My breasts remind me of raising my children. Just when I got used to one babe’s latest developmental stage, be it sitting up, walking, or sleeping through the night, I’d be forced to adjust to some new normal.
After multiple pregnancies and nursing stints, weight gains and losses, followed by breast lift surgery six years ago, I settled into a slightly scarred and more mature breast life. But having gone through the delightful female physical state known as peri-menopause (which can last five years or more, thank you), I find myself adapting to yet another shape and size of breasts: post-menopausal breasts.
The strangest part of my most recent mammary transformation is that it reminded me of going through puberty – except backwards. First fluctuating hormone levels led to breast sensitivity and pain. I even found it tough to wear a bra at times. Then they began to swell. I assumed this was temporary but was wrong. They had just gotten bigger. I’m irritated that I can no longer wear some of my most exquisite and expensive pieces of lingerie. I had to move up another bra cup size. I've slowly replaced my entire bra wardrobe. Like most women, I anticipated the inevitable sag, but who knew that one in five women grow a bigger pair? No surprise that many of us choose breast reductions in our senior years.
Breast development in my teens was Mother Nature’s way of declaring to the world that I was entering my fertile years. Arriving at the other side of 55 my body began shouting out the opposite message. After raising three kids, I’m just fine with the whole world knowing I won’t be birthing any more wee ones. Plus my teen years were filled with angst and concerns about how others might perceive me. My bigger boobs back then made me feel self-conscious and awkward. Thanks to reverse puberty I no longer have those insecurities. I may not be ready to pose topless---as Jamie Lee Curtis did at 50. But I do love my body now more than at any other time in my life. Am I perfect? No. But I am perfectly me.
What about you? Do you have concerns about changes to your breasts in menopause? Are you shocked by the size of your post-menopausal breasts?
Photo Credit: AARP