What they don’t tell you about pregnancy
Pregnancy
Celebrities all around, from pop stars to moms of Instagram make pregnancy look easy and glamorous. with their bump photo shoot and cute maternity dresses. In fact, they make it look so easy that single women who don’t even like children get baby fever! It’s amazing really. The power of social media and influencers! But is it what it looks like? Is pregnancy glamorous? If you’ve ever been pregnant and you’re reading this you’re probably laughing thinking heck no! OR, you could have been one of the women who have had a truly blessed experience with pregnancy. if so, I salute you mama.
We all know the basic pregnancy symptoms and side effects like morning sickness, nausea and frequent urination. Things that are pretty tolerable but annoying to say the least, but there is so much more that I feel needs to be talked about that not many women talk about. I’ve been pregnant twice now so I have 2 different experiences to pull from.
Disclaimer
This information isn’t being shared to discourage women from having children. Some of the information I’m about to give isn’t talked about or normalized. Some of these things remain unsaid so when these things happen often times it leaves the mommy-to-be feeling alone.
1. Eclampsia
So we all know what preeclampsia is. High blood pressure during pregnancy. Do you know much or anything at all for that matter about eclampsia? I know I didn’t! Eclampsia is seizures usually brought on by high blood pressure. Eclampsia effects 1 in every 200 women with preeclampsia so the chances of you getting it are very low. Sometimes eclampsia can happen without first having preeclampsia but the chances of that is even slimmer. I guess I’m 1 in a million.
2. Pica
Weird food cravings are one of the most common pregnancy symptoms of all. One of the most common questions I’ve been asked is, what is the weirdest craving you’ve had during pregnancy? What they’re expecting to hear is something along the lines of pickles dipped in chocolate ice cream or Oreos with peanut butter. Actually, that sounds pretty good. I digress. Weird food combinations are a given but when you’re craving things like soap, dirt and clay that can seem pretty scary. Pica is the condition in which people crave, chew or eat substances that have no nutritional value such as paper, ice, clay or soil. Pica is more common in children but guess what? Pregnancy can be a cause. Now it’s unclear that an Iron deficiency can lead to pica but I can say after getting an iron infusion during my second pregnancy my cravings went away.
3. Round ligament or sciatica
Okay, these are talked about more than the others but still not enough. Round ligament is pain in the abdomen caused by your growing uterus. It sometimes feels like a sharp pain or it can feel cramp-like depending on the person I guess. Sciatica is a sharp shooting pain that starts in the lower back or butt and goes all the way down the back of your legs. There’s a few things that cause sciatica for example, weight gain, your expanding uterus, your growing belly and breasts shift your center of gravity forward, your babies head resting directly on the nerve and a herniated or slipped disk.
4. Nosebleeds
Though nosebleeds are very common, I never actually knew that until I started having them. Nosebleeds occur because of hormonal changes and the increase of blood flow. Even though is completely inconvenient, it’s manageable.
5. Hemorrhoids
Another common side effect you rarely hear being talked about. Hemorrhoids happen because of your enlarging uterus so sometimes it’s unavoidable. Constipation is known to flare up hemorrhoids so my advice, don’t eat too many hot foods and wait as long as possible to go poop when you feel the sensation that way you’re not pushing.
6. Depression, anxiety and vulnerability
Now often times people talk about postpartum depression but people rarely touch on mental health during pregnancy. Your mental health can be effected many ways during pregnancy because of the increase of hormones in the body. Whether you’re sensitive, sad, or anxious it can all be overwhelming when you’re pregnant. Personally, in both of my pregnancies I was extremely sensitive. I remember during my first pregnancy a friend made a comment about my body and though it wasn’t terrible, what they said left me feeling not so great about myself. It’s highly important to tread carefully when dealing with pregnant women. Just be gentle.
There is probably so much more I can add to this list but it would go on forever. If you’re ready to have a baby my advice to you is to make sure that your mind and body is in the healthiest condition it can be in to at least tolerate some of these crazy pregnancy symptoms.
You got this mommy, stay strong.
