Each pregnancy is special and unique. It’s not just in terms of experience but in bodily changes that, although temporary, can cause discomfort and make mums self-conscious. But some mums still can find humour in these changes.
One such mum is Becky Vieira who is seven months along. Throughout her pregnancy journey, she’s encountered eight surprising and bizarre changes in her body that she finds absolutely mind-blowing.
“Well, I was prepared…that is, prepared for the changes I expected. It was all the undiscussed side effects that I wasn’t ready to endure,” wrote the expectant mum in a blog entry. “These have left me reeling and wondering, ‘am I normal?’ As per Google, the answer is yes. I am normal! But that doesn’t mean that I haven’t felt as though my body has been in the midst of an alien invasion from time to time.”
1. “Care Bear” belly
So named because of the popular children’s stuffed animal, Becky shares how her husband has taken to calling her his “little Care Bear,” because of the weird hairs that sprouted from her belly. Though she knows these unusual hair growths aren’t cause to worry. According to her doctor, they are due to hormonal changes and will disappear after she gives birth.
2. Human waterfall
Becky expressed her amazement at just how much bladder leakage and increased discharge she’s experienced. Though she was expecting it, she wasn’t prepared for just how much underwear changes she needed to make throughout the day.
photo: dreamstime
3. Blackened nipples and areolas
Though she had been warned that her nipples would be “slightly darker”, she wasn’t prepared for just how much it would darken or grow—she also notes that they are marked with ‘skin tags’.
4. Chicken flesh
She pokes fun at herself by likening the skin on her breasts to chicken flesh.
“I was grocery shopping the other day and couldn’t stop staring at the frozen chicken,” writes the funny mum-to-be. “Something was so familiar about the dotted flesh but I couldn’t place it initially. Then it hit me. The skin on my breasts are covered in the same bumps.”
5. Ham hock feet
Swollen feet during pregnancy aren’t really surprising. But Becky noted her amazement when her toes and calves became almost the same width!
“It’s not just unattractive, it is uncomfortable and, at times, painful,” she writes “That is, if you would classify feeling like your skin is about to spilt open as ‘painful.’ I personally do!”
6. Natural hair depilatory
Though not as bothersome as the aforementioned changes, Becky was still surprised that pregnancy slowed the hair growth on her legs and underarms—areas that she was used to shaving most frequently before getting pregnant.
photo: wikimedia
7. Penguin stride
While most pregnant women unconsciously develop a duck-like waddle, Becky says she chose a different animal altogether.
“Now when I walk (if you can even use that word) I look like a penguin,” she quipped, crediting her ham hock feet for altering her gait. “But it’s not quite as cute in my case, and I’m pretty sure no one would be interested in watching YouTube videos of me walking, as they do with penguins.”
8. Centerfold-style breast augmentation
“I expected breast growth, I just didn’t think it would be so explosive. In fact, I don’t think any plastic surgeon could enhance breasts this much in one surgery alone,” she writes, astounded by how much pregnancy altered her breast size. “I’ve already increased 3 cup sizes, just imagine what will happen when I start to breastfeed. And the inevitable deflation once I’m done!”
Throughout all these changes, it’s good to know this mum-to-be has kept her sense of humour and positive attitude.
