6 Pregnancy Side Effects You Didn’t Expect

Ah, pregnancy. It’s supposed to be a beautiful, transitional time of life – and it is in a lot of ways. It is a time where you grow and change and develop as a person, physically and mentally. The number of books and magazines out there that discuss pregnancy in all its wonder bow the shelves in the stores, there’s that many of them. They will tell you what to expect, what your body will do, what your emotions will do, how your baby will grow – they may even tell you about cravings. Before pregnancy, most of us expect to be hormonal occasionally. We expect to deal with a growing belly and we expect the funky cravings. 

There are some things in pregnancy, however, that you don’t expect to happen, and that’s what we’re talking about. Let’s take a look at six pregnancy side effects you may not have known about.

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1. Skin Breakouts. Everything will talk to you about your glow. The glowing glow that makes people see you and think, “she looks so good.” Well, that glow is sweat and it usually comes after the fifteenth time of throwing up in the morning! Spots and acne are very common in pregnancy, but it can be disheartening when you’ve had perfectly dewy skin all your life. The hormone surges are difficult to handle, and the overproduction of oil in your skin can flare up your skin, making your spots go from forehead to chin for the first time in your life. You could have this for the entire pregnancy while those hormones rage wild in your body.
2. Smelly This, Smelly That. You suddenly have a nose like a bloodhound when you are pregnant – even the smallest noses capture smells in a big way. You are going to smell everything, and when we say everything, even the nice smells are going to be overpowering to you. Anything that smells slightly bad is going to be right up your nose and they’re going to be ten times worse than you think. Those smells can make or break your morning sickness, making it all day sickness. It’s just a wonderful side effect of growing a person! 
3. The Migraines. So many women report migraines in pregnancy, and you can get more migraine information from your doctor if you start to suffer. You need to consider how your hormones and blood volume have both changed, but migraines may be a side effect of the hormones rushing through your body in a way that you didn’t expect them to do. You may not have ever suffered migraines before now, but the thing is you won’t necessarily get rid of them straight after pregnancy.
4. Clumsy You! Clumsiness is a big side effect of pregnancy that most people don’t know about. The constantly dropping food on yourself, tipping soups and bolognese and generally being unable to wear white clothing? It’s normal. Luckily, your bump can catch the food and your new-found cleavage can stop the crumbs! 
5. Sharper Than A Knife. Your brain in pregnancy can become cloudy and befuddled, but some people become sharper than they ever have been before – well, ish. For general information, the brain fog is very real. When it comes to hearing baby names throughout pregnancy, the mind has never been sharper. Pregnant women have a crazy internal scanner that picks names out and measures every name against whether they like it. It’s not unusual; you’ll fall asleep during films but be able to read the credits of the movie and see the names that are brought to your attention among all the rest. 
6. Dreaming. If you can dream, you will notice that your good and bad dreams are bigger and bolder than ever. Your dreams will be very vivid and this can make you feel even more tired as the day moves on. The dreams can also leave you feeling emotional and unsettled all day, even when the dreams have zero relevance to your life. One thing to remember is that the dreams aren’t real and so no matter how many times you’ve dreamed that your baby is going to be delivered over the edge of a cliff, it won’t happen – don’t panic!

Pregnancy can be an absolutely scary time for a new mother to be, but it doesn’t mean that you have to feel like it’s the end of the world. Your pregnancy will be a time in your life where you feel vulnerable and open – even when you don’t want to! Embrace it – you’ll miss it when it’s done!