Needless to say, no two pregnancies are the same. While some women get to enjoy only the glow and all the beautiful things it entails, others might have to deal with quite a few unpleasantries, such as fatigue or morning sickness.But these two are just a couple examples—and rather common ones, too—of things that soon-to-be-moms have to endure. Apparently, the pregnancy can also affect their vision, breathing, even shoe size, as members of the ‘Ask Women’ subreddit pointed out. They shared their insight after one userasked the mothersin the group what side effects of pregnancies don’t get talked about the most that surprised them. Scroll down to find the rest of their answers on the list below, where you will also find some of the OP’s thoughts that she shared during a recent interview withBored Panda.This post may includeaffiliate links.
Needless to say, no two pregnancies are the same. While some women get to enjoy only the glow and all the beautiful things it entails, others might have to deal with quite a few unpleasantries, such as fatigue or morning sickness.
But these two are just a couple examples—and rather common ones, too—of things that soon-to-be-moms have to endure. Apparently, the pregnancy can also affect their vision, breathing, even shoe size, as members of the ‘Ask Women’ subreddit pointed out. They shared their insight after one userasked the mothersin the group what side effects of pregnancies don’t get talked about the most that surprised them. Scroll down to find the rest of their answers on the list below, where you will also find some of the OP’s thoughts that she shared during a recent interview withBored Panda.
This post may includeaffiliate links.
Lightning crotch.Due to the relaxin hormones opening the hips, I had EXCRUCIATING pubic symphysis starting in 2nd trimester. SHOOTING nerve pains throughout the vaginal/pubic bone area. Impossible to get comfortable.I told my OB in tears and his response was to laugh.
“I started thinking about what my mom told me she went through as she got pregnant with me at a young age and other things I have noticed during her pregnancy with my brothers. My grandma would also tell me her own story and I noticed there were differences other than those side effects you would normally relate to the generational gap.”
“I also thought, doctors have their own opinions on pregnancy other than the normal, traditionally heard of experiences,” she added. “I wanted to know other women’s experiences since I didn’t have friends who are currently or were pregnant. I knew the best way to ask was anonymously through Reddit.”
People talk about cravings but no one talks about the food you used to love that you now can’t stand. I used to love everything Italian and now it’s a foggy memory.
That your immune system is lowered so you catch every cold known to man. Also because of this, I got a bunch of warts and I’ve never had them any other time in my life. They were gone quickly after giving birth.Other bodily changes like hair/nails being stronger (but weaker after birth), skin tags, darker skin patches and more freckles, swollen and bleeding gums, larger feet, sweating, heartburn, snoring, back pain, muscle cramps. Your body changes so much, it’s insane!
“A lot of the responses surprised me and some even got me second guessing my ideas on getting pregnant myself,” the OP admitted, discussing the response she received from the online community.“There were a lot of things there that I have never heard of. Feet growing, hating food you used to love, eyesight getting worse, and the worst out of all of them… pubic symphysis. These are the things my mom and grandma never experienced, or didn’t bother telling me.”The redditor pointed out that there were some common side effects among the redditors’ responses, too. That might come as no surprise considering how many women have to deal with the common ones, such as nausea and vomiting, for instance, affectingroughly 70–80%of pregnant women.“Others were more personal, or something that just entirely depended on the person and their body,” the netizen said. “This helped put my mind at ease, but I must say that even with these negative side effects, I still can’t wait for the day a little bundle calls me mom.”
“A lot of the responses surprised me and some even got me second guessing my ideas on getting pregnant myself,” the OP admitted, discussing the response she received from the online community.
“There were a lot of things there that I have never heard of. Feet growing, hating food you used to love, eyesight getting worse, and the worst out of all of them… pubic symphysis. These are the things my mom and grandma never experienced, or didn’t bother telling me.”
The redditor pointed out that there were some common side effects among the redditors’ responses, too. That might come as no surprise considering how many women have to deal with the common ones, such as nausea and vomiting, for instance, affectingroughly 70–80%of pregnant women.
“Others were more personal, or something that just entirely depended on the person and their body,” the netizen said. “This helped put my mind at ease, but I must say that even with these negative side effects, I still can’t wait for the day a little bundle calls me mom.”
It’s not just morning sickness. It’s all-the-time 40 weeks of sickness.
The OP told Bored Panda that even considering the possible side effects, she finds the entire journey of pregnancy an intriguing experience. She also shared that one of the things she finds interesting about this time in a woman’s life is the hormone activity, especially that relating to forgetting the pain of childbirth.However, the thing she was referring to is known to be apopular myth. The idea that women are biologically programmed to forget all about the pain of giving birth is not true, but many moms say that holding their child for the first time does make them forget about the hardships they went through before that moment.
The OP told Bored Panda that even considering the possible side effects, she finds the entire journey of pregnancy an intriguing experience. She also shared that one of the things she finds interesting about this time in a woman’s life is the hormone activity, especially that relating to forgetting the pain of childbirth.
However, the thing she was referring to is known to be apopular myth. The idea that women are biologically programmed to forget all about the pain of giving birth is not true, but many moms say that holding their child for the first time does make them forget about the hardships they went through before that moment.
How suddenly complete strangers are now your doctor and tell you that you shouldn’t be drinking that one latte you treat yourself to a week lol
Hemoroids
I had a superhuman sense of smell. One day I came home from work and my husband had already starting making a stew. I asked him, “Why did you decided not to peel the carrots?” They were already in the pot and I couldn’t see them. How did I know they weren’t peeled?!?Another time I was at the extreme opposite end of the house from the kitchen — up the stairs, through a door, and across a large room — and I could tell he was slicing a cucumber.
“I’m pretty sure the sample I got from my post wasn’t even a sliver of the population of mothers but they were very interesting and insightful,” the OP said, adding that she hopes those taking care of moms-to-be raise awareness for these body-altering side effects, as they can be heavy both mentally and emotionally.
To start with, my vision is terrible under normal circumstances, but during my pregnancy, I had to go to a retinologist every month and a half or so. I started seeing glowy things in my peripheral vision, and iirc he said that the pregnancy put extra pressure on my eyes, and my retinas were already at higher risk of tearing due to my eyeball shape. Once my son was born, things went back to normal.It was my optometrist who made that referral. My OB had never heard of nor seen it, and none of the pregnancy books brought it up.
I’m pretty sure my rib cage is wider.
How even perfectly normal, uncomplicated, “easy” pregnancies can absolutely fg SUCK. I have 2 kids and I love them endlessly, but being pregnant just fg SUCKED. I was always crying, barfing, hungry, aching, burping fire, about to pee on myself, waking up every half hour—at any given point during my pregnancies, something just sucked.
Look after your teeth!
THE INSOMNIA
Breathlessness, especially after eating. In later pregnancy I felt like my lungs were compressed which they obviously were. Had to talk myself down from so many panic attacks because I thought I couldn’t breathe.
Nobody really told me that I was going to be living off of Tums because of the heartburn.
The vivid a*s nightmares!! The whole time I was pregnant I was constantly having nightmares about my home being broken into or someone was trying to [hurt] me.
Eats the calcium out of teeth, more body hair, one side of your belly hangs more than the other. The drooling. Hemorrhoids,
My surprise was becoming itchy all over. And I don’t mean itchy around my expanding belly, I mean itchy EVERYWHERE. Stretching barely helped and it was so bad that it used to wake me up at night.
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Lack of iron causing bizzare cravings, I craved ice like there was no tomorrow, kept eating like entire bags of ice every day, mentioned it in passing to my midwife and she panicked and rushed to take my blood, turns out my iron was like insanely low
The things that grew on my skin from pregnancy that have never gone away.
Nose bleeds. I thought everything was messed up but it seems like a normal occurrence
Maybe not an awful side effect, but I developed this one patch of hair on the back of my head that went waaaay curly, when before all I had was regular, wavy hair. It’s never gone away, and my daughter just turned 24.
severe hyperemesis, your hips turning into jello at the end and the pigment changes in unwelcome regions
Stuffy nose. I had all pregnancy and found out I need treatment after. For some it goes away on its on.
Blackened/darkened nipples. Wasn’t prepared for that.
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The awful motion sickness. I struggled to ride in vehicles while pregnant as I’d get sick. I commuted to work via the bus and I had to carry a barf bag
Lightning crotch for sure! Not just your feet growing but your nose.
Irrational phobia. With my first child I saw a fish at a pet shop and had a full on panic attack.Ever since, I’ve been horribly scared of fish. Never had another panic attack, but I get very uncomfortable, faint, sick, heart racing, throat closes, suffocation and shaking.It only applies to living fish and unfortunately applies to anything fish like, including whales and dolphins.I never had a problem before pregnancy.
No one talks about needing to spit all the time because saliva and mucus just builds up but swallowing it makes you puke so you just are constantly spitting. Its a beautiful time.
I have terrible posture and my ribs were always in a lot of pain, my boy would kick a lot too, so he would kick me in the ribs a bunch lol
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