple attention from my husband with just the right pressure was even better than eating chocolate. Third trimester, they (along with the rest of my body) have gone on extreme security lockdown. Triple padlock, laser beams, stun ray and all.
3. Expanding Areolas. At first, I thought it was just my imagination that my areola seemed to have begun to resemble helicopter landing pads. But when I found myself consistently getting attacked by my husband every time I stepped out of the shower, I realized that the dark area around my nipples really WERE getting darker and bigger. Apparently, the purpose of this is so that your areola can act as target rings for your nipples, so that the baby, and the baby’s daddy, will always and easily know just where to aim.
4. Ever-increasing Bust. My milk hasn’t even come in all the way yet, and I am already a cup and a half and a bra-size bustier than I was before. Buying bras that will only fit temporarily just isn’t fun for me, but it is pretty much a must. I suppose you could go buy those bra extensions thingies that hook on the back of your bras so that your same old ones can be stretched across your now wider back and breastbone, but if you’re like me, that won’t be satisfactory because of your cup increase as well. Also, your breasts are going to become heavier – meaning you will likely need more support than you did before. And if you want to ensure that your new heavier breasts won’t leave you with permanently saggy flesh on your chest in the future, you may want to make sure that you are wearing a comfortably supportive bra to bed at night.
Another thing – you may want to keep those boobs generously moisturized. On top of being super tender to bounce and touch, sometimes my breasts itch. For me, rapidly growing breasts = suddenly stretched flesh which results in the feeling of itchy skin (which is exactly what happens with your belly in the last trimester – it gets itchy because the skin is stretching so much and so rapidly). Maybe this isn’t alarming to anyone else, but having to stop and turn around to rake my nails across my boobs before anybody else notices just really puts me off. Making sure that I treat them with baby oil twice a day (along with my belly) works like a charm.
5. Eww …Veins. So not only are your breasts bigger, tender, itchy, heavy and sporting a strange new set of nipples and areolas, the skin on them won’t even look the same during pregnancy. They look veiny – the fairer your skin the more visible the veins of course – but I am a tad darker than cappuccino and the appearance of the bluish veins still catches me off guard each time I spy them in the mirror. Supposedly, those veins are carrying the fluids and nutrients from mother to baby, but I say it is just further evidence that I’m a victim of an invasion of the Body Snatchers. Just part of the excitement of being a mother-to-be!
1. Tender Breasts. For the first 1/3 of my pregnancy, it felt like my boobs were often on fire. If somebody hugged me too tight I’d wince and wriggle away. If my 3 year-old son tried to bury his face between my bosom for comfort, I’d be the one shedding tears. If my husband tried to give my growing grapefruits a grope, I’d often slap him away ferociously. And I like being groped!
Because of the tenderness, sleeping without a bra (particularly if you already had large breasts to begin with) actually becomes particularly uncomfortable because they are too free to move, and moving them hurts! I sleep in a wireless cotton sports bra and try to wear only super-supportive, non-lacy bras during the day for comfort. Oh - and I try to keep my preschooler and my husband at arms length at all times.
Why do the breasts become so tender? Mainly because of the increased hormones in a pregnant woman’s body, much like how many women experience sensitive breasts as part of their monthly cycles. Also, extra tissue and blood are being transported to your boobs in preparation for their transformation from fun bags into milk jugs.
2. New Nipples. Or at least they seem like they are now new nipples, not mine! They always seem to be standing at full attention! Which isn’t exactly fun (nor discrete), because they are bigger, fuller, tingly, tender and extra, extra sensitive.
Now, how that extra sensitivity affects one’s love life would vary from woman to woman and from time to time. But for me, the first trimester my nipples were on Do Not Disturb. Second trimester, nipple attention from my husband with just the right pressure was even better than eating chocolate. Third trimester, they (along with the rest of my body) have gone on extreme security lockdown. Triple padlock, laser beams, stun ray and all.
3. Expanding Areolas. At first, I thought it was just my imagination that my areola seemed to have begun to resemble helicopter landing pads. But when I found myself consistently getting attacked by my husband every time I stepped out of the shower, I realized that the dark area around my nipples really WERE getting darker and bigger. Apparently, the purpose of this is so that your areola can act as target rings for your nipples, so that the baby, and the baby’s daddy, will always and easily know just where to aim.
4. Ever-increasing Bust. My milk hasn’t even come in all the way yet, and I am already a cup and a half and a bra-size bustier than I was before. Buying bras that will only fit temporarily just isn’t fun for me, but it is pretty much a must. I suppose you could go buy those bra extensions thingies that hook on the back of your bras so that your same old ones can be stretched across your now wider back and breastbone, but if you’re like me, that won’t be satisfactory because of your cup increase as well. Also, your breasts are going to become heavier – meaning you will likely need more support than you did before. And if you want to ensure that your new heavier breasts won’t leave you with permanently saggy flesh on your chest in the future, you may want to make sure that you are wearing a comfortably supportive bra to bed at night.
Another thing – you may want to keep those boobs generously moisturized. On top of being super tender to bounce and touch, sometimes my breasts itch. For me, rapidly growing breasts = suddenly stretched flesh which results in the feeling of itchy skin (which is exactly what happens with your belly in the last trimester – it gets itchy because the skin is stretching so much and so rapidly). Maybe this isn’t alarming to anyone else, but having to stop and turn around to rake my nails across my boobs before anybody else notices just really puts me off. Making sure that I treat them with baby oil twice a day (along with my belly) works like a charm.
5. Eww …Veins. So not only are your breasts bigger, tender, itchy, heavy and sporting a strange new set of nipples and areolas, the skin on them won’t even look the same during pregnancy. They look veiny – the fairer your skin the more visible the veins of course – but I am a tad darker than cappuccino and the appearance of the bluish veins still catches me off guard each time I spy them in the mirror. Supposedly, those veins are carrying the fluids and nutrients from mother to baby, but I say it is just further evidence that I’m a victim of an invasion of the Body Snatchers. Just part of the excitement of being a mother-to-be!
1 comment:
I can honestly say I never went through any of that carrying my son...my milk didn't come in at all...which was cool with me cause I wasn't going to breastfeed I had this fear of suffocating my child with my big boobs ...
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