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20 Side Effects of Pregnancy That No One Wants to Talk About

Maybe I’m luckier than most in that after 3 pregnancies’ I have experienced the gambit of pregnancy side effects. Believe me when I tell you that YOU are the lucky one if your experience only results in the side effect of having a beautiful baby. I am not one of those cute pregnant ladies that seem to glow with the ever maturing basketball under the perfectly pressed maternity shirt. My experience with pregnancy is anything but beautiful and as much as I love my kids I really dislike being pregnant.

My intention is not to scare or discourage rather, I hope that you find comfort in knowing that you are not the only one having the full experience of pregnancy. Here are the 20 side effects of pregnancy that no one wants to talk about:

1. “morning sickness” – I put this in quotes because for me I was throwing up all day long. I noticed that the nausea got worse the more tired I became. The best advice I would give you is just to go with it. If you feel the need to throw-up its better just to give in. I remember driving into work and pulling off the side of the high way, quickly opening my door, just in time to give all of the morning traffic a post view of my breakfast.
2. Stretch marks – Despite rubbing everything on my skin from coco butter to olive oil my body looks like a bomb went off and according to my dermatologist there isn’t technology available to get rid of them.
3. Hair anomalies - The hair on your head is fabulous! Its thick, it’s shiny, definitely one of the perks of pregnancy. You will also notice hair growing in other places at a vigorous pace. Not to worry, this will go away but until then you may be a little fuzzier than normal.
4. Sex dreams – Don’t ask me why but just at the time when I felt the least sexy I started having the craziest sex dreams. This is definitely a mixed blessing.
5. Bladder control – Yes, I admit that I have peed myself. Definitely not a high point in my life but I find comfort in knowing that you too will pee yourself.
6. Bigger boobs – I never really had boobs until I had kids and once they arrived I wasn’t sure what the big deal was. Admittedly, having enormous boobs that are leaking milk isn’t exactly what I wished for when I was 14 (I’m sure it wasn’t what my husband was wishing for at 14 either). None the less, they came out of nowhere and once I was done breastfeeding the only thing that was left was these sad little socks.
7. Unsolicited advice from friends, family and strangers – I concede that maybe I am the only one that has friends, family and strangers offering unsolicited advice. Maybe there is something about me that welcomes this sort of weird and frankly uncomfortable feedback. I think the topper for me was when a male co-worker was offering breastfeeding advice (and no, I’m not making that up).
8. Heart palpitations - Occasionally my heart will start racing making me feel out of breath. I went to a heart specialist, he ran some tests but he basically came to the conclusion that this was more of a nuisance than anything.
9. Heartburn – I didn’t really notice this until the last trimester of my pregnancies. My sister-n-law however carried a Costco sized Tums bottle with her from day one.
10. Water retention – I looked like I was baking bread out of my shoes! From my knee down you couldn’t really see any sort of bone structure and by the end of the day my kankles were quite painful.
11. Hemorrhoids – Yep, pregnancy is sexy!
12. Dry skin – Lotion, lotion, lotion.
13. Back pain – OK, so the pain really isn’t restricted to the back but I noticed lower back pain as my belly grows larger.
14. Waddling – This is so hot and totally unavoidable unless you choose not to walk during your last trimester.
15. Feeling the baby move – This is a wonderful miracle early on in pregnancy. The last couple weeks of pregnancy I found myself trying to negotiate the baby out of my ribs or to stop bouncing on my bladder.
16. Varicose veins – I didn’t get too many of these but I did make up for it with stretch marks.
17. Larger feet – I had to go out and buy shoes that would fit me during pregnancy. Don’t expect your feet to go back to their pre-pregnancy size because they don’t.
18. Unexplained fluid – I had a lot of unexplained vajayjay discharge during pregnancy. Unexplained in that I’m sure there was a reason, I just chose to ignore it.
19. Congestion – I seem to have a constant stuffy nose throughout my pregnancies and apparently this is due to the extra blood flow.
20. Skin anomalies - I had weird moles appear and I’ve heard that some women get skin discoloration as well.

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