8 Weird Things That Happen to Your Breasts When You're Pregnant

By Cara Sprunk, Women's Health

As your pregnancy progresses, you expect your body to change, but it’s hard to be totally prepared for the changes your body experiences, especially when it comes to your breasts.
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Your breasts will change a LOT during pregnancy, and in ways you didn’t see coming. To help you prepare, we’re breaking down the eight changes you may experience during these nine months.

This is what you’re probably most prepared for. As Mary Jane Minkin, M.D., an ob-gyn at the Yale University School of Medicine explains, “The breasts certainly get bigger for most women. I tell them not to buy a bunch of bras at any one point, because the breasts can keep getting bigger.”

And it starts immediately. “As soon as you have a positive pregnancy test your breasts begin to grow,” says Sherry A. Ross, M.D., author of She-ology: The Definitive Guide to Women’s Intimate Health. Period. “Breast size will increase two to three times during pregnancy and four to five times during breastfeeding."
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In fact, two to three pounds of your weight gain during pregnancy comes from the breast tissue, says Ross. (Get the secret to banishing belly bulge from WH readers who've done it with Take It All Off! Keep It All Off!)

“During pregnancy and breastfeeding, nipples and areolas increase in size and change in color due to the hormonal changes,” Ross explains. “An increase in estrogen and progesterone causes pigmentation changes in the nipples and areolas. During the second trimester, you will begin to see these color changes.”
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And they might stay that way. Minkin says nipples may remain darker even after pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Some women report having an increase in nipple sensitivity during their first trimester, according to Ross.

Tender breasts are a standard part of being pregnant, says Ross. The tenderness across all parts of your breast will start early in your first trimester, and continue until you finish breastfeeding.

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In the third trimester, you might develop nipple eczema which will make them “dry, scaly, red and itchy,” explains  Ross. It’s treatable though. “Creams, topical steroids, lanolin cream, extra-virgin coconut oil, petroleum jelly, and Aveeno baths help treat the dry skin and itchy feeling,” she adds.

You may notice, during the second trimester, that Montgomery glands, or bumps on the areola become more prominent, says Ross. She also says that it is “common to see veins under the breasts become more visible as pregnancy progresses.” These can be expected to go away a month after breastfeeding ends.

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You probably weren’t expecting this until post-partum, but surprise! “During the second trimester, as early as the 16th week, you may notice colostrum leaking from your nipples,” explains Ross. “Some women notice a yellow crusty material on their nipples and don’t realize it is from colostrum.” It’s most common, Minkin says, for this to occur during the third trimester.

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