Do you want to know what it’s really like being pregnant? Get ready for an eye-opening list of weird pregnancy symptoms I was super lucky to get… and you may too!
Weird Early Pregnancy Symptoms No One Tells You About
When you get pregnant, you almost expect to go through all those terrible symptoms that everyone tells you about. Things like nausea, fatigue, and even the pregnancy brain. But all the pregnancy books in the world did not prepare me for the weird pregnancy symptoms I never knew about.
Even most of my friends didn’t experience this stuff. Or maybe they did, and just never told me. Curse them!
Side note: This book is one of the best books I can recommend at this time in your life!
One parenting book I did read compared unborn babies to parasites. They are basically a living thing inside your body that sucks up all the nutrients and leaves you with the leftover crap. Sounds awesome huh?
And so the exciting world of pregnancy begins! Not to worry, it only lasts 9 months (until you move on to that super fun postpartum period)
Weird Pregnancy Symptoms
Now, some of these weird pregnancy symptoms may not happen to you. After all, I never got nausea or vomiting that most women get. I was never fatigued. I did slightly have that pregnancy brain, but otherwise, I had a really easy and enjoyable pregnancy.
That doesn’t mean I didn’t experience some unusual things, and you may as well!
The Acne
Pregnancy Glow? Yeah, I don’t think so.
They say you have bad skin when you get pregnant but whoa baby! It was like being back in high school again. Red bumps covered my face and would not go away through the majority of the pregnancy. And because you’re pregnant, you can not use products like Proactive that contain chemicals harmful to your unborn child.
Sorry, but you are somewhat stuck with your teenage-like skin. I did find this great product that helped with my pregnancy acne a lot. But unfortunately, nothing really gets rid of your pregnancy acne except birth!
Stuffy Nose
I’m not talking about a cute little stuffy nose where you need to use a Kleenex here and there. I mean a full out swollen nasal passage that not only makes your nose look bigger than it is, but makes you sound like Fran from The Nanny. For your entire pregnancy.
There has never been a good explanation as to why we get this and even worse, there isn’t much you can do to get rid of it. You just might spend half your pregnancy with a stuffy nose.
Bloody Nose
If a swollen nose isn’t enough for you, a lot of pregnant women get bloody noses as well.
I’m not just talking about a trickle of blood here and there. I would sometimes look down at the floor and see a puddle of blood and a small stream coming from my nose. It’s easy to freak out at first (hello it’s BLEEDING during PREGNANCY!) But it’s actually a lot more common then you think. You just never hear of this happening very often.
Pregnant women not only bleed from their noses but can experience bleeding gums too. This is because you have increased blood volume (approximately 30% more blood gets pumped around your body during pregnancy).
Being SO hungry but getting SO full fast
Everyone knows you get super hungry when you get pregnant. You have pregnancy cravings, and you just want to eat all the time. But what sucks is, your stomach actually shrinks the further along you get!
As the baby grows, your organs get squished and pushed upwards. So you feel hungry a lot, but every time you go to eat, you just can’t really finish your meal.
I can’t tell you how many times I would get a burrito from Chipotle and not even be able to finish a third of it. So annoying!
You get light headed
I bet you didn’t know your growing uterus puts pressure on your blood vessels and this can cause you to get lightheaded? Oh yeah. No one ever told me that.
It wasn’t until I was at work and I got so lightheaded, I thought I was going to faint. And once it passed I thought I was safe until it happened again… and again.
It’s especially common early in your pregnancy, even before your belly really starts to grow.
You have no Abs
It’s pretty obvious that as your stomach grows bigger and bigger, you lose those rock hard abs (ok, so any abs really). But what you don’t expect is that you lose those abs… and most of your core strength… really early in the pregnancy.
I really thought pregnant women had a hard time standing up because of their large bellies. Oh no! It’s because they completely lost their core muscles. And that happens so early in the pregnancy, I had a hard time doing anything and I barely even had a baby belly!
It makes you worried that others would think you’re faking it or being super dramatic. But no, you just lost all your abs.
You love maternity clothes
Oh, you try and you try to avoid the hideous stretchy material of mom maternity jeans. Or big flowy tops that make you look like a tent. So you cram yourself into your jeans, even leaving them unbuttoned sometimes so they don’t press on your tummy.
But eventually, you can’t fit into those clothes anymore and you succumb to the maternity clothes. And as you slip that first pair of jeans on with the big belly panel… you wonder why you didn’t wear these sooner!
Maternity jeans are so comfortable, I actually started to wonder why women don’t just wear these all the time!
So one tip I give all my friends… don’t avoid them, embrace those super comfy maternity clothes!
You can start leaking, like really early
I don’t mean down there. I mean your breasts can actually start leaking milk only a few months into your pregnancy!
Around my 20 week mark, I noticed some quarter-sized wet circles on my shirts. I didn’t think there was any way it could be leaking breasts but oh man it was! And it didn’t stop until about a year later when I stopped breastfeeding.
The closer I got to giving birth, the more I leaked. So much so that I asked my ObGyn if I could start pumping before I even gave birth! So invest in those breast pads early on.
You get the WORST leg cramps
Your growing baby also puts pressure on nerves throughout your body and one of the side effects to that is severe and intense (and frequent!) leg cramps.
I can remember waking up almost every night with the worst charlie horses I have ever experienced in my life! Best tip: point your toes back toward your body to get them to go away!
And the worst one of all… My boobs never grew
If there is one thing most women look forward to about pregnancy, is that their breast gets bigger (ok maybe just us B-cup girls love this part). I was really looking forward to once in my life having a big bosom.
But of course, of all the luck, my breasts never changed. I wore the same bra throughout my pregnancy as I did before it. Which is great for saving money on new bras… but so sad for my little girls who never got the chance to look anything but… little.
Related: What Nobody Tells You About Those Two Weeks After You Give Birth
Related: Your Postpartum Care Essentials
Pin for later!
Leave a Reply