Weird pregnancy body changes no one tells you about

It’s no secret that a woman’s body goes through a huge transformation during the nine months of pregnancy, yet some may catch you by surprise, especially the ones that people rarely talk about.

Here are some weird, yet normal, pregnancy body changes you should know about…

Bad breath stinks!

Smelly breath is never a good thing, and it’s an unfortunate side effect of pregnancy. The reason your breath may smell could be down to the change in hormones that cause bacteria in your mouth to become inflamed and overgrown.

You may also experience bleeding gums, which is a common occurrence during pregnancy; the hormone called progesterone is the culprit for that. Make sure you brush and floss as best you can to help keep your mouth clean.

Did you say BLUE vagina?

Another of the many pregnancy body changes to occur in the vagina is the color. It’s common for vaginas to develop a blueish tinge due to an increase of blood flow and something called Chadwick’s sign. This is because the cervix turns a tint of blue, which normally occurs around six to eight weeks after conception. It’s likely you won’t even notice it and your vagina will go back to its normal color after birth anyway.

Love the new luscious locks

A great part of being pregnant is the gorgeous thick hair you may notice. Who doesn’t like beautiful, thick and shiny hair, uh?

Normally, we shed up to 100 hairs a day, but the extra estrogen we produce during pregnancy prolongs the growth stage, resulting in very little shedding and a thicker head of pregnancy hair.

Unfortunately hair on your head isn’t the only place these luscious locks may pop up. Sometimes pregnant women experience hair growth in unwanted areas such as the upper lip, stomach and nipples. Don’t worry though, when estrogen levels fall after giving birth you will start to shed that extra fuzz, but that also means the hair on your head will inevitable fall out and you may notice clumps in the shower or after brushing. Sorry! Your hair cycle will go back to normal around six months after giving birth.

Get ready for skin changes

Changes in the skin are very common during pregnancy and that famous pregnancy glow is because of the increased blood circulation.

Not everything is rosy though as some skin changes are not quite as fun such as the dreaded ‘pregnancy mask’ also known as melisma or chloasma. These brownish patches of darkened skin may appear on the face, around the eyes and over the cheeks and nose due to an increase in melanin.

Another skin change that surprised me was the dark line in the middle of my abdomen running from the belly button to the pubic bone, which I later found out was called the linea negra. This is caused by hormone fluctuations and does fade after birth.

The natural boob job

Your boobs will be the first to noticeably show signs of pregnancy, and will become sore and tender.

Your areolas will get darker, larger and produce little sweat gland bumps. The reason is pretty incredible! It’s because when babies are born they can’t see well at all. So the areolas become darker and bigger to help baby make out where to get their meals. And those gland bumps help lubricate the nipple and give off an amniotic smell to help guide the baby too. The woman’s body is amazing! You can read more in our ‘your boobs are amazing and unique’ blog.

Get ready for heartburn

I never experienced heartburn until I was pregnant and it felt as though my little baby was throwing fireballs up my esophagus.

Remember that awesome hormone progesterone? Well it relaxes your uterus and in the same way it relaxes the muscle called the lower esophageal sphincter, and this can cause stomach acid to back up.

Thankfully this throat valve goes back to keeping the fires at bay once you’ve given birth.

A natural remedy that I tried AND that worked for me was to mix three teaspoons of apple cider vinegar with one teaspoon of honey and half a cup of water. I drank this either before meals or before bed, give it a try!

Tootsies

It’s said that a pregnant women’s feet can grow an entire shoe size, and in some cases this is true due to the increase in growth hormone. The hormone relaxin does what its name suggests and relaxes the ligaments in your body – including your feet – so they spread out. Your body is also retaining fluids and, to over simplify it, those fluids tend to pool at the bottom of your body (namely your feet) so they puff up.

Your feet may actually go up a size permanently because they may not snap back to their original shape after the baby comes.

Something to look forward to

As you can see there’s a lot of pregnancy body changes to look forward to! Oh! And I forgot to mention the boob sweats, the outie belly button and constipation!

Whatever your body does throughout pregnancy, remember it’s all happening in order to create your little baby, so no worries, put your swollen feet up, get a glass of water and relax.

What changes during pregnancy surprised you the most? Leave a comment below and don’t forget to share our blog!

Francesca