2nd time Moms s/o bf-ing.

Yellow415 · June 2012

Im wondering what kind of toll did bf take on your body? Did it ruin your breasts? Do they look the same? Did it help you lose weight or not? Does it depend on the person, diet, certain routines etc ... or is it pretty much genetic, like stretch marks? None of this is important and Ill be bf regardless bc obviously the benefits outweigh anything else but Im just curious to know how it affected you.

kenna_4 · June 2012

My boobs were huge while BFing and pumping, I did it for 6 months, I never had pain while nursing like others described. The let down was uncomfortable, but not painful, and not problems latching untill we had nipple confusion, and my boobs went back to normal, they aren't saggy or bigger or anything. It did help me lose weight, I actually gained when I stopped. I have a friend that didn't BF and her boobs after 2 are saggy, she said it was purely pregnancy that did it.

nattn · June 2012

I'm still BFing once a day so I can't really tell you how mine are going to look when I stop. From what I can tell, they are always going to be bigger than my original B cub and not nearly as perky. DH claims he likes them better now, but who knows. When I try on old bras, I'm amazed that they were ever so small.

I was shocked that the only place I did develope stretch marks was on my breasts. They aren't horrible and they aren't from actually BFing since I got them while I was still pregnant.

I'm sad to say, I didn't lose any weight from BFing.

st.augbride · June 2012

I pumped for 14 months. I lost weight quickly while doing so and my boobs were huge that whole time. Now there's nothing left! I was small B pre-ds and now barely that. It's terrible. After #2, I may even consider doing something about it which is SO not like me, but pumping destroyed them.

Yellow415 · June 2012

Thanks for sharing. Its sounds like it depends more on the person than anything else.

Yellow415 · June 2012

st.augbride:
I pumped for 14 months. I lost weight quickly while doing so and my boobs were huge that whole time. Now there's nothing left! I was small B pre-ds and now barely that. It's terrible. After #2, I may even consider doing something about it which is SO not like me, but pumping destroyed them.

I already told dh I'll have them fixed if they dont look so pretty after the baby. Embarrassed

Question. Is your sn in reference to Saint Augustine, FL?

JJsMum · June 2012

I was pretty big to start with (38DD) and my boobs didn't get any bigger. I was only able to BF for 4 months, but it definitely helped me lose the baby weight. Of course that was in conjunction with watching my diet. Since DS weaned, I've actually gone down in cup size! Yeah, I'm thrilled about this, but DH not so much. I did notice that once the milk was gone the girls kinda, well, deflated. They were definitely flatter than before I get pregnant with DS. Now that I'm expecting again, they are nice and full again! Still able to wear my C cup bras, but I'm thinking not for much longer!

Mrs.DeliaMarieP · June 2012

I BF'd for a year. I went from a 34B pre-pregnancy to a 36C during pregnancy, and a 34DD while nursing. They went back to a small 34C after nursing.

No, my breasts aren't ruined. They aren't quite as perky as they used to be, but they're not bad either. I made sure to wear a good supportive bra of some sort or another (nursing sports bra during the day and nursing tanks at night) pretty much round the clock while both pregnant and BF-ing. I'm not sure if that helped, but I'm doing it again this go-around because it certainly can't hurt.

Yes, it definitely helped me lose weight and helped my uterus to contract back to normal size faster.

I definitely intend to do it again, and my goal is again for a year.

landosmommy · June 2012

LOL, my boobs pre pregnancy & pre BF were a 32C. After my milk came in they were a 36C. I BF/pumped for only 4 weeks & my boobs were sooooo saggy afterwards that I wouldn't even let DH touch them. Poor guy hasn't touched them in a LONG time. :P I seriously hate them. Well, I hatED them, now they look wonderful again, thanks to this pregnancy. :P I will be honest and tell you that I will be getting breast augmentation done after LO#2 is don't BFing. Not to necessarily make them bigger, but to give them their structure back.j

ETA: My boob post pregnancy & BF/Pumping for DS were probably a 36B, but I never bought smaller bras, so IDK for sure what size they were.

stewz · June 2012

I bf for 4-5 months. It didn't ruin my breasts but they aren't as perky as they were although they are not saggy by any means. I think it did help me lose most of the weight. I also weaned really slowly and didn't have any pain with that either. Oh and I'm still a big C/small D which is what I was before.

Yellow415 · June 2012

I guess only time will tell with me. Thanks for sharing though, its really interesting to see how everyone's bodies are affected differently.

I was a D before getting pregnant and probably pushing a DD right now so Im really worried about how my body will handle things.

lindsey913 · June 2012

I bf for ~14 months. Mine plan was a year, but it took DS a long time to warm up to cow's milk. Pre and post boobs look exactly the same. I'm small though so maybe less to sag?? I loved bf, it was easy, great bonding, there was never any prep/clean-up and I lost all of my pregnancy weight (plus a little) very quickly. I plan to bf this one for ~1 yr as well.

ETA: BF was never painful for me except when my milk first came in. I did get mastitis once as well and that was miserable. I felt like I had a horrible case of the flu, I don't ever remember feeling so feverish.

Reyka9 · June 2012

I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight within 8 weeks of my sons birth, thanks to BFing. No comment on how BFing affected my boobs as I'm still BFing my son, they're much larger than they were pre-pregnancy though. Pregnancy ruins your boobs, not BFing.

starz57182 · June 2012

I wouldn't say they are ruined, but they aren't quite as perky. Not that they were super perky before though, and they've always been on the small side.

They got bigger, but not HUGE. Mostly just fuller, I guess. But they also never got bigger with either pregnancy.

I do think it helped with the weight loss. I gained 20 lbs with the pregnancy, lost most of it right away, and had lost the rest by November-ish. I stopped BF-ing in December and gained 15 pounds in three months. And then I got knocked up so I don't really have hope for losing that weight anytime soon. It could have been co-incidence, but I definitely think it was all related.

JennV514 · June 2012

My boobs did not look the same after breastfeeding. Looked great during, not so much after. They're looking better now that I'm pregnant again. Ha. No stretchmarks. I did not lose one pound from breastfeeding. I had quite a bit of pain from engorgement, but thankfully that only lasts for a couple of weeks. I used these Lansinoh or Medela nipple ice packs after each feeding and they were awesome. Frozen veggies in the bra helps a lot, as does heat to encourage letdown. I had a few clogged ducts, and thankfully none turned into mastitis. You just have to be very aware and work them out ASAP. What was the hardest part for me was memtally getting through that first month. It is all so hard, and adding breastfeeding to it, just made it so much harder for me. But, it does get better. It's hard being a new mom.

ssisland · June 2012

Yes it helped me lose weight. Initially, I could eat anything I wanted and the weight would just fall off. But, I also think it made me hang on to the last 5-10 pounds that I couldn't lose until after I stopped breastfeeding. I think this is mainly due to the fact that any strenuous exercise or strict dieting really resulted in a drop in a supply for me.

Yellow415 · June 2012

ClaryPax:
Yellow415:
Im wondering what kind of toll did bf take on your body? None Did it ruin your breasts? No Do they look the same? Yes Did it help you lose weight or not? Yes Does it depend on the person, diet, certain routines etc ... or is it pretty much genetic, like stretch marks? Not sure what you are asking here. None of this is important and Ill be bf regardless bc obviously the benefits outweigh anything else but Im just curious to know how it affected you.

Sorry, I meant does breast feeding affect you the same way as stretch marks .. as in a "if your mom has them youll get them" kind of way.

Angel0423 · June 2012

Your breasts are already ruined darlin! Whether you choose to nurse or not your breasts will get very large in anticipation. Your milk will come in and you will be engorged. If you choose not to nurse this swelling will go down leaving you with saggy boobs. Makes no difference if you nurse or not. However if you do nurse your boobs will stay fuller (while you are nursing a child) and deflate after. Much like your abdomen may never be the same. I lost 21 lbs the first week of nursing. I only gained 28 so it was much slower after that. But I did eat like a monster and not gain weight.

st.augbride · June 2012

Yellow415:

st.augbride:
I pumped for 14 months. I lost weight quickly while doing so and my boobs were huge that whole time. Now there's nothing left! I was small B pre-ds and now barely that. It's terrible. After #2, I may even consider doing something about it which is SO not like me, but pumping destroyed them.

I already told dh I'll have them fixed if they dont look so pretty after the baby.

Question. Is your sn in reference to Saint Augustine, FL?

Yup! We got married there : ) I'm originally from Florida, but now in the DC area. Are you from there?

Yellow415 · June 2012

st.augbride:
Yellow415:

st.augbride:
I pumped for 14 months. I lost weight quickly while doing so and my boobs were huge that whole time. Now there's nothing left! I was small B pre-ds and now barely that. It's terrible. After #2, I may even consider doing something about it which is SO not like me, but pumping destroyed them.

I already told dh I'll have them fixed if they dont look so pretty after the baby.

Question. Is your sn in reference to Saint Augustine, FL?

Yup! We got married there : ) I'm originally from Florida, but now in the DC area. Are you from there?

Im not but its one of my favorite places! DH took me there for a family vacation to meet his family for the first time when I was 18 and I fell in love. We actually just went back in April for our one year anniversary.

Where did you get married?

Yellow415 · June 2012

Angel0423:
Your breasts are already ruined darlin! Whether you choose to nurse or not your breasts will get very large in anticipation. Your milk will come in and you will be engorged. If you choose not to nurse this swelling will go down leaving you with saggy boobs. Makes no difference if you nurse or not. However if you do nurse your boobs will stay fuller (while you are nursing a child) and deflate after. Much like your abdomen may never be the same. I lost 21 lbs the first week of nursing. I only gained 28 so it was much slower after that. But I did eat like a monster and not gain weight.

GASP! You take that back, lol! Stick out tongue

st.augbride · June 2012

Reyka9:
I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight within 8 weeks of my sons birth, thanks to BFing. No comment on how BFing affected my boobs as I'm still BFing my son, they're much larger than they were pre-pregnancy though. Pregnancy ruins your boobs, not BFing.

This may be true for most, but ds could never latch since he was so small when he was born and needed to gain quickly in the NICU, so I had to exclusively pump. I pumped 6-8 times per day for 3 months and then 4-5 times after that for another year. The suction of the pump really took it's toll. I wonder if I'd be in as bad of shape in that department if I was able to breastfeed directly. When I was pumping 4 times per day I was making 10-12oz each session, so I'd get huge and then deflate each time! So, I think pumping is harsher in general, but it was worth it as it kept him very healthy.

Angel0423 · June 2012

Btw, nursed/pumped for 10 months and will do it again. I was a 34C prior to pregnancy, 36D during pregnancy, 34DD nursing, and now a 34D but not as full. I think it's the luck of the draw how much they'll shrink after, maybe partially genetics.

st.augbride · June 2012

Yellow415:
st.augbride:
Yellow415:

st.augbride:
I pumped for 14 months. I lost weight quickly while doing so and my boobs were huge that whole time. Now there's nothing left! I was small B pre-ds and now barely that. It's terrible. After #2, I may even consider doing something about it which is SO not like me, but pumping destroyed them.

I already told dh I'll have them fixed if they dont look so pretty after the baby.

Question. Is your sn in reference to Saint Augustine, FL?

Yup! We got married there : ) I'm originally from Florida, but now in the DC area. Are you from there?

Im not but its one of my favorite places! DH took me there for a family vacation to meet his family for the first time when I was 18 and I fell in love. We actually just went back in April for our one year anniversary.

Where did you get married?

We had our ceremony in the Cathedral there and the reception at the Casa Monica (thanks to dh's parents!). We love it there, but haven't been back in a while. We'll need to head over there soon!

Angel0423 · June 2012

Yellow415:
Angel0423:
Your breasts are already ruined darlin! Whether you choose to nurse or not your breasts will get very large in anticipation. Your milk will come in and you will be engorged. If you choose not to nurse this swelling will go down leaving you with saggy boobs. Makes no difference if you nurse or not. However if you do nurse your boobs will stay fuller (while you are nursing a child) and deflate after. Much like your abdomen may never be the same. I lost 21 lbs the first week of nursing. I only gained 28 so it was much slower after that. But I did eat like a monster and not gain weight.
GASP! You take that back, lol!

Ok, ok. Your boobs probably look pretty awesome right now, especially with the initial pregnancy swelling I just mean that whatever your boob fate is is already sealed! Enjoy your pregnant boobs!

Yellow415 · June 2012

st.augbride:
Yellow415:
st.augbride:
Yellow415:

st.augbride:
I pumped for 14 months. I lost weight quickly while doing so and my boobs were huge that whole time. Now there's nothing left! I was small B pre-ds and now barely that. It's terrible. After #2, I may even consider doing something about it which is SO not like me, but pumping destroyed them.

I already told dh I'll have them fixed if they dont look so pretty after the baby.

Question. Is your sn in reference to Saint Augustine, FL?

Yup! We got married there : ) I'm originally from Florida, but now in the DC area. Are you from there?

Im not but its one of my favorite places! DH took me there for a family vacation to meet his family for the first time when I was 18 and I fell in love. We actually just went back in April for our one year anniversary.

Where did you get married?

We had our ceremony in the Cathedral there and the reception at the Casa Monica (thanks to dh's parents!). We love it there, but haven't been back in a while. We'll need to head over there soon!

So jealous! Must have been beautiful.

Yellow415 · June 2012

Angel0423:
Yellow415:
Angel0423:
Your breasts are already ruined darlin! Whether you choose to nurse or not your breasts will get very large in anticipation. Your milk will come in and you will be engorged. If you choose not to nurse this swelling will go down leaving you with saggy boobs. Makes no difference if you nurse or not. However if you do nurse your boobs will stay fuller (while you are nursing a child) and deflate after. Much like your abdomen may never be the same. I lost 21 lbs the first week of nursing. I only gained 28 so it was much slower after that. But I did eat like a monster and not gain weight.
GASP! You take that back, lol!

Ok, ok. Your boobs probably look pretty awesome right now, especially with the initial pregnancy swelling I just mean that whatever your boob fate is is already sealed! Enjoy your pregnant boobs!

Haha, thanks for your honesty

amh04 · June 2012

st.augbride:
Yellow415:
st.augbride:
Yellow415:

st.augbride:
I pumped for 14 months. I lost weight quickly while doing so and my boobs were huge that whole time. Now there's nothing left! I was small B pre-ds and now barely that. It's terrible. After #2, I may even consider doing something about it which is SO not like me, but pumping destroyed them.
I already told dh I'll have them fixed if they dont look so pretty after the baby.
Question. Is your sn in reference to Saint Augustine, FL?
Yup! We got married there : ) I'm originally from Florida, but now in the DC area. Are you from there?
Im not but its one of my favorite places! DH took me there for a family vacation to meet his family for the first time when I was 18 and I fell in love. We actually just went back in April for our one year anniversary.
Where did you get married?
We had our ceremony in the Cathedral there and the reception at the Casa Monica (thanks to dh's parents!). We love it there, but haven't been back in a while. We'll need to head over there soon!

Gorgeous venues! We go to mass occasionally at the Cathedral and its beautiful! We live about 45 minutes away from St Augustine and did our E pictures there - its a pretty place!

jarjules8208 · June 2012

I'm still nursing twice a day so I'm not sure about when we're done, but they look about the same. They feel a little different to me. BFing helped a little with weight loss, but I didn't eat the best when DS was first born. I've been told it's pregnancy that messes with your breasts and not BFing.

stardust317 · June 2012

Brerast-feeding was very emotional for me. DD hated it from the start, and I tried really hard to make it work for us. It never really worked out thou. As for my body, I didn't lose any weight while breastfeeding. My boobs weren't as perky as I like before hand, so I'm not noticing a significant change.

batesae · June 2012

I second what Angel said. It doesn't matter whether you nurse or not. It's pregnancy and getting your milk that changes your boobs. Also it did not help me gain weight. It actually made me keep an extra 10 lbs. Once i started exercising and eating better my supply dipped. So it was either lose weight or BF. I know a lot of other women who kept those extra lbs due to BFing.

ellaNu630 · June 2012

st.augbride:
Reyka9:
I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight within 8 weeks of my sons birth, thanks to BFing. No comment on how BFing affected my boobs as I'm still BFing my son, they're much larger than they were pre-pregnancy though. Pregnancy ruins your boobs, not BFing.

This may be true for most, but ds could never latch since he was so small when he was born and needed to gain quickly in the NICU, so I had to exclusively pump. I pumped 6-8 times per day for 3 months and then 4-5 times after that for another year. The suction of the pump really took it's toll. I wonder if I'd be in as bad of shape in that department if I was able to breastfeed directly. When I was pumping 4 times per day I was making 10-12oz each session, so I'd get huge and then deflate each time! So, I think pumping is harsher in general, but it was worth it as it kept him very healthy.

I had to EP for the first 10-11 weeks and then luckily got DS to finally latch properly. But, I went back to work at 12 weeks and continued to pump 5-6 times a day (in addition to nursing about 4-5 times a day) up until a two months ago. I would say pregnancy is definitely to blame for my deflated pancakes, which are luckily starting to fill back up, but the pump was hands down responsible for giving me the ugliest nipples known to man. Now that we're down to just nursing morning, nights and weekends, they're looking much better, but no where near as "cute" (can nipples be cute?) as they did pre-pump.

pghctwife · June 2012

I went from a D to an H during pregnancy and regulated to a G ever since. Have not weaned though my son has cut back a lot. For me it was more about pregnancy than nursing... I think the issue is with size fluctuations not the act of nursing, and mine got huge from pregnancy alone.

Exclusive nursing burns 500 calories a day. If you eat all of that and more you won't lose weight... but it definitely HELPED with weight loss when I was trying to drop the baby weight. I counted calories with MFP, set for weight loss but added back the BFing calories. It just made it easier... you can eat a little more and still lose. But you still need to try for most ppl.

TaylersMommy · June 2012

Never any pain with breast feeding. Lucky, I know! But LO and I did have trouble initiating our breast feeding relationship as she was born pre-term at almost 35 weeks. Went from a 32B pre-pregnancy to a 34C then down to a 32AA after LO weaned at 30 months

Despised my teeny boobs so much that I got implants last year, which look and feel fabulous! Lost all of the baby weight (gained 22 Ibs) and 5 pounds more by the time LO was 7 months and yes, I attribute the weight loss to breast feeding. I plan to exclusively breast feed again this time around and absolutely loved it, so I am very much looking forward to the experience a second time! Yay!

brittneygirl · June 2012

Bfing helped me lose weight like crazy!! I had to stop when DD was 9 or 10 months because I got pregnant again and I just dried up...It only hurt some at first...My boobs were never saggy because I'm pretty small chested..And I think they have actually re-inflated being pregnant again..lol..

MrsRiceARoni · June 2012

I didn't get to BF so I can't speak to weight loss and such. But I just wanted to throw it out there, that I never got to BF but my milk did still come in a few days after delivery and my boobs have been less perky and shaped differently ever since. So I wouldn't take the comments about boobs changing as a factor to not BF, because those changes can happen simply from pregnancy and the initial milk production afterwards even if you never BF or pumped a single time.

Mason&Mama · June 2012

I think that mine look the same as pre-baby. Maybe I am lucky. I started a large C, only grew a little to a D, and now I am back to a C. Mine haven't grown at all this pregnancy.

I lost all of my weight by three months PP without trying. I don't know if it was the BF. Again, maybe just luck.

st.augbride · June 2012

ellaNu630:
st.augbride:

Reyka9:
I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight within 8 weeks of my sons birth, thanks to BFing. No comment on how BFing affected my boobs as I'm still BFing my son, they're much larger than they were pre-pregnancy though. Pregnancy ruins your boobs, not BFing.

This may be true for most, but ds could never latch since he was so small when he was born and needed to gain quickly in the NICU, so I had to exclusively pump. I pumped 6-8 times per day for 3 months and then 4-5 times after that for another year. The suction of the pump really took it's toll. I wonder if I'd be in as bad of shape in that department if I was able to breastfeed directly. When I was pumping 4 times per day I was making 10-12oz each session, so I'd get huge and then deflate each time! So, I think pumping is harsher in general, but it was worth it as it kept him very healthy.

I had to EP for the first 10-11 weeks and then luckily got DS to finally latch properly. But, I went back to work at 12 weeks and continued to pump 5-6 times a day (in addition to nursing about 4-5 times a day) up until a two months ago. I would say pregnancy is definitely to blame for my deflated pancakes, which are luckily starting to fill back up, but the pump was hands down responsible for giving me the ugliest nipples known to man. Now that we're down to just nursing morning, nights and weekends, they're looking much better, but no where near as "cute" (can nipples be cute?) as they did pre-pump.

Yeah, honestly this probably my biggest complaint! It's terrible! Though I still think I wouldn't have had as dramatic of an increase and decrease all the time if it weren't for the pump since I ended up producing twice as much as ds ate.

MissNikki007 · June 2012

Angel0423:
Your breasts are already ruined darlin! Whether you choose to nurse or not your breasts will get very large in anticipation. Your milk will come in and you will be engorged. If you choose not to nurse this swelling will go down leaving you with saggy boobs. Makes no difference if you nurse or not. However if you do nurse your boobs will stay fuller (while you are nursing a child) and deflate after. Much like your abdomen may never be the same. I lost 21 lbs the first week of nursing. I only gained 28 so it was much slower after that. But I did eat like a monster and not gain weight.

True story.

Ktande22 · June 2012

I was a small B to start C during pregnancy D during nursing.. Nursed a little over a year. Totally lost the weight so fast! After I stopped nursing I gained a rebound 5 lbs. Went back down to a big B. Deflated at first but a friend explained that it takes your body 3-6 months to gain back some original fat stores so they get better after a bit. Still def. have some stretch marks (the only place I got them!)

ashdonne · June 2012

I was a 34D before breast feeding and I just bought DD nursing bras or wore sports bras while nursing. They went back down to original size after the first few weeks except would swell at let down. They defintely are not the perky fakish looking boobs I used to have but they aren't saggy either. I joke that they just look a little tired LOL.

I only gained about 22 while pregnant with DD so by the time I was home from the hospital I had already lost 12 of those pounds (DD was 8 herself!). The other 10 came off quickly while BFing and I wasn't doing calorie restriction either. In fact I lost about 6-8 more pounds while BFing/pumping. I was back in regular jeans when DD was 10 days old. However, I started losing supply about 4 months in and the weight started creeping back on. I think because I was still eating more but unable to produce as much. I had to start supplementing formula and we did that until I completely lost supply at 6 months. At that point I really started dieting more and lost the weight that had crept on.

I plan to BF as long as possible with this LO. We think this is our last LO so I do plan to be vain and get a "mommy makeover" about a year or 2 after LO is born. I want to get a breast lift and possibly a reduction (never liked having big boobs and have back issues all the time) and a tummy tuck---mostly to pull down all my terrible stretch marks so I don't look like a tiger got a hold of me!

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