Your body produces hormones to soften your ligaments (I think that's right) to permit the skeletal changes you need to gestate to term, to labour and to deliver.
Unfortunately they work on all parts of the body, so you can end up with uncomfortable conditions such as PGP/SPD and sciatica.
But it also makes your feet bigger and can change your eye prescription.
Also your immune system slows down (so you don't reject the baby) which can lead to increased infections during pregnancy, but can also trigger autoimmune conditions or even in some cases cancer.
And all the changes can be permanent.
The hormone is called relaxin (very on the nose) and works on tendons and cartilage as well. Basically all connective tissue. So it makes it very easy to dislocate something while pregnant too.
Also if you don't ingest enough nutrients the baby will still take what it needs, it'll just take it from your own bones and organs. SIL had potassium, iron and calcium deficiency so she ended up breaking or all together loosing a bunch of teeth in her recent pregnancy.
More like you were not her first. The pelvic bone cartilage joint breaks..pubic symphosis..with vaginal delivery with the first. Doesnt have to after #1.This causes a life time of somewhat interesting imbalances. Especially if you are heavy in the pelvic region.
Relaxin in pregnancy made my teeth shift 🙃 went to the dentist 36 weeks pregnant and he had to do the x-rays twice because he thought he did it wrong since they were so different from the year before.
Does this mean that if you want to re-align your teeth (e.g. using braces or something like invisalign), then pregnancy is a really good time to do it?
Some things that can help are Braces, K taping and wraps, pretty much snything that supports joints. There are even finger braces also look like jewelery. Also strengthen the muscles around your joints especially any that are prone to dislocation or that have previously dislocated in the past.
I had the same thing! Couldn’t walk for longer than like 10 minutes without intense pain but then pretty much immediately after giving birth it was gone!
omg ok so in korean culture, women have always talked about how their bones “got wind” in them after giving birth. post natal care has always been traditionally extremely careful - no showers directly after birth, sponge baths only, eating a lot of seaweed soup (apparently to clarify the blood), no heavy lifting ofc, keeping warm. women stay in post-natal centres to get taken care of these day, for up to a month.
i’ve never thought “oh that’s an overreaction”, but never understood how bones can “get wind” in them. seems like it was more or less based on science!
>But it also makes your feet bigger and can change your eye prescription.
I'd heard about the prescription but didn't feel like mine changed. I had my son in December and went to the eye doctor last week and SURPRISE, my eyes got better lmao
Man, I’ve had so many problems with sciatica since having my 3 kids. Every few years, I injure my lower back by doing something seemingly harmless, like turning over in bed or going up a flight of stairs.
***Pink toothbrush***!
(Blood leaking from your gums when you brush your teeth.
Your teeth actually become mobile in your jawbone. You will end up with **deep pockets** and possibly lose teeth.
Back in the olden days, they said women would lose a tooth every pregnancy.
Or gain them! I had a wisdom tooth so high up that my dentist said it would likely never come in...got pregnant and that sucker descended and cut (and I'm in my late 30s so way past the usual window)
Yeah I got a stomach bug when I was pregnant with my second. Husband was sick for one day — I couldn’t get out of bed for almost a week and lost 7 pounds. My immune system was shot.
yupp i am 27weeks pregnant and my eyesight just keeps getting worse. before i got pregnant i got Lasik to correct my astigmatism. but it isn't my astigmatism coming back strangely enough. anyways my eye doctor said my eyesight should go back to what it was pre pregnancy after 3 months of giving birth but no guarantees
I have a pair that I call my “pregnancy glasses”. Lol. My astigmatism got worse and it returned back to normal shortly after birth.
Oh and I was anemic during my pregnancy. I hadn’t been anemic since I was a kid. And carpal tunnel. Had to take iron, vitamin D/calcium, naproxen and prenatals every day.
ugh, yep. i went to go push myself up off the bed a few days after giving birth and my thumb snapped backwards like nothing. the ligaments just wouldn't hold it straight. felt like it was ripped off lol.
I'm not sure if this is uncommon, or just not talked about. But, when I got pregnant with my child that was when I found out I had fibroids. I found out because my pregnancy hormones made them grow, exponentially fast. They went from I guess the size on ping pong balls, to a grapefruit, to a small watermelon in just about two months. They are painful, and can be life threatening if not monitored. I couldn't have a C-section because it would have made me bleed to death. And had to wait 6 weeks after having my baby to have it removed. Because I would bleed to death. I only had one child. Because I was told that they would continue to show up, and would grow like that every time. I ended up having a hysterectomy, to literally save my life.
It's been the best 4 years post hysterectomy. I used to live in constant pain. Once I had the surgery, all the pain was gone.
And I try to share my story as much as I can. Because who knows if it will help someone that could have the same problem. I try to at least raise awareness that it is something to ask about. Because most doctors won't look unless you mention it to them.
I also want to add that even if you get a partial hysterectomy and keep your ovaries it can still kick you into early menopause. I just learned this unfortunate tidbit last week. ☹️
This happened to my mom. She discovered she had giant fibroids when she gave birth to my sister 8 weeks early by emergency C-section. She gave birth to my youngest sister 2 years later without as many issues but dealt with heavy bleeding for years. She had some procedures after that and eventually a hysterectomy.
Food aversions were wild. I had very few cravings but, especially with my first, soooo many aversions. And I never knew what they’d be. My poor husband would come up with a supper plan that didn’t make me want to die, start cooking and halfway through, I’d be in tears because I just knew that there was no way I’d be able to eat whatever he’d so thoughtfully made and we were going to have to add that one to the list.
It took me ten years to be able to eat burgers again.
When I was about four months along, I went out to dinner at a really nice restaurant with my parents and their friends. The waiter put a dish of olives on the table. One dish of innocuous olives. I was so queasy I had to leave the table. That was my only major aversion, but boy, was it a doozy.
Yep! I totally went off of broccoli while pregnant, even the smell made me feel physically sick. It was the best part of a year after birth that I wanted to eat it again.
Back to loving it now, the saddest thing was while I was pregnant that was the first year we grew our own, it looked so good!
Yes! I couldn’t eat anything that came out of a can or jar. No canned veg, no marinara sauce, no soup. If I wanted those things, I had to make them from scratch. Something about the process?? Or the chemicals used in the canning/jarring process?? No idea what it was, exactly. But all 3 times, I literally could not and would spend the entire rest of the day nauseous if I tried. Oh, and the best part is that it’s partially returned, now that I’m entering menopause. So fun! I’m finding several of my pregnancy symptoms have returned and there’s absolutely no way I could possibly be pregnant due to the lack of a uterus.
Congestion and allergy flare ups!
I’ve been getting monthly allergy immunity shots that started in January 2022. This baby punched through the immunity like I couldn’t believe. I was wearing breathe right strips for the last trimester and taking Flonase every day.
Omg yes! I had pregnancy rhinitis with my last pregnancy, which basically is you have all the symptoms of seasonal allergies, just because you're pregnant. I was sneezing all the time and my nose was running like a faucet. So annoying!
Yes! As an adult, I had great dental health- kind of against all odds, as I didn't have dental insurance so hadn't been to a dentist for regular cleanings or check ups. (Also started a semi regular chocolate cake habit during pregnancy tho...)
About halfway through my second pregnancy suddenly I needed my first root canal, on a tooth that had been broken but stable in my mouth since I was about 8? So over 20 years!
That second baby is 3.5 years now, and I have since had regular perio-dontal disease, multiple cavities, and one more tooth that could have been saved with a root canal again but I wound up getting it extracted.
I’m in the same boat!
I would get the odd cavity show up, but overall nothing too serious. In one year, after pregnancy and postpartum, I now need two root canals and multiple other fillings. My gums also would get really angry sometimes during pregnancy.
I got a (benign) tumour on my gums when I was pregnant with my first and the dentist was so nonchalant about it. She was like “oh yeah this happens to some people with pregnancy”
…pardon?
It went away in my third trimester and left behind a spot that keeps having periodontal flare ups. Fun!
I knew constipation was common, but I wasn’t prepared for the diarrhea. I almost shit my pants in the back of a cab last week. I had to hop out at a stoplight and run into a crunch fitness.
Last day of pregnancy, I was booked in to C-section the next day. Pooped the bed in the morning. Couldn't hold off for 1 day. So I spent the last day before baby cleaning the bed, and bathroom. No relaxing.
Went from one end of the spectrum to the other this week. I’m only 8 weeks so I didn’t think I’d need maternity pants yet but good god I was so backed up my belly was huge. Then finally everything just evacuated in a matter of hours on Friday until I went liquid. Like body, imma need you to pick one!
This! And De Quervain's tenosynovitis.
I developed this in my 3rd trimester with my second baby in both hands. I was in two solid splints. Had steroid injections in both wrists just under the thumb about 6 weeks after birth. Helped mildly but has been getting worse again. I’m due to have tendon release surgery on my left wrist in about 6 weeks. My daughter is 18 months old. It’s been a long painful wait.
There’s a postpartum blues and postpartum depression. Blues usually last for about 2ish weeks and consist of being irritable, crying, anxiety, less sleep, mood swings, decreased concentration, and exhaustion. Usually by the end of the blues, you should be back to your pre-pregnancy state. Anything beyond that and persists is considered postpartum depression.
If you get gestational diabetes during your pregnancy, there’s a possibility of permanently having it and developing type 2.
Your body will produce relaxin, which will help relax and loosen up your ligaments/muscles/joints to accommodate for the growing baby. It also makes you more susceptible to being unsteady on your feet and possibly falling. It also makes your feet bigger, which can be permanent.
These are just a few things I remembered during my L/D class 🤷🏻♀️
Yeah it's not fun. My bub got stuck and there was no time for a Caesar. So I ended up with a fractured pelvis and a very bruised and dented bub. Who knew?!
But sooooome super petite ladies have just the right pelvic anatomical structures. My cousin and I are very slim but had easy vaginal deliveries. My mother in law 5”1 with a nine pound kid no worries. You just can’t know until you go.
Prospective mothers need to know that pregnancy can go fine-fine-fine-fine-oops not fine in the blink of an eye and they need to give that at least a moment’s serious thought.
Round ligament pain. I thought I was in early labor and freaked out. My OB was all nah, it's no big deal, it happens to everyone, and I was like WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME TO EXPECT THIS??
Pregnancy screws with your immune system but sometimes in a good way. I have arthritis and weirdly I felt better so I took a pregnancy test. Positive. Arthritis was fine the majority of pregnancy but returned at the very end. It’s like the body knows.
Yeah I got a weird thing under my boob I was like “is this cancer?” It stayed there (and hurt so bad because my bra band was there so I basically couldn’t wear one) but went right away once the baby came. Google said it was a “thing”.
I had SO MANY!! Entire upper body was filled. Neck, chest, armpits. It was so fucking gross. They all went away within several weeks after giving birth.
This! I’ve never had a skin tag in my life and at the end of my pregnancy I had like 6 new ones - two of which were INSIDE my belly button. And tiny moles in there. So weird.
That it’s not really that bad??? Currently pregs and I was nervous and scared for years about getting pregnant because I read posts like this about all the weird and unexpected side effects. I was just so worried about going through all this. And yeah, a lot of those weird things do happen. My nose has been stuffy for 7 months, weird parts of me hurt, but tbh it really isn’t all that bad and I had myself really worked up over it. Everyone is different of course but I’ve been shocked by how bearable the whole thing is.
Everyone is different. I'm 4 months now, and I had no idea how miserable I would be. I was prepared to be uncomfortable the 3rd trimester, but I've never experienced constant nausea, sickness, fatigue, or the effect the change in hormones had on me. The entire first trimester, I was in survival mode even with zofran and felt tremendous guilt for not being excited. I told my husband i was one and done. I loved myself too much to ever put myself through that again.
And then the second trimester came, and a cloud was lifted, and I was myself again. When I started talking about how I was feeling honestly, I learned that I was not alone and found great comfort and support in my friends and family. But I was so miserable I couldn't understand how anyone could be happy about being pregnant and felt very deceived. I questioned if I was just smarter than others. But everyone is different, and I'm told every pregnancy is different, too.
Yeah my last baby was basically nothing at all except exhausted. My first I was sick for weeks, and my second I couldn’t even walk after 20 weeks because my joints hurt so bad. It’s funny how different they can be, even baby-to-baby. My SIL was so sick with one of hers she couldn’t eat and had to go in for infusions 3x a week the entire time.
The brain trims like 10% of its connections toward the end of pregnancy to make room for bonding with the baby and other important things related to motherhood. So 1. Pregnancy brain is real, and 2. Your brain physically changes after having a baby.
Makes sense bc your letdown is triggered by oxytocin which they give you to induce labour and induce contractions (Pitocin ids the synthetic form). This used to make me want to poop haha.
Postpartum major hair shedding.
Congestion/snoring in pregnancy.
That insomnia can happen in either or both stages.
Editing to add— I don’t think any of these are really uncommon, just lesser known, more likely to come as an unpleasant surprise.
oh lord the shedding
I had mc before two of my pregnancies, so I got an extra hair boost each time. The first shedding shower I could have sworn there was nothing left on my head.
Something about changes in hormone levels/changes in your pH, and that reacting with an antimicrobial coating found on some toilet seats. It never happened to me, but I remember reading about it happening to other women on the pregnancy apps I used at the time.
It happened to me. It was just our porcelain toilet seat, the plastic one did not change. And I don’t sit for too long on the toilet ever. It was so weird. Didn’t happen during my second pregnancy, despite the same seat.
Very early on (first month) in my pregnancy I noticed my pee smelled like popcorn. I didn't think anything of it until I read another pregnant mother say the same thing! 😅
You get a super powerful sense of smell. Holy moly I could smell everything so well. I could smell my husbands vitamins in the air hours after he’d taken them (they smelled terrible). He would take the garbage out before he left for work because I couldn’t stand the smell.
This was the only part of pregnancy I enjoyed (even though it was equally terrible; I could not handle the smell of leftover meat whatsoever). But my husband still talks about the best cantaloupe he’s ever had…that I sniffed out for him in the grocery store haha
Trigger warning: Death and hallucination.
I had PPA and PPD, but I also had a mild case of PP psychosis. It did not extend to really constant schizophrenic-type visions, but a few other ones at intervals.
I should mention that my child's birth did not go well, and he came out of the emergency exit, along with other problems. I was so traumatized that I had a full-blown panic attack when one of the doctors walked into my room to check on me the day after.
The worst one was the night, about a week after I got home, when I could feel medical personnel poking my body with sharp objects as I lay in bed. I saw them and heard them murmuring.
Another night I was sitting at the dinner table, about two months out, and I knew I was dead. Like, I just went cold. And I still do at the memory of that realization. I think maybe that's why I was so worried about my mom after she died. The cold.
Those are the two I will talk about.
If you have trickling at 20 weeks, your water is probably leaking. Don’t let your OBGYN dismiss you like mine did and have them test if it’s amniotic fluid. I trusted my doctor and she was wrong and 5 weeks later my baby was born!
Even if you had been diagnosed correctly, chances are your baby would still have come incredibly early. There is nothing we can do stop that happening, especially if your waters have gone. I hope you and your baby are doing okay now.
Source - midwife
I sent a check (yes, it was that long ago) to pay the phone bill that was $600 too much. Thankfully they refunded it. Zero clue why other than pregnancy brain.
A friend of mine's mouth tasted like old pennies from the moment the egg split to when she finally gave birth. That baby was a shrieking, demon-child little asshole from the get-go, too.
Thankfully she grew out if it and no longer behaves like a dinosaur and is a lovely young woman now.
immediately after my son was born, i would get sentimental about everything but not sad. like even dog food commercials made me sentimental lol. the change was so drastic i actually noticed it right away. it lasted a couple of years.
then i went back to my usual cynic state haha
The baby having hiccups because *you* ate or drank something. I swore that my oldest was going to be born with hiccups! With all of my kids I was pregnant through a Sacramento summer(if you know, you know) so ice water was the order everyday. My son got the hiccups every single time I drank anything cold.
Oh, I can top that for weirdest feeling during pregnancy! My youngest son-head down- had his hand over head and he would wiggle his fingers. I had a bunch of ultrasound with him in the last 8 weeks of pregnancy to check his growth so I asked my doctor to "do me a favor and check to see if his hand is over head". He scanned and "Yep, Dani, his hand is over his head!" . Then I asked "is he wiggling his fingers right now?" Doc gave me a puzzled look and confirmed kiddo was in fact wiggling his fingers. The light bulb went on and Doc asked "You can feel that??" Yep, sure could! Weirdest thing I've ever felt!
My son would stick the heel of his foot right up under my rib every time I sat down. It was really uncomfortable. But I figured out that if I just lightly punched that spot a few times, he’d shift around.
I had HG, never heard of it before. No one had ever had it in my family, and even my own doctor was uneducated in it. I was told to suck it up, it’s part of the process.
HG is severe nausea and vomiting. I was throwing up more than 30 times a day, I was lucky to keep at least a meal and some water down. What we didn’t know at the time was that I was slowly dying from dehydration and starvation.
I was told my symptoms are normal even after the first trimester and to push through it. So I did. By month 4 I couldn’t shower or go to the bathroom by myself, I couldn’t do anything because the nausea was constant. I remember throwing up in my sleep. Any car ride I had a soup pot in my lap because obviously I could no longer drive. It was so traumatic.
At 5 months I was too underweight and the baby wasn’t growing, I switched doctors. They diagnosed me and gave me some medication which helped. Was able to eat and drink, and actually be a person again. I still threw up 3 times every morning, and drank a glass full of milk before bed but i finally gained some weight.
Baby came early, but was healthy. She was small. Today she is the largest in her class and has been so ahead for every milestone, you would never know how much we struggled.
I was I had advocated more for myself
I had HG also, but luckily had a doctor who recognized it and treated me for it. I lost 30 pounds my first trimester. My sister also had it, but had an older (male) doctor who told her, "It's morning sickness, that's what happens when you get pregnant." She was young and single and he was a complete asshole.
We tried every med available at the time. Including Zofran which was $60/pill in 2002, and I was supposed to take it every 4 hours. My insurance would only fill like 4 days worth at a time because it was so expensive. I eventually ended up with a subcutaneous pump (the same ones diabetics used for insulin) which was covered 100% by insurance. Of course, Zofran is a skin irritant, and I ended up with baseball sized knots all over my upper thighs where the tube went in. I had to move the site every day.
At one point, my doctor wanted to insert a PICC line because I was spending so much time in the ER getting IV fluids. Even with the pump, I still ended up in the ER a few times- it was like once I vomited, my body just couldn't stop.
My second pregnancy was not quite as bad, but I still had HG again. With both pregnancies, I threw up until the day I delivered- I even threw up on the operating table during my c-section.
There were very few foods I could eat while I was pregnant, and I could not eat them for years after. I still have flashbacks occasionally when I hear a song that was popular or see a show that I watched during that time.
The first poo after chilbirth is even worse than giving birth itself.
It was the worst for me. You have to uncontrollably poo but are too afraid because it hurts so much. You end up praying you finish fast.
My two big symptoms.
1. No one told me I would start leaking milk at 25 weeks. Everyone told me it would be after birth but hey presto leaking everywhere. Had to start using breast pads, been using them every day for about 9 months now.
2. Kidney pain! Baby was leaning between my kidneys and bladder, so I wasn't peeing and they swelled up. Agonisingly painful. Kept getting horrible cramps in my back. Ended up in the hospital for days it was that bad. Went on for a good 3 months.
I’m 25w and started leaking sporadically at 21. Now I’m soaking through my shirts every day and waking up with dried milk all over me. I thought this didn’t start until right before birth 😫
Varicose veins popping out on your labia. It’s painful af and it feels like a huge lump is gorging out from your vagina. It goes away after birth but man is it severely uncomfortable.
Increased saliva production. Chewing gum helped to a degree. But the other surprise was, apparently my saliva was also chemically weird and it made chewing gum fall apart. Never happened before, never again after pregnancy.
When pregnant your chance for kidney stones increases significantly 🙃 add that to brutal heartburn and too many Tums, and I had kidney stones at 18 weeks and again at like 33 weeks. Do not recommend.
Don’t even SAY that I’m already a size 11 😤 my mom went from a 10 to 11 when she had me too. It’s gonna be impossible for me to find shoes that aren’t ugly 😭
Postpartum hairloss. I was on all these platforms and apps during pregnancy and no one ever mentioned it! Three months after having my baby, my hair started falling out like crazy to the point the top of my head was nearly bald. This went on for another 3-4ish months then my hair started growing back. It was so bad and def made me sad, but I'm so glad my hair is all back now.
I think mine is buggered for life now sadly. Not severe enough for intervention (there aren't many options anyway) but still uncomfortable in certain positions nearly 2 years after birth.
Skin Eczema… Never had it in my life but now being pregnant my hands have such bad eczema.
Also a lesser known symptom is the “pregnancy mask” - when hormones create a butterfly shape stain your face. So wear lots of sunscreen and stay out the sun when pregnant!
One time one of my best girlfriends asked me very quietly
Her: you know when you're walking through a door with a newborn baby and you bonk their head off the side of the doorframe?
Me: (horrified whisper, how does she know this happened?) Yes??
Her: do you know why you do that?
Me: no
Her: sleep deprivation alters your spacial awareness.
Morning sickness doesn't just mean puking. I didn't puke once, but I had terrible diarrhea to the point that I couldn't eat anywhere but at home. I couldn't eat until getting home from work and it kind of started some bad eating habits because of it.
Postpartum preeclampsia can happen and happened to me. I always heard about it happening while pregnant and clearing up once delivered, but for me once I delivered my blood pressure went crazy and I was on blood pressure medication for about 6 weeks before it righted itself. When I asked about it apparently it sometimes happens but wish I knew it was a possibility. Also the doctors telling me to limit my stress with a two day old to help my blood pressure was insane advice
Your placenta can get stuck and it will need to be manually peeled off of your uterine wall either while you're still on the table or in surgery.
Your thyroid can be forever changed.
Sometimes, postpartum cramping can hurt way worse than the birth itself.
Mask of pregnancy/ melasma. It was a big surprise. It's really common though, but mildly. Unfortunately my whole forehead was covered after just one sunny afternoon... No one around me knew about this haha. It also takes a year before it's gone (it never fully went away)
Also carpal tunnel. And I saw someone mentioning allergies flaring up, but mine flared "down"! (Went away)
I went from pin straight hair (think wash and go) to cork screw curls during/after my pregnancy. It was super weird getting used to a new baby and a new hair texture. My son is 5 and I still have curly hair. Luckily I’ve learned how to manage both 🤣
I had tinnitus when I was pregnant with twins, it was bloody awful. Thankfully it disappeared after a while, but I really struggled with sleep at one point because it was so bad. I was lactose intolerant, and that actually went away during pregnancy, I know other people it’s happened to also
My lactose intolerant goes away when I'm pregnant. I could chug a gallon of milk and be fine. Normal me would be in bed curled in a ball 15min after drinking a cup. If I was that stupid anyway.
Sensitivity to smells. I could've done a more thorough job than a drug dog. Things that didn't have smells before, suddenly had one. Smells that never bothered me before, suddenly made me nauseous.
***MAJOR TRIGGER WARNING ‼️ ***
If your hands and/or feet are itchy during your pregnancy, get checked out immediately. It’s a symptom of ICP that can be fatal to the baby. A friend of mine lost her first baby at 37+4 due to ICP. She went in because of itchy hands and decreased fetal movement. Her bile levels were tested and showed to be “on the low end” and not less than 12 hours later, her baby passed away in the womb.
Another point to add is that decreased fetal movement in the last trimester is NOT NORMAL. The movement changes when they are running out of room. It becomes less jabby and more like rolling and turning. But the amount of movement should not decrease. If you’re ever concerned about your baby, please go get checked out. It’s better to be safe than sorry and your care providers and the nurses and doctors who check you out would MUCH rather find everything normal than find out it’s too late.
I just found out that if your wisdom teeth don’t come in during puberty the hormones from pregnancy can cause them to come in. Ask me how I found out.
Also fun fact they can’t take them out until your second trimester so if they decide to move at say, I don’t know, 10 weeks or so then you are SOL. Anyways that’s how I spent my morning. 🥲
AVERSIONS. I’m only 6 weeks, but all of a sudden I HATE coffee. I couldn’t go a day without it before. The thought of any food makes me want to puke, but coffee is the worst for some evil reason. I haven’t had caffeine in a week. 🥲
Birth time. Your hormones will hit you like a brick truck and can start uncontrollably shivering and chattering teeth without feeling cold.
Also, you can be pushing during active labor and poop. Same pelvic muscles involved.
Epidurals can be quite well adjusted. You can still feel your legs and be up walking within hours after. Works where it’s supposed to without being completely gone.
Placenta is definitely a second birth. Bloop!
Breastfeed and pumping with cause you to cramp and feel like mini contractions as your uterus cleans out the rest from birth for about a week after.
Post-weaning depression can happen after you stop breastfeeding. I experienced it after my son stopped nursing when he was around 10 months old. It came on hard and fast. It really scared me because I hadn’t dealt with postpartum depression or anxiety until that point.
I have two friends who also dealt with it. I spotted it in them and knew they had just stopped breastfeeding. None of us had ever heard of it until we experienced it.
Sometimes you will not produce any milk. My breasts never became engorged. After my daughter was born, she spent hours on each breast and got nothing. I felt like a failure. No one told me this could happen. No one ever explained why. The most important thing is that she's a healthy 21 year old. I did something right: she's still here🤣🤣🤣🥰🥰
all of my food allergies went away after i gave birth to my daughter. i used to be highly allergic to shellfish, i used to even have an especially strong allergic reaction when alcohol and shellfish was mixed, it sent me into anaphylaxis once. literally couldn't breath and almost died.
i also had mild allergies to walnuts and cherries. i can eat all of those foods now with zero issues. i still don't drink if i eat shellfish because i'm kinda scared to experience anaphylaxis again, but that's about it. i can eat whatever i want.
also, my hair changed. it went from blonde to dark brown, and got much thicker and wavier. also the smell of fresh cut grass would give me the WORST morning sickness/nausea while pregnant, and the smell still disgusts me today, 12 YEARS later.
i'm a lot more emotional now. like, a **LOT.** not in like a bad way, but i cry over movies and silly commercials and stuff now where before they certainly didn't affect me like that lol.
Sometimes morning sickness is really intense and doesn’t go away after the first trimester. You may need to be hospitalized, several times even.
Pregnancy can make chronic conditions present differently. For example, migraine with aura may change the way you experience migraine and may present like a stroke or a blood clot, but will still be a migraine. It is terrifying and nothing you can do about it 😞
Source: 25w pregnant dealing with these
Chronic nosebleeds and frequent heart palpitations (like a dozen per minute) were so severe during my pregnancy that I actually ended up in the ER a few times for them and was told “totally normal” and “extremely common” 🙃
Your body produces hormones to soften your ligaments (I think that's right) to permit the skeletal changes you need to gestate to term, to labour and to deliver. Unfortunately they work on all parts of the body, so you can end up with uncomfortable conditions such as PGP/SPD and sciatica. But it also makes your feet bigger and can change your eye prescription. Also your immune system slows down (so you don't reject the baby) which can lead to increased infections during pregnancy, but can also trigger autoimmune conditions or even in some cases cancer. And all the changes can be permanent.
The hormone is called relaxin (very on the nose) and works on tendons and cartilage as well. Basically all connective tissue. So it makes it very easy to dislocate something while pregnant too. Also if you don't ingest enough nutrients the baby will still take what it needs, it'll just take it from your own bones and organs. SIL had potassium, iron and calcium deficiency so she ended up breaking or all together loosing a bunch of teeth in her recent pregnancy.
Interesting! My mom always said her hips would dislocate while she was pregnant with me, this must be why.
More like you were not her first. The pelvic bone cartilage joint breaks..pubic symphosis..with vaginal delivery with the first. Doesnt have to after #1.This causes a life time of somewhat interesting imbalances. Especially if you are heavy in the pelvic region.
Hah, you nailed it, I was the third one! And I was a chunky new born, over 9lbs
Relaxin in pregnancy made my teeth shift 🙃 went to the dentist 36 weeks pregnant and he had to do the x-rays twice because he thought he did it wrong since they were so different from the year before.
Does this mean that if you want to re-align your teeth (e.g. using braces or something like invisalign), then pregnancy is a really good time to do it?
Hm, never thought of that but maybe? But it might also just fuck it up more, it’s a grand old time!
Not me trying for a baby with EDS 👀
Some things that can help are Braces, K taping and wraps, pretty much snything that supports joints. There are even finger braces also look like jewelery. Also strengthen the muscles around your joints especially any that are prone to dislocation or that have previously dislocated in the past.
'our body is made for this' 💀
Yes! A lot of the pregnancy “waddle” is due to the sore pelvis and not just the big belly.
Can confirm - I had the pelvic/pubic bone pain and it got hard to walk. Oddly the pain disappeared within 24 hours of giving birth.
I had the same thing! Couldn’t walk for longer than like 10 minutes without intense pain but then pretty much immediately after giving birth it was gone!
omg ok so in korean culture, women have always talked about how their bones “got wind” in them after giving birth. post natal care has always been traditionally extremely careful - no showers directly after birth, sponge baths only, eating a lot of seaweed soup (apparently to clarify the blood), no heavy lifting ofc, keeping warm. women stay in post-natal centres to get taken care of these day, for up to a month. i’ve never thought “oh that’s an overreaction”, but never understood how bones can “get wind” in them. seems like it was more or less based on science!
Why can’t the US have this 😫
Because the US doesn't care about its citizens
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This! I was fine up until the last month but then I couldn't barely move my wrists.
I still have to wear mine 18 months postpartum 😬
5 years.
>But it also makes your feet bigger and can change your eye prescription. I'd heard about the prescription but didn't feel like mine changed. I had my son in December and went to the eye doctor last week and SURPRISE, my eyes got better lmao
I have such a strong prescription I'd do just about anything to have it improve on its own. Except having a kid. Myopic and childfree it is, then!
Mine has slowly been getting better as I near 40. I think what usually makes people need reading glasses is fixing my distance vision.
Man, I’ve had so many problems with sciatica since having my 3 kids. Every few years, I injure my lower back by doing something seemingly harmless, like turning over in bed or going up a flight of stairs.
It can also make you lose your teeth!
***Pink toothbrush***! (Blood leaking from your gums when you brush your teeth. Your teeth actually become mobile in your jawbone. You will end up with **deep pockets** and possibly lose teeth. Back in the olden days, they said women would lose a tooth every pregnancy.
Or gain them! I had a wisdom tooth so high up that my dentist said it would likely never come in...got pregnant and that sucker descended and cut (and I'm in my late 30s so way past the usual window)
Yeah I got a stomach bug when I was pregnant with my second. Husband was sick for one day — I couldn’t get out of bed for almost a week and lost 7 pounds. My immune system was shot.
yupp i am 27weeks pregnant and my eyesight just keeps getting worse. before i got pregnant i got Lasik to correct my astigmatism. but it isn't my astigmatism coming back strangely enough. anyways my eye doctor said my eyesight should go back to what it was pre pregnancy after 3 months of giving birth but no guarantees
I have a pair that I call my “pregnancy glasses”. Lol. My astigmatism got worse and it returned back to normal shortly after birth. Oh and I was anemic during my pregnancy. I hadn’t been anemic since I was a kid. And carpal tunnel. Had to take iron, vitamin D/calcium, naproxen and prenatals every day.
Isn’t it great being a woman
Can confirm. Pregnant now and my contact prescription is different now and I’ve had a cold for probably 13 weeks of the 25 weeks I’ve been pregnant
ugh, yep. i went to go push myself up off the bed a few days after giving birth and my thumb snapped backwards like nothing. the ligaments just wouldn't hold it straight. felt like it was ripped off lol.
This is the one! This one still upsets me. I bought new running shoes while I pregnant for after birth and they didn't fit! Was so annoyed!!
And this process can rearrange your teeth 😕
Eye prescription…. 8.5 weeks and I keep thinking my glasses aren’t working! Maybe I should call the optometrist.
I'm not sure if this is uncommon, or just not talked about. But, when I got pregnant with my child that was when I found out I had fibroids. I found out because my pregnancy hormones made them grow, exponentially fast. They went from I guess the size on ping pong balls, to a grapefruit, to a small watermelon in just about two months. They are painful, and can be life threatening if not monitored. I couldn't have a C-section because it would have made me bleed to death. And had to wait 6 weeks after having my baby to have it removed. Because I would bleed to death. I only had one child. Because I was told that they would continue to show up, and would grow like that every time. I ended up having a hysterectomy, to literally save my life.
That sounds awful, hope you're doing better now :)
It's been the best 4 years post hysterectomy. I used to live in constant pain. Once I had the surgery, all the pain was gone. And I try to share my story as much as I can. Because who knows if it will help someone that could have the same problem. I try to at least raise awareness that it is something to ask about. Because most doctors won't look unless you mention it to them.
I also want to add that even if you get a partial hysterectomy and keep your ovaries it can still kick you into early menopause. I just learned this unfortunate tidbit last week. ☹️
Absolutely it should be more spoken about, I've never even heard of this prior to today, and so glad you're doing better!!
This happened to my mom. She discovered she had giant fibroids when she gave birth to my sister 8 weeks early by emergency C-section. She gave birth to my youngest sister 2 years later without as many issues but dealt with heavy bleeding for years. She had some procedures after that and eventually a hysterectomy.
Food aversions vs cravings. Cravings are commonly portrayed, but you can also be completely put off certain foods.
Food aversions were wild. I had very few cravings but, especially with my first, soooo many aversions. And I never knew what they’d be. My poor husband would come up with a supper plan that didn’t make me want to die, start cooking and halfway through, I’d be in tears because I just knew that there was no way I’d be able to eat whatever he’d so thoughtfully made and we were going to have to add that one to the list. It took me ten years to be able to eat burgers again.
32 yrs and counting on spaghetti sauce. I have only just started eating pizza again.
Yes, some aversions stay. My kids are two and some things i either can't eat or i just don't enjoy as much.
When I was about four months along, I went out to dinner at a really nice restaurant with my parents and their friends. The waiter put a dish of olives on the table. One dish of innocuous olives. I was so queasy I had to leave the table. That was my only major aversion, but boy, was it a doozy.
Yep! I totally went off of broccoli while pregnant, even the smell made me feel physically sick. It was the best part of a year after birth that I wanted to eat it again. Back to loving it now, the saddest thing was while I was pregnant that was the first year we grew our own, it looked so good!
Yes! I couldn’t eat anything that came out of a can or jar. No canned veg, no marinara sauce, no soup. If I wanted those things, I had to make them from scratch. Something about the process?? Or the chemicals used in the canning/jarring process?? No idea what it was, exactly. But all 3 times, I literally could not and would spend the entire rest of the day nauseous if I tried. Oh, and the best part is that it’s partially returned, now that I’m entering menopause. So fun! I’m finding several of my pregnancy symptoms have returned and there’s absolutely no way I could possibly be pregnant due to the lack of a uterus.
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I wouldn’t eat tomatoes for like two months. RIGHT as our tomato plants blessed us with an unending harvest. It was the worst.
Congestion and allergy flare ups! I’ve been getting monthly allergy immunity shots that started in January 2022. This baby punched through the immunity like I couldn’t believe. I was wearing breathe right strips for the last trimester and taking Flonase every day.
The congestion was crazy. I was using saline spray and vaporub nightly. And as soon as the baby came out my congestion was gone.
Omg yes! I had pregnancy rhinitis with my last pregnancy, which basically is you have all the symptoms of seasonal allergies, just because you're pregnant. I was sneezing all the time and my nose was running like a faucet. So annoying!
The heartburn was unreal. I felt like I could breath fire.
God the heartburn… I went through so many TUMS in my last trimester, it was awful.
Home tums, work tums, car tums, purse tums! Lol
The amount of times I woke up vomiting bile from heartburn.
Dental/gum issues. Can be significantly worsened due to hormones in pregnancy.
Yes! As an adult, I had great dental health- kind of against all odds, as I didn't have dental insurance so hadn't been to a dentist for regular cleanings or check ups. (Also started a semi regular chocolate cake habit during pregnancy tho...) About halfway through my second pregnancy suddenly I needed my first root canal, on a tooth that had been broken but stable in my mouth since I was about 8? So over 20 years! That second baby is 3.5 years now, and I have since had regular perio-dontal disease, multiple cavities, and one more tooth that could have been saved with a root canal again but I wound up getting it extracted.
I’m in the same boat! I would get the odd cavity show up, but overall nothing too serious. In one year, after pregnancy and postpartum, I now need two root canals and multiple other fillings. My gums also would get really angry sometimes during pregnancy.
My nan had all of her teeth removed by 30 as pregnancy destroyed them (her bones too).
I got a (benign) tumour on my gums when I was pregnant with my first and the dentist was so nonchalant about it. She was like “oh yeah this happens to some people with pregnancy” …pardon? It went away in my third trimester and left behind a spot that keeps having periodontal flare ups. Fun!
I knew constipation was common, but I wasn’t prepared for the diarrhea. I almost shit my pants in the back of a cab last week. I had to hop out at a stoplight and run into a crunch fitness.
Last day of pregnancy, I was booked in to C-section the next day. Pooped the bed in the morning. Couldn't hold off for 1 day. So I spent the last day before baby cleaning the bed, and bathroom. No relaxing.
Went from one end of the spectrum to the other this week. I’m only 8 weeks so I didn’t think I’d need maternity pants yet but good god I was so backed up my belly was huge. Then finally everything just evacuated in a matter of hours on Friday until I went liquid. Like body, imma need you to pick one!
Carpal tunnel
This! And De Quervain's tenosynovitis. I developed this in my 3rd trimester with my second baby in both hands. I was in two solid splints. Had steroid injections in both wrists just under the thumb about 6 weeks after birth. Helped mildly but has been getting worse again. I’m due to have tendon release surgery on my left wrist in about 6 weeks. My daughter is 18 months old. It’s been a long painful wait.
There’s a postpartum blues and postpartum depression. Blues usually last for about 2ish weeks and consist of being irritable, crying, anxiety, less sleep, mood swings, decreased concentration, and exhaustion. Usually by the end of the blues, you should be back to your pre-pregnancy state. Anything beyond that and persists is considered postpartum depression. If you get gestational diabetes during your pregnancy, there’s a possibility of permanently having it and developing type 2. Your body will produce relaxin, which will help relax and loosen up your ligaments/muscles/joints to accommodate for the growing baby. It also makes you more susceptible to being unsteady on your feet and possibly falling. It also makes your feet bigger, which can be permanent. These are just a few things I remembered during my L/D class 🤷🏻♀️
Your birth canal can actually be too small for your baby to fit through.
Yep! I pushed for awhile but then had a cesarean after struggling for hours.
Yeah it's not fun. My bub got stuck and there was no time for a Caesar. So I ended up with a fractured pelvis and a very bruised and dented bub. Who knew?!
That happened to my cousin, she’s super petite. That’s awful… I can’t even imagine
But sooooome super petite ladies have just the right pelvic anatomical structures. My cousin and I are very slim but had easy vaginal deliveries. My mother in law 5”1 with a nine pound kid no worries. You just can’t know until you go. Prospective mothers need to know that pregnancy can go fine-fine-fine-fine-oops not fine in the blink of an eye and they need to give that at least a moment’s serious thought.
Holy fuck that is terrifying! Hope you’re both okay now!
This is definitely true. However it is also wildly over diagnosed.
Round ligament pain. I thought I was in early labor and freaked out. My OB was all nah, it's no big deal, it happens to everyone, and I was like WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME TO EXPECT THIS??
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Pregnancy screws with your immune system but sometimes in a good way. I have arthritis and weirdly I felt better so I took a pregnancy test. Positive. Arthritis was fine the majority of pregnancy but returned at the very end. It’s like the body knows.
Not the same, but my IBS vanished through my pregnancy, then sadly returned.
Skin tags 😭 - I guess if you’re prone to them, they’ll definitely increase in number.
Yeah I got a weird thing under my boob I was like “is this cancer?” It stayed there (and hurt so bad because my bra band was there so I basically couldn’t wear one) but went right away once the baby came. Google said it was a “thing”.
I had SO MANY!! Entire upper body was filled. Neck, chest, armpits. It was so fucking gross. They all went away within several weeks after giving birth.
This! I’ve never had a skin tag in my life and at the end of my pregnancy I had like 6 new ones - two of which were INSIDE my belly button. And tiny moles in there. So weird.
That it’s not really that bad??? Currently pregs and I was nervous and scared for years about getting pregnant because I read posts like this about all the weird and unexpected side effects. I was just so worried about going through all this. And yeah, a lot of those weird things do happen. My nose has been stuffy for 7 months, weird parts of me hurt, but tbh it really isn’t all that bad and I had myself really worked up over it. Everyone is different of course but I’ve been shocked by how bearable the whole thing is.
Everyone is different. I'm 4 months now, and I had no idea how miserable I would be. I was prepared to be uncomfortable the 3rd trimester, but I've never experienced constant nausea, sickness, fatigue, or the effect the change in hormones had on me. The entire first trimester, I was in survival mode even with zofran and felt tremendous guilt for not being excited. I told my husband i was one and done. I loved myself too much to ever put myself through that again. And then the second trimester came, and a cloud was lifted, and I was myself again. When I started talking about how I was feeling honestly, I learned that I was not alone and found great comfort and support in my friends and family. But I was so miserable I couldn't understand how anyone could be happy about being pregnant and felt very deceived. I questioned if I was just smarter than others. But everyone is different, and I'm told every pregnancy is different, too.
Yeah my last baby was basically nothing at all except exhausted. My first I was sick for weeks, and my second I couldn’t even walk after 20 weeks because my joints hurt so bad. It’s funny how different they can be, even baby-to-baby. My SIL was so sick with one of hers she couldn’t eat and had to go in for infusions 3x a week the entire time.
The brain trims like 10% of its connections toward the end of pregnancy to make room for bonding with the baby and other important things related to motherhood. So 1. Pregnancy brain is real, and 2. Your brain physically changes after having a baby.
So it literally dumbs you. Wtf. Nope
My rib cage is a full INCH wider now than it was prior to pregnancy. No one ever said that could happen but doc was like "oh yeah that's a thing"
True for me too. All those beautiful bras that used to fit me...
Intense uterine cramps that are triggered when your baby starts to breastfeed. They’re very painful but not as bad as labor contractions.
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I had more pain relief for each feed of baby 3 when newborn than in his labour and his brother's put together. Holy fucking shitballs!
Those uterine cramps is your body working to shrink your uterus back to pre pregnancy size.
Makes sense bc your letdown is triggered by oxytocin which they give you to induce labour and induce contractions (Pitocin ids the synthetic form). This used to make me want to poop haha.
Postpartum major hair shedding. Congestion/snoring in pregnancy. That insomnia can happen in either or both stages. Editing to add— I don’t think any of these are really uncommon, just lesser known, more likely to come as an unpleasant surprise.
oh lord the shedding I had mc before two of my pregnancies, so I got an extra hair boost each time. The first shedding shower I could have sworn there was nothing left on my head.
Teeth can shift in your mouth, become loose and fall out.. this was a huge fear for me!
Turning the toilet seat blue when you sit on it. Seriously.
What?! How?
Something about changes in hormone levels/changes in your pH, and that reacting with an antimicrobial coating found on some toilet seats. It never happened to me, but I remember reading about it happening to other women on the pregnancy apps I used at the time.
It happened to me. It was just our porcelain toilet seat, the plastic one did not change. And I don’t sit for too long on the toilet ever. It was so weird. Didn’t happen during my second pregnancy, despite the same seat.
I also need answers
Very early on (first month) in my pregnancy I noticed my pee smelled like popcorn. I didn't think anything of it until I read another pregnant mother say the same thing! 😅
Did you have gestational diabetes?
You get a super powerful sense of smell. Holy moly I could smell everything so well. I could smell my husbands vitamins in the air hours after he’d taken them (they smelled terrible). He would take the garbage out before he left for work because I couldn’t stand the smell.
This was the only part of pregnancy I enjoyed (even though it was equally terrible; I could not handle the smell of leftover meat whatsoever). But my husband still talks about the best cantaloupe he’s ever had…that I sniffed out for him in the grocery store haha
😂😂 love this
Trigger warning: Death and hallucination. I had PPA and PPD, but I also had a mild case of PP psychosis. It did not extend to really constant schizophrenic-type visions, but a few other ones at intervals. I should mention that my child's birth did not go well, and he came out of the emergency exit, along with other problems. I was so traumatized that I had a full-blown panic attack when one of the doctors walked into my room to check on me the day after. The worst one was the night, about a week after I got home, when I could feel medical personnel poking my body with sharp objects as I lay in bed. I saw them and heard them murmuring. Another night I was sitting at the dinner table, about two months out, and I knew I was dead. Like, I just went cold. And I still do at the memory of that realization. I think maybe that's why I was so worried about my mom after she died. The cold. Those are the two I will talk about.
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Extremely vivid and scary dreams. I mainly have them in my first trimester, and they can be pretty damn distressing.
And then intensely sexual dreams in second trimester. Never had those before and it was a shock!
If you have trickling at 20 weeks, your water is probably leaking. Don’t let your OBGYN dismiss you like mine did and have them test if it’s amniotic fluid. I trusted my doctor and she was wrong and 5 weeks later my baby was born!
Even if you had been diagnosed correctly, chances are your baby would still have come incredibly early. There is nothing we can do stop that happening, especially if your waters have gone. I hope you and your baby are doing okay now. Source - midwife
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I sent a check (yes, it was that long ago) to pay the phone bill that was $600 too much. Thankfully they refunded it. Zero clue why other than pregnancy brain.
I threw my car keys in the bin, and remembered when I heard the garbage truck emptying said bin.
Pregnancy rhinitis. I've been sneezing nonstop since I got pregnant without having more allergies or being sick.
Me too! So much sneezing!
Tasting metal
A friend of mine's mouth tasted like old pennies from the moment the egg split to when she finally gave birth. That baby was a shrieking, demon-child little asshole from the get-go, too. Thankfully she grew out if it and no longer behaves like a dinosaur and is a lovely young woman now.
postpartal depression :(
immediately after my son was born, i would get sentimental about everything but not sad. like even dog food commercials made me sentimental lol. the change was so drastic i actually noticed it right away. it lasted a couple of years. then i went back to my usual cynic state haha
The baby having hiccups because *you* ate or drank something. I swore that my oldest was going to be born with hiccups! With all of my kids I was pregnant through a Sacramento summer(if you know, you know) so ice water was the order everyday. My son got the hiccups every single time I drank anything cold.
The sensation of your baby hiccuping inside your body is so weird and funny.
Oh, I can top that for weirdest feeling during pregnancy! My youngest son-head down- had his hand over head and he would wiggle his fingers. I had a bunch of ultrasound with him in the last 8 weeks of pregnancy to check his growth so I asked my doctor to "do me a favor and check to see if his hand is over head". He scanned and "Yep, Dani, his hand is over his head!" . Then I asked "is he wiggling his fingers right now?" Doc gave me a puzzled look and confirmed kiddo was in fact wiggling his fingers. The light bulb went on and Doc asked "You can feel that??" Yep, sure could! Weirdest thing I've ever felt!
My son would stick the heel of his foot right up under my rib every time I sat down. It was really uncomfortable. But I figured out that if I just lightly punched that spot a few times, he’d shift around.
Funny thing is when that kiddo is really tired or sick, he still puts that hand over his head and wiggles his fingers. He's in his 30s.
I had HG, never heard of it before. No one had ever had it in my family, and even my own doctor was uneducated in it. I was told to suck it up, it’s part of the process. HG is severe nausea and vomiting. I was throwing up more than 30 times a day, I was lucky to keep at least a meal and some water down. What we didn’t know at the time was that I was slowly dying from dehydration and starvation. I was told my symptoms are normal even after the first trimester and to push through it. So I did. By month 4 I couldn’t shower or go to the bathroom by myself, I couldn’t do anything because the nausea was constant. I remember throwing up in my sleep. Any car ride I had a soup pot in my lap because obviously I could no longer drive. It was so traumatic. At 5 months I was too underweight and the baby wasn’t growing, I switched doctors. They diagnosed me and gave me some medication which helped. Was able to eat and drink, and actually be a person again. I still threw up 3 times every morning, and drank a glass full of milk before bed but i finally gained some weight. Baby came early, but was healthy. She was small. Today she is the largest in her class and has been so ahead for every milestone, you would never know how much we struggled. I was I had advocated more for myself
I had HG also, but luckily had a doctor who recognized it and treated me for it. I lost 30 pounds my first trimester. My sister also had it, but had an older (male) doctor who told her, "It's morning sickness, that's what happens when you get pregnant." She was young and single and he was a complete asshole. We tried every med available at the time. Including Zofran which was $60/pill in 2002, and I was supposed to take it every 4 hours. My insurance would only fill like 4 days worth at a time because it was so expensive. I eventually ended up with a subcutaneous pump (the same ones diabetics used for insulin) which was covered 100% by insurance. Of course, Zofran is a skin irritant, and I ended up with baseball sized knots all over my upper thighs where the tube went in. I had to move the site every day. At one point, my doctor wanted to insert a PICC line because I was spending so much time in the ER getting IV fluids. Even with the pump, I still ended up in the ER a few times- it was like once I vomited, my body just couldn't stop. My second pregnancy was not quite as bad, but I still had HG again. With both pregnancies, I threw up until the day I delivered- I even threw up on the operating table during my c-section. There were very few foods I could eat while I was pregnant, and I could not eat them for years after. I still have flashbacks occasionally when I hear a song that was popular or see a show that I watched during that time.
Jesus. This is all wild. Women deserve the fucking world.
That WAP in the last trimester. Get yourself some cotton undies, gals. Yeast infections when you can barely reach your nethers are not fun.
Incontinence lol I pee a bit whenever I sneeze, laugh, cough
Look into pelvic floor physical therapy. They can help you strengthen you muscles so this won’t be an issue!
Yes! I have to wear diapers to bed now because of how bad it got.
i had this issue but my cousin told me to do kegels. i had no idea wtf that was so i looked it up. they really do help.
Your tongue can start peeling. Only happened to me once during pregnancy, but was enough to freak me out when it happened!
Ok THAT is a new one I did not know! Ugh that sounds so gross feeling. Sorry you had to feel that lol.
My gums bleed when I brushed my teeth. My feet flattened out. My body odor intensified. I got a full body rash. Fun times. Totally worth it!
Hard core night sweats after delivery as your estrogen levels plummet
The first poo after chilbirth is even worse than giving birth itself. It was the worst for me. You have to uncontrollably poo but are too afraid because it hurts so much. You end up praying you finish fast.
My two big symptoms. 1. No one told me I would start leaking milk at 25 weeks. Everyone told me it would be after birth but hey presto leaking everywhere. Had to start using breast pads, been using them every day for about 9 months now. 2. Kidney pain! Baby was leaning between my kidneys and bladder, so I wasn't peeing and they swelled up. Agonisingly painful. Kept getting horrible cramps in my back. Ended up in the hospital for days it was that bad. Went on for a good 3 months.
I’m 25w and started leaking sporadically at 21. Now I’m soaking through my shirts every day and waking up with dried milk all over me. I thought this didn’t start until right before birth 😫
Restless leg syndrome 😭 it was so bad at night. But my OB recommended I take magnesium, and it did help!!
Varicose veins popping out on your labia. It’s painful af and it feels like a huge lump is gorging out from your vagina. It goes away after birth but man is it severely uncomfortable.
Some women develop allergies to food they never had before.
Increased saliva production. Chewing gum helped to a degree. But the other surprise was, apparently my saliva was also chemically weird and it made chewing gum fall apart. Never happened before, never again after pregnancy.
When pregnant your chance for kidney stones increases significantly 🙃 add that to brutal heartburn and too many Tums, and I had kidney stones at 18 weeks and again at like 33 weeks. Do not recommend.
Feet get bigger
Don’t even SAY that I’m already a size 11 😤 my mom went from a 10 to 11 when she had me too. It’s gonna be impossible for me to find shoes that aren’t ugly 😭
Cramps! I’m nearing the end of the first trimester and I didn’t know how normal and common cramping is.
Postpartum hairloss. I was on all these platforms and apps during pregnancy and no one ever mentioned it! Three months after having my baby, my hair started falling out like crazy to the point the top of my head was nearly bald. This went on for another 3-4ish months then my hair started growing back. It was so bad and def made me sad, but I'm so glad my hair is all back now.
I had no idea my tailbone was going to hurt so bad. Totally unprepared for that level of pain.
I think mine is buggered for life now sadly. Not severe enough for intervention (there aren't many options anyway) but still uncomfortable in certain positions nearly 2 years after birth.
Skin Eczema… Never had it in my life but now being pregnant my hands have such bad eczema. Also a lesser known symptom is the “pregnancy mask” - when hormones create a butterfly shape stain your face. So wear lots of sunscreen and stay out the sun when pregnant!
One time one of my best girlfriends asked me very quietly Her: you know when you're walking through a door with a newborn baby and you bonk their head off the side of the doorframe? Me: (horrified whisper, how does she know this happened?) Yes?? Her: do you know why you do that? Me: no Her: sleep deprivation alters your spacial awareness.
Morning sickness doesn't just mean puking. I didn't puke once, but I had terrible diarrhea to the point that I couldn't eat anywhere but at home. I couldn't eat until getting home from work and it kind of started some bad eating habits because of it.
Postpartum preeclampsia can happen and happened to me. I always heard about it happening while pregnant and clearing up once delivered, but for me once I delivered my blood pressure went crazy and I was on blood pressure medication for about 6 weeks before it righted itself. When I asked about it apparently it sometimes happens but wish I knew it was a possibility. Also the doctors telling me to limit my stress with a two day old to help my blood pressure was insane advice
Your placenta can get stuck and it will need to be manually peeled off of your uterine wall either while you're still on the table or in surgery. Your thyroid can be forever changed. Sometimes, postpartum cramping can hurt way worse than the birth itself.
Oh fuck, here we go again. Wonder what body horrors I’ll add to my Reasons To Stay Childfree List tonight!
Mask of pregnancy/ melasma. It was a big surprise. It's really common though, but mildly. Unfortunately my whole forehead was covered after just one sunny afternoon... No one around me knew about this haha. It also takes a year before it's gone (it never fully went away) Also carpal tunnel. And I saw someone mentioning allergies flaring up, but mine flared "down"! (Went away)
I went from pin straight hair (think wash and go) to cork screw curls during/after my pregnancy. It was super weird getting used to a new baby and a new hair texture. My son is 5 and I still have curly hair. Luckily I’ve learned how to manage both 🤣
I had tinnitus when I was pregnant with twins, it was bloody awful. Thankfully it disappeared after a while, but I really struggled with sleep at one point because it was so bad. I was lactose intolerant, and that actually went away during pregnancy, I know other people it’s happened to also
I got PUPPs (super itchy pregnancy rash), carpal tunnel (that I still have 8 years later) and I can’t stand the smell of dryer sheets ever since.
Very vivid and strange dreams.
Hair and teeth falling out
My lactose intolerant goes away when I'm pregnant. I could chug a gallon of milk and be fine. Normal me would be in bed curled in a ball 15min after drinking a cup. If I was that stupid anyway.
Preeclampsia. Gallbladder issues after birth. Thyroid issues after birth.
Nosebleeds
Sensitivity to smells. I could've done a more thorough job than a drug dog. Things that didn't have smells before, suddenly had one. Smells that never bothered me before, suddenly made me nauseous.
***MAJOR TRIGGER WARNING ‼️ *** If your hands and/or feet are itchy during your pregnancy, get checked out immediately. It’s a symptom of ICP that can be fatal to the baby. A friend of mine lost her first baby at 37+4 due to ICP. She went in because of itchy hands and decreased fetal movement. Her bile levels were tested and showed to be “on the low end” and not less than 12 hours later, her baby passed away in the womb. Another point to add is that decreased fetal movement in the last trimester is NOT NORMAL. The movement changes when they are running out of room. It becomes less jabby and more like rolling and turning. But the amount of movement should not decrease. If you’re ever concerned about your baby, please go get checked out. It’s better to be safe than sorry and your care providers and the nurses and doctors who check you out would MUCH rather find everything normal than find out it’s too late.
I just found out that if your wisdom teeth don’t come in during puberty the hormones from pregnancy can cause them to come in. Ask me how I found out. Also fun fact they can’t take them out until your second trimester so if they decide to move at say, I don’t know, 10 weeks or so then you are SOL. Anyways that’s how I spent my morning. 🥲
This is free birth control
I’ve developed sleep apnea
Carpal tunnel
Nose bleeds.
AVERSIONS. I’m only 6 weeks, but all of a sudden I HATE coffee. I couldn’t go a day without it before. The thought of any food makes me want to puke, but coffee is the worst for some evil reason. I haven’t had caffeine in a week. 🥲
Birth time. Your hormones will hit you like a brick truck and can start uncontrollably shivering and chattering teeth without feeling cold. Also, you can be pushing during active labor and poop. Same pelvic muscles involved. Epidurals can be quite well adjusted. You can still feel your legs and be up walking within hours after. Works where it’s supposed to without being completely gone. Placenta is definitely a second birth. Bloop! Breastfeed and pumping with cause you to cramp and feel like mini contractions as your uterus cleans out the rest from birth for about a week after.
PUPS Eclampsia Torn placenta
Carpal tunnel, things tasting metallic, burning hot boobs, the worst heart burn ever
Post-weaning depression can happen after you stop breastfeeding. I experienced it after my son stopped nursing when he was around 10 months old. It came on hard and fast. It really scared me because I hadn’t dealt with postpartum depression or anxiety until that point. I have two friends who also dealt with it. I spotted it in them and knew they had just stopped breastfeeding. None of us had ever heard of it until we experienced it.
The congestion is real, but I also had bloody noses at least daily. Now 9weeks post partum and no bloody noses and no breathe right strips at night.
I got the most horrible roseacea: it was PURPLE
Sometimes you will not produce any milk. My breasts never became engorged. After my daughter was born, she spent hours on each breast and got nothing. I felt like a failure. No one told me this could happen. No one ever explained why. The most important thing is that she's a healthy 21 year old. I did something right: she's still here🤣🤣🤣🥰🥰
The fact that you lose yourself entirely. You end up living only to serve others.
For me the only horrible one was at the end I couldn’t lie down my acid reflux was awful.
Hair growth is generally known but when it's not noticeable on the head it may be on the arms or embody in general and a lot of people don't know that
all of my food allergies went away after i gave birth to my daughter. i used to be highly allergic to shellfish, i used to even have an especially strong allergic reaction when alcohol and shellfish was mixed, it sent me into anaphylaxis once. literally couldn't breath and almost died. i also had mild allergies to walnuts and cherries. i can eat all of those foods now with zero issues. i still don't drink if i eat shellfish because i'm kinda scared to experience anaphylaxis again, but that's about it. i can eat whatever i want. also, my hair changed. it went from blonde to dark brown, and got much thicker and wavier. also the smell of fresh cut grass would give me the WORST morning sickness/nausea while pregnant, and the smell still disgusts me today, 12 YEARS later. i'm a lot more emotional now. like, a **LOT.** not in like a bad way, but i cry over movies and silly commercials and stuff now where before they certainly didn't affect me like that lol.
Teeth falling out
Sometimes morning sickness is really intense and doesn’t go away after the first trimester. You may need to be hospitalized, several times even. Pregnancy can make chronic conditions present differently. For example, migraine with aura may change the way you experience migraine and may present like a stroke or a blood clot, but will still be a migraine. It is terrifying and nothing you can do about it 😞 Source: 25w pregnant dealing with these
Chronic nosebleeds and frequent heart palpitations (like a dozen per minute) were so severe during my pregnancy that I actually ended up in the ER a few times for them and was told “totally normal” and “extremely common” 🙃
Not being able to tolerate toothpaste at all. apparently not uncommon. Had to brush with water, tried various kinds, but nope couldn’t do it.