Nine nipples?? What an awkward title hey? You’re probably wondering what the heck I’m talking about?? Read on and you’ll know.
Wow, it has been two years since my boobs have been leaking. They started the day before my first trimester was over with Silas and they haven’t stopped, not once. I went from an A cup at the beginning of my pregnancy and when my milk came in I was a DD!! I had soooo much milk. I’ve always wondered why I’m such I milk factory and why I’m leaking all over the place all the time. Well, I think I’ve figured it out. There’s something else very weird about me, I’ve put the two together and it makes sense. During my yearly physical my doctor was noting a mole in my armpit and I said “dr, I have a bunch of these, most showed up when I was pregnant and look, they’re symmetrical!” he gasped and said “do you know what these are?” and I jokingly said “nipples?” and HE SAID “YES”! They’re called superfluous nipples. I laughed soooo hard when he told me, I had eight stinking nipples, what could be more funny? He told me not to tell old people because back in the day people saw that as a sign that you were a witch. Are people from the burning at the stake period still alive? Anyway, he said that somewhere in the human DNA there’s the gene for all these nipples, he assured me that they don’t work and I could have them removed if I want. I went home feeling slightly freakish, I told people only to feel embarrassed about it right after. I still do that, I just say it and people get uncomfortable, I just can’t help myself, I kind of like making people uncomfortable…even if I have to feel that way too.
Part way through this 2nd pregnancy another nipple appeared. Now I have 9 nipples. I did some research and there’s nothing on the internet about people having more than one extra nipple, I have seven!! Needless to say, I’m contacting Guinness. It’s not over though, a few months ago I made the most unsettling discovery of all; my biggest and eldest superfluous nipple that resides in my armpit can lactate! I can squeeze milk out of that sucker! The doctor said they aren’t supposed to work but they do, this one works. I can nurse a small woodland creature with ease! Anyway, I figure I make so much milk because my body is thinking it has all these nipples to provide milk for! Apparently my body is ready for a litter, not just one human baby. Except dogs usually have 8 nipples, not 9 nipples.
To give you a visual of what these are like, I have one in each armpit, one on each breast (not including my normal ones) and then three on my tummy. I’ll try and find a photo to show you all. They just look like little moles, when I’m pregnant they get really dark though. I’m constantly aware of their symmetry and that perhaps someone will notice that I have an utter, or teats, or whatever. They’re actually starting to bother me. I’ll keep them though, especially if they make it into Guinness. Nothing would be cooler than that.
There, in this photo you can see mr. old and ugly in my armpit. That’s the extra nipple that lactates. You can see the other one on my tummy. There’s a faint one on the other side of my tummy too but it’s harder to see, the other one on my tummy isn’t in sight. Neato huh? I’m a freak!
Anyway, now that we know each other intimately (and I’m already feeling slightly uncomfortable about disclosing this) I’m going to go take a nap and pray for labor. My chiro tried to get the labor started today so perhaps it’ll happen. Perhaps I’ll try some tested and true nipple stimulation to get the oxytocin flowing, I wonder which ones to stimulate first? Can you beat me? Do you have more than 9 nipples?
Those nipples should be useful
, a small woodland baby you say. Hope the chiro does the trick for labour, I’m ready to hear about the new little one, its going to be very exciting, I can already hear Brent’s voice when he tells us the news.
I think that is so amazing!
Don’t feel uncomfortable, feel special! Hope you make it into Guinness. I get that book every year.
This is so interesting. I’ve never heard of it. Hope the chiro did the trick for you!!
Huh. That’s actually kind of cool! I hope you can get into the record book – I’d totally buy one, then! 🙂
Good luck with getting labour started!
OMG I thought I was the only one! I had this experience after having my first daughter 7 years ago, and I noticed milk coming from my armpits! I mentioned this to my now fiance that it really does happen! I’m pregnant with my 2nd, and he thinks I’m a real freak because he’s never heard of it before. I’ve always been self-criticizing of my “armpit fat,” and their weird functions. Nice to know there are people like me! lol.
I got an extra one in my right armpit when i was pregnant with my daughter and was shocked when i found it. I was even more shocked when i learned i could express milk from it. My poor armpit looking so unbeautiful in tank tops was getting more swollen the closer i came to delivery. After my daughter was born i was nursing one day when my aching armpit got so sore i went to rub and for no real reason gave it a little squeeze… MILK shot out of my armpit and hit my cat in the face!!! i couldn’t believe it ! i’ve never laughed so hard, ever.
I’ve never heard of anyone else being in a similar boat before and this is greatly reassuring. My boyfriend didn’t believe me till we conceived our son. By the end of my first trimester i had developed another one in the opposite armpit that almost immediately began producing colostrom.
I’m 6mo. now and my original extra nipple is hard to find but that armpit is sooooooo swollen. The only explanation i ever got was from my midwife who said that nipples are just like over exaggerated sweat glands anyway so as long as i didn’t touch it it should go away…well it didn’t…
If you learn anything more about this , or want to start a club, i’ll join. lol. I am bi-polar and around age 16 i took a medication called Risperadol that had a 1-1000 chance to make me lactate. with such a slim chance the Dr. and my mother didn’t mention it. hahaha imagine the look on my face at 16 when my boobs suddenly began to lactate out of the seemingly blue. That’s the only thing i can think of that maybe had a hand in this.
maybe we’re not the only ones though, perhaps other women have been too embarrassed to even type this question into google or ask a Dr.
OMG! I’m doing this research for the first time! I think I have 7 (total)….shhh..dont tell anyone. This is funny..but not! I knew this symmetry was always weird..now that I’m pregnant AGAIN I’m noticing them more…weird..thanks for the blog. Glad to know I’m not the only one w/ 100 extra nipples. Hmm…I wonder if mine will shoot milk…lol. I need to mention my discovery to my Dr. and my husband…ew…
i just had my first extra 2! they’re at my armpits. gave me a shock n made me sooo worried coz the lymph node on d left side is swollen to the size of a ping pong ball. that really got me thinking about breast cancer. my mum had it, my grandma had it. so my imagination is running wild…what if left untouched n the node gets blocked and it turns cancerous.
Hey!
Today I found 2 under my armpits, (being 4 months pregnant) and I was so scared and shocked and don’t know what to do with them…
and my husband found this website.
Thanks for posting this. I am going to get mine removed asap.
Do they grow bigger after giving birth and as your baby grows?
I have 2 extra nipples under my arms and when I was pregnant they both lactated. I always knew something was different about my underarms but I didn’t find out until I was in my 2nd trimester. I had my arm raised over my head pushing on my very full breast in the shower to get some relief from the pressure. Needless to say, I found out I had hidden milk.
I went from a C to a DDD in just a year! I had so much milk that I could fill two 8 oz bottles (one on either side) then nurse my baby until she was full. I didn’t need a breast pump either.
She just turned 10 this year and my extra nipples are still quite visible and I still have DDD breasts. My armpits also stick out rather than slope in like other women. I haven’t had another child yet and I’m almost afraid to considering I’m 30 and a DDD. I don’t want to be bigger!
Thanks for publishing this blog! Women everywhere can benefit from it. 10 years ago, my doctor just shrugged my concern off. And when I couldn’t find any other information about my condition I thought I was a mutant freak.
Only this year have I begun to actively search for information about this and seek to remove the problem. I’d like to be able to wear sleeveless tops, swimsuits, shave without cutting something, and raise my arms for Godsake! LOL
I always had the two asymetrical bumps under my arms and thought they were like that because of hairs growing too close together and never really worried. However, now that I am in my first pregnancy, I developed a third one and today they started to leak (26 weeks now). Going to the MD tomorrow to confirm if pregnancy-related or lymph-system related…only because I used to sweat ALOT and needed a prescription deoderant at an early age AND my younger brother has an open lymph gland on his neck that has a slow leak.
Thanks for the article, helped me to not worry so much!
I too found I had 2 in my armpit during my first pregnancy and yes one of them started to leak milk after my son was born. I had one removed when my son was 6 weeks old as it really protruded when wearing summer tops. I’m now pregnant again and surprise surprise another one has appeared!!
And this is why the internet is awesome.
ha ha ha ha
Wow! Good to know I’m not the only one! My first extra one showed up while I was pregnant with my first, my second one came in while I was pregnant with my second bub, and I’ve just realised that what I thought were weird pimples that wouldn’t go away on my belly (just under my breasts) are actually two new ones!!! (I’m currently pregnant with number 3). Yes, I too had milk previously and again have colostrum now. Does anyone have any links to any medical sites relating to this?
I’m so happy to find this! My mom noticed my two extra nipples – same spot as yours on my armpits – a couple months back when I tried on a sleeveless maternity dress (I was about 4 months pregnant at the time). She said, “Do you know what those are?” her eyes wide. I said, “ingrown hairs?” She said “they’re nipples!” She then told me that one of my aunts developed them when they were pregnant. A month later we went on vacation with that aunt and another aunt. Both aunts noticed them when I had my bathing suit one, turns out they BOTH developed nipples when they were pregnant. One aunt’s went away, and the other’s leaked so she had them removed. I’m having twins so I’m guessing my body is really preparing me in case the two normal (nonsuperfluous) nipples need a break. : ) My doctor said it wasn’t a nipple, but I had a feeling they were. Thanks for sharing this!.
I went through this 29 years ago but I ofcourse forget what the doctors long name for it was..in plain english he said, “they were nipples/small breasts”..and it is just what they feel like
OMG, I was pregnant last year and I had swellin in my arm piuts and felt a sort of lump in each of them. my doc said they were milk reserves. I suffered a miscarriage but these milk reserves dont go. And they hurt when its time for my periods or when I use a deo. I googled it o see if it was normal and i chanced upon this article. thanks helped me a lot, though it doesnt answer my question – does it ever go? its so embarassin when i wear sleeveless clothes or swim suits.
ha ha ha, my nipples are here to stay! Don’t let it bother you!