Pregnancy is a wonderful time, but during those magical nine months you may notice that you experience some rather odd symptoms.
Fortunately, for the most part these are entirely normal and simply part of the pregnancy process.
Others can mess various parts of your body up for a good while longer (please DO NOT talk to me about hemorrhoids).
To highlight the surprising, and often unwelcome,effects of pregnancy, here are 10 things to watch out for.
1. Feet
This is one of the most common and well known symptoms of pregnancy, but it can be one which causes distress when you’re trying to get around and live your life.
Swollen feet are quite normal during pregnancy but when they are associated with other symptoms, it’s a good idea to get things checked out.
This is all down to water retention and hormones, as well as the added weight you have on board.
If you notice swelling in the face and hands coming on quite suddenly, this is something to get checked out urgently, as it could be a sign of pre-eclampsia.
For the most part however, swollen feet will disappear a few weeks after your baby is born.
2. Ribs
Rib pain is very common during the third trimester and is basically down to your growing baby having less space to move and pushing his or her legs up under your ribs.
You’re likely to notice pains in your rib cage which can radiate around to your back which is down to your muscles and ligaments stretching too.
Fortunately this IS a temporary inconvenience and the pain will go away once your baby arrives.
3. Legs
Sadly, your legs are not off limits when it comes to the parts of your body that pregnancy messes up.
Leg pain, swelling and varicose veins are common third trimester issues that may be coming your way.
Shooting pains are caused by your baby putting extra pressure on the sciatic nerve. This can cause sharp pains which radiate from the hip or the buttocks, right down the legs, and it can be extremely uncomfortable.
Thankfully, this should right itself after the baby is born.
The same for leg swelling.
Unfortunately if you get varicose veins during pregnancy, they may not go away afterwards.
4. Nose
Yes, really! If you notice a runny nose you probably have what is called pregnancy rhinitis. It’s extremely common and caused by changes in blood flow to your mucous membranes.
On the other hand, if you notice shivers, aches and pains and sneezing, this is more likely to be a virus.
Pregnancy rhinitis is once again down to hormones and will resolve after pregnancy.
5. Wrists
Pain, tingling and swelling in the wrists is common in pregnancy and is called carpal tunnel syndrome.
Carpal tunnel can occur outside of pregnancy too, usually in those who are doing repetitive actions, e.g. playing racket sports or typing. During pregnancy increases blood volume presses on the nerves in the wrists causing problems.
If your wrists hurt speak to your midwife as there are some exercises and support methods you can try to alleviate the pain.
Fortunately, this is one pregnancy symptom that will most likely go away after birth and cause no lasting damage.
6. Teeth
Oh, pregnancy is such a wonderful time! Yes, it’s possible to have pain in your mouth and teeth during pregnancy.
And brace yourself….your teeth may even fall out.
Don’t worry, being pregnant doesn’t automatically mean you’re going to be shedding molars, but it is a possibility – especially if you have problems in that area already.
This is all down to those hormones which can make gum problems more likely.
Clearly this is one of those pregnancy symptoms that causes lasting damage to your body.
7. Toenails
This is a strange one, but some women experience their toenails falling off during pregnancy.
During those magical nine months your nails grow faster due to extra blood flow and hormones and it’s possible that nails will loosen and fall off.
You might look a bit odd without toenails for a while but luckily this is one of those annoying symptoms which will disappear after you have the baby.
8. Ears
If you’re noticing a ringing in your ears, this could be down to pulsatile tinnitus.
This is because of extra blood flow occurring all over the body, but also in the blood vessels in and around the ears.
This can cause a ringing or whooshing noise which becomes rather annoying, and is known as pulsatile tinnitus.
Again, this is something which should go away after delivery.
9. Armpits
If you notice that your pits are a bit on the stinky side, this is a pregnancy issue that will right itself after the baby is born.
Again, this is down to hormones (they have a lot to answer for), and can cause you to get a bit smelly. Deodorant and loose clothing is the answer to this one.
10. Butt
We don’t want to scare you, but one of the areas that can sustain the most damage is your butt. Your anus and rectum to be precise.
The weight of the baby and amniotic fluid presses down on the veins in your rectal area and can cause, pain, swelling and long term problems with hemorrhoids.
Your bottom may never look the same again.
These 10 weird and wonderful conditions associated with pregnancy show you just how all-encompassing pregnancy can be.
It’s not just your womb which feels the effects of pregnancy, but your entire body.
Luckily only a few of these symptoms will cause lasting damage to your body. Fingers crossed they don’t happen to you.