It is not just your tummy that grows during your pregnancy – your breast grows too. Depending on your original size and perception about your breasts, this growth will either make you happy (“finally I can spot them!”) or sad (“not bigger again!!!”).
Whatever be your feelings, the changes and growth are inevitable and you cannot do anything to prevent them. What will help is to understand why it happens, when it will happen and how to make changes to your wardrobe to fit into new size.
Why Do Breasts Grow Bigger During Pregnancy?
Put quite simply, growing breasts are your body’s way of preparing your breasts to lactate and breastfeed your child.
If you are pregnant, then your body is a circus of hormones! The hormonal changes result in changes in the breast tissue and increase the blood flow to your breasts. The hormones – progesterone and human chorionic gonadotropin specifically – result in the enlargement of the breast tissues. This is what results in bigger breasts. The growth can also result in your skin feeling dry and itchy and in the appearance of stretch marks.
How Do Breasts Grow Bigger During Pregnancy?
First, there will be that tingling sensation like you are just about to get your periods. Your breasts can feel sore, swollen and pretty sensitive to touch. Infact, breast tenderness is one of the earliest signs that you will notice once you are pregnant.
You might start noticing changes as early as the second month. The pregnancy hormones will start giving your body signals to store fat in your breasts, to enlarge the breast tissues and to grow the milk ducts from week 7-8. It will continue growing consistently throughout your first and second trimester.
But by week 36, closer to your delivery, you will notice a sudden and considerable enlargement in your breasts. This is because your breasts have started producing milk in preparation for the breastfeeding that will start in few weeks.
By the end of your pregnancy, your breasts would have grown, on an average, by 700 grams (this will change according to your body type and weight).
How Big Will Your Breasts Grow?
There is no rule of thumb or “standard” increase when it comes to growing breasts in your pregnancy. Many women experience their cups becoming at least one two sizes bigger. If accompanied by considerable weight gain, your band size might increase an inch or two as well.
That said, this is not the norm.
If you had a bigger bust to begin with, then you might not notice much changes at all. But that does not mean that women with smaller breasts can for sure expect a size change – that might not happen as well. What we are trying to say is that every pregnancy is different and your body type is not like anyone else’s. So your breast growth journey will be unique to only you.
How Can You Prepare Yourself For The Bigger Breasts?
It is just not practical to keep buying a new bra size every twilight during your pregnancy. We need to play smart here because eventually once you wean your child from breastfeeding, your breast tissues will shrink to the pre-pregnancy state. So you do not really need a dozen new bras.
We suggest a ‘wait and watch’ approach. Even though your breasts starts growing by week 7, we are guessing you would not need a new bra until well into your second trimester. If you start noticing spillage and discomfort, that is when you need to find a bigger bra. If this happens only later in your pregnancy, then we suggest you buy nursing bras directly, instead of buying regular bras. Nursing bras are softer and more comfortable and you can use them after your baby is born as well during the breastfeeding phase. For more tips on choosing the right bra, refer to What are Maternity and Nursing Bras? and Bra-Shopping here and here.
What Other Breast Changes Can Be Noticed In Pregnancy?
Breasts are integral to your pregnancy. From the onset of conception to the time you wean you baby from breastfeeding, your breasts will continue to show many changes like:
Growth in size: Just as we discussed above
Pigment changes and vein show: you might notice a lot of veins under the skin of your breasts, and you will find that your nipples are getting larger and darker
Areolas: Bumps on areolas may appear, this is in order to prepare your breasts for nursing the baby
Leaky breasts: Once you become a mom, you might suffer from oversupply of milk for initial few dates.
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