Hello all,

I am a pretty small person (5 feet tall, size 10 dress size), physically fit
(I'm on active duty in the Army and I have to pass a semi-annual fitness
test and weight standard), with huge breasts.  Right now I'm in a 36DDD or
34F but that's fairly small compared to the 38H I got up to in the early
postpartum days after both of my children.  I have the worst time finding
bras and once I do find one, it costs a small fortune so all I can buy at
one time is one bra.  Sports bras are the worst -- I'm a distance runner (I
like to get 3-5 miles in several times each week) but even the super-duper
sports bras for "large-chested women" don't fit me, and what I ultimately
settle for always chafes me to shreds.  It's really little wonder that
large-breasted women tend toward the overweight, because exercising, really
exercising, is practically impossible without a good bra, and a good bra is
so hard to find.

With regard to breastfeeding, I am one of those mothers whose anatomy allows
me to breastfeed my babies while they lie flat on their backs.  I do find
that I have to support the weight of my breast when my babies are very small
(in spite of advice to the contrary from many excellent lactation
consultants), and our "ideal latch" would certainly not be good to use as a
picture in a text book!

As far as my history goes -- my mother has very large breasts, even when she
was a smoker(!) and much smaller overall, her breasts were large -- C-cup or
bigger.  I was not breastfed at all and my mother is a breast cancer
survivor (and she did take the birth control pill in the 60's, very scary).
My father's mother, and his two sisters, had/have ENORMOUSLY LARGE breasts.
We're Maltese (from the island nation of Malta).  I went to visit there in
1999 and was amazed to discover that pretty much everyone there was short,
strong, and had what we Americans consider to be large breasts...but over
there, they don't really think of them as abnormally large, just how breasts
are.  I had to shop for clothign because my luggage didn't make it when I
did, and I giggled with delight at the department store when *my* size (34DD
at that time) was hanging right up front in the bra section, not buried deep
in a drawer or unavailable altogether like here in the U.S.  

I haven't ruled out the possibility of breast reduction in the future, but
I'd love to find other women for whom breastfeeding has been such an
important and significant part of their motherhood journey.  I'm not sure,
even when my last baby is weaned, I will be able to psychologically handle
losing my breasts.  If anyone has any resources concerning this topic, I'd
be most appreciative.

For those who celebrate this weekend, have a very happy Easter. :)

--Diana in NY

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