Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Boob Worries

Can one anatomical part perform two functions at the same time?

All my non-reproducing life, I've associated boobs with one thing: sex. Boobs are sexy. I will proudly admit that I am a "boob" girl and (this might be crossing the decency line for the blog world but...) I get turned on by my own pair, especially now that they are two sizes bigger.

But what happens when you become a mom and those symbols of sex take on a more utilitarian function: that of nurturing your baby? I plan to nurse, in fact, I really look forward to it. But I don't want my boobs to lose their OTHER function. So, can boobs still bring you "pleasure" when you're a nursing mom? Can they still be a turn on? If not, can that function be restored at a later date?

I think my husband is crazy sometime because, although I'm over five months pregnant, he still thinks I'm sexy (or so he says....). Ok, maybe I can buy that. Maybe. It seems a stretch to me but people have had weirder fetishes I guess. But how sexy will it be if I started to leak all over the place during sex AFTER the baby? Yeah, didn't think so. Cringe.

Am I the only pregnant person who worries about these things? Am I just being silly? Is it a pointless worry because I will be so tired and consumed by my role as a new mom that sex will be the last thing from my mind? It would just be nice to know how it all works.

4 comments:

Butterflyfish said...

I'll tell you this, I loved nursing. But I could not have felt less sexy while I was doing it. Seriously, put me in a burlap sack in a snowstorm and I'd feel sexier. In the early days, Hubby would comment like "woo woo" or "my turn next" and it made me ridiculously unreasonably angry at the time. He respected that and stopped the comments.

My bobbies took on the dual role again, but it took a few months.

Just my experience.

KG said...

Yeah, I gotta back up Butterflyfish. Umm . . nursing is decidedly unsexy to me, as well. Plus your boobs even look and feel different when you're nursing than they did before. Oddly, I think my massive mammaries are sexy but only when they're clothed. Then again, hubby is in Iraq - it's not like I'm gettin' any.

And yeah, chances are good you'll be too effing tired and in love with your baby to worry about it.

CM said...

Nursing releases oxytocin. Know of anything else that releases oxytocin?

In "The Girlfriends' Guide to Pregnancy," she says that the first time she tried nursing, she had an orgasm and nearly fell off her chair!

You can see mention of this here and there on the message boards, women feeling horribly embarrassed and inappropriate for feeling this way, but it's a chemical reaction.

PT-LawMom said...

Yes. :)

But your breasts might feel somewhat tender at first and you might not want anyone to mess with them.