Boob Jobs After Breastfeeding?

Disclaimer: Before we begin, I must state that I am not a doctor, scientist, nor do I hold any position in the medical field. I am a mom…that breastfeeds. That’s it.

Thanks to my time in the Navy and being around other breastfeeding moms, I’ve seen a ton of boobs. I’m so comfortable naked around other people that I could probably answer my front door naked, but I’m sure that wouldn’t sit well with my husband…or the HOA…or society in general, but the UPS guy wouldn’t mind. I could walk up in the wrong locker room and get dressed and go about my business, no farks given. A lot of people would mistake the way I feel about my body for bravery, but I don’t feel that way — my body is here, and it’s serving me well. It takes me where I need to go, helps me nourish and comfort my children, and everyone else has a body too, so why it is all that big of a deal? Newsflash: it’s not. Oh and by the way, even your parents have genitalia so it’s really not that big of a deal if you see mine.

What surprises most people that do know me is that I have every intention of having a breast augmentation when I am finished breastfeeding. I’m not planning on actually getting implants, but I would like to remove the excess skin and to lift them. My husband could care less though, so why would I bother?

Because I want one.
I hate the shape of my breasts. I hate the way that they look great in a bra but then sag when I take the bra off. (And please don’t say it’s because I chose to breastfeed — I’ve seen enough boobs from women that did not breastfeed and they have boob droop too.) It’s frustrating when I want to wear shirts and I need a specific kind of bra because I personally do not like to show bra straps. Or even worse, I hate not being able to wear certain tops of lingerie that require being able to go sans bra. Dress shopping is a chore, especially when you’re searching for a gown because you can always count on alterations to be made up top.

I hate bras. 
There I said it. I hate bras. If I could never wear a bra again, I wouldn’t. I know so many women that don’t wear bras, and if my breasts weren’t so big from breastfeeding right now, I would probably be right there with them. But sadly, I need something to hold these nursing pads so my breastmilk doesn’t soak my shirts, so I’m stuck over here…wearing a bra.

I hate bra shopping.
I could care less that some random lady is measuring me to get the right fit, but when you’re 5'1" with a DD and a 32–34" band (depending on if you’re working out or not), you just can’t walk up into Victoria’s Secret and expect to leave with a perfectly fitting bra. Sure, you can go in and buy a size down, but more often than not, I can’t adjust the straps to fit me properly. And the worst to find are nursing bras. I have to have my nursing bras either made to fit me or order them online because Target, Walmart, and every other department store I’ve been to can’t get my size right, if they carry anything remotely close to my size at all. Apparently, only fuller-figured women are allowed to breastfeed in this area of South Georgia. Or petite women like myself stalk the shelves daily hoping to get a cache of properly-fitting bras.

Bras are expensive.
Okay, so are breast augmentations, but a generous ballpark for the cost of a breast augmentation without implants is about $5k or so, depending on the area where your surgery is being performed, and your doctor. The average woman buys around 4–5 bras a year, and each bra costs at least $60 if you’re buying bras where I buy bras from. So each year, I’m spending over $250 easily on bras. Now, without taking inflation into account, it’s going to take about 20 years or so for my investment to pay off, but on the other hand, I’ll also be saving myself the grief and aggravation of bra shopping while being able to add a ton of new clothes to my wardrobe that I could never wear before because my breasts were just too plain big and droopy.